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Ozzie Newsome has failed to draft offensive stars for the Baltimore Ravens

By Cory Hughes

OWINGS MILLS, MD - MAY 05: Head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens speaks with general manager Ozzie Newsome after a practice during the Baltimore Ravens rookie camp on May 5, 2013 in Owings Mills, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
OWINGS MILLS, MD - MAY 05: Head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens speaks with general manager Ozzie Newsome after a practice during the Baltimore Ravens rookie camp on May 5, 2013 in Owings Mills, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /
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The Baltimore Ravens have a habit of ignoring offensive talent in the draft and it’s catching up to them.

The Baltimore Ravens hosted the Chicago Bears at M&T Bank Stadium this past Sunday. It’s yet another game the fans would like to forget as soon as possible. With the offense scoring just nine points in five quarters, all from All-Pro kicker Justin Tucker, the 27-24 final score just doesn’t tell the whole story.

This might’ve been the worse outing this offensive unit has had all season. They had dropped balls, miscommunication and the play calling was all over the place. The play calling was especially bad in overtime, calling two run plays and a short pass that was incomplete on a third two. If not for Bobby Rainey and Michael Campanaro having a touchdown each on special teams, The Ravens lose by double digits to a rookie QB that only completed eight passes at home.

There was plenty of blame to go around after this game, but, the question in every Raven fans mind is: Has the front office’s failure to put talent on the offense finally caught up with the team? After watching this offense for the first six weeks, you can’t help to shrug your shoulders and nod your head yes, it certainly looks like it has.

Must Read: The Ravens 5 worst draft picks ever

Since winning the Super Bowl, they haven’t been able to hit on offensive talent or they frankly ignored to draft any. Especially on the first two days of the draft, which they’ve only drafted four players on those first two days. (Crockett Gilmore, Breshad Perriman, Maxx Williams and Ronnie Stanley)

Notable players the Ravens have passed on:

  • 2013:  They drafted Matt Elam with the 32nd pick. Zach Ertz was taken with the 35th pick and Le’Veon Bell was drafted with the 48th pick. On day two they drafted Arthur Brown with the 56th pick. Eddie Lacy went 61st and Travis Kelce went 63rd.
  • 2014:  The Ravens Drafted Timmy Jernigan with the 48th pick, Allen Robinson went 61st.  
  • 2015: Ozzie and the front office drafted a wide receiver in the first round for the first time in ten years after drafting Mark Clayton in 2005. They took Breshad Perriman with the 26th pick. Although there weren’t any notable skilled positions taken around this point Landon Collins was selected seven picks after Perriman. Later in day two of this draft they drafted cornerback Tray Walker at 136, Stefon Diggs was taken ten picks later, Jay Ajayi went three picks after that with the 149th pick.
  • 2016: On day two of this draft The Ravens traded back twice later drafting a linebacker,  Kamalei Correa with the 42nd pick. By trading back they missed out on Sterling Shepard who was taken with the 40th  pick. They also missed on Michael Thomas with the 47th  pick.
  • 2017: On Day 2 they drafted Tyus Bowser with the 47th pick. Juju Schuster was taken with the 62nd pick. Cooper Kupp was taken with the 69th pick. Later in the day they drafted Chris Wormley and Tim Williams with the 74th pick and 78th pick. Carlos Henderson and Kareem Hunt were taken with the 82nd and 86th pick.

The Bottom Line:

Now, there are still players the Ravens picked that could pan out, especially the newer guys. I just wanted to highlight the consistency of the front office, neglecting the offense. Perriman doesn’t seem to be progressing. It seems to be a what you see is what you get type of thing. He may be able be a second or third option kind of receiver for Flacco. It just doesn’t seem like he’s going to be pan out to be the number one option they hoped he could develop into. It’s important to note that 17 players are on IR and that most definitely plays a big hand in this team’s problems too. So, a combination of both has made this offense look absolutely abysmal

Next: 5 worst draft classes of all-time for the Ravens

Ozzie Newsome has been the only General Manager in the Baltimore Ravens brief history. The one thing he’s never been able to do in his tenure has been able to scout receivers. With the state of this offense is in right now, hopefully its something he can figure out soon.

 

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