Why won’t the Ravens give up on Arthur Brown?

Aug 28, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker Arthur Brown (59) on the sidelines in the second half of their game against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Arthur Brown, the former second round draft choice and current second round draft bust, is like the girl that you just can’t quit (at least to the Ravens). No matter how poorly he plays, how little he shows in practice, and a complete lack of upside, the Baltimore Ravens just won’t give up on him.

But why? This is a smart franchise, led by a bunch of smart people. They don’t often miss in the draft and the players they pick in the opening rounds each year rarely don’t pan out. Are they just afraid to admit their failure, or do they really see something in Brown?

Most (myself included) thought that this would be the year we saw Brown finally get cut. Rumors swirled last offseason that he might get traded, but nothing came to fruition. Devoid of special teams value, Brown simply lingered on the inactives list all season.

Now, we get this borderline delusional statement from head coach John Harbaugh himself via the Ravens’ team site.

“Arthur has really come on. We played him a lot. We played him with the ‘ones’ a lot, we played him with the ‘twos’ a lot. He’s flashed a number of times athletically,” Harbaugh said. “As hard as he worked in camp, I think really he’ll play faster in the regular season because he’s so quick, so explosive.”

Are we missing something here?

Sure, Brown has played a lot this offseason. Everyone presumed that this was because the Ravens wanted to give him one last long look. But what is Harbuagh seeing that we aren’t? Even Pro Football Focus has given him poor grades for his work on defense this preseason.

Brown has received grades of -0.4, -1.2, and -3.2 for the first three games, playing at least 31% of the snaps in each. He has been the team’s 3rd worst defensive player overall, and the NFL’s 93rd rated 3-4 inside linebacker among 100 qualifiers this preseason.

It sure seems like the Ravens just don’t want to admit they made a mistake when they wasted a second round pick on Arthur Brown, much like the way they don’t want to admit their miss in the first round on Matt Elam.

Here’s the rest of the hottest Ravens news and notes from around the web.

Chip Kelly admits rules mean his quarterbacks can be hit – Kevin Patra, NFL.com

Calm Brooks savors return to game action – Bo Smolka, CSN Baltimore

Carl Davis emerging as Ravens’ top rookie this year – Jamison Hensley, ESPN

Harbaugh says Pitta wants to play, but still faces tough decision – Clifton Brown, CSN Baltimore

The #Ravens waive LB Steven Means (groin) with injury settlement. Team officials had mentioned him as someone who could surprise this year
— Bo Smolka (@bsmolka) September 2, 2015

Next: Is it too late for Breshad Perriman to make an impact?

Why won’t the Ravens give up on Arthur Brown?

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