The Baltimore Ravens have done an awful job drafting, signing and developing wide receivers since their inception in 1996. At his “State of the Ravens” press conference, general manager Eric DeCosta even noted the team’s difficulties when it comes to the position.
But with a new general manager, a new quarterback and a new wide receivers coach, Baltimore is in prime position to change their fortunes. It’ll take a basic five-step plan to begin changing things and put the Ravens on the right path to success at wide receiver.
1) Change the priority
The wide receivers Baltimore has typically gone after in the draft have had great measurables but not very impressive game film. All three of the Ravens’ first-round wideouts in their history posted up top-10 40-yard dash times among their respective wide receiver draft classes. Breshad Perriman is the perfect example of a prospect that checked all the physical boxes but had red flags abound with his actual play coming into the 2015 draft.
DeCosta told reporters the ability to catch the football was Baltimore’s top priority when scouting wide receivers. But that appears to be a new concept considering the wide receivers they’ve selected since 2015 have nearly all had issues catching the ball in college. At all points of their draft history, the Ravens have selected prospects with loads of potential but very little proven talent.
When targeting free agents, Baltimore hasn’t invested much money or draft equity to secure the best players. They have instead looked for value in often injury-prone, has-been players with drop issues near the end of their careers.
While it has worked before — see Anquan Boldin — he’s the exception to the rule. Names like T. J. Houshmandzadeh, Jeremy Maclin, Mike Wallace, Michael Crabtree, Donte’ Stallworth and Lee Evans were billed as the saviors of Baltimore’s wide receiver woes only to range anywhere from complete duds to mediocre producers that would have been No. 2 or 3 options in most other offenses.
Overall, the Ravens’ priorities when looking at wide receivers has been about as backward as can be. But we can start to correct it by acknowledging the issue and taking a few more steps.
2) Draft consistency early
You so often hear about either downright transcendent players deserving a first-round draft status or prospects that have the skill set of a “No. 1 wide receiver” deserving to be selected that high. It’s not very often a consistently good — not great — wide receiver earns the same praise as a prospect that hasn’t proved anything.
We already talked about changing the priority in the draft to selecting prospects with good hands instead of taking top physical specimens and hoping to develop them. That should be the case for Baltimore.
If a perfect player comes along that runs beautiful routes, is faster than lightning, has prototypical size and can catch anything near him, the Ravens should take that prospect as early as possible. But more often than not those guys don’t exist, leaving prospects with good hands and route running that don’t quite stack up in other areas. Those are the types of guys Baltimore should be selecting for their consistency and ability to immediately plug into the offense.
Taking the occasional flier early on a prospect that checks most of the boxes is fine, but it’s too often the issue for the Ravens. They don’t have a wealth of talent at wide receiver to gamble on someone who won’t immediately pan out like teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers do. Instead, Baltimore should draft a wide receiver within the first four rounds every single season who is consistently solid, if unspectacular, at the NFL combine.
3) Draft potential later
Prospects who are physically gifted but raw can be found in the fourth round and later. That’s when Baltimore can gamble a little more with taking a player who might not pan out because they can’t get open, catch the ball consistently or is just too small by NFL standards.
Finding these projects later would save Baltimore some draft equity for other positions they have greater success at developing, like linebacker and cornerback.
Guys like Jordan Lasley are perfect picks in the fifth round for this exact reason. A fifth-round pick in 2018, Lasley has the size and speed of a first-round prospect but has had trouble catching the ball, has had off-field issues and needs further refinement on his route running. If he develops into a starting wide receiver or better, the Ravens have gotten a huge steal. If he doesn’t, it’s not much of a waste of a draft pick.
4) Play young wide receivers
Wide receiver is one of the only positions where Baltimore tends not to stick a young player on the field. We see young cornerbacks, linebackers, offensive linemen, running backs and players at other positions hit the field early in their careers — even if just in a supporting role with limited snaps. But getting a wide receiver any meaningful snaps is like pulling teeth for the Ravens.
Outside of Perriman, the Ravens rarely let their young wide receivers get much playing time. For example, Lasley got no snaps this season and was a healthy scratch for every game. Over the last four seasons, this has generally been the case as young receivers (outside the three receivers with the most snaps each season) have averaged just 224 snaps out of the 4,542 possible (4.9 percent).
By comparison, rookie cornerback Anthony Averett played nearly 7 percent of the 2018 defensive snaps in spite of being in a crowded secondary. Guard Hroniss Grasu was only with the Ravens for three games and saw more than 6 percent of the offensive snaps in 2018. And it’s not like Baltimore has the excuse of a wealth of talent sitting in front of their young wide receivers either.
It’s difficult for any player to develop into a starter if he isn’t given a chance to see the field very often. Baltimore has to do a better job of rotating in their younger talent at wide receiver so they can learn faster and get a chance to succeed.
5) Sign a veteran free agent in a supporting role as a mentor
At least for the next few years, Baltimore needs a proven option to supplement their wide receiver corps. This is where a veteran toward the end of his career can be a really great signing. But instead of tossing him on the field and expecting a 1,000-yard season, the Ravens have to use a veteran sparingly and more as a mentor for the younger players.
While the hope is that new wide receivers coach David Culley can remedy the team’s failures at developing the position, a talented veteran can be like an on-field coach. A great example of this is safety Eric Weddle, whose ability to coach up the other players in the secondary is actually worth more than his play on the field.
Adding such a player would give Baltimore a better starting point while continuing to build up the wide receiver corps early in the draft with consistent prospects and hoping a late-round project pans out.
This overall strategy of drafting consistency early, potential late and signing veterans for mentor roles is what teams like the Steelers and Saints have used to craft the best wide receiver corps in the NFL year after year. But it takes more investment in the position than what the Ravens have given it.
.jpg?w=600)
