Buzz Worthy And Overlooked Ravens, Flacco Predictions For 2014

Dec 29, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) passes the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals in the second half at Paul Brown Stadium. Cincinnati defeated Baltimore 34-17. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to lunchtime links, where we round up all the latest Ravens news from around the web for your convenient consumption.  Today we bring you a recap of the latest buzz surrounding the team, Joe Flacco predictions for 2014, a defensive positional breakdown, and a couple of buzz worthy and overlooked players on the team.

Shehan Peiris has a recap of all the latest buzz heading into training camp.  This is a nice little round up of all the things we’ve been discussing the last few weeks (another Jeremy Butler mention!) from the possibility of contract extensions to stat predictions, and even an Arthur Brown bit thrown in for good measure.

Clifton Brown wonders if Joe Flacco is a good fit for Gary Kubiak’s offense, and it’s a fair question.  Flacco has embraced the changes as of late, but he has to change his game considerably to adapt to the new scheme.  He has to rely on timing more and must get the ball out much quicker than last year.

As for how Flacco will fare statistically in the new scheme, Alessandro Miglio is predicting his 2014 numbers along with all 31 other starting quarterbacks in the NFL.  Miglio goes conservative, predicting a marginally-better-than-career-average 61% completion rate.  We think it will be a bit higher than that, as Kubiak is working to cut back on mistakes and will focus more on the short (high percentage) passing game.

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Jason Marcum has a massive position-by-position breakdown and depth chart analysis for the entire Raven’s defense. It’s a good and lengthy read as we prepare for training camp, though things are bound to change as we move closer to the regular season.  One battle to keep an eye on is defensive tackle, where Timmy Jernigan is poised to take snaps away from seldom used Brandon Williams.

Ryan Mink tells us that cornerback Sammy Seamster is a late bloomer to keep an eye on in camp.  Seamster went undrafted due to his lack of college production, but has the intriguing size and speed NFL teams covet at the position these days.  The Ravens are hoping that he is simply a late bloomer, as Seamster didn’t even make a start until his senior year.

Another guy flying under the radar is linebacker Josh Bynes.  The steady, former undrafted free agent has been overshadowed by high draft picks and veteran Daryl Smith lately, but has shown enough in four seasons to be sprinkled in with the first team during minicamp.  He should at least stick around as a role player, despite the offseason moves the Ravens made at the position.