I happened to catch a few minutes of Mel Kiper's "State of the NFL" commentary on ESPN Radio's morning show this past weekend, and he highlighted the Baltimore Ravens as one of the league's teams with "the most work to do" to improve in 2014.
Whether you like Kiper or not (I'm more of a McShay or Mayock guy myself), he laid out a pretty convincing argument for why the Ravens are at a crossroads, and in danger of falling back into also-ran status unless certain big steps are taken in the 2014 offseason.
The biggest tasks Kiper sees are drafting or acquiring elite talent at tight end and wide receiver, rebuilding the infrastructure of the offensive line, designing a running game to complement Joe Flacco, and bringing in talent to invigorate the defensive pass rush.
That's a lot of work!
Here are some of the most recent steps taken by the Ravens— and keep in mind Kiper also predicts the Steelers will make the playoffs in 2014….
The Ravens hired one of the top-rated running backs coaches in the nation.
Thomas Hammock was assistant head coach and running backs coach at Wisconsin last season.
During Hammock's three years as Wisconsin's running backs coach, the Badgers rank third nationally in rushing yards per attempt at 5.7, fourth in rushing touchdowns with 121 and seventh overall in rushing at 251.1 yards per game — leading the Big Ten in all three categories. UW running backs have also rushed for 100 yards in a game 40 times over the last three years, the most 100-yard games of any team in the country over that span.
The Badgers ranked eighth nationally in rushing in 2013 by running for an average of 283.8 yards per game en route to setting a school record for single-season rushing yards with 3,689. UW averaged 235.6 yards per game to rank 11th nationally in rushing in 2011 and ran for 236.4 yards per game in 2012, ranking 13th nationally.
In his first year, Hammock saw his star protégé, Montee Ball, lead the nation in rushing, be named a Heisman Trophy finalist and tie Barry Sanders' NCAA record for touchdowns scored in a season. That constitutes a pretty good debut.
For an encore, Hammock helped Ball become the NCAA's all-time leader in touchdowns and the Doak Walker Award winner while putting together one of the most prolific rushing attacks in the nation.
Even with the departure of Ball to the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft, Wisconsin's running game didn't lose any steam in 2013 with senior James White, sophomore Melvin Gordon and true freshman Corey Clement leading the way.
The bulk of those big yards in 2013 came from the dynamic duo of Gordon and White, who set the all-time NCAA record for rushing yards by a pair of teammates in a season with a combined 3,053. Gordon ranked 10th nationally with 1,609 yards, while White was 14th with 1,444. The tandem made Wisconsin the nation's only team to boast multiple running backs that averaged more than 100 yards per game.
Gordon and White each earned second-team All-Big Ten honors, with Gordon named a semifinalist for both the Maxwell Award (nation's top player) and Doak Walker Award (nation's top running back).
UW's running backs were not only prolific in 2013, but amazingly efficient, as well. As a team, Wisconsin averaged 6.62 yards per carry.
Gordon broke the Badgers' single-season school record for rushing yards per attempt in 2013, averaging 7.81 yards per carry — the best mark in the nation among players with at least 150 carries. Also, White broke UW's career record for yards per attempt by averaging 6.24 yards per carry over his four seasons — the fifth-best mark ever by a Big Ten player.
Gordon is the NCAA's active career leader in yards per rushing attempt at 8.1 yards per carry. He enters the 2014 season needing just 12 attempts to be eligible to break the Big Ten record of 7.27 set by Penn State's Ki-Jana Carter (1992-94). The FBS record is 8.26, set by Army's Glenn Davis from 1943-46.
Gordon's ridiculous rushing average of 7.81 yards per carry in 2013 allowed him to become the fastest player in UW history to reach 1,000 yards for a career (104 carries) and 1,000 yards in a season (105 carries). That came after he averaged 10.0 yards per attempt as a freshman in 2012.
Apparently Coach Hammock has a pretty good idea of what the Ravens need to do to improve their running game.
Before re-joining the Badgers' staff, Hammock spent four seasons (2007-10) at Minnesota. Following three seasons as the running backs coach, Hammock was the Gophers' co-offensive coordinator in 2010. Under Hammock, the UM offense moved up 26 places in the national ranking for rushing offense and 34 in total offense over the previous season. Following a mid-season coaching transition, Hammock took over play-calling duties for the final five games. During those five games, he led an offense that helped the team secure wins in its final two games, including its first rivalry win in four years, defeating Iowa for the Floyd of Rosedale trophy.
Hammock spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin from 2003-04, helping the Badgers make Music City (2003) and Outback (2004) bowl appearances.
As a player, Hammock ranks ninth on the Northern Illinois all-time rushing list with 2,432 career yards. He logged 1,083 yards as a sophomore in 2000, ranking 12th in the NCAA (120.3 ypg.), and posted 1,095 yards as a junior.
Unfortunately, Hammock's senior season was cut short due to a potentially life-threatening heart condition in 2002. Adversity propelled his coaching career as he turned his attention towards becoming a student coach and helped Michael Turner post a MAC single-season rushing record of 1,915 yards in 2002.
Hammock earned his bachelor's degree from Northern Illinois in 2002 and a master's from Wisconsin in 2004. He and his wife, Cheynnitha, have a daughter, Tierra, and a son, Thomas Douglas.
Coaching Career
2003-04: Wisconsin (Graduate Assistant – Offense)
2005-06: Northern Illinois (Running Backs)
2007-09: Minnesota (Running Backs)
2010: Minnesota (Co-Offensive Coordinator/RBs)
2011-2013: Wisconsin (Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs)
Okay, I'll buy into Hammock's theories to fix the Ravens running game. Now, on to that search for a tight end and a wide receiver.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
