2019 Team Previews - Baltimore Ravens
Projected Starting Lineup QB: Lamar Jackson RB: Mark Ingram
WR: Marquise Brown WR: Willie Snead TE: Mark Andrews / Hayden Hurst
LT: Ronnie Stanley LG: Alex Lewis C: Matt Skura RG: Marshal Yanda RT: Orlando Brown Jr.
Ravens Offensive Profile 2015-2018 Pass Attempts Rank: 1st, 1st, 11th, 16th 2015-2018 Rush Attempts Rank: 25th, 30th, 7th, 1st 2015-2018 Play Volume Rank: 5th, 4th, 8th, 1st 2015-2018 Yards Per Play Rank: 22nd, 24th, 31st, 26th
Greg Roman's average offensive production as an Offensive Coordinator. (6 Seasons)
Passing: ATT COMP PCT YDS AVG YDS/G LONG TD INT SACK
455 281 61.7 3369 7.4 356 67 20 8 44
Rushing: ATT YDS AVG LONG 20+ TD YDS/G FUM FUML 1DN
494 2329 4.72 63 19 18 145.6 9 4 119
Receiving: REC TAR YDS AVG TD LONG 20+ YDS/G FUM FUML YAC 1DN
281 455 3369 12.1 20 67 46 211 3 1 1347 158
Quarterback-
Lamar Jackson lead the Baltimore Ravens to the playoffs last season after he was inserted into the starting lineup in week 11. In the final seven games of the season, Jackson led the Ravens to a 6-1 record while only amassing 1,114 passing yards (159 YPG). The man responsible for adding another dimension to the electric Heisman Trophy winners arsenal is Greg Roman. The Ravens offensive coordinator will be directing his seventh offense as a play caller, with previous stops in San Francisco and Buffalo. This is a fantastic hire by Harbough, as Roman has a track record of working with and developing mobile quarterbacks such as Alex Smith, Colin Kapernick, and Tyrod Taylor. One thing to note is that of his six mobile quarterbacks, five of them had more than 90 rushing attempts in those seasons.
The Ravens will look to establish the run early and will not limit Jackson in his usage. In an interview with Brian Billick, head coach Jim Harbough was asked about Newton's career-high rushing attempts of 139 and that if Jackson might approach that. "I'd bet the over on that one, i'd bet the over for sure" Harbough said without hesitation.
In addition to the quarterback being involved in the running game, Greg Roman passing attack is one that will take shots down the field. In his six seasons as an offensive coordinator his teams averaged 455 attempts a year completing 61.7% of those throws and 20 touchdowns. While those numbers are low compared to the rest of the league, the 7.4 yards per attempt are above average and fit the speed that was brought in at receiver.
Fantasy Outlook-
One of the highest ceilings this season will be Lamar Jackson if he can stay healthy. If you just took the average of Roman's quarterbacks, he will have 245-265 fantasy points passing. In seven starts last season he had 147 rushes for 695 yards and five touchdowns which adds another 100 points making him QB5 last season. I believe that Greg Roman will improve Jackson's passing game as he will tailor the offensive scheme to his abilities. While he will not be throwing for more than 3,500 yards and less than 25 touchdowns, his rushing game ability makes him a weekly fantasy starter. I believe he is a great late round selection if you pair him with someone with a steady floor such as Phillip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger as he has top-5 potential if he hits some big plays in the passing game and can stay healthy.
Wide Receiever-
The Ravens overhauled the receiver position this off-season as they moved on from Michael Crabtree, and John Brown while adding speedsters Hollywood Brown and Miles Boykin in the NFL Draft. This is a position that will not be looking to carry this football team, as they will be able to develop in their first season. The big play ability will be called upon as they will need to keep those defenses honest and from loading eight to nine men in the box to stop in order to stop this impressive Ravens rushing attack.
Willie Snead
The veteran Snead will be leading a very inexperienced receiver room in Baltimore. In his seven games with Jackson as his quarterback, Snead caught 28 passes for 315 yards and no touchdowns. The sure handed 5th year pro out of Ball State will be one of Jackson's security blankets in the middle of the field as he operated out of the slot on 71.7% of routes run last season.
Fantasy Outlook-
With such little volume and big play ability, Snead will help the Ravens move the chains but he is not relevant in your fantasy football drafts.
Hollywood Brown
The five-foot-nine 166 pound speedster out of Oklahoma, will look to blow the top off of defenses this season. In his two seasons with the Sooners, Brown caught 132 passes for 2,413 yards (18.3 YPC) and 17 touchdowns. The nephew of NFL superstar Antonio Brown, will look to make his own name in the league and has a ton of speed to do so.
Fantasy Outlook-
Durability is the biggest concern with Brown, as he is coming off of Lisfranc surgery in Feburary. I view him much like DeSean Jackson as NFL scouts had a ton of concern with the receivers stature and ability to stay healthy. I for one do not see that as a major concern, as he is a burner that will not be attacking the middle of the field and taking vicious hits across the middle. While he is not someone that I am taking in fantasy football, he is someone that you should be interested in for dynasty, and rookie drafts.
Miles Boykin
My favorite receiver in Baltimore this season will be Notre Dame's Miles Boykin. The one receiver to meet Adam Levitan's 7 of 7 thresholds for rookie receivers was Boykin. His measurable's are off the charts testing in the 99th percentile across the board. At six-foot-four 220 pounds with a 4.42 forty and vertical of 43.5 inches it is hard to find a more impressive athlete coming out of college. You can find Adam's receiver measurable article here. https://www.draftkings.com/playbook/nfl/2019-nfl-draft-wr-class-minimum-thresholds
The production on the field was mixed however. He only caught 18 passes in his first two seasons that he played in. His senior year Boykin began to flash though, as he caught 59 passes for 872 yards and 8 touchdowns. The early reports out of camp are that he has been the best Ravens receiver and is someone you should continue to monitor.
Fantasy Outlook-
Only a dynasty or rookie draft player for me, but someone that will be on the radar during the season. I would look for him to make a jump into fantasy relevancy next season as a top-150 player.
Tight End-
The focal point of last years draft was tight end as they selected Hayden Hurst (1st Rd) and Mark Andrews (3rd Rd). While Hurst is a better fit as the inline tight end, Mark Andrews is the field stretcher and better pure pass receiver at the position. The Ravens should be running the majority of their offense out of 12 personnel (1RB, 2TE, 2WR) especially early in the season as they develop their young receiving corp.
Fantasy Outlook-
I love taking Mark Andrews late in drafts, if I have missed out on my top-6 tight ends. In his seven games with Jackson he caught 13 passes for 308 yards and one touchdown. He is a down the field threat that will be working the seam of this offense while Hurst is an inline blocking tight end that will be involved in the short to intermediate passing game.
Running Back-
Throughout Greg Roman's career as an offensive coordinator he has leaned heavily on one featured back. It was Frank Gore in San Francisco and LeSean McCoy in Buffalo leading Roman's backfields that averaged 494 carries for 2,329 yards (4.72 YPC) and 18 touchdowns a year. The Ravens went out and signed that featured back when they agreed to a three year 15 million dollar deal with Mark Ingram. With the release of Alex Collins, Gus Edwards looks to fill the backup role, while rookie Justice Hill looks to take the passing downs work.
Mark Ingram is the lead back for the first time since 2016 as he played second fiddle to Alvin Kamara since he entered the league in 2017. The ninth year pro out of Alabama should fit in well with this Ravens rushing attack. In his three seasons as the bell-cow running back he averaged 235 carries for 1,089 yards and 8 touchdowns. Last season the Ravens tailbacks averaged 4.7 yards per carry and rushed for 1,462 yards. This will be a very difficult attack to stop with Jackson offering that additional threat that teams will have to account for. The one knock on Ingram this season will be his lack of involvement in the passing game as Jackson only averages three pass attempts to running backs a game.
Fantasy Outlook-
I think that Ingram will be a solid RB2 this season that will get anywhere between 225-275 carries and roughly 8 touchdowns. With that being said, he will have little involvement in the passing game which really limits his fantasy upside. I am typically looking for other players in the range that he is getting selected, but if you want a safe running back that is going to get 15+ touches a week with touchdown upside he is a safe play. I would not be willing to select him till the 6th round of my drafts which means I probably will have zero shares of Mark Ingram this season.
Justice Hill
The rookie out of Oklahoma State looks to do what he did in Stillwater as a freshman, take the starters job. The last time that he entered a new situation, Hill beat out current Seahawk starter Chris Carson. While I do not envision HIll becoming the bell-cow in this offense, he brings a ton of speed and versatility as not only a runner but pass-catcher. I would expect Hill to be the change of pace type back when Ingram needs a breather. He should also be the primary third-down back in this offense.
Fantasy Outlook-
The only way Hill becomes fantasy viable this season is if Ingram goes down with an injury. There simply isn't enough volume in the passing downs role to make him a streaming option, but I do love his skillset and believe he has a bright future in the league.
Vegas Win Total
Baltimore's Win Total opened at 8.5 (+100) which is understandable for a team that has finished (9-7) (8-8) (10-6) the last three seasons. This seems to be a generous win total given that they get to play the miserable (minus the Patriots) AFC East. The division though will be tougher than last year, as I expect this Steelers team to play together and motivated after missing out on the playoffs last season. Then you have everyone's sleeper Super Bowl pick in the Cleveland Browns who have a star-studded offensive cast.
This is a team that others will not want to face as it will be a grind it out on the ground smash-mouth style of football that has disappeared from the league, which will present matchup problems. While the Defense lost key pieces such as Terrell Suggs, CJ Mosley, Eric Weddle, and Za'Darius Smith, it will still be an above average unit as they signed Earl Thomas to erase all mistakes in the backend. With Greg Roman tailoring the offense to Lamar Jackson, I look for this to be a team to win and win ugly which should lead to eight to tend wins this season.
