Great Article on What, and What Not to Expect from the Preseason

[oldno82]

BY Childs Walker, Balt. Sun:

 

ravens

1 DAY UNTIL

THE FIRST PRACTICE

AT TRAINING CAMP

Questions start — and end — with qb

Gail Burton/AP photos

By Childs Walker

From the Ravens’ work to build an offense around Lamar Jackson to how the defense replaces some big contributors, let’s look at five things we might learn from training camp, which begins Thursday.

 

 

First up: Can the Ravens build a more diversified offense around Jackson?

 

 

The Ravens derived considerable benefits from tearing down their defense and rebuilding it under new coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale heading into last season.

Now, they’ll try to pull off the same on-the-fly evolution under new offensive coordinator Greg Roman . When he spoke at mandatory minicamp in June, Roman described this as a dream scenario for an NFL coach.

But this strategic reset comes with far more potential downside than the defensive facelift of 2018. The Ravens don’t have a long history of offensive success to fall back on. They lack established big-play threats. And the stakes are high as can be because Jackson is the most important player on the roster; his ceiling and the franchise’s ceiling are likely one and the same .

So how accurately will we be able to judge the team’s offensive progress during training camp and the preseason? Not very.

No matter what Roman has in mind for the regular season — and he’s promised a less predictable attack — we’ll see only glimpses.

We might come away with some sense of the rookie skill-position players: wide receivers Marquise Brown and Miles Boykin and running back Justice Hill. But even those impressions can be fool’s gold. Remember last July, when Hayden Hurst looked like a world-beater at tight end while Mark Andrews seemed unprepared for the speed of the pro game? We saw the reverse once the real games started, in part because of injuries.

We might also see if veteran wide receivers Michael Floyd and Seth Roberts are likely to help the Ravens as they bridge to the future and if Kenneth Dixon makes a case for the team to keep four running backs.

But any intelligence we glean will likely come on the personnel end. When it comes to Roman’s schemes and what they portend for Jackson’s future, we’ll know more in September.

 

 

How will the defense function without C.J. Mosley in the middle?

 

Of all the high-end defenders the Ravens lost in free agency, Mosley was the one most expected to stick around as a cornerstone player . It’s hard to fault the Ravens for declining to match the five-year, $85 million deal the New York Jets threw at the Pro Bowl middle linebacker.

But with Mosley gone, the Ravens have lost their organizing element on defense.

Patrick Onwuasor has said he’s eager to step into that role . He looked unprepared during a brief audition against the Cincinnati Bengals last season, but Ravens coaches have put enormous faith in him. And Onwuasor did break out as a playmaker in 2018.

He’ll also benefit from the deep collection of experienced players behind him, led by veteran safeties Earl Thomas III and Tony Jefferson.

You don’t lose a player as productive and influential as Mosley and get better. But we’ll begin to learn how much the Ravens might miss him as we observe Onwuasor’s progress and Thomas’ impact on the defense .

 

 

 

Is first-round pick Marquise Brown ready to contribute?

 

So far, the man known as “Hollywood” has lived on the non-football injury list, meaning he’s yet to pass a physical that would clear him to practice in training camp.

Fans rejoiced when the Ravens picked Brown, whose speed became the stuff of legend at Oklahoma , where he was the top deep target for Heisman Trophy winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. But fantasies of him filling the same role for Jackson have gone on hold because of a Lisfranc injury that kept Brown out of both predraft and offseason workouts.

The Lisfranc ligament connects the metatarsal and tarsal bones in the middle of the foot. Damage to either the bones or the ligament can be debilitating to a speed-dependent athlete such as Brown. Though most NFL players who undergo Lisfranc surgery, as Brown did in January, return to their previous form, recovery times vary.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh has expressed optimism that Brown will be ready at the start of training camp. But he acknowledged Brown was not running full speed in June, so don’t be surprised if the ramp-up is slow.

If that’s the case, Brown will be hard pressed to live up to our loftiest expectations for 2019 . Many standout college receivers struggle to thrive in the NFL passing game as rookies. A delayed start would make the process that much harder for Brown, who will also have to find chemistry with a developing quarterback.

We saw Hayden Hurst struggle to come back from a foot injury that sidelined him at the beginning of last season. So keep that in mind as Brown tries to cram for his NFL debut. There’s no reason to question his long-term potential. But it’s so easy to become overly eager at this time of year, and that’s likely a path to frustration with this situation.

 

 

 

Will anyone step forward to complement Matthew Judon as a pass rusher?

 

The Ravens lost more talent on the edges than at any other position on defense. They anticipated falling out of the market for Za’Darius Smith, and Terrell Suggs was nearing the end of the line whether he stayed in Baltimore or not.

But the immediate problem remains: other than Judon, they don’t have anybody who can be counted on to approach double figures in sacks. The homegrown solutions, Tyus Bowser and Tim Williams, have not worked out so far. Another candidate, rookie Jaylon Ferguson, will get his shot but might turn out to be more of a power player than a pure edge rusher.

Veterans Pernell McPhee and Shane Ray joined the Ravens on low-cost, low-risk deals, but if anyone anticipated them producing on the level of Suggs or Smith, they would not have been available at such prices.

The scouting website Pro Football Focus recently ranked the Ravens’ pass rush 25th in the NFL (after they finished tied for 11th in sacks last season). Can Ray, McPhee or one of the young outside linebackers make that ranking look foolish?

The real question might be how much does it matter ? Traditional NFL wisdom says a talented secondary and a productive pass rush must work hand in hand. But is it possible the Ravens have so much depth and skill on the back end that they won’t need elite rushers to frustrate opposing quarterbacks ? That was the case at times last season, and the Ravens only doubled down on their investment in defensive backs in the offseason.

 

 

Has Lamar Jackson improved enough for the Ravens to be considered a real contender?

 

This is both a tired question and the key to the next few years of the franchise. So, whether there’s any new evidence or not, we have to keep asking.

The Jackson we saw in minicamp was certainly better than the Jackson of summer 2018 — a more consistent fundamental passer and a more assertive presence. But you’d expect that after he started throughout the second half of last season.

The Ravens hope to see more progress during training camp as Jackson accumulates passing reps and builds familiarity with the team’s new receivers.

But there’s so much we won’t know until the real games begin in September. We might not see Jackson for even four quarters of action over the course of the preseason. When he is out there, we won’t see most of the innovations Roman plans to unleash.

When the games get tense, will Jackson and his coaches revert to the grinding offense that worked so well over the last seven regular-season games in 2018? Or will Jackson, who always believed his destiny lay at quarterback, trust his passing skills in the most essential moments?

No training camp practice or preseason game will answer those questions. But we can keep a careful eye on Jackson’s mechanics. Will he step into every throw and zip the ball into tight spaces? Or will he revert to the off-balance and side-arm deliveries that lead to off-target flutter balls?

Prepare to hear endless minutiae about his performance in daily drills. Because for now, that’s all we have to go on in assessing the franchise’s most important figure.

 

[vmax]

I agree that they won't show their offense during the preseason so we won't know what it's going to look like. The Dolphins won't know what hit them opening day.

 

We have no idea about the wide receivers. Most are NFL No-Names with very little production. There is potential here but right now it's Fools Gold. Brown won't be up to speed until week 8 (that's my guess right now)....so Lamar has Sneed, Moore and maybe a very raw Boykin???? I don't know about that. I don't think that scares anybody.

Thankfully Hurst and Andrews will scare everybody and Lamar has his running backs to throw to.

 

How about doing this?.....

 

 

What if I told you that the Ravens could trade for a star pass rusher? What if I told you that the pass rusher has recorded 29.5 sacks, 29 tackles for loss and 70 QB hits over the last three seasons.

No, not Khalil Mack. Good guess, though. Mack has recorded 34 sacks, 39 tackles for loss and 66 QB hits over that time.

That player is Yannick Ngakoue. In Jacksonville, he hasn’t received as much national attention as he deserves. He has one of the best pass rushing moves in football, a truly lethal cross body chop.......The time is now, Eric DeCosta. A 24 year-old healthy proven pass rusher could turn this defense from great into historic. Yannick Ngakoue is certainly worth a first round pick and $18-21 million per year.......https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/the-ravens-need-to-trade-for-yannick-ngakoue/ar-AAENILH?ocid=U508DHP

[oldno82]

Interesting idea but is Jacksonville looking to trade him?

 

I sure hope you're wrong about Brown. I think we are going to need him way before week 8.

[oldno82]

Good news!

 

https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/marquise-brown-and-michael-pierce-have-passed-their-conditioning-tests

[papasmurfbell]

I agree that they won't show their offense during the preseason so we won't know what it's going to look like. The Dolphins won't know what hit them opening day.

 

We have no idea about the wide receivers. Most are NFL No-Names with very little production. There is potential here but right now it's Fools Gold. Brown won't be up to speed until week 8 (that's my guess right now)....so Lamar has Sneed, Moore and maybe a very raw Boykin???? I don't know about that. I don't think that scares anybody.

Thankfully Hurst and Andrews will scare everybody and Lamar has his running backs to throw to.

 

How about doing this?.....

 

To be honest I don't know if you will see the offense totally even in week1. The Dolphins are so devoid of talent that the ravens might decide to sit on their advancements until KC in week 3. The Ravens could not have been given a better gift than their first 2 weeks.

[vmax]

To be honest I don't know if you will see the offense totally even in week1. The Dolphins are so devoid of talent that the ravens might decide to sit on their advancements until KC in week 3. The Ravens could not have been given a better gift than their first 2 weeks.

 

Good point. No sense in breaking out the plays unless you have to.