Ravens News 6/24: Selective Tweaking and more

Greg Roman Will Be ‘Selective’ in Tweaking Ravens’ Top Offense - Ryan Mink

“That’s something I think about every day, at least once a minute – how we’re going to put things together, how it’s going to look a little different,” Roman said.

“We haven’t had the luxury of OTAs and whatnot to really kind of test run certain things,” Roman said. “We have to be really judicious with how we use that time in training camp to experiment. I think experimenting this year is going to be very selective.

“Especially in a season like this, you don’t want to get too far off the rails. You’ve got to stay on the rails and be selective with what you want to do differently.”

“What I’ve learned over the years is you’ve got to be really, really good at something. And after you get really, really good at something, you want to get really, really good at a few things, and you keep building on that,” Roman said.

“So that’s what we aim to do. How our new personnel fits together I think will naturally shift us a little bit. It won’t be the same. We’re going to keep pushing the envelope.”

Moving Jimmy Smith to safety a “wait and see” thing for Ravens - Josh Alper

Smith said in May that he thinks he’ll “be in some type of new role” and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale discussed that possibility in a Tuesday conference call.

“It’s a wait and see thing. . . . Jimmy’s already done what Brandon Carr did last year,” Martindale said. “We’ve put him against good tight ends to cover them in special situations.”

Martindale said that the team will always put the best 11 players on the field, but that it “could be a different set of 11” for different situations.

Ravens OC: Involving Dobbins in loaded backfield a ‘good’ problem - Kevin Patra

“I love good problems,” he said Tuesday, via the team’s official Twitter feed. “I think I’ve learned over the years, if you got good problems, bring ‘em this way. And I say that unabashedly. Talented, hardworking players that love football, bring ‘em on. And the fact that we’ve got a lot of guys in our running back stable, if you will, just makes me excited to no end. I don’t think you can have enough really good running backs, and we’ve certainly got a plethora of them. I’m really excited to see J.K. (Dobbins) and I love the guys we already have, Mark (Ingram), Gus (Edwards) and Justice (Hill). We’ll find ways to make it work, for sure. To have that kind of backfield is a blessing.

“We definitely want to get into training camp and work through it and kind of evolve as we go, as far as how we’re actually going to deploy them and who we are going to emphasize, (and) how. I think that’s going to happen on the fly every day in training camp. We’ll get a better feel for that, but I love problems like that. So, I mean that sincerely.”

Which Team Is the Best Fit for Jamal Adams? - Danny Heifetz

Just like with basketball players, defensive backs with no weaknesses are increasingly superior to those with one or two strengths. But with Adams, almost every aspect of his game is a strength. Since he entered the NFL in 2017, he leads all defensive backs in sacks, is tied for second in forced fumbles, and is third in snaps, according to ESPN Stats & Info. While he has just two interceptions in his three-year career, he was the seventh-best safety in pass coverage according to Pro Football Focus.

Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore was the other team who reportedly made an offer for Adams at last year’s trade deadline, according to The Athletic. While many NFL teams chase pass rushers to get a pass rush, Baltimore has followed the Patriot Way of paying defensive backs whose coverage ability may be underrated in creating sacks. Baltimore has built its defense around a talented and deep secondary by adding safety Earl Thomas and cornerback Marcus Peters to a group that already had Marlon Humphrey and Jimmy Smith. Baltimore is already the second-most favored team to win the Super Bowl after Kansas City, but adding Adams could make them the outright favorite.

The Ravens went 14-2 last year and didn’t lose in the final three months of the regular season. They sported one of the league’s two best offenses, had one of the league’s five best defenses, and ran for the most rushing yards and the highest yards-per-carry mark of the Super Bowl era. While they were caught sleeping against the Titans and lost their first playoff game, the Ravens are returning 21 of 22 starters and all 22 coaches from last year’s staff. Adding Adams would be saying that the goal is to win the Super Bowl in 2020, and anything that follows would be a good problem to have. It would not be typical for Baltimore to make a huge offer for Adams, but this isn’t a typical year.