After the commerce that returned the Ravens’ broad receiver group to that oh-so-familiar offseason zone — extra potential than manufacturing, extra questions than solutions — Eric DeCosta couldn’t resist a joke. The Ravens basic supervisor had simply traded Marquise “Hollywood” Brown for the first-round choose that turned middle Tyler Linderbaum. He was requested: Did the deal depart the staff skinny at broad receiver?
“I was thinking about that, and I kind of missed all the questions this year,” DeCosta mentioned final month. “I was thinking, ‘I kind of want to get back to the days of old,’ you know?”
In the three weeks since, the Ravens haven’t carried out something at broad receiver however signal a handful of undrafted free brokers and tout their younger group. DeCosta mentioned the staff expects a “big, big jump this year” from 2021 first-round choose Rashod Bateman. He known as Devin Duvernay a “great young player.” There was reward for James Proche II and Tylan Wallace. There had been reminders that the staff already has All-Pro tight finish Mark Andrews.
The look forward to quick assist, nevertheless, goes on. Former Cleveland Browns standout Jarvis Landry, who’d been linked to the Ravens in free company, on Friday signed a one-year take care of the New Orleans Saints value as much as $6 million. The few influence broad receivers who stay have purple flags: lingering accidents, sturdiness issues, diminished manufacturing. The Ravens, with restricted wage cap area, proceed to search for the best participant on the proper worth.
“We like our receivers, we do,” DeCosta mentioned after the draft. “We’ve seen growth, we’ve seen our guys mature and develop. … We will add players to the mix. We’re doing that right now, and we’ll look at veteran players as well. It wasn’t really by design that we wanted to create a hole on the team. I don’t look at it that way, but in this business, you pivot, you dodge, you weave — you’re always really going to be chasing a need. Every team in the league would tell you that you’re chasing needs.”
And what do the Ravens want? That depends upon what they assume they’ve — and on what they assume they will nonetheless get.
Run blocking
In early February, lengthy earlier than the Ravens signed proper sort out Morgan Moses, traded away Brown and drafted Linderbaum, DeCosta made clear the offense’s id. “We’re a running team,” he mentioned at his season-ending information convention.
Not like something’s modified there. The Ravens led the NFL in carries in Greg Roman’s first two years as offensive coordinator; final season, weakened by a poor protection in addition to accidents to quarterback Lamar Jackson, they completed third. The staff’s run-first philosophy trickles right down to its receivers. Coaches worth sturdy run blockers, not solely within the trenches but additionally out broad.
“Everyone wants to win, but most people want to win on their own terms,” Harbaugh mentioned close to the top of the Ravens’ breakthrough 2018 season, when targets had been scarce for prime broad receivers John Brown, Willie Snead IV and Michael Crabtree. “These guys have put away their own terms a little bit — a lot, probably. They’re blocking. Hey, we’re motioning across and cutting off back-side defensive ends with our wide receivers, and those guys are doing it. That’s a tough duty, but they’ve embraced it.”
In 2022, that might be a mandate for the place. The Ravens’ funding in tight ends and fullbacks — veterans Nick Boyle, Patrick Ricard and Andrews and rookies Charlie Kolar and Isaiah Likely, if wholesome, are all prone to make the 53-man roster — ought to give Roman the flexibleness to make use of extra two- and three-tight-end groupings subsequent season. That would imply fewer snaps for the Ravens’ broad receivers.
Improved run blocking would assist their trigger. For all that Brown dropped at the Ravens’ passing offense, he supplied little within the run sport. According to a evaluate of the Ravens’ 38 designed runs that went for 20-plus yards over the previous two seasons, Brown was concerned as a play-side blocker solely a handful of instances — partly due to how usually he lined up out broad, removed from the motion. But when the Ravens ran reverses, for example, it was usually to Miles Boykin’s facet. And within the slot, the place Brown additionally noticed time, Duvernay was far simpler at sealing off second-level defenders.
Those sorts of limitations and tendencies could make an offense extra predictable. With Boykin launched and Sammy Watkins not re-signed, the Ravens will doubtless need to make do with a much less imposing group of wideouts. The 6-foot-1 Bateman is the tallest of the staff’s doubtless contributors, however he had the worst run-blocking grade of any Ravens broad receiver final yr, in accordance with Pro Football Focus. Duvernay and Proche each graded out beneath backup ranges. Wallace had the NFL’s finest mark, however on a small pattern measurement: He had simply 26 run-blocking snaps, 9 fewer than Proche.
With the versatile Landry unavailable, the free-agent class of receivers lacks dependable run blockers. Former Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans wideout Julio Jones has a strong monitor report and good measurement at 6-3, however accidents have restricted him to 19 video games over the previous two years.
Downfield potential
The Ravens misplaced extra than simply their most efficient broad receiver after they traded away Brown. They additionally misplaced their solely confirmed deep risk on the place.
According to Sports Info Solutions, solely seven NFL broad receivers final season had been focused on extra passes of not less than 20 air yards than Brown (28). In 2020 (25 targets), there have been solely 5. Brown led the Ravens with 464 receiving yards on deep throws over the previous two years, even when his total effectivity (13 catches on 53 targets) was missing.
In Andrews, the Ravens nonetheless have perhaps the league’s finest field-stretching tight finish. Targeted 19 instances on throws of not less than 20 yards downfield final season — by far essentially the most amongst NFL tight ends — he caught eight for 246 yards. But the drop-off after Brown and Andrews is staggering.
Bateman, who has good pace (4.43-second 40-yard sprint), if not game-breaking pace, had 4 catches on eight deep throws for 131 yards in his injury-shortened rookie season. Duvernay and Proche every recorded only one catch of not less than 20 yards over their first two seasons in Baltimore, with Duvernay seeing 4 such targets and Proche two. Wallace didn’t get a downfield shot in 2021.
The Ravens’ play-action sport will give Jackson big-play alternatives, however he’ll want one other residence run risk. It might be Bateman, who, as a sophomore at Minnesota, completed eighth within the Football Bowl Subdivision in yards per catch (20.3). It might be Wallace, who feasted on jump-ball alternatives at Oklahoma State. It might be Duvernay, already one of many NFL’s finest returners and one of many staff’s quickest gamers. It might be a mixture of all three, Proche and the rookie tight ends.
It is also Will Fuller V. The 2016 first-round choose averaged a career-high 16.6 yards per catch in 2020, when he completed with 879 yards in simply 11 video games for the Houston Texans. But accidents stay a priority; the speedster broke his thumb in Week 4 final season and completed his lone yr with the Miami Dolphins with simply 4 catches for 26 yards. In February, he shared on his Instagram a photograph of his left hand, wrapped in a bandage, with an obvious splint on his left center finger. “Dang finger man,” Fuller wrote within the caption of the since-deleted photograph.
Alignment
The Ravens aren’t inflexible of their broad receiver roles. Wideouts are anticipated to maneuver round from spot to identify. Flexibility on offense is as necessary as it’s on protection. “I don’t think we really have a ‘slot’ player or an ‘outside’ player,” Harbaugh mentioned after the Ravens drafted Duvernay and Proche in 2020.
That’s to not say their receiver utilization is random. Every formation and personnel grouping has its goal. But with Brown out of the image, the Ravens should type out their receiver rotation not solely inside however outdoors as properly.
According to SIS, Brown trailed solely Andrews in routes run from the slot final yr (332). Duvernay was second (216), adopted by Proche (141), Bateman (112) and Wallace (31). Brown noticed much less time as an out of doors receiver (263 routes run), however nonetheless solely Bateman (273) lined up there extra usually. Among the Ravens’ returning receivers, solely Duvernay (121) earned common snaps outdoors.
Bateman, who was most efficient at Minnesota in outdoors alignments, will doubtless function because the Ravens’ prime possibility there. But who will likely be his operating mate on the opposite facet? Duvernay has been extra environment friendly when lined up within the slot, although he may develop into an out of doors position with extra expertise. Wallace, who lined up nearly solely as an out of doors receiver at Oklahoma State, noticed extra time inside throughout coaching camp and in video games. And Proche, the smallest of the Ravens’ prime broad receivers, has lined up nearly solely within the slot.
It’s not a query that calls for a solution. The Ravens used not less than three wideouts on over half their performs final season, however they gained’t line up with two broad receivers outdoors the numbers on each play. They can flex out Andrews or a operating again in apparent passing downs. They would possibly rely extra on bunch formations, which scale back the splits of their receivers.
Or they could simply purchase one other starting-level broad receiver anyway. They have 4 months to determine these items out.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com