Odd men out at receiver

[gtalk12]

Yes it's a great chance imo. Even before Marc came aboard as the OC, Harbs was talking about reducing Smith Sr's role in the offense and not asking so much of him to keep him fresh. However losing Torrey put Smitty back in a position where the offense will have to rely on him a lot(at least early) until hopefully these young guys can step up on a consistent bases. 

 

That's when I expect to see Smitty taking that lesser role, once you have guys like Brown, Aiken, Perriman, Williams and even Juice proving that they can be relied upon. Won't list Pitta for obvious reasons. 

 

But I don't think his role will be reduced because Trestman wants tall WR, because I think Marc likes physical WRs more then just tall guys and nobody is more physical then Smitty. But if the likes of Brown and Perriman can step up early, then it will appear that Smitty is taking a backseat to the taller WRs, but really it'll just be taking a backseat to younger WRs

 

I wouldn't see it as a backseat because I believe Smith in the slot will only make it that much easier on Smith. If Perriman can command the best CB on the field, I can Smith having a better YAC than last year. I think at this point in his career and based on what we saw last year as to what he can do, the slot and the middle of the field may be the best way to utilize him as a weapon.

 

I'm pumped for this year lol

[PurpleCity5]

Where is Waller? He won't get cut unless he completely bombs playing football and he would not last on the PS. Please don't let them IR him either, hasnt that been proven that it kills receivers chances?

I don't see him beating out Aiken or Brown. This is just the depth chart, I'm sure he can make the roster.

[AsianRice]

I think in terms of Marlon Brown, Steve Smith Sr summed it up the best 

 

“A guy came in named Steve Smith Sr.,” Smith responded with a laugh when asked about Brown’s drop in production.

 

I'm not sure why and where the opinion that Kamar Aiken or Camp outshined Brown comes from. I honestly don't understand it. Maybe its because Marlon didn't score a TD last season and both Aiken and Camp did. But the numbers suggest that Brown played a much larger role in terms of game plan and success of the offense down the stretch of the season. 

 

If we just look at numbers, Camp was only targeted 9 times all season. How anyone can say he outshined another player is beyond me. But it's not a knock to him because I definitely saw the potential of what he could be in those 9 targets.

 

Aiken played in a total of 13 games and was target a total of 33 times with 24rec 267yds 3Tds. Down the stretch of the season he was never targeted more then 2 times per game in any of the final 5 games. So during the last 5 games of the season his production looked like this 7 targets 4rec 50yds 1TD

 

Brown played in the same total of 13 games and was targeted 31 times with 24rec 255yds 0Tds. During the same 5 game stretch to close the season, Brown was targeted more then 5 times in 3 of those 5 games. His production looked like this 21 targets 13rec 141yds 0TDs

 

Now my point to this wasn't to showcase who was better or not, But for anyone saying Camp and Aiken outshined Brown I just can't see it, again unless you mean with TDs. Just looking at those numbers 80% of Aiken's production came before week 13 while 80% of Brown's proudction came after week 13. What does that all mean in terms of who is safe and who has to fight for a spot, i'd say both those guys better show up with the mindset of competing their butts off to make this team and that should be double true for Camp. 

Unless they are playing for the 49ers with their best friend Alex Boone...lol ....anyway, nothing is guaranteed on the Ravens team and they have to earn it..

 

Good post for showing the facts cuz I myself was also eluded by the numbers of flashy TDs that Aiken and Camp presenting.  I think it's just a game plan situation by situation. 

 

That was also part of the seasons of why our offense looked so explosive in the playoffs.  I expect we outscore any team in the NFL in 2015 season.

Edited May 4, 2015 by AsianRice

[harfordravenfan]

He was forced into playing his rookie year, but you also hope he can capitalize and improve on that success in year two.  That didn't happen, and it's not like he really had that much keeping him from the field either.  He had every opportunity to seize that WR3 role and failed to do so early in the year.  He had a rough camp and a rough preseason.  Later in the year, I think he really started to show shades of the guy we saw in his rookie year.  He was effective, but I don't think there's any argument that he took a step down from what we saw his rookie year, especially in the early portions of 2014.  It was a very slow start for him, even rendering him a healthy scratch twice I believe.

 

Also only seemed to get open due to play calls or DB mistakes IMO (not always but to me he just struggled getting separation)

[Ravensfan23]

Unless they are playing for the 49ers with their best friend Alex Boone...lol ....anyway, nothing is guaranteed on the Ravens team and they have to earn it..

 

Good post for showing the facts cuz I myself was also eluded by the numbers of flashy TDs that Aiken and Camp presenting.  I think it's just a game plan situation by situation. 

 

That was also part of the seasons of why our offense looked so explosive in the playoffs.  I expect we outscore any team in the NFL in 2015 season.

 

That's the most exciting part for me. It's not just a situation where we have a good offensive player, we'll have an opportunity to attack any defense in the NFL in multiple ways. Best thing about the offense is that the oline returns intact. So you look at the potential in the run game with Forsett, LT and Buck, and if a team struggles against the run we can just pound them out, take a few deep play action shot and have that old school style Ravens win. Or if you have a team like the Jets who seem to have a great secondary, you can move to a 2TE 1HB, 1RB 1WR type offense attacking the LBs and Safeties. You got a team that blitzes a lot, then you'll look at guys like Williams, Smith Sr, Camp, Aiken and Juice in that underneath move the chains type offense. 

 

Trestman is a very creative play caller, sometimes too creative, but I can't wait to see what he can do with this offense. 

[harfordravenfan]

Torrey Smith was by far our most successful rookie WR. I agree that Perriman is better than Torrey in almost every way when both got drafted, but Torrey was a 2nd Round prospect and Perriman was taken in the 1st.

 

When you get taken in the 1st Round, there will be a lot of expectation. I'm going to wait and see if Perriman can surpass Torrey in year one because it seems the environment is perfect for him to excel with our strong running game and lack of depth at WR.

 

I'll be happy if he produces like Torrey in year one, but in my opinion, he is perfectly set to produce like Beckham Jr.

 

I think Perriman will do well his rookie year but not expecting huge stats knowing the Ravens try to be balanced (run/pass) and I don't recall a year where we have so may options. If he puts up huge numbers it either means many other players are struggling or Perriman plays like he cant be stopped

[hn68wb4]

1A - Steve Smtih Sr.         2A - Kamar Aiken     3A - Jeremy Butler

1B - Breshad Perriman     2B - Marlon Brown

 

PS - Darren Waller and DeAndre Carter

IR - Michael Campanaro 

 

Waller flashed at times but is undeniably a project player, he could use a year on the practice squad. Will another team steal him? possibly, but i doubt any team will want to reserve a roster spot for him. If there's an injury i suspect he will be the one called up. I find it hard to believe Camp will make it to the regular season if he gets injured again. Guy has undeniable potential but its all for nothing if he can't stay healthy. We are so crowded at WR now, lots of guys with tons of potential, that if we have to see a guy go i think it'll be Camp, We've shown that we aren't afraid to let 7th rounders go if we have to.

But i think we could easily carry 6 or even 7 receivers going into the season.

Edited May 4, 2015 by hn68wb4

[AsianRice]

That's the most exciting part for me. It's not just a situation where we have a good offensive player, we'll have an opportunity to attack any defense in the NFL in multiple ways. Best thing about the offense is that the oline returns intact. So you look at the potential in the run game with Forsett, LT and Buck, and if a team struggles against the run we can just pound them out, take a few deep play action shot and have that old school style Ravens win. Or if you have a team like the Jets who seem to have a great secondary, you can move to a 2TE 1HB, 1RB 1WR type offense attacking the LBs and Safeties. You got a team that blitzes a lot, then you'll look at guys like Williams, Smith Sr, Camp, Aiken and Juice in that underneath move the chains type offense. 

 

Trestman is a very creative play caller, sometimes too creative, but I can't wait to see what he can do with this offense. 

He is also an aggressive play caller too so we are going to see lots of passing game.  However, Harbs said many times that he wants his OC to play Ravens style which is pound and grind until we can open up safely for passing game.  I think it is very important in December.  However, of all the acquisitions from staffs to players the most exciting thing I'm looking forward is our second best O-Line in the league if those guys are staying healthy.

 

What we are missing from last season is the effective 2 TE set.  If we can get Maxx going, we are going to be hard to stop.

 

What we need from Marlon and Aiken is consistently beat #3 and 4 CB then we are good to go.

 

It seems to me Joe didn't throw any high ball to which only Marlon can get.  I think it's all about the chemistry that if your QB can trust that risky throw will be caught by only you, he won't hesitate to dictate.  If the high throw sails through your hands, it is very likely to be intercepted by a DB.

 

About Aiken, if he can show that he can out-muscle his defender for the catch, Joe won't hesitate to squeeze in tiny window. It took 2-3 seasons for Joe to fully trust Boldin's skill set which is to just throw him the back shoulder throw even the DB on his back.

 

Campanaro, he needs to stay healthy...lol

[Ravensfan23]

Also only seemed to get open due to play calls or DB mistakes IMO (not always but to me he just struggled getting separation)

 

could you explain that for me. Not sure i understand. I hear people talk about guys getting separation all the time, but in the NFL really do you have a lot of separation. Unless you have play calls that scheme a guy to be running wide open you rarely find a WR that constantly catches the ball with 2-3 yards of space between he and the DB. No knock to you, but honestly it just seems like another misrepresentation of Marlon Brown. I'm not saying he leaves DBs in his wake or anything, but i don't see how his separation or lack thereof is any different from any other WR we had on the team last year. Actually in terms of YAC average Brown was 2nd only to Steve Smith and that's usually a good indication of a WR catching the ball with space between him and the defender. 

[Ravensfan23]

He is also an aggressive play caller too so we are going to see lots of passing game.  However, Harbs said many times that he wants his OC to play Ravens style which is pound and grind until we can open up safely for passing game.  I think it is very important in December.  However, of all the acquisitions from staffs to players the most exciting thing I'm looking forward is our second best O-Line in the league if those guys are staying healthy.

 

What we are missing from last season is the effective 2 TE set.  If we can get Maxx going, we are going to be hard to stop.

 

What we need from Marlon and Aiken is consistently beat #3 and 4 CB then we are good to go.

 

It seems to me Joe didn't throw any high ball to which only Marlon can get.  I think it's all about the chemistry that if your QB can trust that risky throw will be caught by only you, he won't hesitate to dictate.  If the high throw sails through your hands, it is very likely to be intercepted by a DB.

 

About Aiken, if he can show that he can out-muscle his defender for the catch, Joe won't hesitate to squeeze in tiny window. It took 2-3 seasons for Joe to fully trust Boldin's skill set which is to just throw him the back shoulder throw even the DB on his back.

 

Campanaro, he needs to stay healthy...lol

 

I 100% agree with this statement and 100% disagree at the same time if possible. lol I agree because that is the Ravens style of play, however I disagree because it's proven time and time again that, that isn't when the Ravens offense is at it's best. If we look at the last two postseason run dating back to the Super Bowl year, the same thing has happened. The Ravens offense was in a funk and struggled to get on track. One of the coaches has the wise decision to put the offense in Flacco's hands and we start to take off. This is what was said after the Steelers playoff game. 

 

 

"Kubiak told us the night before the game that we were going to come after these guys and that we weren't going to be playing conservative," Ravens left guard Kelechi Osemele said.

 

Then if you watch this part of America's Game at 2:14, it's Harbs basically saying no way we win this game unless we put the game in Flacco's hands. 

 

Now I understand that at times during the regular season Flacco will have a head scratching game, but I think when this offense was at its best last season we where aggressive early, then used the run game to close teams out. Flacco has always pressed his OCs to be more aggressive and attacking even with a 10-14 point lead. Flacco has consistently asked to actually put teams away on offense instead of asking the defense to do it so much. I think for the first time he has a OC that feels the same way that he does and the combination of Flacco/Trestman will bring Harbs over to their said of things. As long as they're successful that is. Now i do think  it'll be a pass happy offense, but I don't think we'll see the Playoff offense more often in the regular season this year. 

[AsianRice]

I 100% agree with this statement and 100% disagree at the same time if possible. lol I agree because that is the Ravens style of play, however I disagree because it's proven time and time again that, that isn't when the Ravens offense is at it's best. If we look at the last two postseason run dating back to the Super Bowl year, the same thing has happened. The Ravens offense was in a funk and struggled to get on track. One of the coaches has the wise decision to put the offense in Flacco's hands and we start to take off. This is what was said after the Steelers playoff game. 

 

 

"Kubiak told us the night before the game that we were going to come after these guys and that we weren't going to be playing conservative," Ravens left guard Kelechi Osemele said.

 

Then if you watch this part of America's Game at 2:14, it's Harbs basically saying no way we win this game unless we put the game in Flacco's hands. 

 

Now I understand that at times during the regular season Flacco will have a head scratching game, but I think when this offense was at its best last season we where aggressive early, then used the run game to close teams out. Flacco has always pressed his OCs to be more aggressive and attacking even with a 10-14 point lead. Flacco has consistently asked to actually put teams away on offense instead of asking the defense to do it so much. I think for the first time he has a OC that feels the same way that he does and the combination of Flacco/Trestman will bring Harbs over to their said of things. As long as they're successful that is. Now i don't think  it'll be a pass happy offense, but I don't think we'll see the Playoff offense more often in the regular season this year. 

I agree that when the game is on the line, putting the ball in Joe's hands is the best option to win the game, but a balance offense is the best plan we are moving forward.  Joe has the name Mr January is for the reason; he can't seem to find his zone during the regular season, but somehow in the playoff he just blocks everything and goes crazy with the throws.

 

A strong balance offense can really give us an advantage flexibility in December cuz if they play zone us all the time, we can run the ball to their throat and if they play aggressive defense, we can burn them deep and ..ect

 

I think aggressive offense means if they stack the box, we have to make them paid pass after pass.  In another word, we just keep attacking their weakness until whistle blows, not running the ball when they have 2 safeties ready to defend the run.

 

Lots of good teams try to go after Joe to make him rattle, but if our O-line can hold the pressure, Joe will make them paid like against the Pitts in playoff and same as well in Foxborough.

[sflegend89]

If you want a dark horse for the 6th WR spot how about DeAndre Carter. Was projected to go in the 5th or 6th round and provides a lot of the same skill set as Stefon Diggs who people were clamoring for. Has that Steve Smith complex where he plays bigger than his 5'10 frame. My main reason I could see this happening is because of his special teams ability. He had a 61 yard punt return TD last year and Sac St. rarely let him return kicks because he was by far and away their best player. 

 

After reading more about him I think he has the kind of demeanor and determination to fight his way onto the roster by returning kicks and showing promise as a slot WR. Reminds me of Andrew Hawkins on the Browns.

 

He may have played in the Big Sky Conference but 1300 yards and 17 TD's is nothing to scoff at, I like his underdog mentality and think he may push Waller onto the PS or IR because he can contribute something to the team right away and Waller cannot. 

 

A situation I can see playing out is:

 

1. SSS

2. Perriman

3. Aiken

4. Marlon

5. Campanaro

6. Carter

 

Practice Squad or IR:

Waller

 

Cut:

Robinson

Butler

Edited May 4, 2015 by sflegend89

[3-4ravdef509]

The thing about Brown is that it seems like he can never separate himself from his competition. By all rights he should have been one of the top receivers for the team last season. He stepped up when there wasn't anyone else. And yet Aiken and (when healthy) Camp constantly seemed to beat him out for playing time. If he has another rough preseason, Waller or Butler could take his spot. If he doesn't step it up and actually shine vs his competition, then he's leaving the door open for that possibility.

 

Don't think the new system was a good fit for him, as it relied on having a big route tree

[TXRavensFan]

Joe has the name Mr January is for the reason; he can't seem to find his zone during the regular season, but somehow in the playoff he just blocks everything and goes crazy with the throws.

 

I can't help but wonder if he's "January Joe" because that's when the coaches put the offense in his hands. If he were to have control like that in the regular season, we might just see Joe rise to a whole other level.

[GrimCoconut]

I know I'm in the minority but I really believe we're keeping seven WR.

[rmw10]

I know I'm in the minority but I really believe we're keeping seven WR.

 

I wanted to go 7, but in the depth chart thread, I had a hard time making room for another.

[GrimCoconut]

I wanted to go 7, but in the depth chart thread, I had a hard time making room for another.

Yeah I get it and it's hard for me too. Much of my prediction is contingent on the job of RS. I'm betting on Carter to win the job. I think Waller will do well enough where it's difficult to cut him.

[Ravensfan23]

I agree that when the game is on the line, putting the ball in Joe's hands is the best option to win the game, but a balance offense is the best plan we are moving forward.  Joe has the name Mr January is for the reason; he can't seem to find his zone during the regular season, but somehow in the playoff he just blocks everything and goes crazy with the throws.

 

A strong balance offense can really give us an advantage flexibility in December cuz if they play zone us all the time, we can run the ball to their throat and if they play aggressive defense, we can burn them deep and ..ect

 

I think aggressive offense means if they stack the box, we have to make them paid pass after pass.  In another word, we just keep attacking their weakness until whistle blows, not running the ball when they have 2 safeties ready to defend the run.

 

Lots of good teams try to go after Joe to make him rattle, but if our O-line can hold the pressure, Joe will make them paid like against the Pitts in playoff and same as well in Foxborough.

 

But the thing is a balanced offense doesn't mean run the ball 2 times then pass the ball 2 times. The offense was balanced throughout the playoffs in both cases. Balanced means just keeping a defense off balance and on their toes as you mentioned. Imo January Joe shows up for a reason simple because the Ravens choose to put the ball in his hands. Imo it doesn't make sense to say, oh the season is on the line, it's the playoffs so lets put the ball in Joe's hands. Yet you don't have the same mentality in the regular. The Ravens have been a game or two away from being a #1 or #2 seed then the last 3 years. But we'll have a game or two where the offense just seems to be in slow motion.  I challenge you(only cuz i don't feel like it lol) to go back and look at the top offensive performances from last year. I promise you that you'll see a offense that had a pass:run ratio of 2:1 over the first 3 quarters then run:pass of 2:1 during the 4th quarter. That's where the numbers balanced out. 

 

Just look at the Panthers game for example. The numbers say the Ravens couldn't have been more balanced as an offense right. 31 passes to 30 rushes. However when you go back and break down the number. Flacco was 13/21 226 2TDs in the first half. In the same half Forsett and LT combined for 11car 72yds 1Td That's a 2:1 pass:run ratio.  Those are the same type of ratios you see from guy like Rodgers, Brady and others offenses. The difference is, they don't take their foot off the gas peddle in the second half after putting up 21 first half point like the Ravens do. In the 2nd half, basic math says Flacco attempted 10 passes to make up his 31 attempts while the run game had 19 more rushes to total their 30 attempts. 

 

However looking at the numbers closely again, the first possession of the 3rd quarter Flacco came out gunning. 4/5 44yds 1TD. So with 9:51 remaining in the 3rd quarter Flacco was 17/26 270yds 3TDs. That means the rest of the game he attempted only 5 passes in 1 1/2 quarters of football. Now i'm not saying this is a problem, it's just to show how although the numbers say the Ravens offense was "balanced" their better offensive performances came when the ball was in Flacco's hands early in an aggressive style attacking offense. In this example, I think we'll see Flacco and Trestman keeping the foot on the gas peddle through at least the early-mid part of the 4th quarter. Then pounds a team out while letting the defense continue to hunt. 

[52520Andrew]

Yeah I get it and it's hard for me too. Much of my prediction is contingent on the job of RS. I'm betting on Carter to win the job. I think Waller will do well enough where it's difficult to cut him.

 

Yeah I doubt we cut Waller as I don't see him making the P.S. unless he has a bad preseason and even then a team could be all over those physical traits.

 

I think Special Teams will be the ticket for Carter, if he can catch on there then I think we will keep him around. If not, he could end up on the P.S. but I don't think that would be the end of the world either as he will still be around in the event of injuries.

[GrimCoconut]

Yeah I doubt we cut Waller as I don't see him making the P.S. unless he has a bad preseason and even then a team could be all over those physical traits.

I think Special Teams will be the ticket for Carter, if he can catch on there then I think we will keep him around. If not, he could end up on the P.S. but I don't think that would be the end of the world either as he will still be around in the event of injuries.

Yeah I agree on both counts. I envision Waller used in jumbo RZ packages. I think one aspect very underappreciated is what we can now do in the RZ. Much of our past problems in the RZ was not converting on short run plays to punch it into the end zone. With Waller, Perriman, Brown, Williams, Boyle and Gillmore as big targets that also are good in the run game provides a huge (originally no pun intended) boon to this offense. This is an area where we truly struggled even with Kubiak. Now, with all these big targets and run blockers, we can truly keep defenses somewhat honest and force very favorable matchups against most teams, theoretically speaking.

[Ravensfan23]

I know I'm in the minority but I really believe we're keeping seven WR.

 

I think we will keep 7. 

[ravensdan]

Where is Waller? He won't get cut unless he completely bombs playing football and he would not last on the PS. Please don't let them IR him either, hasnt that been proven that it kills receivers chances?

It's obviously way too early to make judgements on the roster, however I see this statement every year "x" player will never last on the ps, and it's rArely true. If he ends up there, it's for a reason. No way of making that kind of call now. For all we know an udfa could outperform everyone like a victor Cruz or John brown. That's what camp is for.

[52520Andrew]

For all we know an udfa could outperform everyone like a victor Cruz or John brown

 

Are you talking 3rd rounder John Brown or am I getting him confused with someone else?

[ravensdan]

Are you talking 3rd rounder John Brown or am I getting him confused with someone else?

My mistake. I was thinking of the other Brown who went undrafted. Or Allen hurns. Both surpassed more established players. I think you get my point. Way too soon to tell who will rise up.

[52520Andrew]

My mistake. I was thinking of the other Brown who went undrafted. Or Allen hurns. Both surpassed more established players. I think you get my point. Way too soon to tell who will rise up.

 

Yeah I got it haha, way too early to tell how things shake out, this is when things start to get interesting more than anything

[Footman DCXLV]

Unless somebody plays at an unexpectedly high or low level between now and the start of the regular season, I don't think there will be a huge mystery, here. I'd expect Steve Smith, Perriman, Brown, Aiken, and Campanaro on the main roster, with Waller probably on the practice squad, if only because draft picks rarely get outright cut as rookies. But, I think there's going to be a pretty clear pecking order, rather than trying to figure out who's the "odd man out." Smith and Perriman will be priorities, the other three guys will be role-players that all have their moments, and anybody else that makes the team/practice squad will just be depth. I don't expect many surprises there, barring injury.

Corner, tight end, and maybe d-line are the more interesting positions in terms of not really knowing how the depth chart will play out.

[FlackAttack]

Also for people so sure about Camp's role as the slot on offense, don't be so sure to bank on that just yet. Again I really like the guy and who he's a big part of the offense and Special Teams. However if you go back and listen to Marc Tresman talk after drafting Maxx Williams he spoke about how much Joe loves his TEs and having that big body in the middle. Tresman spoke about how adding Williams to what we already have, it'll allow us to use more 2TE set that takes 3WRs sets off the field to prevent defenses from running complex Nickle Packages. 

 

So just from that statement alone, which i'm sure isn't the end all be all, but it just sounds like Tresman wants to really create the match of bigger faster WRs/TEs against base defensive packages. Once the offense might not be operating in a lot of space this year which really suits a guy like Camp, but more so using the bigger more physical guys to work underneath while a guy like Perriman or even Waller can take the top off deep. 

 

I think it's gonna be fun to see who sticks their head up once all these guys are dropped into that WR competetion. I think the only guy who is a lock is Steve Smith Sr and he'll probably be the guy working the hardest. So all of these young guys better be ready to work.

this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[harfordravenfan]

could you explain that for me. Not sure i understand. I hear people talk about guys getting separation all the time, but in the NFL really do you have a lot of separation. Unless you have play calls that scheme a guy to be running wide open you rarely find a WR that constantly catches the ball with 2-3 yards of space between he and the DB. No knock to you, but honestly it just seems like another misrepresentation of Marlon Brown. I'm not saying he leaves DBs in his wake or anything, but i don't see how his separation or lack thereof is any different from any other WR we had on the team last year. Actually in terms of YAC average Brown was 2nd only to Steve Smith and that's usually a good indication of a WR catching the ball with space between him and the defender.

Just my opinion but seemed that brown rarely got separation unless is was from a play scheme. Not saying he's incapable but I look at him more as a redzone or situational wr versus a true wideout. I don't see him drawing the best cb or a safety to help cover him but I do think in situations he would shine

[RAVENSNAYSHUN]

I've read some of these posts and everyone has there opinion. It looks like Aiken is listed on the depth chart as 3rd WR as of today. But I personally think Brown had a better rookie season than Aiken's rookie yr. Aiken may have more dawg in him but I still think Brown is better. Brown was ore physical last yr than his rookie yr so hopefully he'll be even more physical this yr. And it could be that SSS PT is reduced and in that case Brown might get more PT. Either way, that's gonna be one heck of a battle for #3 between Brown, Aiken, and Camp.

[Rav'n Maniac]

I feel the Ravens will go with 7 WRs as well. It is my hope that they can develop Weller and have him paired with Perriman on the outsides. SSS to be the slot with Aiken & Brown as the 4th & 5th options. That would put speed and height advantages on the outsides on all downs opening up the center of the field for Smith and the TEs. This would also allow Smith to have "that reduced role" on obvious 2nd & 3rd passing downs. It's a great way to keep Smith fresh all season long.

 

I think Camp gets the 6th option and/or the RS who won't see the field all that often behind Smith, or at least until Smith retires.

 

That leaves the 7th spot between Butler and Carter. Butler will be there unless they can develop Carter as a RS. No matter how it shakes out, the other will go to the PS.