Ravens WR named as team’s ‘best-kept secret’ by Bleacher Report

Bleacher Report named a Ravens’ wide receiver as the team’s “best-kept secret”

The Baltimore Ravens’ wide receiver group is one that doesn’t have the most NFL experience, but has plenty of potential. During the offseason, the team traded wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and a third-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for the No. 23 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, as moving on from both Sammy Watkins and Miles Boykin. The team will now rely on players such as second-year pass-catcher Rashod Bateman, who is expected to be the team’s No. 1 wide receiver this season.

In an article posted by Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report, he named every NFL team’s best-kept secret for 2022. The article focused on players that many people may not know about, but could provide plenty of help to their teams this upcoming season. For Baltimore, Davenport listed wide receiver James Proche II as his choice for the team. When explaining why Proche was the Ravens’ best-kept secret, Davenport discussed Proche’s role with the team, as well as the fact that the third-year wideout has shined during organized team activities.

“…Per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic, Proche has shined at OTAs, leading to speculation that his offensive role could increase significantly in 2022. If Proche does emerge as a viable option on third downs, the 5’11”, 193-pounder will smash new career bests across the board.”

While most of Proche’s playing time has come on special teams throughout his NFL career, he has shown flashes s at the wide receiver position. Through two seasons, he has 17 receptions for 216 yards, showing great hands as well as route-running skills with his ability to get open and pick up key first downs.

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson named as true cornerstone player by Bleacher Report

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was named as a true cornerstone player by Bleacher Report

The Baltimore Ravens have found plenty of success with quarterback Lamar Jackson over his first four seasons in the NFL. Since taking over as the starter, Jackson has led the Ravens to a 37-12 record, three postseason appearances and a franchise best 14-2 record in 2019.

Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report recently published an article that ranks the NFL’s true franchise cornerstones entering 2022, defining a cornerstone player as the foundation of an NFL team. On his list, Davenport ranked Jackson as the fourth cornerstone player in the league, explaining that the dual-threat quarterback’s ability has helped the team win more often than not.

“It didn’t take long for Jackson to start making some. In his second NFL campaign, he set a high-water mark for rushing yards by a quarterback in a season with 1,206. He also silenced many of the critics of his abilities as a passer, leading the NFL in touchdown passes (36) and touchdown percentage (9.0). The good times kept rolling the following season. In 2020, Jackson accomplished a feat that no quarterback in NFL history ever has, rushing for 1,000 yards in consecutive campaigns. Just four years into his pro career, he is already seventh all-time among signal-callers in rushing yards.”

The Ravens saw Jackson go down with a bone-bruise in Week 14 against the Cleveland Browns and miss the final six games of the season. Baltimore would lose all six of those contests and ended up missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Jackson’s presence on the field is felt by teams on the field and it shows. The quarterback now enters his fifth NFL season and has told many that he looks forward to getting to work.