The Ravens returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2014, but where did their players stack up across the NFL in 2018?
Whether it’s discussing the Pro Bowl or determining postseason awards, media and fans spend much time debating where players rank at each position, but few watch every player on every team extensively enough to form any type of an authoritative opinion.
Truthfully, how many times did you watch the offensive line of the Detroit Lions this season? What about the Oakland Raiders linebackers or the San Francisco 49ers cornerbacks?
That’s why I appreciate the grading efforts of Pro Football Focus while acknowledging these rankings shouldn’t be viewed as infallible or the gospel of evaluation. I can respect the exhaustive effort to grade players across the league when most of us watch only one team or one division on any kind of a consistent basis.
Below is a look at where Ravens wide receivers ranked at their positions followed by the positional outlook going into 2019:
Offensive linemen
Linebackers
Tight ends
Defensive linemen
Running backs
Cornerbacks
Willie Snead
2018 offensive snap count (including postseason): 821
PFF ranking: 56th among wide receivers
Skinny: The slot receiver was the most relevant of Baltimore’s wide receivers when Lamar Jackson took over at quarterback, serving as a reliable target over the middle of the field. Considering the uncertainty at the position, the $4 million Snead will command in 2019 is very reasonable.
Michael Crabtree
2018 offensive snap count (including postseason): 805
PFF ranking: 79th among wide receivers
Skinny: Signed to be a major red-zone threat, Crabtree caught three touchdowns in the regular season and owned the third-highest drop rate in the NFL, per PFF. It’s unclear whether a $9.333 million salary cap number for a receiver who’s barely cracked 600 yards in each of the last two years will be palatable.
John Brown
2018 offensive snap count (including postseason): 757
PFF ranking: 70th among wide receivers
Skinny: Brown made seven catches for 134 yards and a touchdown in a season-best Week 7 performance and appeared on his way to a 1,000-yard season and a big payday. However, the speedster had a total of 128 receiving yards in the eight games started by Jackson as drops also began mounting after the bye.
Chris Moore
2018 offensive snap count (including postseason): 467
PFF ranking: 98th among wide receivers
Skinny: The 2016 fourth-round pick didn’t build on his improvement in 2017, recording only one more catch and 52 fewer receiving yards in his third season. Moore remains an important special-teams contributor, but it’s difficult to view him as anything more than a No. 4 or No. 5 receiver.
2019 positional outlook
Trying to figure out this position is one of the great questions of the offseason, but that’s nothing new for the Ravens. With Crabtree a potential cap casualty and Brown an unrestricted free agent, Snead is the only safe bet to be a contributor at the position in Jackson’s first full year as a starter. The decision on Crabtree will be partly determined by how favorably Eric DeCosta views the free-agent market and this year’s draft class to be able to find a replacement. No Ravens player — other than Joe Flacco — suffered more from a business standpoint than Brown when Jackson took over and the offense shifted so dramatically toward the run. Brown said he was open to re-signing with the Ravens at the end of the season, but it’s difficult to see that after his one-year platform deal went awry down the stretch. The development of 2018 draft picks Jaleel Scott and Jordan Lasley will be worth monitoring this spring and summer, but neither showed enough last year to be viewed as suitable answers. Concern is more than warranted with the organization’s long-standing problems at this position, and free agents may not be all that eager to sign up with an offense that ran the ball more than anyone down the stretch in 2018.
