The Ravens have a cliché problem.
For the better part of three seasons, the Ravens have been afflicted with a seemingly unprecedented number of season-ending injuries.
Accordingly, fans are accustomed to preseason prognostications qualified by the ability of the team to remain healthy. And, as the injuries mount during the regular season, we are treated with the typical mantras…
Next man up
One of the most important abilities on our team is availability
We’ll prepare the guys we have, and we’ll play the guys we have
This will be an opportunity for a playmaker to emerge
Unfortunately, as measured by wins and losses, these approaches are proving ineffective.
Given the general respect and esteem we have for our front office and coaching staff, allow me to extend the benefit of the doubt and hold as an assumption that our talent evaluation and our preparation are as nearly perfect and efficient as they can be. Relying on this assumption, we can reasonably conclude that the original depth chart represents the maximum ability we can field for a 53-man roster, and that the coaches have wrung the utmost performance out of that ability. Consequently, it is unwise to expect a journeyman, backup, or practice squad promotee to surprise and delight in the role formerly occupied by the player starting ahead of him.
Sometimes, the Ravens even admit as much. Though they are loath to rely on injuries as an excuse, when someone the caliber of a Marshal Yanda lands on Injured Reserve, we may hear something to the effect of
You don’t replace a star like that with just one guy; it is going to take a team effort and a lot of guys stepping up in different ways
But for all these clichés then, the most unwelcome one is the unimaginative approach to scheme that follows.
I don’t fault the Ravens for being down their top three receivers, nor do I expect the offense to operate as well in their absence. But I am concerned when the Ravens plug unsigned free agent receivers into essentially the same playbook with little time to develop chemistry with their quarterback and hope to be successful against NFL defenses.
Plainly, no one believes Griff Whalen will line up in Jeremy Maclin’s spot and miraculously energize the offense.
To be fair, some of the play-calling reflects that. In previous years, when Jimmy Smith was unavailable, it appeared that the Ravens played more zone coverage in the secondary to compensate for their inability to be physical and press as effectively. And when Alex Collins emerged as a dynamic running back, it seemed that despite the rededication to power running principles, the Ravens were comfortable relying on some of the zone blocking that complemented his one-cut style (at least to this fan’s eye).
But what if the Ravens didn’t sign or promote a wide receiver in Maclin’s place?
What if they, for instance, signed a converted quarterback who shows promise in the open field with the ball in his hands?
Specifically, what if they re-signed Keenan Reynolds and reinvented some of their plays from scratch?
Imagine formations that feature Reynolds split wide, with some player such as Michael Campanaro on the opposite side of the field. From this alignment, the Ravens could execute jet sweeps with either player. Having sold this play early in the game, they could subsequently run a sweep-reverse. They could even run a sweep-reverse-pass wherein Reynolds receives the ball from Campanaro on the reverse and sets his feet to throw.
The offense could show the same initial look and have Reynolds divert his sweep motion to set in the backfield next to Flacco lined up in either the pistol or the shotgun, and have him run the ball on a dive or a draw. This unlocks more opportunities like a dive-flea flicker back to Flacco.
Alternately, the Ravens could use this look to implement hybrid flavors of the wildcat and the triple option that Reynolds ran masterfully in college: a direct snap to Reynolds with Flacco selling that he received the snap, and a zone read by Reynolds to keep, pitch to a running back trailing the play to Reynolds’ outside shoulder, or pass to a play-side Tight End or a wide receiver running a drag route across the field (though this final version might take too long to develop compared with the O Line’s ability to hold their blocks).
In more traditional formations, Reynolds could line up in a two-back look flanking Flacco in the shotgun and could run off-tackle, receive a pitch, or catch a screen or underneath route in the flat. And again, based on how the defense reacted to the formation, this look could be leveraged for a toss-flea flicker, toss-pass with Reynolds as the thrower, or a fake toss with a delayed backside run by Collins or Buck Allen.
I don’t advocate a purely gadget or gimmick offense, but with 31st ranked attack, perhaps the Ravens can add a few wrinkles and take a few more calculated gambles instead of just lining up the next guy on the depth chart…I think that leaves just one last cliché: something about the definition of insanity being doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?
Let’s see something new and imaginative to break out of this cycle of injury-derailed seasons.
