Ravens News 2/8: Tag & Hold and more

Could Tom Brady play again? Rodgers and Packers future - Mike Sando

Prediction: The Baltimore Ravens will use the franchise tag on Lamar Jackson, gauge trade interest and then hold onto him while speculation about Jackson’s long-term future makes 2023 feel like 2022.

“If it wasn’t for all of the comments that (general manager) Eric DeCosta and (coach) John Harbaugh said in their postseason presser, I would think he is going to get traded,” an exec said. “I feel like he is just going to get tagged now and play on the tag. I don’t think anyone is going to offer-sheet him for two ones and his contract demands. The question is, are they going to have the stones to stand in there? Do you risk a chance of a team coming in after the draft and offer-sheeting him then?”

“It is hard to build an offense around Lamar,” another exec said. “You can certainly do it, but a place like the Jets, is that the best fit for what Nate Hackett wants to do? Mike McDaniel probably would do great with Lamar. Maybe a Lamar-for-Tua trade makes sense. Maybe Atlanta would make sense for Lamar with Arthur Smith, but I think Baltimore tags him and holds onto him.”

Mark Andrews: If you’re not passing well, you’re going to fall behind - Josh Alper

The Ravens are still looking for a new offensive coordinator and one key member of the unit knows what he wants to see from the eventual hire.

Ravens tight end Mark Andrews was a guest on PFT Live in Arizona on Tuesday and said that a key for the incoming coordinator will be to build an offense that changes the narrative that Baltimore is a bad place for receivers to play.

“This is such a pass happy league. If you’re not doing it, you’re gonna fall behind,” Andrews said.

Andrews has led the team in catches for the last four seasons and the only player who challenged him for the lead was Hollywood Brown, who was traded to the Cardinals before last season.

RB Index: Ranking all 75 starting running backs from the 2022 NFL season - Maurice Jones-Drew

22

J.K. Dobbins

Baltimore Ravens · Year 3

2022 stats: 8 games | 92 att | 520 rush yds | 5.7 ypc | 2 rush TDs | 7 rec | 42 rec yds | 1 rec TD | 0 fumbles lost

Despite playing in just eight games this season, Dobbins climbs all the way up to No. 22 in this list because of his efficiency. Looking at Weeks 14 through 17 — after he returned from midseason knee surgery — Dobbins led the league in both rush yards (397) and yards per carry (7.0) in that span (min. 35 carries). With the 24-year-old averaging 5.9 yards per carry thus far in the NFL, I can’t wait to see his numbers if he stays healthy in 2023.

42

Gus Edwards

Baltimore Ravens · Year 5

2022 stats: 9 games | 87 att | 433 rush yds | 5.0 ypc | 3 rush TDs | 0 rec | 0 rec yds | 0 rec TDs | 1 fumble lost

Edwards missed the first six weeks of the season while recovering from the previous year’s torn ACL. He was productive in his return to the field, averaging 5.0 yards per carry — a mark he’s at least matched in every NFL campaign. Hopefully Edwards will stay healthy in 2023 because he’s a dynamic player when he is.

43

Kenyan Drake

Baltimore Ravens · Year 7

2022 stats: 12 games | 109 att | 482 rush yds | 4.4 ypc | 4 rush TDs | 17 rec | 89 rec yds | 1 rec TD | 0 fumbles lost

With J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards still recovering from knee injuries suffered in 2021, the Ravens signed Drake in late August. Drake made three of his five total starts during Baltimore’s four-game midseason win streak.

Biggest 2023 NFL Draft risers from the Shrine and Senior bowls - Trevor Sikkema

RB TYJAE SPEARS, TULSA

Spears was the most impressive back from the Senior Bowl group. He had two of the biggest runs of the week during practices, which went into him accumulating the most rushing yards from scrimmage on the week. His ability to accelerate and change direction on his cuts was impressive. He rushed for more than 1,500 yards with 19 touchdowns this past season. It’s a deep running back class once again this draft cycle, but Spears will be a fan favorite no matter where he goes.

The Eagles Know the Value of a Star Wide Receiver. So Do the Chiefs. - Ben Solak

The Eagles entered 2022 with an offense that was incomplete—a lost jigsaw piece leaving a glaring hole right in the center of an otherwise completed puzzle. The Brown trade completed the picture, and the Eagles are in the Super Bowl because of it.

So the Chiefs traded Hill away. With the money they saved, they signed JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Neither has been incredible, save for a peak game here or there. With one of the picks they got, they drafted Skyy Moore, another replacement receiver who hasn’t panned out.

The story of the Eagles’ acquisition of Brown tells us something about the Chiefs’ decision to trade Hill. The Eagles needed to access the middle of the field—an area of the field they previously couldn’t—so they got the receiver they needed to do it. For the Chiefs, it was flipped. They could no longer rely on access to the deep portion of the field—an area they previously could—so they traded away the receiver who deserved $30 million for his prior dominance in that area.

But the story of the Chiefs and Hill also tells us something about the Eagles and Brown. Once you commit to paying your star quarterback $40 million–plus every year until the sun swallows the planet, as the Chiefs did when they signed Mahomes’s 10-year mammoth of a contract, you assume a reality in which that quarterback can lose a star receiver and not miss a beat. To justify that money, he must be able to shoulder a receiving corps with less talent than other passers.