I’ve been beating on this fairly regularly as of late and I doubt that I’ll stop. Arthur Brown is a perfect 5-for-5 when it comes to landing on the inactive list this season.
Last year the Ravens regularly had Daryl Smith, Josh Bynes, Albert McClellan and Jameel McClain up for games. Last year Dean Pees regularly rotated these players at the inside linebacker position.
Apparently Brown isn’t as good as those undrafted guys like Bynes, McClellan, McClain and now Zach Orr.
Here’s some perspective…
In 2013 four other inside linebackers were selected during the second round of the NFL Draft, all whom were graded lower than Brown. Not once have any of the four (Manti Te’o, Kevin Minter, Kiko Alonso and Jon Bostic) been a healthy scratch in 2014. In total since they’ve been in the league the four have 3 healthy scratches.
Kelechi Osemele is currently the 3rd highest rated guard through 5 games in the NFL behind only Green Bay’s Josh Sitton (2) and teammate Marshal Yanda (1). He is clearly playing at a Pro Bowl level and here’s even more proof as he occupies two defenders on Justin Forsett’s TD scamper yesterday in Indianapolis.
Speaking of Forsett, the 5’8”, 197 pound tailback is on pace for 160 carries and 950 yards. He is also on pace for 74 catches and 378 yards. The highest number of touches he’s ever had in a single season is 155 for the Seahawks back in 2009. Since 2012 he’s had a total of 156 touches. Already at 73 through 5 games, the Ravens might want to peel back the diminutive back’s workload and get Bernard Pierce more involved.
Nice to see the Ravens give Terrence Brooks some playing time and he’s clearly making strides. He and sidekick safety Matt Elam made a great play together to strip (by Elam) Ahmad Bradshaw on Sunday during the 4th quarter and recover the fumble to give the Ravens a chance for a comeback victory. It would be a huge boost to the secondary if this pair of high-end draft picks starts to develop chemistry.
The New England Patriots marked the dangerous AJ Green on Sunday night with Darrelle Revis and it proved to be a great strategy. Perhaps Dean Pees took notice and will do the same on October 26 with Jimmy Smith when the Ravens visit the Bengals.
Lastly, Joe Flacco probably hopes he never has to visit Lucas Oil Stadium again. In three career starts in Indy Flacco is 70 for 111 for 665 yards to go with 6 interceptions and 0 touchdowns. Add it up and it equates to a passer rating of 57.1.
