Ravens Plan To Be More Explosive With New Receiver Weapons
The Baltimore Ravens have been known for their ground attack since Lamar Jackson became their starter, which has been successful for them over the past two seasons. What is the Ravens plan next? Despite their success running the ball, the team plans to be more explosive offensively this season, after drafting receivers Rashod Bateman, and Tylan Wallace, a fourth-rounder who caught 205 passes at Oklahoma State.
With Bateman and Wallace joining Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, Sammy Watkins, Devin Duvernay, Miles Boykin and James Proche II, the Ravens have the deepest and most versatile wide receiver group of offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s tenure.
“I don’t want to call it an embarrassment of riches, but when you talk about Hollywood and Devin and Miles, I really feel good about the guys we have,” Roman said. “This offense is really one that runs through Lamar. We’re always going to do what gives us the best chance to win. When you add talent like that, it’s really going to expand our profile quite a bit, actually. To play with the kind of balance that we really want to play with.
Baltimore Ravens Plan on Offense
“I really think it will probably take some pressure off guys that have been here like Marquise, free him up a little bit as well. The field’s about 53 yards wide, and I think people are going to have to defend all 53 yards of it.”
Roman believes that the addition of Bateman will make teams reconsider selling out and committing eight or nine players to the box, because Bateman has the speed and talent to make opponents pay for that approach.
“There’s more passing plays per year than running plays,” Roman said. “We want to be great at both. There’s times when people from a numerical standpoint are just going to dare you to throw it and just commit more to defend the run than you can possibly hope to have sustained success against. That’s where we really want to take a big step this year. I think that’s really going to be key to us taking a big step offensively.
“The thing that hits my brain is ‘Right place, right time’ when I think about Rashod Bateman here with the Ravens. Because I think he brings a style that is really going to compliment the guys who are here right now.”