Local Journalist Calls Ravens Issues At Wide Receiver A “Crisis”
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The Baltimore Ravens have seen lots of concerns
aired following their trading of Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. The former
first-round pick was traded to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for their
first-round No.23 pick on the first day of the NFL Draft.
There are now fears that the team’s wide
receiving issues could possibly derail the upcoming season. While the Brown
trade gave the Ravens an extra first-round pick in center Tyler Linderbaum, it
has left something to be desired.
As well as not picking a wide receiver in the
draft, the Ravens have not selected one in free agency and are running out of
time. The New Orleans Saints have already picked up one of their targets in
Jarvis Landry, leaving the pool a lot smaller.
Glenn Clark of PressBox reckons the team is in a
crisis.
"Jarvis Landry seemed like the safest bet of
what was left on the free-agent market to be able to make some sort of
impact," the local journalist wrote. "I don't want
to overreact to losing one player (who had two receiving touchdowns a year
ago), but it's hard to look at this situation with purple-colored glasses. We
have to describe what's facing the Ravens as what it is. It's … it's a damn
crisis."
The Ravens are currently 20/1 to win the Super
Bowl next year and fans can enjoy multiple odds on
the team’s future from Caesars Maryland.
Clark describing the situation as a crisis might
be too strong but time will tell. Of course, Baltimore still has an opportunity
to add a WR. As to whether they feel a need to make such an addition isn’t a
certainty.
They do have some young WRs who have shown lots
of potential. Rashod Bateman seems set for a breakout campaign while the likes
of Devin Duvernay and James Proche II have shown lots of promise. It's worth
noting that Tylan Wallace was considered to be a steal when he was drafted out
of the fourth round in 2021.
That said, they are the only wide receivers who
have NFL experience. Also, they’ve combined for just 1,227 career yards so far.
"The idea that the Ravens should prioritize
allowing their young receivers the opportunity to sink or swim is fair, to be
sure. The problem is that there's risk they'll, you know, sink," Clark
added. "That's one of the two options. But even in a truly best-case
scenario in which Bateman is capable of becoming a top-notch NFL receiver and
the others have something more significant to offer as pros, there's still only
four of them! Counting on this group in current form demands that there are no
injuries to this core four during OTA's, training camp, preseason games, 17
regular-season games and any postseason games."
The team’s management must be aware that they
need to address the lack of depth in that area, but there’s the possibility of
one of the six undrafted WRs getting a spot on the roster. A trade can also be
had.
There are some top names on the market, including
Odell Beckham Jr., Julio Jones, T.Y. Hilton, and Will Fuller V. However, they
have all had issues with injury while performances have declined somewhat.
Despite the concerns, Clark has admitted that the
WR position might not be as important for the Ravens, who do boast All-Pro
tight end Mark Andrews, plus rookie tight ends Charlie Kolar and Isaiah Likely.
The return of running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus
Edwards could see to a revitalized offense that could mirror the one from 2019.
The Ravens topped the NFL that season, going 14-2 with a line featuring Brown,
Willie Snead IV, Miles Boykin, Chris Moore, Seth Roberts and Jaleel Scott. The
aforementioned combined for 1,419 yards and 115 catches.
According to Clarke, though, Baltimore shouldn’t
be depending on the returns.
"We know that the Ravens may well find
themselves trailing in games and needing to throw the ball more," he
noted. "We know that other injuries could hurt their ability to play the
dominant brand of bully-ball that provided them such success in '19. We know
that they appeared reluctant to have Lamar Jackson run as much last year and
it's hard to fathom them dramatically changing that this year.
"We know damn well that the Ravens are going
to need their wide receivers to come through for them at some point if they're
going to try to win a Super Bowl!"
The Ravens had a regrettable, injury-ravaged
campaign in 2021/22, going 8-9 to finish last in the AFC North. They must be
counting on players coming back as they have one of the most formidable rosters
in the league when everyone’s healthy.
Brown’s departure, though, has left a void that
needs to be filled.
