If you’re a wide receiver, the Ravens probably aren’t going to be the funniest team to play for. Baltimore is the most run-heavy team in the NFL. The defense is also good enough to provide them early leads. Tight ends are also the driving point of the passing game because Lamar Jackson isn’t accurate. As a result, wide receivers aren’t going to get their stats in this offense.
Finally, somebody other than myself was semi critical of the Ravens offense. Even if it’s diving into a specific example. Steve Smith went on a local Baltimore sports radio station and said the following:
“I’m a wide receiver, and my question is always going to be how is this passing game going to develop? I hate to say it this way, but as a wide receiver, I loved to block. But I didn’t wake up trying to block and run 70 plays a game and 68 of the 70 are run plays. Because then when the contract season comes up, you have leverage because my numbers aren’t up,” Smith said.
Maquise Brown was the top wide receiver a year ago. Brown wasn’t my number one wide receiver in the 2019 NFL Draft, but he’s a really good player. If I told you his stats last year as the number one option, you wouldn’t believe me. 46 catches for 584 yards was the top receiver in the Ravens offense. Crazy to think about.
Steve Smith is right about one thing. It’s hard to build up your value in this kind of setting. Eventually the wheels are going to fall off on this ship. I still think it’s one of the reasons why John Brown wanted out when he left in free agency.
