Various thoughts on various things, all in 50 words or less:
It was interesting to hear Head Coach John Harbaugh tell PSL owners this week the Ravens pointedly decided a few years ago to draft cornerbacks and build the defense from the back end forward. That was new and explains why no team invested more money in its secondary in 2019.
Speculation about what'll happen with Matthew Judon should die down now that he has signed his franchise tender. The overwhelming likelihood is he plays for the Ravens in 2020, and I'm betting he has another good year with opponents forced to pay more attention to Calais Campbell and others inside.
Ronnie Stanley certainly is holding the cards in his contract negotiations with the Ravens, but in a Zoom call with the media this week, he was right to deflect questions about whether he wants to become the NFL's highest-paid offensive lineman. The public doesn't want hear that stuff right now.
With the news that General Manager Eric DeCosta is the NFL's Executive of the Year according to the Sporting News, the Ravens currently sport the Triple Crown of high honors with Harbaugh as Coach of the Year, NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and now DeCosta – a rare feat, no doubt.
The best move of DeCosta's year? I'd vote for the Marcus Peters trade. He obtained a difference-making Pro Bowl cornerback from the Rams in exchange for a guy who only plays special teams in Los Angeles (Kenny Young) and a 2020 fifth-round draft pick the Rams traded away.
Any employee in any field would want to have their boss compliment them as effusively as Harbaugh complimented Chuck Clark in explaining why the safety will continue to wear the green-dot helmet and call the defensive signals in 2020. Clark is "bold, brilliant and brief," Harbaugh said. Yowza.
I'm sorry the owners tabled the idea of giving teams the option of maintaining possession after a touchdown by converting a fourth-and-15 play from their 25. (As opposed to trying to recover an onside kick.) It's a crazy idea but I think it'd be exciting and add to the game.
I'm a tad surprised the Ravens' favorite offensive personnel grouping by far in 2019 was one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers, according to The Athletic. Seems counterintuitive for an offense that loves tight ends and set the NFL record for team rushing yards in a season.
With Miles Boykin high on the list of players the Ravens hope to see take a big leap forward in 2020, it was encouraging to hear (per Harbaugh) that he'd paid for a JUGS machine out of his own pocket to hone his catching skills while self-isolating during the pandemic.
How very strange that there's a race to be the team with the most Ravens first-round draft picks on the roster. The Ravens naturally lead with six (Patrick Queen, Hollywood Brown, Lamar Jackson, Ronnie Stanley, Marlon Humphrey, Jimmy Smith) but the Jets have three (Joe Flacco, C.J. Mosley, Breshad Perriman).
Although the offseason roster looks huge (and is) with 90 guys, the Ravens only have to cut 25 with the practice squad expanding from 10 to 12 guys this year courtesy of the new CBA. There'll be even fewer cuts when the P-squad expands to 14 starting in 2022.
