Tag: dennis pitta

Ravens TE Mark Andrews ranked as one of the best at his position by Pro Football Focus

Ravens tight end Mark Andrews was ranked as one the best players at his position by Pro Football Focus

The Baltimore Ravens have been gifted with numerous talented players at the tight end position over their 26-year-history. From Todd Heap and Dennis Pitta to Nick Boyle and Mark Andrews, the team has been able to identify great talent at the position and it shows.

When ranking the best NFL tight ends, Anthony Treash of Pro Football Focus had high praise for Andrews. He used a three-tier system that had the best players as “elite”, followed by players with “tier 1 capabilities, but either lack consistency or have slipped”, and finally “the best of the rest”.

Andrews was placed in the elite category by Treash, and was behind just three other players at the position in Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle and Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller. When explaining why Andrews was in the elite category, Treash acknowledged the tight end is the go-to option for Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

“Andrews took his game to another level in 2021 and became even more of the go-to option for quarterback Lamar Jackson. He posted a career-high 91.5 PFF grade in 2021, the highest among tight ends. The 6-foot-5, 256-pound tight end boasts top-tier ball skills, provides a physical element as a receiver and makes difficult grabs over the middle in traffic look routine. Andrews ranked top five at the position in drop rate (2.6%) and contested catch rate (60%, 18-of-30) while producing more 15-plus yard receptions than any other tight end in the NFL (33). He’s essentially a big slot in the Ravens’ offense, as he played over 50% of his snaps on the inside. And Andrews isn’t a slouch when blocking inline, either, ranking third among tight ends in run-blocking grade for 2021.”

It’s no surprise Andrews received some love from PFF, as the tight end is one of the best at his position. Andrews has been selected to two Pro Bowls and also was awarded 2021 First-Team All-Pro honors. Through his first four seasons, the tight end has caught 263 passes for 3,466 receiving yards and 29 touchdowns.

20 years ago today: Ravens select Todd Heap in the 2001 NFL draft

20 years ago today, the Baltimore Ravens selected Todd Heap with the 31st overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft

The Baltimore Ravens have had some great tight ends over the course of their franchise history. Shannon Sharpe, Dennis Pitta, and even Mark Andrews are names that come to mind, but there’s one tight end that some would argue stands out just a bit above the rest.

Todd Heap was drafted by Baltimore with the 31st overall pick in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft. The team needed a quality tight end and Heap, coming out of Arizona State University, would give them that and more, as he put up 5,492 yards and 41 touchdowns with the Ravens.

Heap set a standard of greatness for Baltimore at the tight end position. While Sharpe was great during his time with the Ravens, he wasn’t drafted and developed by the team like Heap was. The former Sun Devil grew his game in Baltimore and was a key part of the Ravens’ offense for his 10 years with the organization.

The selection of Heap 20 years ago turned out better than most imagined. While tight end isn’t the most electrifying position, Heap paved the way for other tight ends such as Pitta and Andrews to be respected and appreciated by Baltimore fans all over the world. He had an illustrious NFL career as a member of the Ravens, and will always be remembered as one of the great players in franchise history.

The best pick from each NFL draft class in Ravens history

We take a look back at each of the Baltimore Ravens’ drafts to find the best selection the team made.

The Baltimore Ravens have long been considered one of the best teams in the league when it comes to scouting, drafting, and developing players. The Ravens have been a part of 25 NFL drafts since being founded in 1996 and have earned their reputation by finding some real gems at a variety of rounds. In that time, Baltimore has drafted 31 players who have been to a Pro Bowl, 14 players who were named to the All-Pro team, and three players currently enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

However, not every pick or even draft year has been outstanding for the Ravens, with some selections having clearly been better than others. But instead of looking at which players were the best overall, we want to break it down year-by-year to find the best player Baltimore grabbed in every draft throughout franchise history.

Let’s kick it off with that inaugural 1996 season . . .

In spite of similar hip injury, Dennis Pitta believes teams should still take QB Tua Tagovailoa early

With firsthand experience, former Baltimore Ravens TE Dennis Pitta believes teams interested in Tua Tagovailoa should still draft him early

It seems as though everyone has had a thought on Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and his hip injury. Once thought to be the obvious top pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, a dislocated hip suffered during his junior season has his future far murkier. But at least one person believes that he can get past his hip injury and return to the player everyone once raved about.

Former Baltimore Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta has been through a very similar situation. Pitta infamously dislocated his hip while with the Ravens, injuring it three times in total before ending his career. With that firsthand experience, Pitta knows what Tagovailoa is going through and even went as far as to say teams who had him ranked highly should still take him early in the 2020 NFL Draft.

“I mean, if he’s the top quarterback on my board, I’m going to take him high,” Pitta said on the RapSheet and Friends podcast. “And (the hip is) really the only potential issue I see for him. He’s a great kid, he’s got no concerns or red flags anywhere in his character. He’s obviously an incredibly productive player and a great talent. So I wish the best for him.”

With the coronavirus pandemic making getting medical tests done a far more complex process, it makes sense teams would be a little unwary of picking Tagovailoa as their next franchise quarterback. Pitta said he feels bad his own situation is likely working against Tagovailoa. He also acknowledged that “it’s tough to say exactly how his hip will respond” and pointed to two other players who have had wildly different experiences following the injury.

“It’s a unique injury and one that doesn’t quite frankly happen to a lot of football players or athletes in general,” Pitta said. “Now there’s a number of high-profile cases, Bo Jackson being one of them. I think even among current players you have a guy like C.J. Mosley who’s done it and obviously he hasn’t had any lingering effects from it. I think the difference between myself and those guys is a number of things.”

While Jackson suffered the same dislocation, his experience differs wildly from Pitta, Mosley and Tagovailoa. Jackson ended up suffering from avascular necrosis of the hip joint — the death of the bone tissue from lack of blood supply — due to the injury and was never able to see the football field again. Pitta and Mosley were both able to return to their football careers, albeit with different results.

While Mosley finished his collegiate career with Alabama and enjoyed four Pro Bowl seasons with the Ravens before signing a huge contract with the New York Jets last offseason, Pitta wasn’t as lucky. Pitta came back from his injuries to have a stellar final season, catching 86 passes for 729 yards and two touchdowns before reinjuring it in practice in 2017, ending his career.

There’s really no telling how Tagovailoa’s NFL career will pan out at this point. He could be like Mosley and return to form, enjoying a stellar career. Or he could be like Pitta and reinjure his hip repeatedly before retiring early. It’s perhaps the biggest gamble in the 2020 NFL Draft but at least Pitta is in Tagovailoa’s corner.

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Another record as Mark Andrews sets Ravens’ single-season TD receptions

We’re not even halfway through the game yet and the Baltimore Ravens have set another record with Mark Andrews’ one-yard TD reception.

The Baltimore Ravens are all about setting records tonight. In the first quarter against the New York Jets, quarterback Lamar Jackson set the NFL’s single-season rushing record by a quarterback. In the second quarter, Mark Andrews set a Ravens franchise record for single-season touchdown receptions by a tight end.

It took a handful of attempts thanks to an illegal formation penalty on offensive lineman Parker Ehringer and a number of penalties on the Jets. But after getting his one-yard touchdown pass nullified, Andrews got the call once again on this one-yard touchdown completion to notch the franchise record.

This was Andrews’ eighth touchdown reception of the season, passing former Ravens tight ends Dennis Pitta (2012) and Todd Heap (2005). With more than a half left tonight as well as two more games remaining this season, Andrews could give himself quite the lead on the franchise record if he keeps up his production.

Andrews came into Week 15 against New York, leading the team in targets (82), receptions (54), receiving yards (707) and touchdown receptions (7). At the time of Andrews’ eighth touchdown, he had added another four targets, three receptions and 16 yards to his yearly totals.

Though it’s against the Jets, the Ravens’ offense is looking back to their usual selves. They’ve scored touchdowns on all three of their drives, marching down the field on the ground and through the air, seemingly at ease.

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