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Offense Up & Down During Final Installs

Mike Davis camp
photo: Phil Hoffmann/Baltimore Ravens
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Coming off their 21st straight preseason win on Thursday night, the Ravens had an up-and-down weekend of practice as the offense integrated what Greg Roman called the “final installment” of new material for the season.

The offense looked quite sharp on Saturday but less so on Sunday, as the defensive decisively won the practice with multiple turnovers in 11-on-11 work.

Of course, the Ravens’ first-team offense often goes as Lamar Jackson goes. I felt like timing and ball placement were the main contributors to Jackson’s interceptions last year, and he looks much improved in practice. One quick example: he threw a pass to Rashod Bateman on a quick hitch that looked off-target at first, but actually led Bateman away from the defender lurking nearby. Understanding those nuances will reduce pass break-ups and interceptions, lead to more YAC and ideally protect pass-catchers from massive hits. Timing-wise, Jackson is also working on throwing his receivers open, especially on passes to the sidelines. He also seemed to take his first read right away if it was open, but looks very comfortable going through his progression in the pocket.

Unsurprisingly, Jackson looks best when he’s targeting Mark Andrews or Bateman. There’s not much I can write about Andrews that isn’t already known – his chemistry with Jackson somehow looks even better than last year and he’s basically uncoverable 1-on-1, so I’m expecting another big year from the 2021 All-Pro.

Of course, other teams will be doing the same, likely keying on Andrews in early regular season games with plenty of double teams. That’s one of the many reasons why I’m fully bought into the Bateman sophomore breakout. No matter how good he looks in camp and the preseason, opposing defenses will force him to prove himself early on by devoting resources to stopping Andrews and the ground attack. Bateman is more than ready to rise to the challenge; he’s starting to show some of the advanced receiving skills that separate elite wideouts in the NFL. He shields the ball from defenders on sideline routes and gets his feet in the perfect position to explode downfield after the catch, something I haven’t seen out of a Ravens’ receiver in years. When Bateman wins a 1-on-1 matchup, it’s over. He knows how to close out a route and get as much separation as possible in a way that the team’s other receivers don’t.

On that note, though, one of the most impressive plays of the weekend came when Kyle Hamilton, playing as a single-high safety in 11-on-11’s, managed to recover and catch up to Bateman, who got open deep. Hamilton showed off his elite closing speed and broke up the slightly underthrown pass. Hamilton seems to be taking his NFL lumps quite well – whether it be from Twitter critics or Marlon Humphrey and his endless clowning – and has responded well in practice. He surges to the ball in full team work and seems determined to improve his 1-on-1 ability as well. He only matched up with Isaiah Likely twice over the weekend, shutting down a short in-breaker and offering excellent coverage on a seam route, only to be beaten by a better diving catch from the TE.

Back to the wide receivers: there’s still no clarity on a potential WR5. Jaylon Moore has the experience edge and runs the most precise routes, but a 5-foot-11 speedster doesn’t add anything new to the Ravens’ wide receivier corps. Shemar Bridges has flashed so far and would add some size to the wideout room. Makai Polk has quietly had a very consistent camp, and a big preseason game would propel him into the mix, too. Binjimen Victor had a touchdown during red zone drills, but I’m looking for more contested-catch dominance from a guy who is 6-foot-4. Slade Bolden was back at practice, but he’s not standing out in competition.

Ultimately, I think two things will influence the WR5 battle more than anything else: experience and special teams value. Bridges has taken well to special teams and could fill a specific role as a run-blocker and red zone threat, too. But Moore spent last year on the practice squad and looks improved on special teams, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Ravens reward that.

The Ravens could also just carry four wide receivers and use practice squad activations to rotate more players in based on specific team matchups. It helps that Likely acts as a pseudo-WR5, too. He’s not yet a complete Ravens tight end due to his blocking issues, but having Nick Boyle back healthy as well as the always-pancake-happy Patrick Ricard will help cover that in the running game.

Having your star running backs healthy would help the rushing attack, too, but that’s looking less and less likely by the day. J.K. Dobbins was absent all weekend for purportedly pre-planned “evaluation days,” but it’s nevertheless a concerning follow-up to his less-than-100% practice debut last week. Gus Edwards still seems pretty far off, so a combination of Justice Hill and Mike Davis will dominate carries early, and I’m not afraid of Tyler Badie getting touches either. Nate McCrary figures to be a non-factor; he had a tough weekend with a false start, fumble on an exchange with Huntley, and dropped pass leading to an interception. Hill looks especially shifty after his Achilles injury and I think Davis will have a lot of success in the Ravens’ scheme. They won’t average the same gaudy yards-per-carry, but Hill and Davis could pack a nice one-two punch like Dobbins and Edwards did in 2020.

I’m cautiously optimistic about the offensive line. The uncertainty with Ronnie Stanley and even Tyler Linderbaum may force the Ravens to carry 10 offensive linemen at first, especially with Ben Powers picking up some extra versatility at center. He could even still be in play for the left guard spot, which remains unsettled. My pick is still Tyre Phillips, but Ben Cleveland has come on strong after his early conditioning struggles.

In general, predictions of a 2019 offensive throwback aren’t completely unfounded but Tyler Huntley wasn’t kidding when he said that Jackson is “throwing the hell out of the ball” on Saturday, and that’s against a loaded secondary to a minimally proven group of targets. It could be bombs away for the offense, especially early in the season without Dobbins and Edwards.

Speaking of that loaded secondary, they’re slowly getting healthier and rounding into form. With Brandon Stephens and Jalyn Armour-Davis back, the Ravens will have a ton of options for nickel and dime packages this year. They’ll also be able to play more specific receiver-cornerback matchups than they did last year. I’m not worried about the tackling; it’s an early concern every season and gets better as the year goes on, especially with this group of physical cornerbacks and safeties.

The linebacker corps will be a work in progress, for a few reasons. Like the defensive backs, tackling could be an issue early on due to the lack of fully padded, full-contact practices. Patrick Queen looks ready to go, but it’s unclear who will start next to him. I have a feeling it could be Josh Bynes at first, especially if Mike Macdonald wants to use Queen as a blitzer to compensate for the lack of edge-rushers. Malik Harrison doesn’t have a clear role, and Kristian Welch seems to be holding off the undrafted rookies for the ILB4 roster spot, if it exists. The ability of Hamilton, Chuck Clark and Tony Jefferson to play down in the box will let the Ravens carry an extra defensive back instead of four inside linebackers. Harrison has been moonlighting as an outside linebacker in training camp, though, so I still think Welch makes the team.

Odafe Oweh is absolutely dominating in camp; I’m fully bought-in to his sophomore breakout as well as Bateman’s. I expect another solid year from Justin Houston, but there’s no depth at the position. Steven Means popped in Thursday’s preseason game, but he only has six career sacks in 64 games and over 1600 snaps, including zero in 14 starts last year. I’m also still looking for a lot more from Daelin Hayes, but he is not showing up consistently the way he did last preseason.

The defensive line looks deep and dangerous. Given the current shortage of edge-rushing options, I’d expect Macdonald to lean on this group to generate pressure early in the season with stunts and twists to simulate blitzes and give Oweh and Queen free runs at opposing quarterbacks.

While the early cuts to get down to 85 on Tuesday won’t be too hard, the 53-man roster math will be extremely complicated. It seems like David Ojabo will start the year on the injured reserve list, but potential early-season returners like Stanley and Edwards will want to avoid the back-to-normal minimum of six weeks on IR. The Ravens have been known to cut veterans for initial roster space only to re-sign them after moving players to the IR. Candidates for those handshake deals include Jefferson, Bynes, and Brent Urban.

Some tough decisions incoming, especially with potential trades and signings as other teams form their rosters as well.

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