The Current State of the Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens fans and reporters have been patiently waiting for a report on the 2017 season for their beloved franchise. Everyone wants to know what the plan is going into free agency, and could the fan base be optimistic for 2018? How would the team address the displeasure from the fans over their poor play? Steve Bisciotti decided to answer those questions and more by himself, just the way a self-made billionaire does it.

The biggest news from the press conference was that long time General Manager, Ozzie Newsome, is going to step down from his role after the 2018 season. Assistant General Manager Eric DeCosta will take on the role, but the transition has been expected since DeCosta turned down numerous GM opportunities from other teams in prior years. Many fans are concerned that DeCosta will just continue to have below-average drafts like Newsome has had over the last five years. Fans need to give DeCosta an opportunity to run the ship, as he will have the final say now in drafting and free agency. DeCosta doesn’t want to pave the same road as Ozzie has, as he will desire to cement his own legacy for the future of the franchise.

Bisciotti did admit that the poaching of their senior scouts has hurt the team because they haven’t done a good job of replacing them. This has shown to be true as C.J. Mosley, Kyle Juszczyk, Kelechi Osemele and Ray Rice are the only drafted players to make the Pro Bowl since 2008, and Mosley is the only player currently with the team. He did tout the fact that they do a great job of finding decent players in later rounds, but they aren’t exactly playmakers. The Ravens missing on picks like SS Matt Elam, FS Terrance Brooks and WR Breshad Perriman has cost them significant cap space and hasn’t moved the team to the next level.

The Ravens only finishing 9-7 with the fourth-easiest schedule in the league and facing eight teams with backup caliber QB’s shows a team that should have fared worse against teams with starting caliber QB’s. The Ravens will face eight teams that made the playoffs in 2017, and to make matters worse, they were 0-5 against playoff teams in 2017. That odious record shows why fans weren’t optimistic about the Ravens chances, even though they were one win away from a playoff berth. The Ravens need to jump into the 21st century and play the game the way teams play today.

This was the most important statement for Bisciotti, as the team has hit a crossroads that is reminiscent of what the team looked like from 2001 to 2007. The Ravens have a high-priced and aging quarterback that appears to have his best years behind him, no elite playmakers on either side of the ball, and an angered fan base that is done with the mediocrity. With Flacco, potentially, being out by the end of 2019, and Harbaugh along with him, the Ravens need to start thinking about the future in the 2018 Draft. The Ravens won’t fix all their woes overnight, but fans are tired of being called a “if they get in” team, as they srive to be a team to be reckoned with.

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