WEEK 1 PRESEASON REPORT FOR 2013

     I originally planned to write this post specifically about the Ravens first preseason game and their open practice on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.  I will certainly address both of those events, but the Ravens made three significant signings over the course of the last week that warrant our attention.
     The first of such signings was Brandon Stokley.  Stokley, if you recall, was a member of the Ravens' first Super Bowl winning team in 2001.  He caught a beautiful touchdown pass from Trent Dilfer to score the first points of the game that the Ravens ultimately won 34-7 over the Giants.  The commentators during that broadcast that Stokley was likely the fastest man on the field that night.  That fact may or may not have been true, but the receiver certainly had fantastic speed in his youth.  Stokley is no longer any sort of deep threat, but even at 37 he still possesses decent speed burst for a man only one year younger than Ray Lewis.  Speed, however, is not Stokley's biggest selling point.  The veteran receiver's hands are what make him valuable to this team, and they are the same things that made him valuable to the Broncos.  Take a look at his highlights as a Bronco:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPLTjcSnrr8

      Stokley is not Anquan Boldin, and he will almost certainly not have the same level of production that Anquan did for three season as a Raven.  He certainly will not have the type of production that we saw from Anquan Boldin during the playoffs last season.  With that said, the Ravens have clearly come to the realization that they won't be able to replace Boldin's production with one player.  The Ravens are hoping that Stokley will combine with one or two of the younger receivers such as Tandon Doss or Deonte Thompson to match or exceed the production of Anquan Boldin, and that expectation is entirely realistic.
     Brandon Stokley's production is not simply about yards and touchdowns.  The veteran wide receiver moves the chains at an extremely high frequency.  Thirty of Stokley's forty-five catches last season were for first downs.  Let that soak in for a moment...two thirds of this receiver's receptions were for first downs last season.  The Ravens like to have a sure-handed veteran receiver who runs crisp routes as a security blanket for Joe Flacco.  Flacco first had Derrick Mason, but then Mason was replaced with Anquan Boldin.  Now Boldin will be at least partially replaced with Stokley, but don't count on Stokley being here for many years as his career may only last one or two more seasons.  The Ravens will have no trouble stretching opposing defenses with Jacoby Jones and Torrey Smith on the outside, and Ray Rice may see a high number of passes this year as he has proven to be one of the best receiving running backs in the league.  Stokley will just be one more reliable piece to this offenses puzzle, and hopefully he will develop good chemistry with Flacco during the preseason.
     Unfortunately for the Ravens, Anquan Boldin was not the only sure-handed receiver that will not suit up in purple this season.  Dennis Pitta dislocated his hip in practice and required surgery because of the muscular damage.  John Harbaugh actually stated in the last 48 hours that there's actually a small chance Pitta could return much later in the season or in the playoffs, but the Ravens certainly aren't counting on it.  Ed Dickson was supposed to assume a larger role in the passing attack because of Pitta's absence, but Dickson soon thereafter suffered his own injury with a minor hamstring tear.  Fortunately for the Ravens, a former Pro Bowl tight end was still on the market.  One of Peyton Manning's old favorite targets, Dallas Clark, made his way on to the Ravens roster only a couple of days ago.  Clark, like Stokley, possesses fantastic hands.  Clark had his best season in 2009 with 100 catches, but his production has waned as he has advanced in age. 
      Dallas Clark had only 435 receiving yards and 47 catches last season. Those numbers are no match for Dennis Pitta's 669 receiving yards and 61 catches, but Clark doesn't have to match Pitta's numbers because the Ravens acquired one more veteran tight end.  Visanthe Shiancoe remains somewhat of a question mark for this Ravens squad.  Even at his peak of production, Shiancoe never quite made it to 600 receiving yards in 2008 and 2009.  Shiancoe was, however, a great red zone threat during that two year span with a combined 18 touchdowns.   He too is no longer in the prime of his career, but he could certainly combine with Dallas Clark to replace or even significantly exceed the receiving production of Dennis Pitta.  Neither of these tight ends have yet developed the type of bond and chemistry that Flacco had with Dennis Pitta, but that may change faster than many people anticipate.
     One major positive aspect of acquiring veteran free agents is that their maturity and experience often makes them fast learners and great mentors to young players.  The Ravens have 3 more preseason games before the regular season, and that means Brandon Stokley, Dallas Clark, and Visanthe Shiancoe will have the better part of a month to adjust to Jim Caldwell's offensive system.

FIRST PRESEASON GAME

      Winning a preseason game may feel good to many fans, but the ending score means absolutely nothing to the regular season.  With that said, there were many positive and unfortunately some negative points to take away from the Ravens first preseason game of 2013 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
     The first positive thing I saw was Chris Canty.  He bullied his way through the Bucs' offensive line for a vicious sack on Josh Freeman.  The Ravens got an absolute steal with the former Giant...let's hope he stays healthy.  The second positive thing I saw was Torrey Smith catching a short pass and then rocketing forward with his tremendous speed and quickness only to use a nice stiff arm to send former teammate and starting Bucs' cornerback Danny Gorrer to turf en route to a first down.  The Ravens didn't have their real starting offensive line in this particular preseason game, and the rain was coming down violently in Tampa.  As a result, I didn't expect a the receiving corps to put on a clinic, but I certainly hoped for a little more than what I saw.  Through two offensive drives, the Ravens starting offense failed to score or even attempt a field goal.  Visanthe Shiancoe had a couple of decent catches, but also a couple of drops.  Again, it was a wet night, but football is to be played in all conditions and I'm going to expect the veteran to correct any hands issues within the next month.     
     The defense wasn't exactly playing lights out, but it was back to its old "bend but not break" ways.  The starting Ravens defense kept the Buccaneers out of the endzone in two trips to the redzone.  I will try not to be too tough on the starting defense until Lardarius Webb is actually out on the field.  By that point, if they're not the most dominant defense in the AFC North, then we have a serious problem.  A healthy Suggs, a healthy Webb, a revamped defensive line, Elvis Dumervil, Michael Huff, Daryl Smith, and the devastating hitting power of Matt Elam should mean a return to a fearsome defense the likes of which we haven't seen since 2006.  The Ravens defense in 2011 was also quite dominant, but this looks like it could be a notch better on paper. Daryl Smith, though not nearly equal to Ray Lewis at 32 or younger, is quite impressive.  He should serve as a great mentor for an explosive and talented Arthur Brown.  We'll miss the respect opposing offenses gave to Ed Reed, but Michael Huff, James Ihedigbo, and Matt Elam are all simply better tacklers at this point.  All three are also better in pass coverage than Bernard Pollard--by leaps and bounds.
     The highlight of the night wasn't the starting offense or the starting defense; the highlight was young receivers and special teams players fighting for roster spots.  Laquan Williams absolutely stole the show with a blocked punt recovery in the endzone for a touchdown, a touchdown catch from Tyrod Taylor, and a fumble recovery from the Bucs' kick returner that set up a touchdown by Bernard Pierce.  If the former Terrapin wasn't already in the discussion of who would be the #3 or #4 wide receiver, he absolutely should be now.
     Another former Terrapin who had an impressive play was Matt Furstenberg.  The young tight end caught a nice 24 yard pass over the middle of the field from Tyrod Taylor. I heard Steve David on 105.7 the fan insist that Furstenburg won't see the field this season, but I have a hunch that we may just see him rotated in at some point even with the recent signings of Dallas Clark and Visanthe Shiancoe.  Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but that kid can really move and has great hands. 
     It was great to see former Terps shining on national television, but my mood stayed low after seeing one of the Ravens' touchdowns.  If you watched the game, then I think you already know of which touchdown I speak.  Bernard Pierce looks bigger and faster than last year, but just as he was about to cross the plane of the endzone for a touchdown, a Buccaneer launched himself helmet first into the knee of our beloved young running back.  Pierce thankfully rose from the ground and ultimately jogged off the field, but it appears as though he has a sprained knee and will miss a week or two.  Pierce will be fine and ready to go for the season opener, but knee issues can come back to haunt a player later in the season as we have seen for the last two years with Haloti Ngata.  Let's hope for a speedy recovery for Ray Rice's counterpart.
    

RAVENS OPEN PRACTICE AT M&T BANK STADIUM

     I must apologize to my readers for failing them on Sunday.  I had borrowed a high powered professional caliber camera to shoot high quality pictures and close-ups of the Ravens in their one yearly practice that remains totally free and open to the public.  I, however, left the camera in the car and ended up taking far blurrier pictures from a distance with my phone.  It is for this reason that this particular segment lacks precisely the element that I made the trip to Baltimore to obtain.
     Practice at M&T is certainly a fun and lively experience.  This year the cheerleaders came out to the crowd to throw out free t-shirts to everyone in close proximity to the field.  One terrific distraction was Gerry Sandusky, Qadry Ismail, and one other commentator loudly explaining each segment of the practice on the big screen TVs.  I understand that explanations can be helpful, but these weren't particularly insightful and tended to serve as an audio/visual distraction from the actual action on the field.
     Despite noisy commentators, I found a few things particularly encouraging about the practice.  The first was Bobby Rainey.  This young running back was often compared to Ray Rice in last year's preseason because he is exactly the same height and almost exactly the same weight as little Ray.  More importantly, however, he shares Ray's shift running style and possesses impressive speed burst.  Rainey had a particularly impressive move that sent Elvis Dumervil crashing to the turf as the running back trotted into the endzone, and that's not an easy task.
     The second thing I found impressive (but certainly not surprising) was the leg of Justin Tucker.  Tucker appeared to nail kicks from 52 and almost 60 yards out ( note that I was far away so the distances could have been slightly different).  Tucker tried a pair for kicks from 65 and beyond, but missed both wide.  Both kicks, however, had enough distance, and I am continually amazed by the sheer power of Tucker's leg.
     Maybe not quite as impressive as Tucker's leg but possibly just as important was Visanthe Shiancoe's final catch of the practice.  Shiancoe showed just why it was that he had 18 touchdowns in two seasons between 2008 and 2009.  The guy can win jump ball battles.  Shiancoe made an impressive catch on a pass from Joe Flacco in the endzone in the middle of three defenders.  Shiancoe may not rack up huge yards over the course of the season, but I fully expect him to be a frequent redzone target for Joe.
    
     Expect to know far more about the Ravens after Thursday as we'll have a chance to see their new receivers in action.  The Ravens will face a Falcons team that possesses ample offensive weapons from an elite receiving corps to the newly acquired former Rams running back, Steven Jackson.  I'd like to see the first team offense score against a Falcon's defense that has recently struggled on the road.  The ending score of the game absolutely will not matter, but it would be nice to see Joe truly take command of the offense the way he did only months ago in the playoffs.  I'll be at the game, so stay tuned for a week 2 reaction.

AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!