Happy Friday, Ravens Flock. Hope everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July and is trying to get back into the swing of things at work this Friday.
This week has been centered all around another person with a microphone who thought it would be a good idea to criticize Lamar Jackson. Does he have enough weapons? Did the Ravens over-invest in him? Is he holding the Ravens back? Can this get me some views and interactions?
And if you allow me to step up on my soapbox for a moment…
These conversations are the worst and do nothing but cause useless debate over the internet. Nobody wins in these scenarios. I shouldn’t have to explain why Lamar isn’t holding his team back, so I am not touching that can of worms. If you honestly believe this, please sit at the children’s table while the adults talk.
If you think Lamar doesn’t get enough support from the front office then you are told that he does have enough, and the three first-round picks used on wide receivers are thrown in your face, and you’re told that they have done more for him than most teams would do for their quarterback. In turn, this gives ammo to the “Lamar’s overrated” crowd and is used to tear him down. On the flip side, if you believe that the front office has held Lamar back by not getting him a true number-one game-wrecker wide receiver (for multiple reasons, such as lack of high picks or unwillingness to trade away first-round picks), well, then that is used to tear the Ravens down. People will say how outdated this organization’s thinking is.
Nobody wins. It is just argument for argument’s sake, and I can’t stand it. Need some social media interaction? Drop a Lamar Jackson take. At this point, it’s stale.
I’m off the soap box, and it’s time for more reflections on my Ravens.
With so much talk about the receiver room this week, I wanted to shine some light on what I believe is an underrated player:
Ravens WR Nelson Agholor generated a 121.6 passer rating when targeted last season.
A season-high for him. pic.twitter.com/E3XtknqGtm
— 𝗥𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝙇𝙄𝙑𝙀 (@LIVERavenNation) July 3, 2024
Nelson Agholor, as wide receiver four, was such a steal for this team. He is a legitimate solid playmaker who steps up when his number is called. How much that phone will ring this year is to be determined, with younger players wanting to get an opportunity, but last year, he stepped up when OBJ or Rashod Bateman couldn’t go. I am more than happy to have Agholor on this team.
Looking back on this week, I realize that some Ravens fans still might not grasp the potential the running game could have.
Derrick Henry is on the Baltimore Ravens#PSA
— Cole Jackson (@ColeJacksonFB) July 4, 2024
We as fans talk so much about how much or little the Ravens have invested into Lamar getting a game-breaking talent on offense beside him; we just have been looking in the wrong places. This will make people mad, but the Ravens view the Derrick Henry addition the same way we, as fans, would view a CeeDee Lamb addition. Henry is their version of a talent that can take a ton of stress off Jackson. Isn’t that the essence of why we all want a true number-one wide receiver? I get that it’s not the same, and trust me: I see the things said about how it doesn’t matter how good the run game is if John Harbaugh abandons it in the playoffs. People fail to realize that Derrick Henry is the solution to that problem. The Ravens won’t abandon the run game if Henry were in the backfield because his presence alone would give the team confidence to run the ball.
Man, we had some controversial takes this week, didn’t we? There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. We’ll have real football to talk about soon enough. For now, try to avoid the engagement farmers.
