Another day, another game, another tryout for the Redskins' bubble players. I caught up with Bruce Raffel, who runs SB Nation's Ravens site, Baltimore Beatdown. Just like last week for the Bills game, we exchanged a few questions on match ups. Bruce also answered questions on how dire their Cornerback situation is, if Baltimore fans would want a yearly Redskins/Ravens match up rivalry, who will be Baltimore's fantasy studs, and a much needed Doug Dutch update.
| Hogs Haven | Baltimore Beatdown |
| Devin Thomas will see a lot of snaps with the 1st team offense as the #2 WR...who will he be facing in the first half? | At the Ravens Training Camp Thursday, the #2 corner was journeyman Travis Fisher. However, it looks like Chris Carr should be back and might suit up and therefore, he'll go up against Thomas. Fabian Washington looks to be our #1 CB right now, but he could move all over the field and might match up w/ Thomas as well. The Ravens have been bitten by the injury-bug lately, so no one will really know until gametime. |
| Trent Williams will be playing most of the first half, who will he likely be seeing in 1-1 coverages and blitzes? | Looks like it could be a mix of Terrell Suggs, Cory Redding and on passing downs, either Paul Kruger or Antwan Barnes. Suggs should be our best pass rusher, but Redding was given the Franchise Tag just a few ears ago by the Lions. Kruger has put on weight and has looked solid in camp and Barnes is more of a pass rushing specialist. |
How will the Ravens defense be this year with so many top CBs out and Ed Reed still a ways out? Has BAL hit the panic button yet? Is this the decade the Ravens O has to carry the team?
I've been saying for a while that if the Ravens have a decent pass rush, I couldn't care less who the DB's are back there. However, the opposite is also true in that if we don't put pressure on the QB, it wouldn't matter if we had Darrelle Revis or Namdi Asomugoah (spelling?) at corner! Overall, with the front seven we still have, we might not be top one or two, but I'd be surprised if we're not top five or so once again. Anytime we have Ray Lewis out there, we will be just fine.
Who will be the fantasy studs and duds on the Ravens? Does Heap have anything left?
Ray Rice should be a top five fantasy pick and while our wideouts are solid, the balls mght end up being spread around so much that no single receiver ends up a fantasy stud. QB Joe Flacco should make a lt of plays and while not a stud (yet), he would be a solid 2nd QB on your fantasy roster. Always consider the Ravens defense as a top fanasy defense. Duds? Todd Heap is healthy and playing well but with the two new TE draft picks, Heap's time might be limited and therefore not so favorable. Also, for a guy only having just over 100 carries last year Willis McGahee still finished in the top five in TD's scored although it might be hard to replicate that in 2010.
We had this discussion on our site earlier this week, what are your thoughts on a Ravens vs Skins rivalry? Do you think there is one and would be your standing if the NFL wanted to pit us against each every year (like MLB does).
Might work out well as us Ravens fans certainly have no love for our DC NFL neighbors. As long as the 'skins keep playing from the basement of the NFC East, I'd be glad to have my Ravens help your 'Skins get a higher draft pick every year (oh, zing!).
Last question: How is the CB situation and how is Doug Dutch faring?
Corner is definitely a weak link right now but as I said earlier, if the Ravens can muster up a solid pass rush, who the corners are will be irrelevant as the QB's will have to get rid of the ball quickly and if no pass rush, any decent QB will pick us apart regardless of whom the DB's are. Doug Dutch is learning the system and apparently the Ravens were looking at him oming out of college so they jumped at the chance to get him for a backup QB that was expendable. He is far behind on the depth chart but then again, with our injuries, who knows who will step up next? Peace!