Ravens top five position battles to watch for in training camp: Slot Receiver edition

The Baltimore Ravens are among the teams with most continuity in the entire league with the immense amount of carryover on both the roster and the coaching staff from last year’s squad that finished with a franchise-record 14-2 record in the regular season. They will be returning nearly all of their starters on offense and defense from 2019, yet there will be a handful of starting spots and key roles up for grabs in training camp that is set to being at the end of the month. 

With the offseason having been condensed by the COVID-19 pandemic, veteran players with a year or more of experience in the Baltimore’s system or the league, in general, might have the early advantage over some of the rookies that they will be competing against.

However, several Ravens coaches have been raving about the incredible metal aptitude of their rookies both drafted and undrafted in virtual meetings and can’t wait to get them on the field so nobody should be counted out at this point and there could be some first-year players that close the gap and pull ahead quicker than anticipated even given the abnormally adverse circumstances that have proceeded their inaugural seasons in the league.

Here is the final edition of a five-part series breaking down the top five position battles that will take place in training camp and the preseason—if there is one:

Slot Receiver-

Most of the hype around the Ravens’ wide receiver position this offseason has centered around rising sophomores Marquise Hollywood Brown and Miles Boykin. They both started 11 games as a rookie last season, flashed their potential at times but not consistently and they are both expected to assume bigger roles in the offense as pass catchers as potential breakout candidates heading into their second seasons in the league.

While the two dynamic talents that line primarily outside the hashes on the perimeter have garnered most of the attention, the competition at slot receiver has been largely overlooked but given the vital role that it plays in the offense. In Baltimore’s offense, the slot receiver serves as the quickest read in the quarterback’s progression, an extra blocker in the run game, and helps reveal the coverage that the defense is in (man or zone) by going in motion pre-snap.

The top two candidates that will be battling it out in training camp to earn the lion’s share of snaps at the spot will be veteran Willie Snead entering his seventh season and rookie Devin Duvernay entering his first.

Snead is the incumbent at the position heading into camp later this month and his experience in the league and familiarity with the system will make him the early favorite over the fresh-faced rookie who possesses more of a threat as a playmaker in the passing game. Snead was a key contributor to the Ravens’ revolutionary offense that shattered single-season rushing record last season. He the best blocking receiver on the team and one of the most punishing downfield blockers in the league.

He has been a reliable and sure-handed chain moving target in the passing game for reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson in his first two years in the league. His targets, receptions, and receiving yards took a dip last season compared to his first year with the team in 2018, however, he did haul in a career-high five touchdowns.

As seasoned and dependable as Snead is, he doesn’t possess the same explosive playmaking ability as Duvernay. If you watched the second day of the draft you could see just how amped Head Coach John Harbaugh was when the team selected the former Texas Longhorn in the third round. He celebrated the official announcing of the pick with a fierce fist pump into the air while sitting his home study where he was watching the virtual draft be conducted.

Duvernay emerged as one of the best receiving prospects in the country during his breakout senior season. He caught 101 passes for 1386 yards and 9 touchdowns in 13 games and even scored another touchdown on the ground to bring his scores from scrimmage total to 10 in his final collegiate season.

Like Snead, Duvernay does his best work when operating out of the slot where he can use his shiftiness and explosiveness at the line to gain quick separation and then proceed to use his great run after the catch ability to create big plays out of routine catches. His balance after contact and ability to break tackles as well as elude defenders in the open field resemble the playing style of running back except he’s built like a strong safety yet he plays the receiver position with a brand of toughness unique to plays that play in the slot on both sides of the ball.

It takes a certain type of toughness to play a position that works in the middle of the field where the most collisions and bone-jarring hits occur. Even for a position like receiver that is universally recognized for its diva personalities, those that play in the slot are just built differently mentally as well as physically since they don’t tend to possess the prototypical builds.

The Napoleon complex that slot receivers and cornerbacks play with since they’re usually some of the smallest guys on the team reflects itself in their physical style of play. At 5-foot-11 and 210 pounds, Duvernay is built and plays like be belong catching slants across the middle, avoiding or absorbing blows en route to moving the chains and picking up chunks of yards.

Another player that could be in the mix is rookie James Proche who was selected in the sixth round of this year’s draft out of SMU. Like Snead and Duvernay, he too is proficient at working out of the slot and possess outside versatility. He also recorded caught over 100 passes and eclipsed 1,000-yard recurving in 13 games during his senior season, 111 catches for 1225 yards to be exact.

In fact, unlike Duvernay who had one big year of production, Proche followed up his breakout junior campaign where he came up seven receptions shy of 100, recorded his first 1,000-yard season and reeled in 12 touchdowns with an even better one in 2019 and caught one more touchdown than he did the year before too, bring his scoring total from his last two collegiate season to 25.

Proche will also be competing to be the team’s starting returner and provide a spark to the return game that has been missing since former Pro Bowl return specialist and jovial fan-favorite Jacoby Jones was fielding kicks and punts and posing a threat to take it the distance every time the ball didn’t go out the back of the end zone.

Given the lack of an offseason program outside side of virtual meetings and workouts, the two rookies could face a steep learning curve once they hit the practice field which should give Snead the early edge. However, both Duvernay and Proche have been impressing their veteran teammates in private throwing sessions in Texas and Florida which could bode well for them getting on the same page with Jackson sooner rather than later.