Harbaugh says the Ravens have more talent spread out than ever and we could see more multiple looks from the offense. Then, he defends his brother. The offense could be run-heavy, though, if you listen to Marc Trestman. The best case for TE Williams is a starting role. The worst case scenario for Urschel is that he’s beat out by a rookie. In baseball news, Machado will have some financial decisions to make soon, and we analyze two pitchers for whom the Orioles could trade.
John Harbaugh Q&A: ‘There’s No Reason to Apologize in Football’
Harbaugh has never been one to bite his tongue, and that didn’t change when he sat down with Jason Cole of Bleacher Report. He talks about how the Ravens offense will give more multiple looks than it ever has before because the talent is “more spread out than ever before.” Of course, those are all just empty words until we actually see it on the field, but the developments of this offseason would suggest that Harbaugh is right.
John goes on to defend his brother Jim and those criticizing him for giving kids the chance of a lifetime. “What he’s doing is great,” Harbaugh says, “I know I’m on my soapbox, but what he’s doing is a lot of hard work. It’s really hard to go out every day and bust your butt and coach guys in the hot sun who 99.99 percent will never play at the level that you’re coaching at. You coach those guys like they are your own sons, and people want to mock him for that.”
Harbaugh also talks about Eugene Monroe and his cause, freedom of expression, his childhood, and his father’s high energy even after quadruple bypass surgery.
Ravens Could Be Run-Heavy in 2016
Marc Trestman has publicly stated that the Ravens want to run the ball more in 2016, and Gordon McGuiness of Pro Football focus thinks that isn’t such a bad idea. According to their metrics, Flacco wasn’t very good last year, even before the injury. I’m not big on their metrics for quarterbacks, but I would agree that his pace to set a career high in passing yards was a bit misleading. I’ll take it if the Ravens run the ball more and Flacco has another year like 2014.
Best Case, Worst Case: TE Maxx Williams
Bo Smolka of CSN Mid-Atlantic looks at Maxx Williams under the microscope. The best case scenario for this season is that he becomes a major part of the offense and catches about 50 passes. Smolka says that could happen because, despite the hype surrounding the group, the tight end position could face its issues. Crockett Gillmore, Dennis Pitta (with their injury histories) and Ben Watson (with his age) are anything but sure things to make it through the season. That could carve out a big role for Williams.
The worst case scenario is that he falls down to 4th on the depth chart behind Dennis Pitta. Which would probably mean that the tight end group is doing well without him. For Williams, though, this would be disappointing after coming into the league as a second-round pick. If it does happen, it will be important to keep in mind that he’s just 22 years old.
Will Urschel capitalize on chance to start at left guard?
In another edition of Best Case, Worst Case, Clifton Brown of CSN Mid-Atlantic looks at John Urschel. The MIT doctorate student and mathematician has a big opportunity to seize the starting role. But will he? Urschel has played well as a backup in his career (minus a game under center during which he was about as accurate as a weather forecast in Florida trying to get the snap to Flacco), but he hasn’t excelled. In the worst case scenario, either rookie Alex Lewis or Ryan Jensen gets the nod.
In baseball news…
What to Do with $400 Million*
I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that $400 million is a LOT of money. But just how much? It’s more than the income of the City of Annapolis this past year – a lot more. When Manny Machado makes all that money, he’ll need to be wise about saving it. Luckily for him, our guy Brian Kuhn laid out exactly what he can do to be set for life.
*Article for entertainment purposes only.
Arming the O’s to Win It All: Sonny Gray or Ervin Santana?
Jonathan French of ESR searches for a solution to the Orioles’ biggest problem: starting pitching. If they don’t start going deeper into games, the relief pitching won’t be able to keep up, and it’s starting to show. He looks at Sonny Gray as a potential solution, but his mechanics suggest that he might suffer an injury soon. French then turns his attention to Ervin Santana. He says his cost and value match up, and the Orioles should go after him.
