Louis Riddick: Pressure Is On Ravens OC Declan Doyle to Get Baltimore ‘Over the Hump’

The Baltimore Ravens are handing the keys to their offense to a 30-year-old first-time play-caller, and ESPN analyst Louis Riddick says that comes with real stakes. Appearing on NFL Live, Riddick said new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle is under pressure to get the most out of a talented, veteran-laden roster as the 2026 season approaches.

Doyle was hired by first-year head coach Jesse Minter to run Baltimore’s offense after spending the 2025 season as OC in Chicago under Ben Johnson. He’s now one of the youngest play-callers in the league.

“Declan Doyle needs to unlock all of the different weapons that they have on this offense … and really get this team over the hump.”

NFL on ESPN’s official X account posted the clip on August 12, 2026, capturing Riddick’s comments on the pressure facing Baltimore’s new coaching staff heading into the season.

Riddick Points to a Loaded Offensive Roster

Riddick laid out exactly what Doyle has to work with. Quarterback Lamar Jackson is a two-time MVP. Wide receiver Zay Flowers gives him a proven downfield threat. Running back Derrick Henry, in Riddick’s words, remains “an alien” in the backfield even as he pushes deeper into his 30s.

Then there’s the retooled offensive line. Riddick specifically called out rookie guard Vega Ioane, Baltimore’s first-round pick out of Penn State, as “an absolute monster.” Ioane didn’t allow a sack over his final two seasons with the Nittany Lions and is expected to start as a rookie, giving Jackson a more secure pocket after he was sacked 36 times last season.

“Well, I think there’s always pressure, especially considering you have a guy who’s a two-time MVP like Lamar Jackson,” Riddick said. “You have guys like Zay Flowers. You have an offensive line that you’ve rebuilt, you know, via the draft in particular with Vega Ioane, their first-round pick from Penn State, who’s an absolute monster. And when you’ve got an alien like Derrick Henry running the football in the background, there’s a lot to work with right there.”

Why the Coaching Change Happened

Riddick tied the pressure directly to Baltimore’s recent playoff history. The Ravens have repeatedly built talented rosters that stumble in January, and that pattern is a big part of why the front office overhauled its coaching staff this offseason.

“One of the reasons why…there was significant change made this off-season with the coaching staff, was the fact that they keep getting…They keep stalling out,” Riddick said. “They get to the postseason, stall out. They just are not able to go ahead and get over the hump and win the big games and lock in and dial in and be their best when their best is needed. And so now, here comes Declan Doyle, here comes Jesse Minter, here comes Anthony Weaver on the defensive side. I think collectively, there’s a lot of pressure on this football team to take this team to the next level.”

That’s not just talk. Jackson has been sacked at a high rate in recent years, the Ravens have fallen short of a Super Bowl appearance despite years as an AFC contender, and Minter’s decision to bring in a first-time play-caller in Doyle was, by multiple reports, a deliberate swing for a different kind of offensive identity rather than a safe hire.

What It Means Going Forward

Doyle inherits a roster most coordinators would envy on paper. But translating that talent into postseason wins is the exact problem Baltimore has failed to solve in recent years, and Riddick’s comments frame Doyle’s task less as building something new and more as finally cashing in on pieces that are already in place.

The pressure will get its first real test soon. The Ravens open the 2026 regular season on the road against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, September 13, at 1 p.m. ET.