Discussing the Ravens' Management of the WR Position
Eric DeCosta's comments show an awareness that his track record drafting WRs is bad. Let's discuss how Baltimore has managed the WR position recently, with the Ravens ranking #31 in WR spending over the last 3 years. Could their young QB Lamar Jackson be a factor?
Warren Sharp
Inventing custom, predictive NFL analytics & visualized data at https://t.co/iKdUa4MmXQ | @SportsGrid | @ringer | @NFLonFOX
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it is inexcusable the way the Ravens have managed the WR position
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 2, 2023
Eric DeCosta's comments show an awareness that his track record drafting WRs is bad & some teams are better/worse scouting certain positions
so let's discuss how Baltimore has managed the WR position recently
1/ pic.twitter.com/WXYDDrQgX0 -
the last 3 years COMBINED, the Ravens have ranked #31 in WR spending
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 2, 2023
only ONE team spent less on WRs than the Ravens
that was with a young QB in Lamar Jackson, who was both:
1) on a cheap rookie deal
2) could use solid vet WR(s) to help him develop & gain comfort -
the ONLY Ravens offseason free agent WR signings the last 3 years?
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 2, 2023
Sammy Watkins (1 yr, $5M)
Demarcus Robinson (1 yr, $1M)
Chris Moore (1 yr, $1.7M)
that’s THREE total WRs via free agency
all were bad
and only 4 teams signed fewer WRs in free agency the last 3 years than BAL -
seeing the state of their WR room during the season and somehow being shocked at how bad it was...
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 2, 2023
the Ravens desperately added old WRs in-season:
signed Dez Bryant on 11/28/20
signed DeSean Jackson on 12/6/22
in 11 games played they totaled 15 receptions between them both -
they've drafted a total of 4 WRs the last 3 yrs:
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 2, 2023
Rashod Bateman
Tylan Wallace
Devin Duvernay
James Proche
although they've done virtually nothing in free agency to acquire WRs...
the draft capital spent on wide receivers the last three years ranks outside the top-10 -
we know the volume-based stats for Ravens WRs will be low, but how about efficiency?
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 2, 2023
looking around the NFL at all WRs drafted in the last 3 years...
the EPA/reception delivered by the WRs drafted by the Ravens ranks 25th
as DeCosta said, he knows they've missed in the draft -
the counterpoint of many is "the Ravens are a running team"
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 2, 2023
that hasn't been true for several years
in 2019 & 2020, the Ravens were the #2 most run-heavy team in neutral situations
last 2 years?
the Ravens have a top-10 pass rate in neutral situations with Lamar behind center -
but Lamar's WR corps has been one of the worst in the entire NFL
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 2, 2023
thankfully he has Mark Andrews
be it lack of spending, poor drafting or injuries (as some WRs have complained publicly about today), Lamar Jackson has been put in an offense that hasn't helped him as a passer -
yet Baltimore transitioned the last 2 yrs (part due to RB injuries) to a team ranking top-10 in pass rate
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 2, 2023
it won't get easier trying to build a WR room while paying a QB as much as Lamar deserves
but the inability to do so when the window was open is an organizational failure