Ravens Must Take Advantage Of TE Surplus
The Ravens can do some pretty unconventional things with an unconventional group of talented tight ends.
Imagine the Ravens lining up in 23 personnel. They have two backs and three tight ends. The Ravens are going to run right? Maybe, maybe not.
In this scenario Ben Watson, Dennis Pitta and Crockett Gillmore are on the field. Don’t forget that Justin Forsett and the talented Kyle Juszczyk are on the field as well. In this formation the Ravens are typically going to run. That does not mean that they can’t pass it. They still have four weapons, and in this set the play action pass would be a real threat.
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Let’s go on to 22 personnel. In this scenario the Ravens have two backs, two tight ends and one wide receiver. In this running personnel package, the Ravens can do just about anything. With Watson and Pitta on the field mismatches are there to be had. This is especially true because the defense will want to match up with a beefy lineup.
If the Ravens can run the football in these personnel packages they can mess with defensive coordinators. Imagine lining up with an unbalanced line with two tight ends on the strong side. The first two times you do it, the run goes to the tight ends. The third time is a counter away from the tight ends. The possibilities are endless.
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Now imagine the Ravens are in 12 personnel. They have only one back, two tight ends and Steve Smith Sr. and Kamar Aiken on the outsides. The Ravens now have four receiving options in a balanced personnel package. This should honestly be the Ravens base grouping. It takes advantage of the Ravens surplus of talent and allows the Ravens to be balanced.
It doesn’t matter how the Ravens line up, the Ravens have tight ends for every occasion. Watson and Gillmore are both very good blockers. Watson and Maxx Williams are guys who can attack the field vertically and create mismatches. As Terrell Suggs declared “Pitta is American Express! He’s everywhere you want to be!” The Ravens have four quality tight ends and they all have a different skill-set.
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The purple and black have an overload of talent at the tight end position. It would be a shame if offensive coordinator, Marc Trestman, didn’t take advantage of this. There are so many exciting options and experiments that you can do with such a golden group of tight end talent.