Was the 5-11 Ravens disaster of 2015 an anomaly or was it the beginning of a losing trend which will take years to reverse?
As we head into Ravens training camp, I sampled the opinions of some football people in the media and some Ravens fans who know the sport well enough to be taken seriously:
ESPN’s Jamison Hensley: ““The Steelers will win the AFC North … And the Ravens will rebound to make the playoffs. … The Ravens haven’t generated much offseason buzz because most of their star players are injured. But Baltimore addressed two of the biggest areas of concern in the offseason, adding a leader in the secondary with Eric Weddle and a deep threat with Mike Wallace. … The Bengals will miss out on the playoffs for the first time since 2010.”
Ravens’ PR Director Kevin Byrne: “I am encouraged by what I see and hear:
- The video last week of Steve Smith Sr. sprinting made me smile.
- Terrell Suggs has been pounding in the weight room and running hard in our indoor field for some time. … And his smile and entertaining swagger are back.
- Somebody please let Joe Flacco go out and play with his teammates. He is chomping at the bit. He appears very ready.
- Dennis Pitta – one offensive coach said during mandatory minicamp in mid-June: “He’s really good.”
- Love the new vets. Eric Weddle, Benjamin Watson, Mike Wallace, Jerraud Powers. It has been only touch football, but they are impressive. They like football, all that comes with it, and will definitely make a difference for us.
- Help from this 2016 NFL Draft: Ronnie Stanley has been running with the first team since his first day. Big, long, great feet, smart, hard working – the makings of a special player. I’m fascinated by second rounder Kamalei Correa. He brings energy, size and speed, and I can see Dean Pees finding a lot of ways to get him on the field.
- And, we’ve only seen it in practice – and not very much practice – but what if Breshad Perriman gives us what we thought when we drafted him with our No. 1 pick a year ago? Oh boy…
- Good health for key veterans like Pro Bowler Justin Forsett and center Jeremy Zuttah – a second season with Marc Trestman at the offensive coordinator. It’s all good.
- And there’s Harbs. John Harbaugh is historically good, and he is relentless. He will have the team ready. We will be prepared to win. We will play with a physicality that is hard to match. We will play with intelligence. “
Fan analyst Fusuymada: “I don’t believe that NFL pundits are necessarily the most accurate lot, but I also think they are not stupid either. The fact that many respected media analysts had us in the big game last year makes me believe that we were not nearly as bad as 5-11 indicates. Just about every one of those players from 2015 (excl. Eugene Monroe, Kelechi Osemele and Daryl Smith) have returned. The loss of KO hurts somewhat but I have ultimate faith in John Urschel. When the team has called his number, he has answered and answered with good numbers from PFF. I commented earlier that Ronnie Stanley will be such an upgrade from Eugene Monroe and James Hurst, that we will be blown away with how good he is and how much he improves pass and run blocking on that left side. He is a little college-soft but some time in the NFL weight room will add another 15 or so pounds of muscle and convert some of that college fat into muscle as well. If we suffer limited injuries, players will simply play to their proven abilities, and with our softer schedule (no schedule in the AFC North is soft) we should do a lot better than the analysts are expecting this year. 11-5 wouldn’t surprise me but 10-6 is a shoo-in as far as what I can see. I will go out on a limb and say I see us winning the division. The Bengals are rebuilding and will miss the playoffs. The Steelers O-Line is nowhere near as good as the Ravens and their secondary is still pretty pathetic. Wallace will cause the Steelers to cry when we play them and he will love every minute of it. I believe our offense has more scoring potential than it has ever had.”
Fan analyst Ksinger: “Let’s be clear, the Ravens were better than 5-11 last year. Refs admit the Ravens should have won the Jaguars game and a bad call negating a touchdown in the Miami game could have easily made the difference in a 15 to 13 win for the Dolphins. So, even if we didn’t upgrade the roster this year we are a better team than the 5-11 record last year shows. Barring injuries, this team should go 8-8 at a minimum.”
Fan analyst Trevor Steadman:”Bold Predictions: Ravens end 10-6. This is because of the defense. It finished the 2015 season as the 2nd best defense the second half of the season only behind Denver. It took a while for the Ravens to get used to the absence of Suggs. With the additions of Weddle and Powers, the Ravens turn around their poor redzone defense….Keenan Reynolds catches 30 balls. Barely making the roster at the beginning of the season, he then shows off his vision and becomes the season-ending winning story for the Ravens….Kamalei Correa is the starting inside linebacker next to Mosley….Joe Flacco throws for 4500 yards, which is what he was on pace for in 2015.”
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