Though they led the league in touchdown passes last season, the Baltimore Ravens aren’t seeing much love for their wide receivers in 2020.
The Baltimore Ravens have come a long way over the last three years at wide receiver. After failed draft experiments and short-term success in free agency, Baltimore completely gutted their wide receiver corps and began building one from scratch. Even though things are going well and this is arguably the best unit the Ravens have had over the last five years, it still isn’t great compared to the rest of the league, according to Pro Football Focus, who ranked Baltimore as the eighth-worst in the NFL.
That’s a bit of a shock considering Marquise Brown performed well last season and is finally healthy as he enters his second season. If his offseason workouts are anything to go by, Brown should cement himself as a true No. 1 receiver in 2020. Though, to their credit, PFF agrees with the idea.
However, they critique the group behind Brown, saying the Ravens don’t have a No. 2 receiver figured out yet. While that’s true, Baltimore also hasn’t relied on their wide receivers to fill specific spots like many other teams, instead picking and choosing which player will get highlighted based on their opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. Though that inconsistent production isn’t great for fantasy football owners, it worked well enough for the Ravens given their league-leading touchdown passes last season.
Still, it’s a group that might be getting underrated here, even individually. Miles Boykin is primed for a breakout year of his own with the Ravens seemingly having enough confidence in him to man the outside possession role. Willie Snead and Devin Duvernay have proven to be playmakers from the slot, with Duvernay having breakaway speed with the ball in his hands. If PFF were to factor in tight end Mark Andrews, it’s an even more effective and explosive unit, even if there’s no designated second-best receiver.
Baltimore’s wide receiver depth chart is far from perfect and there’s more hope than actual production from the unit. However, it’s a unit that is on the cusp of something special when paired with MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson. Though I can understand why they’re ranked so poorly, it’s also the perfect recipe for fans to be pleasantly surprised when they excel in their individual roles this season.
The Baltimore Ravens got a lot out of their young talent last year, featuring a few breakout stars. Which players could break out in 2020?
The Baltimore Ravens had nothing short of a fantastic season in 2019, taking the league by storm by breaking record after record, dominating opponents, and finishing with the best record in franchise history. It was a truly unexpected breakout on many levels by a team that was being written off early and often. However, it wasn’t just pure luck the Ravens were able to pull off such an impressive season.
They build an offensive system around their quarterback, attacked on defense with an exotic blitzing scheme, and relied not only on their stars, but also the young players that were looking to make a name for themselves. That lead to players like Chuck Clark, Orlando Brown Jr, Mark Andrews, and more stepping up and breaking out.
Looking ahead to 2020, there are a plethora of Ravens who could break out. Let’s take a look at who they are.
Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
WR Marquise Brown
When the Ravens selected Brown with the 25th pick in the 2019 pick, they expected great things. However, they knew picking him came with risks too.
Brown stands at just 5-foot-9 and weighs 166 pounds. Those are extremely small measurables for a wide receiver, but Baltimore was clearly confident that his ability outweighed his small stature. Brown also wasn’t completely healthy when he was drafted by Baltimore. He suffered a foot injury late in the year playing for the Oklahoma Sooners and had to have lisfranc surgery to correct it. The surgery kept him out for an extended period of time, which included most of training camp and the preseason. No one knew how Brown would perform once the regular season started, but it’s safe to say he didn’t disappoint, hauling in 46 targets for 584 yards and seven touchdowns across 14 games.
Those numbers by themselves are impressive for a rookie wide receiver playing in a run-heavy offense, but what makes Brown primed for a breakout sophomore campaign is the fact that he played all of 2019 hindered by that same lisfranc injury. He was playing with a screw in his foot and said he wasn’t yet at 100%. Now with a full season under his, an offseason of hard work, and a screw removed from his foot, Brown could very well be on his way to his first 1,000-yard season.
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Marquise Brown isn’t letting a solid rookie season go to his head. While 584 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns are nothing to sneeze at, Brown clearly wants to improve, and he’s putting in the offseason work to do that.
Most recently, Brown posted a video of him catching passes from a JUGS machine. Though that doesn’t sound very exciting, Brown isn’t using the machine the same way you’ve likely seen in the past.
Brown posted a video to his Instagram account of him catching passes immediately after they leave the JUGS machine. If the purpose of the machine is to simulate an NFL pass, Brown is catching them in the blink of an eye. Catching them so quickly should improve his reaction time and hand strength, which should result in fewer drops come the regular season.
Brown also showed off his insane speed and acceleration on another video, pushing the ball through the machine while standing still only to quickly run under the pass and make the catch. Again, if the machine is supposed to simulate an NFL pass, Brown effectively threw himself a deep ball.
While all these videos might look like trick shots and ego-boosting workouts, they’ll have a real effect come the regular season. At the very least, it shows the progress which Brown has made and highlighted just how dangerous he can be. But even the old-school football folks have to be impressed with the amount of work Brown is putting in this offseason, which should have a marked improvement on his durability.
One of the main concerns about Brown throughout the draft process was his size. Measuring out at a pretty small 5-foot-9 and 166 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine, many wondered if Brown could handle the more physical NFL and remain healthy. With Lisfranc surgery and a screw in his foot last year, Brown missed almost all of training camp with Baltimore. Though he did play in Week 1, Brown wasn’t at 100% through the entire season, battling injuries and a not fully-healed foot. Yet, Brown still impressed, being uncatchable in a straight line and making defenders miss in close quarters.
With the screw removed this offseason, Brown should already be in a better spot than last year. If his speed has improved at all, he’ll make a strong case for being the fastest player in the league.
But Brown didn’t just get healthier, he got bigger too. Along with catching passes, Brown has posted videos of him in the weight room and the results are impressive.
The extra muscle should do wonders to help insulate Brown from hits and the type of injuries they can cause. While there are certainly no guarantees Brown will be any healthier, extra muscle without a loss of flexibility and speed will only help on that front.
Time will tell if all the workouts will actually translate to improved production on the field. But if Brown’s offseason workout schedule helps him at all, he could be primed for a true breakout season in 2020.
The strength of schedule for receivers considers both wide receivers and tight ends but not running backs. The usage of wideouts and tight ends varies from team to team so they should be considered together. As there are only a handful of relevant fantasy tight ends each year, considering them alone would result in much greater inaccuracy.
Receivers are also the least impacted by the schedule strength. The top receivers from each offense will always garner greater coverage. And those are mostly controlled by the quality of the opposing cornerback. Wide receiver vs. cornerback is the only 1:1 matchup of all fantasy players and defenses. So take this only as a minor consideration in valuing a player.
Total Points
For fantasy contests and such, only total points matter so below are the total points for each passing offense derived from their schedule against the averages allowed in 2019 by those defenses.
Weekly Play
Three different views are below. Week 1 to 16 is the full season fantasy strength of schedule. “The Dorey Rule” says to draft like the season only lasted the first six weeks for a hot start. Finally, Weeks 14 to 16 represent the most common fantasy playoff weeks. “Good” games were when they faced one of the top 22 venues from last year; “Bad” was when they played in one of the worst 22. The middle 20 matchups were neither good nor bad.
Notable schedules
Allen Robinson/Anthony Miller (CHI) – The Bears have the best passing schedule across the board and that will benefit Robinson and Miller the most. There is an opportunity within that since the quarterback controversy between Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles naturally throws shade on the receivers. With this schedule, either quarterback should look better and that benefits Robinson and Miller the most.
Kenny Golladay/Marvin Jones (DET) – Golladay is already a hot commodity after his 11 scores in 2019 but Jones was injured for the last two seasons. The return of a healthy Matt Stafford already bodes well and the Lions schedule is one of the lightest for receivers. Aside from matchups with the Packers and Bears, the wideout duo should make even more noise this year.
Tyler Lockett/DK Metcalf (SEA) – The duo already combined for 1,957 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2019. Now they get to face the bottom third of soft venues in half of their games. A mature offense with one of the better quarterbacks in the league gets a schedule advantage over most of the league. And this offense focuses almost solely on those two starting wideouts.
T.Y. Hilton/TBD – After a downturn last year, it is easy to forget that Hilton’s last two seasons with Andrew Luck produced 1,448 and 1,270 yards respectively. Now Philip Rivers takes over and that bound to improve Hilton’s stats. Throw in a schedule with only four bad venues and he’s sure to improve. The rookie Michael Pittman battles Zach Pascal and Parris Campbell for the No. 2 role that should surprise given there is only one bad matchup over the first eight weeks.
A.J. Brown/Adam Humphries (TEN) – The Titans are a run-first team anyway, but the schedule isn’t going to make it any easier when they pass. Brown was red hot down the stretch of his rookie season and is clearly the only notable receiver there. He starts out with three of his first four matchups versus top defenses and doesn’t enjoy any soft secondaries over his final six games. Brown should still see the volume to produce fantasy value but the other receivers are more certain to feel the impact of this schedule.
Marquise Brown/Mark Andrews (BAL) – Hard to get excited by any receiver on a team with a historic volume of rushing and even with the stellar results of 2019, Lamar Jackson only threw for 3,225 yards. And the Ravens had one of the lighter passing schedules last year. Now they only face two of the softer venues and one of those comes in Week 16. The 39 touchdown passes were spread over the entire offense other than Brown (7) and Andrews (10). They’ll need those scores to return similar fantasy value against this far more challenging schedule.
Adam Thielen/Justin Jefferson (MIN) – An improved rushing offense saw the Vikings passing decline from 2018 and injuries further depressed the production. With Stefon Diggs gone, the rookie Justin Jefferson is expected to pair with Adam Thielen but no other team has fewer matchups against weaker defenses than the Vikings. Three of the final four games of the fantasy season face bad venues. Tough year for Jefferson to learn the ropes and Thielen to get back to his success of 2018.
Stefon Diggs/John Brown (BUF) – Overall, the Bills receivers go against an average schedule strength but that happens in a curious way. Over the first ten weeks, they face just two bad venues and yet enjoy six good ones. After their Week 11 bye, it all goes bad. Their final five games of the fantasy season – including all of the fantasy playoffs – pit them against the worst venues. Those final five are the Chargers, at the 49ers, Steelers, at the Broncos, and then at the Patriots. That’s not going to propel anyone into their fantasy playoffs.
2020 weekly grid
Average passing fantasy points allowed
Fantasy values were derived from 1 point per 10 receiving yards and six-point passing touchdowns.
After producing from the slot at Texas, wide receiver Devin Duvernay wants everyone to know he isn’t just a one-trick pony for the Ravens
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One of the main reasons why the Baltimore Ravens selected wide receiver Devin Duvernay in the 2020 NFL Draft was his blazing speed. Duvernay was clocked running a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. Many believe the Ravens will line up Duvernay as a slot receiver, but he was quick to point out he has more than one string to his bow.
“I feel like I can do both (play outside and in the slot),” Duvernay said at his press conference after being drafted. “My freshman year and senior year, I played strictly slot. My junior and sophomore years, I played strictly outside. So, I feel like I can be productive at both, and be able to move around on the field.”
Duvernay isn’t the only one that has a say in where he lines up. But when asked about the bevy of choices the Ravens have in the slot, coach John Harbaugh noted that they like to move their players around and don’t lock someone into a specific position.
“We don’t just have an X and a Z and an S and a Y, a U and an H,” Harbaugh said following the final day of the draft. “We play all the guys in different spots, the same as we do on defense.
“So really, I don’t think we really have a ‘slot’ player or an ‘outside’ player. You’ll see those guys play in all the different spots in different times. And then, we try to put them in position to do the things that they do well. The things you see Willie Snead doing are the things we think he does best, and he’s a very versatile player, for instance. We’ll try to do that with all the guys we have.”
While all the pre-draft talk had Duvernay playing in the slot, the thought of being pigeonholed was something he clearly wanted to put out of people’s minds. When asked what he brings to the Ravens, Duvernay talked about his intangibles first, mentioning his “versatility, toughness, physicality,” while also noting he can take on a number of different roles, like “being able to not just go deep but go short, take it the distance, be involved in the screen game and with blocking.” Duvernay said he’ll be “an all-around player” in Baltimore.
Harbaugh continued to back up Duvernay’s belief, dissuading anyone from believing either he or James Proche would be locked into one specific role or one specific spot on the field.
“So, when Devin [Duvernay] can go outside – and then James Proche has been outside, too – outside, inside, in motion, runs, twitch routes, out of the backfield.”
While this versatility will no doubt be utilized by offensive coordinator Greg Roman, it’s likely that Duvernay will spend a good deal of time in the slot for the Ravens. In 2019, Willie Snead led all Baltimore wide receivers with 409 snap slots, averaging 7.7 yards per target. Given his speed and all-round game, it would surprise no one if Duvernay was to eclipse these marks as a rookie.
Marquise Brown took down rapper Snoop Dogg to take home the ESPN Celebrity Madden Tournament crown.
Hollywooooooooood!
Former Oklahoma and current Baltimore Ravens speedster wideout Marquise Brown took down rapper Snoop Dogg to take home the ESPN Celebrity Madden Tournament crown.
Brown took down rapper YG 43-14 using his Ravens against YG’s Chiefs in the opening round of the tournament. He rolled onto the semifinals with a 40-0 shutout win over Denver Broncos running back Melvin Gordon who used his former team, the Los Angeles Chargers.
In the semifinals, Brown squared up against UFC fighter Chris Weidman in another Ravens-Chiefs matchup. Brown used teammate and league MVP, Lamar Jackson, to call ‘game’. Up 10 with just under two minutes to go Brown took Jackson to the house in a 59-35 win.
Hollywood saved his best for last in the championship game. Against Snoop Dogg and the San Francisco 49ers, Brown used himself to score two fourth-quarter touchdowns to come back from a 28-16 deficit in a 60-42 win, the slimmest margin of victory for Brown.
Both scores came unconventionally as Brown ran back a kick and then used himself in the wildcat to help put away Snoop Dogg.
With the tournament win, Feeding America receives a donation of an undisclosed amount in Brown’s name.
Devin Duvernay, selected 92nd overall by the Baltimore Ravens, finished his college career with 2,468 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.
It was no secret that the Baltimore Ravens were looking to upgrade their receiving corps this offseason, specifically at wide receiver. It may have taken until their fourth pick (their third of the evening), but the Ravens selected Texas WR Devin Duvernay with the 92nd pick of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Probably not a name on many fans’ shopping lists this draft, Duvernay nevertheless looks to be a reliable target who plays mainly in the slot, someone who features solid hands (maybe Baltimore brass has learned from the Perriman debacle), plus the ability to kick on afterburner speed when in the open field.
To get a better idea of what Duvernay can do at his best, take a look at his highlight reel from Texas.
Duvernay finished his college career with 2,468 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.
While you can consider the Ravens’ in the upper tier of teams when it comes to drafting prowess, picking quality wide receiver hasn’t been their forte. But when you take a look at Duvernay’s highlights and pair his ability with the names of Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Marquise Boykin, two receivers taken in the 2019 Draft, suddenly the Ravens appear to be building a formidable stable of young receiving talent.
ESPN announced that they will be broadcasting a celebrity Madden tournament next week.
No live sports? No problem.
ESPN announced that they will be broadcasting a celebrity Madden tournament featuring both ESPN personalities as well as NFL players that will take place next week.
Of those mentioned in the initial name-drop on Thursday was former Oklahoma wide receiver and current Baltimore Raven speedster Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown.
Brown is a big piece of the young gun offense in Baltimore that includes Lamar Jackson, Mark Ingram, and fellow Sooners Mark Andrews and Orlando Brown Jr.
Brown hit the ground running in Week 1 of his rookie season against Miami scoring two touchdowns on four receptions while racking up 147 yards. He finished his rookie campaign with 46 receptions for 584 yards and seven touchdowns.
As a Sooner, Brown was a running highlight reel. In just 25 games Brown hauled in 132 passes for 2,413 yards and 27 touchdowns for back-to-back Heisman Trophy winners in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Brown has caught passes from the 2016, 2017, and 2018 Heisman Trophy winners with Jackson being his signal-caller in Baltimore.
The Madden bracket reveal will take place on Sunday, April 19 on ESPN2 at 11 am CT.
Have the Baltimore Ravens finally found their answer at wide receiver? If Marquise Brown’s rookie season is any indication, the answer is yes. After being taken by Baltimore with the 25th overall pick, Brown got off to a slow start in training camp …
Have the Baltimore Ravens finally found their answer at wide receiver? If Marquise Brown’s rookie season is any indication, the answer is yes.
After being taken by Baltimore with the 25th overall pick, Brown got off to a slow start in training camp as he dealt with rehabbing from offseason Lisfranc surgery. But when the games actually mattered, Brown quickly showed he was the right answer.
In Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins, Brown showed the NFL what he could do, catching four passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns in a blowout win. While Brown would come back down to earth through the rest of the season, dealing with an ankle injury as well, he wrapped up his first season in the NFL solid results, catching 46 passes for 584 yards and seven touchdowns.
With the screw in his foot now removed and some serious offseason workouts taking place, Brown should come into the 2020 season even faster and better developed. And with 2019 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson throwing him passes, the sky is the limit for Brown’s potential.
The Baltimore Ravens have a need for more help at wide receiver for QB Lamar Jackson and will have plenty of chances in the 2020 NFL Draft
The Baltimore Ravens spent the early parts of free agency, ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft, bolstering their defense. The additions of Calais Campbell via a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Derek Wolfe in free agency along with Baltimore re-signing a bunch of their own players should boost a defense that ranked fourth in yards allowed last season. But for all the Ravens did defensively already, they haven’t addressed any of their offensive needs.
One such need is at wide receiver, where Baltimore has historically been lacking elite talent. At the Ravens’ pre-draft press conference, general manager Eric DeCosta said he feels there are receivers on the roster ready to “make another jump.” However, he acknowledged the coaches and scouts have “found some guys they’re excited about” in the 2020 NFL Draft. In total, DeCosta said, “there’s probably 25 draftable wideouts in this draft.”
Baltimore would be foolish to not take advantage of that level of depth in this draft class. With quarterback Lamar Jackson winning the NFL’s MVP award last season, now is the time to surround him with even more talent and maximize the offense’s potential.
The Ravens tried to address their wide receiver woes last year, taking Marquise Brown in the first round and Miles Boykin in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Brown had a solid season in spite of an injury-ridden year and Boykin made the occasional big splash. With Baltimore re-signing Willie Snead and Chris Moore, most of the primary group from last season is set to return for 2020.
However, the Ravens’ passing attack struggled to move the ball at times last season when the run game was stymied as well. Though far less frequently than in previous years, untimely drops once again popped up for the pass catchers as well. While Baltimore has a decent group of wide receivers, there’s a clear need to find more depth and even find another top option opposite Brown.
As the Ravens have found out in recent years, resting on their laurels at the position has put them in a massive hole. Previously, Baltimore would drop few draft selections at wide receiver and then largely ignore the position with the hope someone would pan out. When that didn’t happen, the Ravens had to turn to older players as stop-gap solutions, asking them to do far too much and getting rather mediocre results in return.
Finding a starting-caliber wide receiver should be easy to do in the 2020 NFL Draft with some of the top options potentially being true No. 1 guy. If Baltimore has identified so many wide receivers they like, they need to ensure they land one or two of them in the 2020 NFL Draft.
