The 2019 Baltimore Ravens — you know, right up to the point when they kicked all of us in the collective cupcakes — were a whirlwind of a force on the field, dazzling opponents with an array of misdirection, skill and flexibility, both on defense and offense.
Defensively, once the team acquired Marcus Peters in a mid-season trade, opponents would be facing a combination of Peters, Brandon Carr, Jimmy Smith, Marlon Humphrey, Earl Thomas and Chuck Clark in the passing game, with blitzing from the corners and dropping Carr, Smith or Thomas deep. They baffled and confused, and could match up with seemingly whatever was thrown their way. And, in tandem, then-Defensive Coordinator Wink Martindale would throw his wild assortment of blitzes and stunts up front, speeding up quarterbacks to have to make quick decisions against this baffling secondary.
On offense, the team operated in a very similar manner. Power runners Mark Ingram and Gus Edwards would gash the interior of opposing defenses behind a physical line, and if they over-compensated towards the middle, quarterback Lamar Jackson would pull the ball back out at the mesh point and become a terrifying blur around the edge. Combine that with a trio of tight ends who could line up tight to block or detach to extend defenses out of their bunches, and the Ravens were a swirling, whirling tornado on both sides of the ball. They led the league on offense, featuring a wide receiver corps comprised of Marquise Brown, Seth Roberts, Willie Snead and Miles Boykin.
Essentially, they did the proverbial “zig when everyone else zags” thing, snubbing their nose to a modern NFL that featured inherent advantages to new-age passing games, and maintaining their organization-long love affair with fielding a nightmare-enduring defense.
This year’s offseason, particularly with this week’s draft, tells me they’re recommitting to that kind of attack.
On defense, adding Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton to Chuck Clark, Brandon Stephens and Tony Jefferson in that safety group, gives them a combination of skills and possibilities in the “safety” group, while Jalyn Armour-Davis and Damarion Williams bring outside and inside skills, respectively, to Humphrey and Peters with the corners. Travis Jones will join Calais Campbell, Justin Madubuike, Michael Pierce, Broderick Washington and, hopefully, Derek Wolfe in what should be a powerful defensive front, with Jones and Madubuike bringing good penetration skills. They still need to add a pass-rusher or two on the outside, but the addition of injured rookie David Ojabo provides a little optimism for the future. A trio of Tyus Bowser, Odafe Oweh and Ojabo seems awfully interesting.
Offensively, let’s start with these new tight ends that will join All Pro Mark Andrews in resurrecting that multi-headed monster from 2019. Charlie Kolar brings good size and receiving skills, while Isaiah Likely is 6-foot-6 and averaged 15.4 yards per reception in college, per the Ravens’ Ryan Mink. That can get things going again in terms of offering that hybrid personnel grouping to the field each down, while the additions of Tyler Linderbaum and Daniel Faalele will team with free agent signee Morgan Moses to truly beef up the offensive line. It’s important to note that Linderbaum’s selection allows the Ravens to use Patrick Mekari as that Swiss Army Knife guy who can “get you out of a game” if someone gets hurt. Tyler Badie brings juice and receiving skills to the running back room to join JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards, giving defensive coordinators yet another migraine for their planning sessions.
Could the Ravens need another receiver? Absolutely. Maybe two. But it appears the team is looking to hitch its passing-game wagon to the tight ends, second-year man Rashod Bateman and more opportunities for young receivers like Devin Duvernay, James Proche and Tylan Wallace. If you have a fullback and one-to-three tight ends on the field at any given time, there just doesn’t need to be as many bodies at receiver. You need receivers who are reliable and don’t drop the ball.
It would appear that the Ravens’ brass made a clear decision this year that they are not going to jump on the train that much of the league is traveling, and focus on being a matchup nightmare, week to week, and snap to snap.
Can you win a championship playing this way? Sure, if you score more points than the other team. Style points don’t really matter, right? Just do what you do better than what the other guys do what they do.
