Normally I would be doing my post-game stock report following the Ravens third preseason game. However, given the fact that most of the first team and guys who are clearly making the team played a majority of the time, it was hard to really put together a nice list of guys who moved up or down the depth chart. The exception being at WR where I feel the general consensus is that Tandon Doss and Deonte Thompson have no business breaking camp with this squad. We have seen enough over the last couple years to know they just don’t have it.
Discuss your thoughts on Marlon Brown on our message board.
Meet, Marlon Brown, undrafted free-agent out of the University of Georgia. Brown has been impressive in camp, but you make the team based on in game performances. They might have penned his name on the roster after a beautiful 25-yard TD grab in traffic. Having the ability to run a crisp route, catch a pass in the only spot Flacco could have put it, then immediately cut up field for the final five yards to avoid the oncoming DB. Timing, chemistry, that’s what Flacco and Brown had right there. This is where the Ravens scouting department makes their money and proves yet again to be the best in the business.
Marlon Brown played for four years at Georgia but was never a major player. He didn’t start a game until his junior year when he started five, then six out of eight games his senior year before a knee injury ended his college career. His career stats at Georgia read like this. 55 receptions, 851 yards, 8 TDs. Four 100-yard receiving games. That’s a season’s worth of numbers for a decent receiver. So how was Brown on the radar? Numbers must not tell the whole story.
Maybe it’s Brown’s potential. If you go back even further, you’ll find that scout.com ranked him the 2nd best WR in the nation out of high school. ESPN ranked him 3rd. ESPNU ranked him 24th on their top 150 list. Rivals.com ranked him as the number one player in the state of Tennessee. Maybe it’s his ability to rise up in big games. Brown recorded 338 receiving yards and four touchdowns in the Tennessee state championship game, his final game before it was off to UGA.
Then again, maybe it’s the little things Marlon Brown does right. Fundamentals like crisp route running. Good speed for a guy who is 6’5” and guts to go over the middle. Marlon Brown is making the most of his chance to play. When asked about the Ravens newest standout, John Harbaugh said, “We recruited him like crazy. When we first saw him on tape, I saw him, he jumped off the tape.”
The Ravens weren’t the only team in on Brown after the draft. The Houston Texans made an offer to him, but it didn’t include a signing bonus. They wanted to wait until August to see how his health would hold up after tearing his ACL. Also some miscommunications on the Texans part that Marlon Brown wasn’t a fan of, plus a $5,000 signing bonus from the Ravens helped the Bulldog make his decision.
Jacoby Jones, Bernard Pollard. Can Marlon Brown be the next star the Ravens swipe from the Texans?
Ravens Analyst
Mike was born on the Eastern Shore, raised in Finksburg, and currently resides in Parkville. In 2009, Mike graduated from the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland. Mike became a Baltimore City Fire Fighter in late 2010. Mike has appeared as a guest on Q1370, and FOX45. Now a Sr. Ravens Analyst for BSL, he can be reached at mike.randall@baltimoresportsandlife.com.