Do the Ravens Still Have a WR Problem?

The Baltimore Ravens and elite wide receivers have seldom gone hand and hand over the franchise’s history. Before Mark Andrews took the franchise crown for receiving yards earlier this season, the leader was Derrick Mason with 5,777 yards across his six seasons in Baltimore. The next highest wide receiver on the list is Torrey Smith with just 3,591 receiving yards.

Baltimore has taken some shots at first round picks over the last ten years, but had little luck breaking the curse. First-round selection (2015) Breshad Perriman became a total bust. First-round pick Marquise Brown (2019) had a fair share of great games, but also had performances that would leave fans pulling their hair out. Brown requested a trade in 2022 and was dealt to Arizona. First-round pick Rashod Bateman (2021) failed to stay healthy his first few years in the NFL, and right as he seemed to be turning a corner, he’s become a non-factor in this year’s offense.

The Ravens have also taken chances on old, far past their prime wide receivers, and few of them actually amounted to anything in Charm City. Sammy Watkins recorded just over 500 yards over his 16 games in Baltimore. Dez Bryant caught that one touchdown in a 2020 blowout over Jacksonville, that was cool I guess. DeSean Jackson also deserves a shoutout for the absolute bomb he caught from Lamar Jackson in the late stages of a game against the Jaguars in 2022. That may have just been the best throw of Jackson’s entire career.

The wide receiver problem that plagued Baltimore for over a decade finally seemed to have been resolved after the selection of Zay Flowers in 2023. Flowers had nearly 900 yards in his rookie season, and cleared the 1,000-yard mark in 2024. Flowers currently ranks 8th in the NFL in receiving yards, and while he’s projected well over 1,000 yards this season, he has caught just one touchdown, and has only 10 touchdowns on 219 receptions over his three year career.

Last season, the production in the red zone was picked up nicely by Bateman. He racked up 756 yards and nine touchdowns, and it seemed like Jackson was always looking for Bateman in crunch time. This season, Bateman, who signed an extension back in June, has gone radio silent. He’s caught just 18 passes, and only recently had a big third-down drop that would have given the Ravens at least a first down inside the five against Pittsburgh.

The offseason signing of DeAndre Hopkins has also been disappointing from a statistical standpoint. It seems like something good happens every time the ball goes Hopkins’ way, yet he doesn’t get nearly enough chances.

John Harbaugh and Todd Monken were asked about Hopkins this week, and it does seem like they’re aiming to get Hopkins more chances in the offense.

“We’d like to get D Hop more involved,” Monken said Thursday. Hopkins has caught just 17 passes, but for 257 yards, and two touchdowns. Hopkins’ touchdowns came Week 1 against Buffalo and Week 2 against Cleveland, giving Ravens fans a false sense of optimism about his prospects for the season.

Throughout Lamar Jackson’s career, the tight end group has typically picked up a lot of the production that the receiver room didn’t give. This season, Mark Andrews is netting just 26.2 yards a game, and averaging a career low 9.0 yards per catch. His next lowest mark in a season was 11.6 in 2022.

Baltimore has their clear #1 receiver in Zay Flowers, but the lack of production from the corps behind him has been one of the issues flying under the radar for Baltimore this season. Whether it be the result of poor game planning, a lack of talent, failed execution by the offensive line, or something else, the inability to involve Bateman and Hopkins in the offense has led Baltimore to take a step back.

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