Ravens Hope to Get Nnamdi Madubuike Back for This Season

What They're Saying

Ravens GM Eric DeCosta, at the end of the season: "Not having Nnamdi this year was a horrible situation for our team. I think it affected us in different ways -- in many ways. He is a great player, a great person [and] a special person."

ESPN's Jamison Hensley: "Ravens officials have been vague over the last seven months about his return, and Madubuike has not spoken to reporters since the injury."

Ravens strength and conditioning coach Scott Elliott, on Madubuike's offseason work: "He's working his tail off. ... He's in great shape."

2026 Fantasy Football Impact

It's worth noting that even Schefter's tweet merely said that Madubuike's recent surgery "left his doctors believing" he'll be able to play this season.

That's short of he'll definitely play and he'll be ready for training camp.

Madubuike suffered his injury in Week 2 last season. He didn't have surgery until the following April. Perhaps it just took that long for him to heal to the point where surgery made sense. And perhaps the procedure itself answered any final questions about whether Madubuike would be OK to return to football.

But we'll have to watch for exactly when the veteran returns to the field and what signals we get about his expected role.

Madubuike won't deserve much fantasy attention. His 13-sack breakthrough in 2023 marks the only time across his first five seasons -- before the injury-shortened 2025 -- that the D-lineman topped 6.5 sacks. It also marked his only season of more than 26 solo tackles or 43 total tackles.

So we're talking about a non-sure bet for production even at full strength.

A full return would probably help Baltimore's defense more than your IDP roster.