Baltimore Ravens’ tight end position has been a disaster in 2016

Before the season started, you could have made the argument that the deepest position on the Baltimore Ravens roster was the tight end position. The tight end position consisting of Ben Watson, Dennis Pitta, Crockett Gillmore, Maxx Williams, Darren Waller and Nick Boyle provided optimism on offense given the weapons it looked like Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco had.

That certainly hasn’t been the case as the Ravens near the end of the 2016 regular season. Let’s take a look at what has happened at tight end for the Ravens this season:

• Watson tore his Achilles on the first play of the 2016 preseason opener against the Detroit Lions which ended his season.
• Boyle was suspended for the first 10 games of the 2016 regular season for violating the NFL’s performance enhancing drug policy.
• Waller was suspended for the first four regular season games for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.
• Williams was put on injured reserve in early October due to a knee injury.
• Gillmore has been out for much of the last month due to a thigh injury.
• Good news is that Pitta is back after missing almost two years due to a career threatening hip injury. However, he is struggling creating YAC (yards after catch) averaging 8.3 yards per catch. Not to mention, he has been at his worst in the run and pass blocking department.

So much promise and so little results. All six of the tight ends listed above have a combined total of two touchdown receptions on the year (Gillmore and Waller).

The Ravens have young players with potential at the position with Gillmore, Williams, Waller and Boyle but none of them have proven that they can be relied upon for the long haul whether it is because of injuries or suspensions. If things don’t change soon, this position will be among many question marks entering the 2017 offseason for the Ravens front office.