Sorting Through the Noise

Looking at what the Ravens have done well so far, and what remains a question

In today’s NFL, each season is no longer a chapter in a larger book, it is its own book by itself.

Salary cap restraints, free agency, impatient fan bases and front offices, the college draft and the basic rules of attrition align to give your team a new look every single season. It’s hard to keep a great group together for a decade anymore, and it’s basically now a system of identifying your cornerstone players, pouring resources into identifying players in the draft, and targeting specific players in free agency who can do precisely what your system requires.

And coaching. The game has become more scheme- and personnel-dependent than ever before, as teams search for any edge that could give them an advantage going forward. And guess what happens when you nail that staff and put together a dream team?

That’s right. You get pillaged like a British farm by Vikings. Not the Minnesota Vikings, mind you. Well, maybe the Minnesota Vikings…

But I digress.

The point is that teams cannot remain static anymore, simply because other teams can come with more salary cap space or cash in hand to take what you got. And they will. There’s a lot riding on this stuff anymore.

So, with that backdrop, let’s take a look at some of the Ravens’ offseason, and we will identify three things I feel they’ve upgraded, and three things I feel they might have gone backwards.

Up

Defensive Coaching Staff

Look, I was a fan of John Harbaugh. Let’s put that out there first.

I have stood out there during training camp and watched him run the most organized practices I have ever seen on any level. He was always motivated, never stopped talking to players or coaches at any time, and was engaged on every level. Plus, his teams competed hard every game he coached. Were there a couple stinkers mixed in along the way? Sure. But I don’t think I ever watched Harbaugh’s Ravens and thought they were loafing.

That being said, it was time. And it was probably time a few years ago, if we’re being honest.

Jesse Minter alone brings me incredible optimism for the defense. We’ve all watched him succeed in both college and the NFL, and there is no doubt in my mind the Ravens will enjoy a schematic advantage in more games this season than they won’t. And, even though he is now charged with the entire team and not just the defense, the addition of Anthony Weaver to run the day-to-day also brings me optimism.

A healthy Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry will keep the offense at least dangerous. An improved defense alone makes this team better.

Guards

You know who really, really wanted Daniel Faalele to be good? This guy. You know who wasn’t any good? Daniel Faalele.

You can throw Andrew Vorhees into that category, as well, though I’m not really ready to completely give up on his future with only one year of consistent playing time under his belt.

The guards were awful. It gummed things up in the run game for big stretches of the season, annihilated the passing game at times and, quite frankly, changed the play-calling to try to account for the carnage you just knew was coming up the middle every play.

The Ravens have seemingly upgraded with veteran John Simpson returning to Charm City and rookie first-round pick Olaivavega Ioane (who will this be dubbed “Vega” in my report cards after every game in the future). We know what’s there in Simpson — a solid guard who usually blocks who he is supposed to, but does get beaten by better players. In Ioane, there is plenty of cause to hope he becomes a Pro Bowler as he progresses.

Buying an extra quarter of a second for Jackson on dropbacks, or opening an extra six inches of space for Henry through this upgrade, could mean the difference between returning to the playoffs and fighting each other on X.

Pass Rush

This was tough to watch last year as a Ravens fan. Opposing quarterbacks would have time to come to the top of their drop, pat the ball four times, scan the field, pat the ball four more times and then hit a receiver who sprung open after 10 seconds. My daughter learned a lot of new words sitting by me for many games.

Add Trey Hendrickson. Add another year for Mike Green, with new coaches in his ear. Ditto for Tavius Robinson, who has played pretty well when he’s seen action. Add Zion Young, whose physicality alone on the edge should strangle some pockets. And, perhaps most importantly, welcome back Nnamdi Madubuike to pair with Travis Jones and Calais Campbell in muddying up the middle.

It looks good on paper, particularly when paired with Minter, who made Odafe Oweh an interesting pass-rusher last season with the Chargers.

As always, it depends on health. But this is looking way better already.

Down

Center

This is the biggest remaining hole on the roster, in my opinion. And it’s not close.

You can say what you want about Tyler Linderbaum’s pass-blocking, and there were some bad reps over the years, but he wasn’t bad against 90 percent of the league, and he was tremendous in the run game. I can’t begin to tell you how many big runs were had by Henry or Justice Hill or Keaton Mitchell, and Linderbaum was making two impactful blocks on different levels of the defense. Plus, his snaps were largely clean, and don’t think that doesn’t matter.

But now… well. Let’s just say it doesn’t look good out there, and my biggest fear is the hole in the middle will impact any gains the Ravens made at guard.

There are a few options on the trade market that seem possible, but the Ravens would ideally like to see that happen before training camp to give this new unit time to jell. Time will tell.

But at this time, I’m alarmed.

Tight End

I loved the room the last couple seasons with Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar. They all had things they brought to the table, and they all had their big moments to varying degrees. But it’s different now, and features another-year-older Andrews, a blocking option in Durham Smythe and two rookies in Matthew Hibner and Josh Cuevas.

OK.

It could work. The young guys could both make immediate impacts, Andrews could come back rejuvenated and healthy after an offseason of few complications and Smythe could fill that Kolar role of bullying and occasionally popping out for a catch or two at big moments.

There are just too many questions for a position group that probably needs to play well this season for the Ravens to field the kind of offense they are used to fielding.

Offensive Play-Calling

Nobody really knows exactly what to expect out of this new offensive coaching staff, as the pieces come from a number of different systems and there are so many new players to get involved. The good news is the team has a pair of superheroes in Jackson and Henry, who can erupt at any moment to provide an offensive jolt, and Zay Flowers has quickly become a real weapon on which to rely.

But there are questions. Todd Monken had a rough time last year with the injuries and the mess up front, but the Ravens finished first and sixth, respectively, in total offense the two years before that. He was a veteran who knew how to find yards on a consistent basis.

The hope is that there is more consistency in keeping to the run game, finding easy answers in the pass game and better execution in the red zone.

We certainly have optimism for Declan Doyle. We just don’t know yet.

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