The Baltimore Ravens enter their 20th season as a franchise looking for their third Super Bowl trophy. The Ravens have won two Super Bowls each by former head coach Brian Billick and current head coach John Harbaugh. General manager Ozzie Newsome was the constant main cog in those two instances from the front office, and linebacker Ray Lewis was the constant main cog on the field. In addition to Ray Lewis other legendary players drafted by the team such as safety Ed Reed and Pro Football Hall of Fame left tackle Jonathan Ogden paved the way for so much success for the organization.
Ravens notable stats since 2000 season:
Total wins: 159 (fifth most in NFL)
Playoff wins: 15 (second most in NFL)
Road playoff wins: 10 (Most in NFL)
Playoff appearances: 10 (tied fourth most in NFL)
Super Bowl trophies: 2 (tied for second most in NFL)
The events in the past have brought the Ravens were they are today: A perennial Super Bowl contender. Harbaugh and his assistants such as Defensive Coordinator Dean Pees and Special Teams Coach Jerry Rosburg have a lot on their plate this season. But on the offensive side of the ball, no assistant on the roster might have more pressure them than Marc Trestman.
Quarterback
Ravens Super Bowl 47 MVP quarterback Joe Flacco is entering his eighth season in the league with his fourth different offensive coordinator in the last four seasons. Flacco is coming off of a season where set career highs in passing yards (3,986) and touchdown passes (27).
Trestman is going to add some new wrinkles to the offense that ranked 12th in the NFL in yards per game last season and averaged 25.6 points a game which ranked eighth in the NFL last season as well.
Trestman is going to add a shorter passing game which will involve more receptions to running backs while the deep passing game will be still be heavily involved in the offense. So far into two preseason games, the Ravens offense has looked a little different, but not too much from what people have seen in the past.
The Ravens will have more screen passes involved to wide receivers and running backs and will still call a lot of plays under center. The shotgun formation wasn't used a whole lot by the Ravens last year and isn't expected to be used a whole lot this year.
In general, Trestman and Flacco have a pretty good working relationship. Flacco has been eager to learn Trestman’s offense since the coordinator arrived in Baltimore earlier this year.
Key Note at Quarterback
Flacco has played in 127 straight games in his career (including playoffs) with is ranked sixth most in NFL history. And if Flacco’s history is any indication, the Ravens won’t have to worry about him missing any games anytime soon.
However, that didn’t stop the Ravens from signing veteran quarterback Matt Schaub in the off-season. The signing occurred because the Ravens basically felt like they were playing with fire by not having an experienced quarterback behind Flacco in the past.
Offensive Line
The offensive line under Trestman is expected to keep their zone blocking scheme very much involved into the offense as the unit had so much success last season as they ranked second in the NFL last season in fewest sacks allowed with 19 and ranked eighth in the NFL in rushing yards per game averaging 126.2 points a game.
Left tackle Eugene Monroe has had a very nice training camp so far holding his own against pass rushers and in run blocking.
The Ravens in the past two seasons, haven’t been really disappointed with Monroe, but they haven’t been overly impressed with him either. Monroe is out to prove that he is worth the five year 40 million dollar contract the Ravens gave him just over a year ago.
Left guard Kelechi Osemele is entering the final year of his contract with the Ravens and is expected to command a nice payday if he enters in the free agent market in 2016.
Osemele has never been selected to a Pro Bowl, but anyone seeing him play knows that he is one of the top 10 left guards in all of the NFL. His ability to right tackle in a pinch will also prove his worth on the free agent market. Right now, this season will be an interesting one for Osemele as he has an Achilles injury that could give him problems over the course of the 2015 regular season.
Center Jeremy Zuttah was without question one of the most important additions the Ravens made during the 2014 offseason when they added him via trade from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Zuttah has added consistency and reliability at the position that was sorely lacking during the 2013 season.
Right guard Marshal Yanda is the best at his position in the NFL. Yanda year in and year out is always regarded as one of the best players on the offensive line in the league and his peers notice him as he has been selected among NFL Network’s annual countdown of the top 100 players.
Yanda, like Osemele, is looking for a contract extension as well which will make for some interesting decisions the Ravens have to make after the 2015 season.
Right tackle Ricky Wagner has probably been the most surprising player on the Ravens roster in a good way. A year ago at this time, there were huge question marks at right tackle to the point where many speculated if Yanda had to move to right tackle if the production wasn’t good enough.
Wagner has more than held his own. Wagner was rated by ProFootballFocus in the 2014 season as the best right tackle in the NFL. The third year player is still on his rookie contract but if he keeps on playing the way he is accustomed to, he will be rewarded financially by the Ravens as well.
Wide Receiver
The Ravens have nice fight for limited spots at the wide receiver position. The Ravens aren’t expected to keep seven receivers, which makes the competition even more exciting.
Young receivers in Kamar Aiken, Michael Campanaro, Jeremy Butler, Marlon Brown and Darren Waller are fighting for four spots at the position as veteran wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. is obviously a lock and rookie first round draft pick Breshad Perriman is a lock as well.
Out of the five young players fighting for a spot on the team, Aiken has been the most consistent with his ability separate himself from defensive backs in practice and use his size to overpower defenders. If the season started today, Aiken would be starting as the second receiver opposite Smith Sr.
Waller is a rookie out of Georgia Tech and when people talk about size, Waller is as big as a receiver can get. At 6’6 weighing 240 pounds, the sky is the limit for Waller. The rookie didn’t came out of a wide receiver friendly offense in college, so Waller is learning and learning quickly. Waller has been pretty good in practice using his size in the red zone and will probably lock up a spot on the roster for that reason.
Campanaro will be used as a slot receiver in the Ravens offense as he is very smart early on in his career in diagnosing zone and man defenses. The main problem for Campanaro however has been his ability to stay healthy.
Campanaro dealt with a hamstring injury during the 2014 season and earlier in the offseason in 2015, he tore his quadriceps. Campanaro looks good to go and if he can stay healthy, he would provide a very nice dimension to the Ravens offense.
Butler had a very nice off-season in general especially to start off. However, in the two preseason games, he hasn’t gotten the separation on the field that many people would have expected. He hasn’t stood out on the field but he has two more preseason games to redeem himself.
Brown has had a bit of a so-so camp. He is the most proven out of the young receivers, but like Butler he hasn’t really stood out. Brown may garner a spot, but it he most certainly isn’t a lock to make the team.
Smith Sr. announced early in training camp that he would be retiring after the 2015 season. The veteran entering his 15th season has 915 receptions, 13,362 receiving yards and 73 touchdowns. He will most certainly be considered for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
It will be an emotional season for Smith Sr. and the Ravens plan on sending him out the way they sent Ray Lewis out during the 2012 season which ended with a Super Bowl victory.
Perriman has been out of action since spraining his PCL on the first day of training camp and is being taken as a day by day basis. It is unknown if Perriman will be ready for week 1 against the Denver Broncos but even if he is, he will most likely get limited snaps just to ease him into the offense once again.
In the limited time Perriman was on the field in training camp, he showed that he is aggressive towards the ball by not waiting for the ball to get to him but to snatch it out of the air. Perriman with his 4.2 speed also translated that onto the field getting separation very nicely. The Ravens like him and Flacco has said nothing but good things about him as well.
Tight End
The tight end position might be the deepest position in terms of talent that the Ravens have on their roster. Second year tight end Crockett Gillmore is penciled in as the starting tight end in week 1 for the Ravens and has had a pretty productive preseason. Gillmore has been Flacco’s go to guy a bit in limited action in preseason and Gillmore has made the most of it.
Rookies in Maxx Williams and Nick Boyle have shown nice hands and separation during practice and in games to the extent that they could be relied upon when they are called. Both rookies have shown talent that a good number of tight ends in the league don’t have at their age.
The progress at the tight end position for the Ravens is certainly welcoming as Dennis Pitta has suffered two devastating hip injuries during the 2013 and 2014 seasons that has raised questions at times if Pitta would ever be on an NFL field again. Right now, Pitta is on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list and is expected to return to the field if all goes well in the middle of the 2015 season.
Running Back
Justin Forsett made the most of his opportunities with the Ravens in a very surprising way in the aftermath of the Ray Rice fiasco during the 2014 season as he rushed for over 1,200 yards and was selected to his first Pro Bowl at age 29. Forsett was rewarded by the Ravens with a three year deal this offseason and will remain heavily involved in Trestman’s offense.
Rookie running back Buck Allen has shown some flashes of talent this offseason and some flashes of normal rookie tendencies. And with the way things are shaping up with Lorenzo Taliaferro and his MCL sprain he suffered against the Philadelphia Eagles preseason game in week 2, it will give Allen more opportunities to shine.
Undrafted rookie running back Terrence McGee has been called by some people to be a sleeper on the Ravens roster as he has nice size and speed and has been known to be a pretty good pass blocker in college. If he can prove that on the NFL level, he has a legit shot to stay on the team but it would be tough. Most likely, McGee lands on the practice squad if the Ravens like him enough.
Defensive line
The Ravens have a lot of young talent along the defensive line with players such as Brandon Williams, Timmy Jernigan and Carl Davis. The Ravens feel so confident about the talent they have on the defensive line that the traded away veteran defensive tackle Haloti Ngata who has anchored the Ravens defense for almost a decade to the Detroit Lions earlier in the 2015 offseason.
Brandon Williams has already solidified himself as one of the best 3-4 nose tackles in the NFL as he is one of the biggest if not the biggest reason why the Ravens haven’t allowed a 100 yard rusher in 28 straight games (including playoffs) which is the current longest active streak in the NFL.
The last time the Ravens allowed a 100 yard rusher was back in October of 2013 and the last time the Ravens allowed an AFC running back to rush for over 100 yards against them was back in December of 2012.
Jernigan has provided moves against offensive linemen that are beyond his years. The level of talent Jernigan has hasn’t shown any limits so far and he is only getting better. Out of all of the defensive linemen on the Ravens roster, Jernigan will be the one who be expected to provide the most sacks at the position.
Davis is a rookie out of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and when he was selected in the third round by the Ravens, he has been on record saying that he has something to prove. Davis believes he should have been selected much higher.
Out of all of the young rookie defenders on the Ravens roster, Davis has been the most productive player on the Ravens roster during preseason games.
Outside Linebackers
Outside linebacker Terrell Suggs continues to produce almost as if he gets better as he continues to get older. Suggs is coming off of a 2014 season where he played all 16 games and accumulated 12 sacks. However, Suggs is 32 years old and is nearing the end of his career. A lot of questions will be raised with Suggs this season.
How long can Suggs keep up his production? Will he wear down as the season goes along? Suggs will certainly be one of the determining factors as to how far the Ravens go in the 2015 season.
Outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil is coming of a career year where he tied his personal season record and broke the Ravens single season record in terms of sacks with 17. Suggs and Dumervil combine for the most sacks by teammates in the NFL with 29 a season ago.
Dumervil will still be sharing playing time with outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw as Dumervil will continue his pass rushing duties and Upshaw will continue to play on obvious running play situations.
The same questions raised for Suggs will be raised for Dumervil as well. How long can Dumervil keep up his level of production? At the age of 31, Dumervil obviously has a lot of wear and tear on his tires.
The level of pressure Suggs and Dumervil have to produce a pass rush is a lot because the Ravens don’t have much of anything behind them in that department. So if Suggs or Dumervil were out of action for a significant amount of time, the Ravens will suffer greatly for it.
Pass rushing depth is something the Ravens are going to have to look into next season, but they can’t do anything about it now.
Inside Linebackers
The Ravens have a nice mix of veteran leadership and up and coming youth at the position. Starting inside linebackers in Daryl Smith and C.J. Mosely have contributed to being one of the best inside linebacker duo’s in the in the NFL.
The intelligence both players have has really been a blessing for the defense especially in the aftermath of Ray Lewis retiring.
Daryl Smith and Mosely were the only two teammates in the NFL last season to each rank in the top 10 in terms of tackles. Mosely became the first rookie in Ravens history to be selected to the Pro Bowl last season.
Daryl Smith and Mosley provide a lead by example mentality that the Ravens organization hope is rubbing off of inside linebackers such as Arthur Brown, Albert McClellan and Zach Orr.
Arthur Brown, Orr and McClellan are fighting to be the top backup at inside linebacker and all three players have provided a mixed bag of good and bad in the first-two preseason games. This is a battle that will probably take the fourth preseason game to settle.
Secondary
The secondary in the last two seasons overall for the Ravens has been the weakest unit due to injuries sustained by the players or just to pure lack of execution.
It didn’t help matters that the Ravens best cornerback and one of the most underrated defenders in the league in Jimmy Smith was out for most of the 2014 season with a Lisfranc injury is still recovering to get back to full speed.
Cornerback Lardarius Webb has been dealing a back injury in recent years and just recently in training camp is currently dealing with a hamstring injury. Webb is expected to be fine. But due to Webb’s injury, cornerback Rashaan Melvin has seen a lot of playing time and he has made the most of it.
Melvin has looked good in practice and is looking to make amends for performance against the New England Patriots in the divisional playoff round last season
Strong safety Matt Elam is out for the 2015 season with a torn biceps injury and safety Terrence Brooks has returned to practice after tearing his ACL late in the 2014 season.
The two players expected to solidify the back end of the secondary are free safety Will Hill and strong safety Kendrick Lewis. The Ravens like Kendrick Lewis and what he provides in terms of awareness and intelligence.
The Ravens also like what they see in Hill as he has a lot of talent. The only hope the Ravens have for Hill is that he can stay focused on and off the field and if he can do that there should be nothing to worry about.
The Ravens in the off-season added cornerback Kyle Arrington to the team who provides veteran leadership coming off of a Super Bowl run with the Patriots.
Special Teams
The Ravens are completely set at the punter position with Sam Koch and the team is currently working on a contract extension with the most accurate kicker in NFL history in Justin Tucker who has only missed one field goal under 40 yards in his three seasons in the NFL.
The Ravens are also trying to find out who will be the punt and kick returner for the team after the Ravens let go of wide receiver Jacoby Jones early in the 2015 offseason who filled both spots.
Steve Smith Sr., Campanaro and cornerback Asa Jackson have been the main players involved to go along with undrafted free agent wide receiver DeAndre Carter.
Jackson and Carter haven’t shown much so far which would probably lead to the Ravens going with either Steve Smith Sr. or Campanaro. It is a fluid situation that won’t be solved until week 1 starts.
Overall
The Ravens have a tough regular season schedule ahead of them as they begin five out of their first-seven games on the road and four of those games will be against teams that made the playoffs last season.
Then from the beginning of November to the end of the season, the Ravens will play six out their next nine games at home.
In addition to the Ravens playing their AFC North rivals, the Ravens will battle against the AFC West and the NFC West and play on the road against the Miami Dolphins from the AFC East and the Jacksonville Jaguars from the AFC South.