Baltimore Ravens reality check: 4 major concerns for 2020 season

Unproven Wide Receivers

Stop me if you have heard this before, but the Ravens have of the “weaker” wide receiver groups heading into the upcoming NFL season.

Before everyone jumps me, let me explain. In ranking these groups before the season starts it should be based entirely on what the group has proven to you as of whatever date you are having the discussion. So in assessing the Ravens group here’s what I currently know.

Brown has all the makings of a beast in the NFL. Last season, predominantly on one leg, Brown hauled in 46 receptions for 544 yards and seven touchdowns. He is the second most dynamic play maker in the Ravens offense behind Jackson but he still hasn’t yet officially proven he can dominate as a number one receiver. After this season, I think we could be discussing him as a top 15/top 20 WR in the game. But we’re not talking about after this season.

Looking past Brown, the Ravens have veteran Willie Snead, the second year Miles Boykin, prominent special teamer Chris Moore, and draft picks Devin Duvernay and James Proche. If you want to count practice squad/camp cut likely receivers go for it but for this exercise I won’t. So in summary you have rising receiver, a veteran best suited for a role as a third option, an unproven second year guy, an offensive non-factor, and two rookies.

You can give me the potential spiel all you want but I am not having it. I’ll go a step further on this to say that if you have no concerns about this unproven/overall weak receiver group, you are entitled to that. But what I will not allow is for you to say you’re not concerned about the group all season (as the Ravens hopefully to continue to amass wins) just to jump on the group if they come up short in a playoff game.

For those of you living under a rock, that is exactly what happened after the Titans loss. Folks that ignored the glaring holes at wide receiver all season were the first to slam them for what was a relatively pathetic playoff performance sans Hollywood.

The good news about this potential weakness is the Ravens have the best running game in the NFL, a top five tight end, a capable second pass catching tight end, and a slew of backs that have proven capable out of the backfield. The wide receiver group isn’t very good right now and only time will tell if that matters in the long run.