Thompson Impressing In OTAs

July 24, 2012; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens assistant special teams coach Chris Hewitt talks with wide receiver Deonte Thompson (83) during the opening day of training camp at the team practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Second Year Ravens Deonte Thompson may be emerging as the front-runner for the no.2 WR job in Baltimore. Thompson had am impressive offseason and almost immediately became a fan favorite. Many were calling for him to get a bunch of play time. It didnt really happen. Maybe it will now.

Thompson has reportedly been highly impressive in the Ravens OTAs, according to Torrey Smith Thompson has been “grinding” and working hard to get better all year and now may be the frontrunner to take over the Ravens open starting WR role replacing Anquan Boldin.

The fit makes sense, Thompson seems to be a pretty tough receiver who isn’t afraid to go across the middle but he is a bit on the small side for that type of role(last year he was 200 lbs and 6’0″). Still, Thompson would be an interesting player to put in the mix with Jacoby Jones and Torrey Smith because he is a very fast player. Coming out of college last year he ran a 4.28(unofficial) 40 and was a track star at Florida.

With Deonte receiving a big role, that would make the Ravens top 3 WRs all sub 4.4 forty players and all among the fastest at their positions. add that to underneath threats like Pitta and Rice(neither of which are slow) and the wild card in the speedy(for a TE) Ed Dickson. That is a lot of speed to deal with. the Ravens are getting faster at WR, but the league is getting slower(and bigger) at corner, that is very interesting to me because it signifies that the Ravens could cause some serious matchup issues to teams with bigger more physical secondaries. Teams like the 49ers and Seahawks for example.

This is going to be an interesting season for the Ravens offense, and deonte Thompson might make it even more interesting.