The Baltimore Ravens will be relying on multiple young players at the wide receiver position during the 2022 season. The team traded away their former No. 1 wideout in Marquise Brown, so a host of second-year and third-year players will need to perform in much bigger roles than they’ve had at the NFL level so far.
After one of Baltimore’s mandatory minicamp practice, wide receivers coach Tee Martin was asked about if leadership is a challenge for a group that is so young. Martin said he’s never put an age on leadership, and once the play begins the young players naturally become leaders.
“I’ve never put an age on leadership. Leadership, for me, is just about guys doing the right things, regardless of your age or regardless of your experience. And you stated something that’s really a fact right now – we are a relatively young room. But once the guys start playing, and once they start looking at the guys who do it the right way, those guys naturally become the leaders of the room. And we don’t do a whole lot of talking; sometimes a veteran can come in and he can talk about the things he’s done, but we don’t have a whole lot of that going on, and so we’re just leading by what’s on film, right now.”
Second-year player Rashod Bateman is now the team’s No. 1 wideout, and he also has Devin Duvernay, James Proche II and Tylan Wallace alongside him as recent Baltimore draft picks that will have to be relied upon. While they don’t have as much NFL experience as a veteran of the league would, they will learn valuable lessons throughout the year and can use those to become leaders both on and off of the field.