Ravens will look different, will they look better?

The 1pm September 11th opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers will be here quickly for the Baltimore Ravens. When the Ravens take that field, they will look quite a bit different vs. the Ravens team that lost 31-24 in Pittsburgh January 15th. The question is will Baltimore be improved?

In a recent post (https://baltimoresportsandlife.com/?p=2633) we detailed how we believe the Ravens will look much more athletic this coming year. As I look ahead, a lot of my existing optimism comes from knowing that players like T. Smith, Doss, Reed, Dickson, Cody, Kindle, and J. Smith can make a difference this year with their physical skills.

I’m also pretty enthusiastic about the defense as a whole. I’ve stated several times that overall I was ambivalent about the hire of Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano. However, the players are on-board, and that means a lot. If Pagano is as aggressive as he stated he will be, Baltimore’s defense will often be playing down hill. I’m envisioning Cody, and Ngata swallowing up offensive lines from the interior, and beyond just stopping the running game up the middle; being able to collapse the pocket on quarterbacks. I’m hoping Suggs can maintain the level of play he had at the end of last year, and be helped with Kindle providing some rush off the edge opposite of him. No matter how talented he is, this year will be an adjustment for Jimmy Smith. If he is able to handle himself on an Island against the best receivers in the league, the team can shift coverage towards the 2nd and 3rd WR’s, and bring more blitzes up front. The Baltimore defense was still pretty strong last year, but was often more of a bend not break type of defense. They often had trouble getting off the field on 3rd down. I see plenty of reasons to think the defense can be improved in 2011.

An improved defense might be needed, because I’m not convinced about this offense. While I’m excited about the receiver Torrey Smith can eventually be, and his ability to stretch a defense; I’m less excited about the Ravens now being in a position to have to rely on him this year. I’ve said numerous times this year, that I expected to see Dickson emerge. He is a mismatch for opposing LB’s who can not keep up with him. If he proves to be too strong for Safeties, he is going to put up major numbers during his career. I’m worried about him as a blocking TE in 2011, and he has plenty of work to do, to just match Heap’s 2010 production.

When you go to the playoffs in 3 consecutive seasons, and you win 4 playoff games in that span – the bar is supposed to be raised. The goal is supposed to be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. In a year where large swaths of the roster is built to win, you should not be going into the year with this many questions.

Some current thoughts:

1) After Edwards, and Floyd signed with SF and SD this past week, there was one capable WR left on the market. It happened to be the guy that been on the team the previous 6 years, and was very familiar with the offense and Flacco. Both pretty important things with the limited training camp this year. Since the Ravens did not get Mason back, they currently are featuring a WR/TE group of Boldin, Smith, Doss, Reed, (1 of 3 of Hardy, M. Smith, Harper), Dickson, and Pitta. Maybe some of these guys will really come on during the year.  However, the bottom-line is that Flacco’s current 2nd, 3rd, 4th WR’s, and his top two TE’s have a combined 12 catches. That is crazy to me, when you look at how the rest of the team has been built.

2) I’ve always been a Cotchery fan, dating back to his time at NCST. He has been a good possession receiver. He is currently a possession receiver with a bad back. That back is the reason why the Jets let him go, and decided to replace him with Mason. If the Ravens sign Cotchery today (he is visiting the Castle), I’m sure he will receive a full medical evaluation. If he is deemed fit by the Ravens, I’ll support the move. You would still have to have reservations about the WR group as a whole.

2a) ESPN’s James Walker suggested yesterday (http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post?id=30367) that the Ravens should pursue Buffalo’s Lee Evans via a trade. If he is available, I would prefer him to Cotchery. Evans was discussed in my Q&A with Bob DiCesare of the Buffalo News last October:

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Lee Evans has seen his yards per reception drop from 16.1 in 2008-09, to just 12.1 this year. Is he still capable of stretching the field with better QB play?”

Bob DiCesare: “Absolutely. Evans has been a victim of circumstance, and it’s sad. If he had been drafted by Indy he’d be a household name. He’s paid well, but the absence of a QB (and offensive line) to maximize his talents has to be frustrating.”

3) The offensive line has issues. If Matt Birk was perfectly healthy, he would still be an aging player that was pushed around often last year. Ravens 24×7 tweeted this morning they have heard rumors that Birk will require microfracture surgery. We will see what happens in regards to that, but as is Birk is undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. With Rabach failing his physical, the Ravens are currently using Bryan Mattison at C. Not a great situation. As cuts come in across the league, I’m sure the Ravens will grab someone. The chances of it being someone you are very comfortable with will be slim. The Ravens like UFA Center Ryan Bartholomew, and maybe he can help. Is anyone excited about him calling out the blitz schemes of the Steelers in Week 1? Did Kreutz sign with New Orleans because he did not want to be part of Camp Harbaugh?

3a) I like everything we hear about Jah Reid. I can even buy into Cousins, and Harewood being decent depth. I’m still not excited about any of them starting at RT for the Ravens in 2011.

3b) It should also be noted that Ben Grubbs has had ankle surgery on the same ankle two of the last three years, and that Michael Oher needs to be better this year at LT.

3c) I did like yesterdays additions of Jonathan Stupar, and Kris Wilson as blocking TE’s.

4) I’m glad the Ravens signed Ricky Williams yesterday. We all knew that McGahee was getting cut, but it was a significant drop to Parmele and Allen. I like what I’ve read about Allen, but coming from that Georgia Tech triple option to the pros is a major adjustment, particularly in blitz pickup. Williams provides strong veteran depth. If Rice goes down, you can feel good about Williams as a starter. Here is my question, are the signings of Leach and Williams indication that the Ravens are going back to a ground and pound offense? I’m now expecting 3 yards and a cloud of dust, with a lot of play action in two TE sets. Are the Ravens going to be better in that type of offense? Is Flacco going to be better in the middle of the field?

4a) Leach was a good pickup. I’m sure he is a step ahead of McClain as a pure blocker, and he looks about even to McClain as a receiver out of the backfield. Still, McClain was a 2x All Pro as well, and was a superior runner. This might not be a drop in production overall, but it is more neutral vs. a pure improvement. Once McGahee was released, and Leach was signed – I thought it made sense to bring back McClain as the 2nd RB. I’m happy that Williams was signed yesterday, partly because McClain is now in KC. I’m not totally convinced the Ravens would not have been better off keeping McClain, as opposed to getting Williams.

5) Earlier this off-season in our Q&A with local writers (https://baltimoresportsandlife.com/?p=2584) we asked them their thoughts on how they rated Coach Harbaugh and his Offensive and Defensive Coordinators as compared to Coach Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Coordinators? Not one of the writers (John Eisenberg / CSN, Dan Kolko / MASN, Tony Lombardi / Ravens 24×7, Bruce Raffel / Baltimore Beatdown, Kevin Van Valkenburg / Baltimore Sun) could give Baltimore the edge. For the record, I agree with those writers. Harbaugh was instructed to be more involved with the offense this year. I think Leach, and Williams are indications of his influence. It will be interesting to see the results. The Ravens have obviously lost a lot of veteran talent this off-season. How Harbaugh does bringing along the younger talent, is going to say a lot about how we evaluate Coach Harbaugh overall.