The Big Project Gets The Big Crab Cake

Back during the 2007 season, I had the privilege of hosting Hot Sauce with Bart Scott. It was heard on FM-105.7 prior to the station branding themselves, The Fan. It was a challenging season that included a nine-game losing streak, laying the groundwork for then head coach Brian Billick’s dismissal.

Bart would bring along one of his teammates for each of the shows and one of the more entertaining guests was Kelly Gregg. Throughout the season, Bart would regularly pay homage to Kelly who never received the accolades that were heaped upon some other defensive tackles who accomplished less. Maybe it was his stature. Maybe it was his undrafted status. Maybe it was both. But Kelly’s teammates knew better. They recognized that the former three-time former Oklahoma State wrestling champion did his job so well, while willingly accepting the dirty work, that it made their jobs easier. In the Ravens locker room, Kelly Gregg was an All-Pro.

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Fast forward to 2024…

Unlike 2007, the Ravens today are known for offense. And lost at times among the team’s shining stars like Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, Mark Andrews and Zay Flowers, is a player who like Kelly Gregg before him, possesses an unusual frame for his position. He too is an undrafted player and just like Kelly once did, he embraces the dirty work which elevates the play and results of his teammates – of the entire Ravens offense.

There was a time when some believed that Patrick Ricard would be phased out of offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s offense. That his position alone was a bit of a dinosaur in the modern NFL. But “Project Pat” made a believer out of Monken who now employs Ricard as a vital cog in both the run game and passing game.

As Kelly Gregg once proved, and as Ricard continues to prove, it is sometimes those overlooked contributors that make the entire operation work. It’s those understated efforts that catapult the success of others. And more times than not, their accomplishments are unsung. But not today.

In many ways, Patrick Ricard is the heart and soul of the Ravens offense, and on Sunday in Baltimore, he was the Jimmy’s Famous Seafood Big Crab Cake, given weekly to the Ravens’ unsung hero.

Here’s to more 3-yard TD catches for the 300-pound fullback!

FULLBACK TOUCHDOWN ALERT @PRic508 | Tune in on CBS! pic.twitter.com/zqoKzeHYf5

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 3, 2024

.@Ravens @PRic508 is so selfless; so important to this TEAM and to this offense; ya gotta throw a DAWG a bone every once in while. @Lj_era8 sure seemed excited about it. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/KnYbRLYko5

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 4, 2024

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