Team Previews - Baltimore Ravens

Projected Starting Lineup QB: Joe Flacco RB: Alex Collins

WR: Michael Crabtree WR: John Brown WR: Willie Snead TE: Hayden Hurst

LT: Ronnie Stanley LG: James Hurst C: Matt Skura RG: Marshal Yanda RT: Alex Lewis

Ravens Offensive Profile Last Three Years 2015-2017 Pass Attempts Rank: 1st, 1st, 11th 2015-2017 Rush Attempts Rank: 25th, 30th, 7th 2015-2017 Play Volume Rank: 5th, 4th, 8th 2015-2017 Yards Per Play Rank: 22nd, 24th, 31st Unaccounted for Air Yards from 2017 (Rank): 2,829 (1st) Unaccounted for Carries from 2017 (Rank): 64 (22nd)

Marty Mornhinweg average offensive production as an Offensive Coordinator for the Ravens. (2 Seasons)

Passing: ATT COMP PCT YDS AVG YDS/G LONG TD TD% INT INT% SACK YDSL RATE

620 400 64.5 3776 6.1 222 81 20 3.25 14 2.25 30 224 82

Rushing: ATT YDS AVG LONG 20+ TD YDS/G FUM FUML 1DN

414 1660 4 46 8 12 104 4.5 2 95

Receiving: REC TAR YDS AVG TD LONG 20+ YDS/G FUM FUML YAC 1DN

401 623 3789 9.4 20 81 35 237 3 1 1725 187

Quarterback- With the 1st round pick of Lamar Jackson, it appears Joe Flacco’s Baltimore tenure is coming to an end. Entering his 11th season, Flacco is coming off one of his worst seasons. While he did complete 64.1% of his passes, which is above his 61.7% career average. He only threw for 3,141 yards, 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The problems do not all fall on Flacco though, as Ozzie Newsome has not helped the offense at all in the draft. Newsome has not added a single high-end offensive skill player since Ray Rice in 08. While this year’s team has more weapons, the fans will be clamoring for Jackson should Baltimore struggle early. In terms of his fantasy outlook, Flacco has only finished as a top-12 fantasy QB once in his career while finishing outside of the top 20 three straight years. While I do think he will lead them to wins keeping the scintillating rookie on the sideline, he is only worth selecting in two quarterback leagues.

The most electric quarterback since Michael Vick will have a year to develop behind Flacco. Jackson scored 50 rushing TDs in just three seasons. His completion percentage went from 54.7%>56.2%>59.1%. While he is never going to be a high completion guy, he will be able to utilize his athleticism and attack defenses down the field. One thing that will help Jackson in his development is that Marty Mornhinweg has experience with elite athletes at the QB position. He was responsible for Michael Vicks career resurgence as he was his offensive coordinator during his years in Philadelphia. I would expect several specialized packages for Jackson even if Flacco holds him off. If the Ravens do start slowly, there is a good chance Jackson takes over after the week 10 bye. If you’re in a dynasty league, Jackson is probably the #1 QB on my board as his fantasy upside is incredible.

Wide Receiever-

With the off-season addition of Michael Crabtree the Ravens already improved upon last years disaster. After leading the Raiders in receiving for three straight years albeit last years terrible production, Crabtree looks to lead Baltimore in all receiving categories. The one area in which he will provide a tremendous upgrade in, will be his red-zone efficiency. Crabtree converted 13-of-49 (26.5%) targets into TDs during his three years with the Raiders. With Willie Snead (5’11/190) and John Brown (5’10/180) Crabtree should see a massive amount of red-zone targets. The volume headed Crabtree’s way makes him an undervalued WR2 and a likely top 20 finish.

I do not expect Brown or Snead to carry much fantasy value. Brown is betting on himself with a one-year deal, but was diagnosed with sickle-cell which has severally hampered his improvement. While he is a poor man’s Mike Wallace, he should be able to add some big plays in the passing game. Willie Snead got in the doghouse with his DUI in New Orleans so he looks for a fresh start in Baltimore. I do view him as a very dependable slot receiver as he has had two productive seasons (69) (72) receptions his last two healthy seasons. His addition should help improve the quick passing attack for the Ravens. I would not look to add any receiver not named Crabtree on my fantasy rosters, but do think this is a massive upgrade from last years team.

Tight End-

I know the slogan is Ozzie we trust, but did he really need to grab two tight end prospects in the first 86 picks of this year’s draft? I guess when you draft a bust in Maxx Williams and an injured 24-year-old rookie, you do. I think as a pass catcher Andrews provides a lot of ability, although he struggles in the run game. I would expect Hurst to handle the majority of the snaps at TE as he will provide a spark in the running and passing attack. Another upgrade for the Ravens in the off-season, but just not much fantasy value here as both rookies will cannibalize each other.

Running Back-

The best stat about the Ravens running game is actually about its running backs and their pass catching. Since 2007 Joe Flacco has 1186 pass attempts or 24.1% of his throws to running backs. That percentage ranks third in the NFL! Can you say hello Kenneth Dixon or Buck Allen?

Now we can get back to the actual running game outlook with one of my favorite players to watch in the SEC from 2013-15. Alex Collins runs extremely hard, has tremendous balance which is exactly what this offense needs. He is a throwback that seeks contact and has enough wiggle to make defenders miss in open space. After he finally was given the reigns week 8 on he averaged 19.2 touches per game. The Ravens also happened to go 5-2 down the stretch as well. I am hoping this is not another Justin Forsett situation, and that they reward this hard working tailback with a full workload for the 2018 season.

The backup duties will be an interesting battle between Buck Allen and Kenneth Dixon. Whoever does win this role; they will see ample amounts of work in the passing game as you saw from my stat above. Dixon's main issue has been staying healthy or out of trouble as he served six games for PED and substance abuse violations. Allen was very involved in the passing game and short yardage situations last year. I do believe they want someone more dynamic in that role though, as he averaged below 6 yards a reception in each of the past two seasons. I give the slight edge to Dixon if he can stay out of trouble, but would want to add whoever wins this battle to my bench in 2018.

Vegas Win Total

Baltimore's Win Total opened at 8. Coming off of (9-7) (8-8) seasons this number looks spot on from where I have them projected. Unfortunately for the Ravens they will play the deepest division in football the NFC South and a very strong AFC West. The roster has improved, but still contains a lot of question marks and a potential QB controversy. I look for John Harbough to return to a ball control offense similar to the final 7 games last year. If they can get Alex Collins going and not have to throw the ball over 585 times, I like the chances of the Ravens eclipsing the 8 win total bet with a very fast and active defense returning.