Ravens Football is back and boy has it been a long offseason
*Walks from out of my cave to The Rock’s intro music*
The last time anyone heard from me, I was predicting a Ravens win over the Cincinatti Bengals in week 17 which would have got us back in the playoffs for the first time since the 2014 season. We all know how that night ended so there’s no need to go into detail.
But in the good words of our friend Annie, “The sun come out tomorrow.” A new beginning with a new look offense has me and the rest of Ravens Nation excited for a new season which kicks off tomorrow with the Hall of Fame game in Canton against the Chicago Bears. While there’s a lot of buzz around the future of Joe Flacco and the emergence of rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson, I am more focused on the new receiving group led by Michael Crabtree. This is easily the best group of receivers Joe Flacco has had at his arsenal since the 2012 super bowl winning year. Michael Crabtree who is a great possession receiver and red zone threat similar to the likes of Anquan Boldin, is the clear cut number one option. He’s coming off a year where he gained a career low 618 receiving yards but still managed to grab 8 touchdowns. The yardage doesn’t come as a alarm for two reasons; first being that has never been his game. Crabtree has only 2 seasons, out of his 10 in the league, in which he’s gone over 1,000 yards. His role has been to go over the middle and make the tough catches to move the chain, and most of all be the great red zone threat that he’s been. Both of those qualities (especially the latter) will be a big help to a passing offense that has been mediocre at best since the start of the 2015 season. Pair that with deep threat John Brown and route running extraordinaire Willie Snead IV, along with big body rookie tight end Hayden Hurst Joe has no reason to struggle barring injury.
Speaking of injury the quality of players the Ravens have returning from season ending injuries is second to none. Starting with perennial all-pro Marshal Yanda; Yanda was lost for the year in a week 2 game against the Cleveland Browns and even though the Ravens did a great job stepping up by committee his presence is one that cant be replaced. Yanda’s return not only gives the run game and interior pass protection a boost, but it also allows everyone to go back to their natural positions, which was a rarity for the o-line last season. Also returning from injury are corner backs Jimmy Smith and Tavon Young. Smith was lost in December to another achilles injury and served an 4 game suspension. Prior to that, he was having a career year. Pro Football Focus had Smith as one of the highest rated corners after allowing only a 49.2 quarterback rating when targeted. So his return will be huge if he can get back to form by week 1. Tavon Young is returning after missing all of the 2017 season to a ACL tear in mini camp. Tavon Young was drafted primarily to be the 3rd corner in the often used nickel package in today’s pass-happy league. But during his rookie season, he rose up the depth chart to being the 2nd corner opposite of Jimmy Smith and he had a great year. Young is returning to his natural position and he’s looking forward to it recently saying, “The slot is where all the action is, you have to help on the run and cover slot receivers.” His return along with the rest of the group that didn’t finish last year like Nico Siragusa, Kenneth Dixon, and Alex Lewis will be a great sight.
