Will the Ravens be more potent offensively in Marc Trestman’s second season as offensive coordinator? For what it’s worth, Trestman believes that his increased comfort level will help things go a little smoother in 2016. 
“It’s a little unnatural when you (first) come in, and there is a preexisting offense in place,” Trestman said of taking over for Gary Kubiak (via Clifton Brown of CSNBaltimore.com). “It was a very good offense, as we all know. But I spent three months on it, trying to make sure that I simulated the things that were necessary for me to do my job. Certainly this year…Coming into it a day after the season is over, you feel you are in a lot better position, because you are not using those 90 days out of 120 to learn another offense.”
Last year, the Ravens ranked eighth in the NFL in passing, but a dismal 26th in rushing, giving them the No. 14 ranked offense in the NFL. This year, the pressure is on for the Ravens to improve the running game and crack the top 10.
Here’s more out of Baltimore:
- The Ravens haven’t always given the smartest contracts to their homegrown players, but they have made some smart free agent deals overt he years, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap writes. That list of savvy moves includes the five-year, $26MM deal ($8.5MM guaranteed) given to outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil, a deal which Fitzgerald says stands as their best contract. Baltimore effectively guaranteed Dumervil three years at $17MM, which is quite reasonable for a player that had 20.5 sacks in the prior two seasons. Since 2013, Dumervil has racked up 32 sacks for Baltimore while earning two Pro Bowl appearances.
- On the flipside, quarterback Joe Flacco is an obvious choice for the Ravens’ worst contract, Fitzgerald writes. Flacco secured his first monster contract coming off of the Ravens’ Super Bowl win, giving him a (then) record $20.1MM/season. Then, this offseason, those unrealistic cap numbers forced the team to give Flacco another bloated deal despite his major knee injury.
- As the Ravens work to improve their offense, they’ll be forging ahead without the services of left guard Kelechi Osemele, who left via free agency. All-Pro right guard Marshal Yanda believes that the team has “the right guys” to replace Osemele. “Everyone is going to work hard toward that goal, whether it’s John Urschel or whether it’s a young kid. We’ll find out during training camp,” Yanda said. As shown on the Ravens’ Roster Resource page, the Ravens also have Ryan Jensen, free agent pickup Vlad Ducasse, and rookie lineman Alex Lewis (often listed as a tackle) in the mix.
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