USAT: Ravens Wire audio clip

USAT: Ravens Wire

Feb 18, 2022

The Baltimore Ravens went through a very trying season in 2021, finishing with an 8-9 record and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017. They had terrible injury luck, lacked execution at times, had questionable play calls from coaches and more. - The team is undoubtedly looking forward to 2022, and when listing out a best case and a worst case scenario for each NFL franchise for next year, Anthony Treash of Pro Football Focus painted a clear picture for what he thinks needs to happen in Baltimore. His best case scenario for Baltimore is for them to “Select Trent McDuffie in the first round and re-sign veterans Calais Campbell and Justin Houston to friendly deals”, while his worst case is if their “key impending free agents walk and they attack the trenches with their No. 14 overall pick”. He then gives an explanation as to his thought process. - “Injuries decimated Baltimore’s chances of making the playoffs in 2021. With a healthy Lamar Jackson, Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters, they should get back to competing for a postseason spot in 2022. And what would help their cause even more is bringing back interior defensive lineman Calais Campbell and edge defender Justin Houston on friendly deals after they finished as the first- and second-highest graded players on their defense last year…Along with that, pairing Humphrey and Peters with first-round cornerback prospect Trent McDuffie would be ideal. McDuffie earned an 80.0-plus PFF grade as a true freshman, sophomore and junior thanks to his awareness, athleticism, physicality and tackling.” - McDuffie would help bolster the Ravens’ secondary, while Campbell and Houston returning on team friendly deals would help retain some consistency on their front seven. However, saying that a worst case scenario for Baltimore is to attack the trenches with the No. 14 pick is a bit questionable, as if a top talent falls on either the offensive or defensive line, the Ravens should snatch them up in a heartbeat. - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Ravens Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Ravens Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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