Legion of Gloom: Ravens Needed a CB at Deadline, Not LB (or WR)

In this week’s Purple Patrol article, Adam railed on the fan base for their overreactions to the Ravens not acquiring a WR at the deadline. First of all, let me say this…Bravo Adam. The fan base’s obsession with the team acquiring a WR at the deadline this year was dumb.

People were actually clamoring for Kendrick Bourne, Denzel Mims and Nelson Agholor. Are these capable guys? Sure, they can do some things, but are the Ravens better giving them targets over what they already have? Are they better bringing in someone Lamar Jackson doesn’t know in a system they don’t know and expecting better results immediately? Like, does the fan base even think or does they just want to complain for poops and giggles?

We saw people clamoring for players who weren’t even available, yet it was Eric DeCosta’s fault he didn’t get them. Now, don’t get me wrong, I agree that the haven’t done a great job addressing the WR position over the years and I agree that they have devalued it in many ways, although they have been spending a lot of high picks on it as of late.

Still, they could have done more and given Lamar Jackson some better outside weapons, like what Philly has done for Jalen Hurts or the Dolphins have done for Tua.

I believe that a lot of this is just because people want Lamar to do well so badly that they ignore his shortcomings and place all the blame at the feet of EDC and Greg Roman. While they deserve some blame, Lamar just isn’t advancing as much as we need to see as a passer. There is enough receiving talent on this team for him to be successful, but he has to be more accurate and attack all quadrants of the field and all levels of the field on a consistent basis. A shiny new WR isn’t necessarily going to help with that.

With that out of the way, let’s look at what the team did accomplish at the deadline. The Ravens added the NFL’s leading tackler Roquan Smith. When I first heard about this deal, my initial reaction was that I hated it. That was probably too strong of a word to use. I do agree that the team is better with him. I do agree that MLB was a need on the team. I do agree that tackling needs to be better and he should help with that and make the run defense better.

The issues I shave with this deal are a) the second round pick and b) the idea that the biggest linebacker weakness on the team is coverage; Smith has his issues there.

Now, there are some analysts and some stats out there that say he is in fact good in coverage. Others say he has been in the past but not this year, and some have said it’s been an issue for a few years now. Whether it’s a scheme issue or what, it does seem like at the very least, you can say his coverage skills are inconsistent from year to year.

I also believe that cornerback was a larger need. Now, maybe there wasn’t a corner out there or maybe there was but their contract was prohibitive and the team wouldn’t pick up the deal like the Bears did. We don’t know but I would have rather seen the resources EDC spent go elsewhere. That’s my biggest gripe here.

The team continues to be haunted by the Kyle Fuller injury. Pepe Williams has shown some promise but Brandon Stephens hasn’t taken the next step, Jalyn Armour-Davis is an inactive every week and the guys like Kevon Seymour and Daryl “I get cut every other day” Worley are really just bodies out here.  With Marcus Peters not being himself (still recovering from the knee I’m sure) and the risk of injury always being there, I would have liked to have seen more depth. Maybe they assumed Willie Jackson would be available via free agency?

Now, with that said, I would rather have seen them make this deal than no deal at all. I value the second rounder but I value trying to win now more than that and, like I said, Smith does make us better.

I personally hope this is just a rental, as I do not want to see the Ravens spend $20M a year on a devalued position, especially for a player who has been inconsistent in the aspect of his game that is very important in today’s NFL.

But for now, let’s put on our Purple Patrol hats and just be happy that team got better, they are (hopefully) getting healthier and in full command of the division right now. Things could certainly be a lot worse.

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