3 Players that need to step up for the Ravens in 2020
Hayden Hurst:
Last year around this time every Baltimore Ravens fan was expecting the tight end Mark Andrews to have a breakout year, and boy did he have one. Mark Andrews led the Ravens receivers in virtually every receiving category and was Lamar’s go-to receiver. What made Mark Andrews breakout in his second year was his route running ability.
In college Mark Andrews was used more as a receiver than anything else, his draft report says just as much. Because Mark Andrews can find the soft spots in zone defense and can beat man to man coverage, he was the Ravens’ most difficult weapon in the passing game to stop. If Hayden Hurst can improve on his ability to separate from coverage, Baltimore might have a passing attack that is almost as hard to stop as their running attack.
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To my eyes, Hayden Hurst has the most physical ability out of all the Ravens’ tight ends on the roster. The Ravens thought just as much when they drafted him with their first pick of the 2018 NFL draft. Hayden Hurst does everything well but is not exceptional at one skill. However, when Hayden does get a target he usually makes the most of it, catching 76.9% of his passes and had no drops in the regular season. For reference, Mark Andrews caught 57.1% of his passes and had 7 drops. Hayden Hurst developing in the passing game should elevate Baltimore’s offense and give Lamar another security blanket.
The Ravens offense was one of the best in the league but struggled in the passing game. Baltimore as an offense threw for 201.6 yards per game, which was one of the lowest outputs for any team all season. The Ravens can improve this if Hayden Hurst can be better in the passing game because having two tight ends that are dominant in the passing game will be a mismatch for opposing defenses every time.
As we saw this year, even when a defender was in position against Mark Andrews, he still came down with the ball the majority of the time. If the Baltimore Ravens have two players that can consistently do that, the passing attack will be even better and Lamar Jackson won’t have to risk himself running the football as much.