Ravens didn’t need Julio Jones to have a great offense in 2021

The Baltimore Ravens were one of the teams most closely connected to rumors surrounding Julio Jones prior to his trade to the Tennessee Titans earlier this month.

Despite numerous obstacles standing in the way of a potential trade, rumors continued to swirl that the Ravens could be one of the future Hall of Fame wide receiver’s top suitors.

However, as the weeks went on, the picture became clearer and clearer. The Ravens weren’t seriously considering a trade for Jones, at least not given their current situation.

In the end, he found a new home in Nashville. As for the Ravens, they’ll be just fine without him.

The Ravens offense doesn’t need Julio Jones to be special.

The Ravens already have one of the most explosive offenses in football. And that was with the 32nd-ranked passing attack in 2020.

The offense wasn’t quite as dynamic and/or consistent as it was the year prior, but regression was always inevitable. More importantly, there are reasons to believe that the issues the team faced down the stretch last season have been corrected in the offseason.

The wide receiver position received an overhaul, even without Jones, with Sammy Watkins, Rashod Bateman, and Tylan Wallace all joining over the past few months.

The Ravens are sky-high on Bateman and believe that he will be an immediate game-changer for the offense. It’s hard to argue that Bateman and Watkins won’t be an upgrade over the likes of Willie Snead and Miles Boykin in the starting lineup.

The offensive line also received a much-needed boost even with Orlando Brown Jr. departing in the offseason. Specifically, the interior should be much improved.

Kevin Zeitler might be the team’s most unheralded offseason pickup as the veteran lineman should provide a major upgrade at right guard.

Meanwhile, Bradley Bozeman will hopefully be an improvement over the revolving door the Ravens had at center last year. And if third-round rookie Ben Cleveland could step into a starting role early on, the offensive line has a chance to be special in 2021.

That’s good news for a running game that will be led by the always reliable Gus Edwards and an ascending J.K. Dobbins.

The Ravens will continue to lean on their dominant running game in 2021 while hopefully being able to rely more on the passing game if the time calls for it.

A healthy Ronnie Stanley and a revamped offensive line combined with some new targets in the passing game will certainly help matters.

Julio Jones would have been nice. But the Ravens don’t need Jones to have one of the most feared offenses in football.

And they’ve proven that over the last two years.