Speaking of Dorsey draft picks, now that Derrick Willies broke his collarbone, Dameion Ratley should not only be on the active roster, but get on the field this sunday.
Landry is obviously the top go-to receiver. Duke should be in-line for more reps as a wide receiver. Rod Streater is a solid journeyman.
Callaway is obviously a lethal weapon, but seems to have forgotten how to catch, and has had his reps reduced until he can prove he has re-mastered this most important of all wide receiver skills.
As Dan Labbe mentions in the linked article, Baker Mayfield and Dameion Ratley have practiced together a lot on the second and third teams. Todd Haley can't fail to consider that chemistry between the two as he decides how to fill in the gaps, and who to put on the field.
Ratley was impressive throughout camp. As I've mentioned ad-nauseum, Ratley is a skinny Josh Gordon (except for the issues).
Gordon is maybe part of an inch taller, but the catch radii, speed, suddenness, and hands all match.
Ratley slid in the draft due to inexperience and skinniness, but nobody questioned his talent (or stats).
He's now had a full training camp (*with Baker Mayfield*) and five more weeks of practice (*3 more with Mayfield*).
Todd Haley has been using Jarvis Landry like he used Antonio Brown, and the two athletes are similar, except Landry is more physical.
Opposing defenses must treat him as the guy to stop. They know Ratley is dangerous, but also that he's a skinny rookie, so they'll probably try to mug him at the line and put a lid on Landry.
Baker Mayfield will tear any zone-defense a new one. Casey Hayward is the real deal in man, but there's only one of him. They might put him on Ratley (he's definitely an "X"), and roll to Landry, but that's still single-coverage, and:
Ratley/Mayfield have practiced against top-flight cornerbacks in a Gregg Williams jam-heavy scheme, and beaten it (as often as it beat them) in practice.
We need to adapt to the new paradigm here: Baker Mayfield can thread a needle, and Ratley has a great catch-radius.
No listen: Baker sees Ratley jammed and checks down at light-speed, then down again...then looks back at Ratley, then (if neccessary) to his fourth checkdown...if Mayfield has (or buys himself) five seconds, well...ask Hanford Dixon: No cornerback can man-cover any wide receiver for that long, so...
Honestly, I rely on other guys to break down upcoming opponents for me, and I don't know the details of the Chargers' coverage scheme yet.
On one "expert pick" site I checked out, all three "experts" picked the Chargers.
Generally, they expected that even sans Bosa, the Chargers' passrush would monkey-wrench Mayfield, and that the Chargers' River-led offense wouldn't cough up the ball as much as the Browns FIVE previous opponents have (...?)
And of course special teams.
YEP! I concur on that one!
However, it shouldn't boil down to special teams. Baker Mayfield already has over 1.5 games worth of real experience! He's a VETERAN now!
Des Harrison is another quick study who these guys are selling way short, and who I repeat did better vs Terrelle Suggs than the majority of left tackles Suggs has faced...in his fifth ever NFL start.
And (this is the obvious point which I saved for last):
The Ravens defense is at least in the top five in the NFL, and despite multiple drops, bad calls, sacks, blown routes, etc Baker found a way to win!
I'm penciling a "w" in this week vs the Chargers, based on team-talent, coaching (*you know this doesn't include Jackson, right?*), home field, and a wash at quarterback.
If you just rolled your eyes over that "wash" at quarterback, consider the taste slapped out of your mouth.
Rivers is great, but Mayfield will go toe-to-toe with him, like he did with Flacco. It's not exactly fair, since Mayfield has better talent surrounding him, but Baker is a six-quarter veteran now, and is primed to go apeshit:
Browns 77, Bolts 9...oh sorry I forgot the zebras:
Browns 63, Bolts 12.
No comments:
Post a Comment