Of the six wide receivers the Baltimore Ravens kept on their 53-man roster—I’m guessing that’s high for them—four are players they drafted themselves. That includes two recent former first-round draft picks, 2023’s Zay Flowers and 2021’s Rashod Bateman. Rounding the group are two free-agent additions, Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor.
The two most notable wide receivers who did not make the cut are Laquon Treadwell, a former first-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings, and James Proche, another of their former draft picks. The former was retained on the practice squad. The latter is not currently with a team—and thus apparently may not be one of the players Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta was propositioned about.
The Baltimore executive spoke to reporters yesterday on a variety of topics, at one point straying to the subject of wide receivers. An organization with a history if poor drafting at the position, he has not been afraid to point that out publicly, even to the chagrin of the wide receivers who may currently be on the roster at the time—like Bateman.
Asked about the team’s level of comfort in their current receiving corps, he said, “I will say this, it’s the first year where other teams have called us”, via transcript from the team’s website, although it is not the first time they have traded a receiving asset. They parted with former first-round pick Marquise Brown, along with a third-round pick, last year in exchange for a first-round pick.
Otherwise, they are frequently regarded as being one of the worst teams in the league in the wide receiver department. That is especially so with regard to the development of their own talent, as their best wide receivers in team history tend to skew heavily in the direction of free agents or trade acquisitions. I believe Torrey Smith remains their most successful draft pick at the position.
“Guys are stepping up and making contested catches and making big, explosive plays”, DeCosta said of the current group that they have. “The attitude and the energy is very, very good. Our coaches have done a great job with those guys, and just the leadership of the veteran players – Nelson and Odell – has really been superb. And the younger guys have really brought their game every single day. So, it’s just encouraging to have so much depth”.
Part of the reason the Ravens’ wide receiver production numbers have typically been so low in recent years is because they haven’t been an offense that emphasizes the passing game. On top of that, QB Lamar Jackson has highly favored TE Mark Andrews instead.
Can this current group led by Beckham, Flowers, and Bateman finally flip the perception of Baltimore’s receiving corps? Under new offensive coordinator Todd Monken, that seems to be the intention. Whether or not they and Jackson can actually pull it off, we won’t know until they take the field and start doing it week-in and week-out.
