The new offense: who will it benefit the most?

**Fanman** · 06-06-2008, 11:28 AM

Granted the new scheme will help the entire unit...but which position(s) will look the most improved in your view?

QBs
WRs
RBs
TEs
O-line

FM

**FootballFiend** · 06-06-2008, 11:59 AM

I would have to guess OL and QB. Which hopefully in return would have a positive effect on WRs, RBs, and TEs.

**Fiesty Ravens Chic** · 06-06-2008, 12:21 PM

Depends on who stays healthy! Right now having a better QB & O-line will help all over the offense. WR's can't do much if they have nobody who can get the ball to them!

**Rxdoxx** · 06-06-2008, 12:51 PM

I'm going to step out on a limb for this one :D and say TE.

We are hoping to see improvement in all areas, but seems to me that TE will be the most apparent since it was devistated by injuries, and the mediocre passing game also kept numbers down.
We may see more "flash" from WR, but TE numbers could easily show the most dramatic improvement.
But the whole offense should look improved.

**Mista T** · 06-06-2008, 01:08 PM

TE will be a problem unless Heap & Wilcox are back at 100% and the TBD 3rd TE pans out.

If the O-Line improves, every other skill position improves. However, I honestly can't see how it will improve by replacing Ogden with Gaither. We shall see!

**Fanman** · 06-06-2008, 03:02 PM

I would have to say I think the biggest diff will be in the QB and TE play.

Cam's system highlights the TE so Heap might have a career year. I also think the Qbs will be forced to be more mobile and use the shotgun more, which should increase passing eff numbers.

Can't wait to see that first scrimmage vs the Redskins!!!

FM

**pyite32** · 06-06-2008, 04:42 PM

since it is Cam, it will be TE and RB. Wilis has the same tools (although not at the same level) as LT. He can catch well, block well, and run well with speed in the open field.

**UKRavenStockers** · 06-06-2008, 04:44 PM

I've no experience of Cam's offence before San Diego, but tbh I think the impression of helping the tight ends I'm not sure is accurate. He'll play to our strengths, one of which is tight ends, but I think that'll just be a re-establishment of a strength, not necessarily Cam "benefitting the tight ends". What will benefit our tight ends, is staying healthy. Many in these parts, well, MD parts were excited at the prospect of an emphasis on two tight end sets last season under Billick, but thanks to injuries that didn't materialise. I don't think that one season of injury hit play means that suddenly tight end will be benefitted by this new offensive scheme, it's been a strength for about 8 or 9 years now, I don't think Cam is going to improve on that.

What I think will and should be most helped by what I perceive as Cam's more intelligent gameplanning and scheming will be the play of the wide receivers. In San Diego and Miami he didn't have world beating wide receivers but I think he'll do a better job of helping the wide receivers get open by the scheme. I think Billick's offence put too much emphasis on the WRs getting open by their own and not getting enough lateral movement in routes, I don't think we challenged defences enough to track receivers between zones and passing coverages between defenders across the field. I think we got confused a lot on offence trying to get receivers open short of the markers on third down to then pick up YAC for the first, but the play wasn't set up first to get the receiver separation.

I think Cameron's offence will change that, and with the lighter receivers we have I think this will change, guys like Mason and Clayton should be lining up together and challenging defenders to pick them up as they cross routes. A quick out short of the markers in single coverage requires a very good play to pick up the first, a slot receiver dragging under another receiver breaking in gives more chance of creating space for the YAC for the first, I think we'll see more of this from Cameron than we did from Billick. Throwing short of the first isn't an inherently bad trait from the QB IMO, if it's there by design it must be by the number of times we throw it. If we're getting stopped more times than not then I think the fault lies with either the play design or the receivers. Then if they aren't good enough to pick up the first on YAC then the fault lies with the play design and the FO for not getting the right players in the right situation.

To me this is the problems on offence and the solutions in place:

- QB - Boller is highly inconsistent and likely won't ever gain that consistency. Smith is highly unproven and has questionable aspects of his skill set. Flacco has the raw skill set but needs time to get it together.

Solution: The FO has made the move for the future with Flacco. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get someone consistent and reliable in for this season. I think if the rest of the team clicks back to 2006 we don't have the QB to maximise the potential of the team, though clearly the cap is tight and the odds of a core of players aged 30+ returning to form of two years ago is slim, so perhaps an FA quarterback wasn't a cost effective move.

- WR - An earlier post said they can't do anything if the QBs aren't getting them the ball, I'd conjecture that last year they just didn't get open enough. All of them save for Mason (who I thought was truly, truly excellent last season, as a possession target he was superb) just didn't get open enough last year. Now they have their ready made excuses for the players near the top of the depth chart, Clayton was gimped by an injury all season, Williams missed most of the season and then the depth wasn't good enough.

Solution: Lack of separation is the problem, so the solution has to be helping them get open or changing the personnel. We didn't change the personnel and 2006 suggests to me that's the right plan of action, so you've just got to help them get open. Another solution is helping them stay healthy, much like the tight ends, because clearly the depth isn't and wouldn't be expected to be up to scratch. Fitting the offence to the strength of the receivers makes sense and I think we should see that from Cameron. Clayton we seemed to want to use as our deep threat, which for an undersized guy I don't think makes sense, get him working intermediate routes and use his explosion into and out of cuts more laterally. Mason's strength is clearly working underneath, curls, ins, outs, drags etc. It got him 100 catches last year, I'd expect similar results this year. Then you've got Williams and (hopefully) Figurs to stretch the field. To me this receiving corps is more adept at creating lateral than vertical separation, and with the top two guys currently on our depth chart who aren't especially accurate, lateral separation should be easier to hit than vertical separation.

- O-line - The issue here was age, and it'll be the same issue this year as well. The talent is there, it just needs time.

Solution: I'd prescribe a 50mg dose of time to be taken once a day from September to December and twice a day during August. The investment in terms of money and draft picks has been spent, the talent is there, give it time to gel before you slate it. Gaither has the talent to be the starter at LT for 10 year, Grubbs ditto at LG, Brown for a long time at centre, Yanda is a versatile guy on the right side, right tackle is the only position not nailed down. They've gone to hit the ball out of the park on the left side, they want Ogden & Mulitalo mkII.

I think the area that can bring the biggest help to the offence is wide receiver. If the WRs get better and bigger separation, it'll allow the QB more space to get the ball out and sooner, which helps the O-line in pass protection. Which in turn takes the unblocked man out of the box to help the backs and O-line in the run game.

Well that's got through a nice amount of time of my Friday evening anyway, enjoy the essays guys and gals. :D

**Mikerobe** · 06-06-2008, 10:39 PM

Great post U.K.,
I agree that the wide outs will show some improvement this season, if for no other reason then the attention payed to the receivers getting yards after the catch. We all know how bad we need to see that.

I'd like to see Chris Chester get some rep's at TE. He played the position in college, and I think he'd be a good blocker in that role more so then he's shown at playing on the line. They could also throw the ball to him once in awhile just to keep the defense honest. Why let your reserve lineman sit on the bench when he can contribute.

I think we're going to see a lot of changes this season, and I'm betting most of them will be of the positive variety.

http://mvn.com/nfl-ravens/

**purplepoe** · 06-06-2008, 11:49 PM

Originally Posted by Fanman

Granted the new scheme will help the entire unit...but which position(s) will look the most improved in your view?

QBs
WRs
RBs
TEs
O-line

FM

I like your posts Fanman so please don't take this personally.

I don't think it's a lock that this offense will improve from last year. Everyone can bitch and moan about the old scheme but when it comes down to it, this team lacks talent on offense. Will a new scheme bring some new energy and possibly some improvement? Maybe. But I don't think it's a lock by any means.

None of our WR would start on any of our division rivals.

Our tackle situation is sketchy at best.

And I won't even begin to address the QB situation.

The fact that this offense has basically died when Heap has been out should alarm everyone. We don't have any difference makers in the passing game (QB and WR) and the protection will again be suspect.

So while I'm very interested to see Cameron's scheme implemented, I'm not sold at all that this offense will somehow transform into a legitimate unit.

PP

**jonboy79** · 06-07-2008, 12:33 AM

Originally Posted by Mikerobe

Why let your reserve lineman sit on the bench when he can contribute.

When he is your top backup at three positions, it's kind of important he staus healthy...

**Rxdoxx** · 06-07-2008, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by purplepoe

I don't think it's a lock that this offense will improve from last year. Everyone can bitch and moan about the old scheme but when it comes down to it, this team lacks talent on offense. Will a new scheme bring some new energy and possibly some improvement? Maybe. But I don't think it's a lock by any means.

I'm not strongly disagreeing with you, just want to temper things a little.
The mark of a good/great WR is production. Our past offense has been pretty conservative/vanilla/predictable. None of out receivers are going to jump out as being so much better than division rivals, the numbers just aren't there (though Mason did have a great season).
I'm not fully convinced it is lack of talent here. Maybe it is just hoping, but I feel we have enough talent to more than hold our own, just have to have opportunity to showcase it.
I saw our receivers go down more often than not without a fight. I'm hoping that was more a function of in traffic and a late pass... I'll be watching to see if the pass is sooner and the receiver is moving at speed when it arrives.

And just to also look at the other side of a coin,

None of our WR would start on any of our division rivals.

Part of me thinks that if we had any of our division rivals WR last year, instead of our starter, we would be viewing them just the same as we look at ours now. I don't think they would have looked very good at all in the offence we saw. We'll never really know, just interesting to think about.