A Challenge and Then Some

Lamar Jackson has dominated the airwaves. He’s been THE focal point for NFL discussions for the past couple of months and there’s really no end in sight. The topic of Lamar has even trumped conversations about the NFL Draft, which at this time of the year is usually king. Not so much this offseason. This article will provide a few pieces of previously undisclosed insight as it pertains to the drama that is Lamar Jackson, but before we get there, I wanted to touch on a few other topics of interest in the local sports scene.

Challenge It!

Many Ravens fans have been frustrated over the years by the at-times, mind-numbing decisions made by John Harbaugh to challenge calls on the field that have virtually no chance to be overturned. But you might be surprised to know that compared to many of his peers, John isn’t so bad when littering the field with his red sack of rice.

During his career Harbaugh has been successful on 54 of his overall 124 challenges (43.5%). Comparatively speaking, a few of his more established contemporaries have “enjoyed” the following success rates in their respective careers:

• Mike Tomlin: 36 of 86 (41.9%)
• Bill Belichick: 52 of 128 (40.6%)
• Andy Reid: 68 of 138 (49.3%)
• Pete Carroll: 50 of 111 (45.0%)
• Sean McDermott: 7 of 27 (25.9%)

So relative to this peer sampling, Harbaugh while not great, isn’t exactly awful. Nevertheless, the Ravens are changing the way they approach challenges this coming season as part of an effort to improve in all phases of the game. When the Ravens are on offense, D-Line coach and Assistant Head Coach Anthony Weaver will make the challenge call and when the Ravens are on defense, the challenge responsibility goes to Assistant Wide Receivers Coach Keith Williams. The Ravens PR group has informed us that both new “challenge coaches” will be compensated by Chrysler in exchange for wearing a patch on their right sleeve promoting the new Dodge Challenger, courtesy of Don White’s Timonium.

Nearly a Baltimore Baker?

Since his days at Oklahoma, the Ravens personnel staff along with owner Steve Bisciotti, have been enamored with Baker Mayfield. Reports have surfaced that the Ravens reached out to the then free agent quarterback to see if he would consider playing in Baltimore if the Ravens failed to sign Lamar Jackson to a long-term deal. Mayfield was said to be interested, partly out of his desire to stick it to the Browns twice annually and partly due to his friendship with Ravens All Pro tight end Mark Andrews. Baker was willing to play in Baltimore for less than what he eventually got from Tampa Bay, but the Bucs threatened to take the deal off the table if Mayfield didn’t commit. And as they say, the rest is history. But there is a silver lining…

Had Mayfield accepted the rather modest offer from the Ravens, the chances of signing Odell Beckham, Jr. would have dried up quickly. OBJ would not even entertain talks with the Ravens if Mayfield was to become a Raven. We all know that the pair weren’t exactly bosom buddies in Cleveland. But… that wasn’t the only obstacle standing in the way of OBJ to B’more.

Marlon Humphrey literally tried to kill OBJ pic.twitter.com/g74wQamnhN

— NFL Humor (@NFLHumor) September 29, 2019

Marlon Humphrey is said to have been vehemently opposed to bringing in OBJ until the Ravens agreed to give Marlon additional studio time and editing resources for his Studio 44 podcast. The Ravens conceded and now the coast is clear to bring on OBJ, provided of course the Ravens can meet his $15M/year contractual demands.

As the Ravens work on financial parameters with OBJ, they’ve simultaneously set their sights on the Cardinals’ DeAndre Hopkins. Those close to the situation believe that it will take a combination of draft picks to land Hopkins – draft capital that the Ravens are short on in 2023. The Cardinals are looking for a second and third round pick in 2023 and another third-rounder in 2024. The Ravens are said to have offered a 2023 third and LB Patrick Queen. This is a fluid situation but it should see closure before the 2023 NFL Draft.

Speaking of the draft…

The 2025 NFL Draft

As you know the 2023 NFL Draft will be hosted by Kansas City while the 2024 shindig will take place in The Motor City, Detroit Michigan. The host city for the 2025 NFL Draft has yet to be announced but we’re hearing that there’s a very good chance that it will land right here in Charm City.

Mel Kiper, Jr., the defacto pioneer of NFL draft coverage and a senior executive of the NFL Draft Advisory Committee, shared recently that he has been advocating for Baltimore as a host city for quite some time. Mel’s influence has been persuasive and while the committee was said to be torn over whether or not to give Baltimore the nod, the renovations to the new Baltimore Arena (now CFG Bank Arena) are so impressive that it now seems like a foregone conclusion that Kiper’s hometown will be the site of choice in 2025. Special guests are expected to include all retired first-round picks of Baltimore’s NFL franchises, including the Colts. Bert Jones, the Colts’ 1973 first-round pick and second overall selection, will announce Baltimore’s first pick.

98 Rock

Look for WIYY-FM to be very involved in the 2025 NFL Draft and if things go as hoped, the rocking station may have a full-fledged sports talk alternative by that time. Word is that 98 Rock plans to offer a 2-6PM sports talk program to be hosted by the outstanding Ravens Wrap Up team of Pete Gilbert and Keith Mills, beginning on July 1. Apparently, The Hearst Corporation, the parent company of WBAL and 98 Rock, are very aware of the Baltimore fan angst directed towards the 2-6PM team on 105.7 The Fan – the tandem that ironically calls themselves “Inside Access”.

Hearst sees that the ratings are still solid for the oft-criticized show and its cantankerous hosts, but they’ve determined (and rightly so), that the impressive ratings have nothing to do with the program itself but more to do with the heavy demand in Baltimore for local sports talk.

The pairing of hosts Jason LaCanfora and Ken Weinman is said to be the ill-advised brainchild of program director Chuck Sapienza. A source has said that it was Sapienza’s idea to bring on the highly unpopular LaCanfora and despite calls for the former CBS correspondent’s removal, Sapienza has stuck with his guy – a classic example of “escalation of commitment.”

But all this could soon change, as we’re hearing that Sapienza may be making a move to Audacy’s DC counterpart, 106.7 The Fan, given that the nation’s capital has four professional sports teams to cover. Without Sapienza, LaCanfora is vulnerable. There was some speculation that Sapienza might take LaCanfora to DC with him but LaCanfora has little fanfare in Washington given the bridges he nuked with the team formerly known as the Redskins. Just ask Vinny Cerrato who LaCanfora is said to duck regularly when the two cross paths in the hallways of 105.7 The Fan. Allegedly his co-host often lets Jason in the backdoor of the studio or he dresses in disguise (maybe as Adam Schefter?) just to avoid any potential confrontations.

But let’s give credit to Hearst, for recognizing and seizing the opportunity. This could be a great thing for listeners of sports talk radio here in The Land of Pleasant Living.

Now…More Lamar

I mentioned a couple of tidbits at the outset of this article regarding the Ravens mercurial signal caller, Lamar Jackson. You are probably well aware that Lamar asked for a trade back on March 2nd, per his Tweet. The announcement really did little. Teams were already aware that Lamar could be had by serving up the right contract and forking over two first-round picks. Still, there are no takers. The only team to remotely express interest in Lamar is the Colts, but according to owner Jim Irsay, not at Lamar’s asking price.

A Colts beat writer speaking under the condition of anonymity claims that the Colts front office shared with him that if the Colts can’t get the QB they want with the 4th overall pick, an on-the-clock trade for Lamar could happen. Irsay might then be willing to make enough financial concessions to Lamar but is said to not be too keen on giving up two first-round picks. The alleged proposed trade package includes the 2023 4th overall pick, WR Michael Pittman and the rights to Andrew Luck who has said that he would come out of retirement to play for John Harbaugh. You may recall that Luck and Jim Harbaugh had a great relationship when the two were paired at Stanford University.

[Related Article: A Fool for a Client]

No LJ8 in Cincinnati

Much has been made over Lamar’s absence in Cincinnati during the team’s Wild Card game there on January 8, 2023. The team and Lamar have said that he stayed back in Baltimore due to his lingering PCL injury. Sorry, not the case! Lamar was up until the wee hours of the morning the night before, playing video games and then missed the team’s Saturday afternoon flight, having overslept. Both he and the club thought that if this information leaked it could hurt Lamar’s bargaining power and trade value, if in fact Lamar leaves by way of a trade. So together, the sides spun the story in a mutually advantageous way.

The snooze alarm faux pas took place the day after Lamar passed on a marketing deal with David Copperfield. Copperfield’s camp wanted to include Lamar in a commercial during which he only needed to smile at the camera following the video of him in Cincinnati, called by Kevin Harlan exclaiming, “He’s Houdini!” After the smile, Copperfield would suddenly appear in a POOF and say, “But I’m not!”, followed by clips of his illusionist tricks to help promote upcoming gigs at Horseshoe Casino. Lamar’s handlers said no to the $500,000 offered. I guess it wasn’t enough for him to flash a grin and don a tuxedo. Go figure…

What was better, the Lamar Jackson run or the Kevin Harlan call? 😂

(via @NFL)
pic.twitter.com/O9RfbSmfX1

— FanDuel (@FanDuel) June 28, 2020

G-Ro Speaks

Greg Roman was recently a guest of Vic Carucci on The 33rd Team podcast. The interview was quite revealing, during which Roman shared that he felt a bit slighted by John Harbaugh and was forced to fall on the sword of the Ravens offensive failures in 2022. Many pointed to the shortcomings of Roman’s passing scheme but the former offensive coordinator blamed Tee Martin and Keith Williams for the limitations in the route concepts. He also pinned plenty of blame on Lamar.

“We would oftentimes get the look we expected from a defense and Lamar would only have to make a simple pre-snap change in order to exploit an opponent. But all too often he was overly concerned about the line calls to thwart blitzes both in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. The play clock would wind down and he never could get to the route adjustments. Then of course there were the errant throws on some verticals but with Lamar, you just take the good with the bad.”

Greg Roman on Lamar Jackson: "Honestly, he was safest when he was out in space on the move because he was in control as opposed to in the pocket with his eyes downfield, hoping somebody doesn’t run into the back of his legs." https://t.co/aILa04yuFW

— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) March 31, 2023

Go Fish!

Back in 1582, France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. In the Julian Calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1.

People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1, became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.” These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.

Were you caught by this article?

None of it is true.

Enjoy your prankful day!