Baltimore Ravens Special Teams Breakdown
Let’s take a look at the Baltimore Ravens special teams performance:
For the Baltimore Ravens there’s been plenty of good and plenty of bad on special teams this year. The state of the special teams has been swept under the rug this season and hasn’t been talked about much. What has been talked about though, is the revolving door at Punt Returner. Janarion Grant, a rookie out of Rutgers, began the season as the guy at Punt Returner, followed by Tim White in week 3, and finally replaced by Cyrus Jones in week 6.
The cause for these changes are simple and most Ravens followers know. Fumbles. Right now, the Ravens special teams are ranked at 13th, which isn’t terrible, but we are used to top 5 special team units. Could the cause of our fall from elite special teams be simply the lack of a quality punt returner, or something unexpected?
Field Goal Kicking
Justin Tucker is the league’s best kicker and he’s basically been our offense in recent years. Tucker’s hit 100% of his 15 PAT’s and 12 of 14 field goals, 85.7% made. The 2 that he’s missed have been blocked, leading the league, and shows the offensive lines struggles leaking from the offense over to special teams. He’s 10th in field goals made and 12th in attempted. There’s not much one could complain about with Tucker. Every ball that gets past the line of scrimmage goes through the uprights. What more could you want?
Field Goal Blocking
There isn’t too much to say in this section. Field Goal blocking really doesn’t have much to it in terms of statistics. The Ravens don’t have any blocked kicks, but only four teams have blocked a field goal. Opponent Kickers make 1.2 field goals a game while attempting 1.5 a game, making 80% of field goals against the Ravens. Our field goal blocking unit is basically average and shouldn’t be a concern.
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Punt Coverage
Let’s move on over to Sam Koch and the punt team. He’s kicking 47.8 yards per punt, which ranks 6th in the league. His Net Yards per punt is 42.7, ranking 12th. This decrease from yards to net yards shows an issue with the special teams being able to get downfield quickly and stop the return man. They are missing tackles and getting blocked, allowing opposing return men to get return yards. The Ravens are 16th in opponent return yards, allowing 7.7 yards per return.
Sam Koch has been good despite the issues with his punt coverage team. He’s tied for third in punts inside the 20, and in touchbacks, right along with the leagues best. There’s been 1 blocked punt, but there’s only one team with 2 blocked punts and 5, including the Ravens, with 1 blocked punt. A theme popping up is blocking suffers in all aspects and it needs to be fixed as soon as possible. Sam Koch is still one of the leagues best, but his supporting cast is holding him back.
Punt Return
Janarion Grant: 7 RET, 52 YDS, 7.4 YDS/RET, Long of 51, 2 FUM,
Tim White: 9 RET, 75 YDS, 8.3 YDS/RET, Long of 14, 1 FUM,
Cyrus Jones: 4 RET, 50 YDS, 12.5 YDS/RET, Long of 26, 0 FUM
Now ever to the expected problem child of our special teams. Janarion Grant was explosive but rather ineffective. He had one big run, then had one yard on six returns. Plus, he had two fumbles to really round it out. Tim White was fairly boring, but he knew how to consistently get some yards. Yet again, he had a fumble and really didn’t show a lot of potential as a returner. Cyrus Jones is the current returner and even though he has played only one game, he looks comfortable and the best so far.
The bar, sadly, is pretty low and he’ll keep it as long as he doesn’t fumble.
Opponents punt to the Ravens 7.3 times a game, ranking first in the league by a whole punt. It makes a lot of sense for the high number of punts, mostly due to our low turnover, yet stifling defense. Our returners have the best opportunity to make a name for themselves and all they’ve done so far is show why they shouldn’t be on the Ravens. There needs to be more consistency in the punt return and if they keep the fumbles to a minimum, the punt return unit can be a top 8 squad in the league.
Recap
Justin Tucker, Sam Koch, and Morgan Cox are still a top trio in the league. It’s rare Cox has a bad snap and he’s a huge luxury to have. The best aspect of special teams is the field goal kicking unit, despite the blocked kicks. Tucker has more blocked kicks than actual misses in his career and it shows again this season. There’s no other kicker in the league like that.
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The biggest weakness has to be the punt return team. Every time a team punts to us I have a weird feeling that we are gonna fumble or muff the punt. They have been fairly pedestrian and they don’t inspire much faith. A concern for the team overall is the blocking. The special teams rank first in the league with 3 blocked kick/punts. It’s something the Ravens really need to address across the board and hopefully, it’s just a matter of time before they gel together.