The below comments come from BSL Ravens Analyst Jordan Kough... Jordan was pulled away with an emergency before he could post, but he passed them on to me...
What To Watch For
1. I noticed a lot of two TE sets in the last game. Maxx Williams was
receiving significant reps with the 1st team offense and there was a
lot of movement in terms of where he was lining up. To a lesser extent
Juice was also being used as a full back and split out from time to
time. This will be an interesting rotation to watch for these players
in this upcoming game.
You don’t usually see a lot of the playbook given away, but I think we
might see some more complexity of routes and presnap motions including
these guys as Trestman is sure they are up to speed. I’d also like to
see Joe (or one of the QBs) trying to work any of the passes to them
on the outside for some completions. It’s an empty threat if we’re
just splitting them out wide and not running around them and using
them to set edges or setting them up for routes they can win.
2. Is Perriman even going to see some snaps? What about Campanaro? I’m
all for keeping guys healthy and if the coaching staff feels like
they’re ready, I don’t need to see these guys play and get hurt. But
it sure would make me feel better to see Perriman take the top off the
defense a few times in a live game. You don’t even need to throw it to
him. I just want to see how fast he gets down the field and how
opposing teams play him. I’d be surprised if Trestman doesn’t feel the
same way.
Campanaro I’d rather just save his reps. He’s worked with Joe. He’s
worked in the offense, we know what we’re going to get from him. Let’s
just keep him healthy.
3. The OL needs to get healthy. I want to see more from the backups
though. They haven’t been bad and they showed a good commitment to the
run game to start the last game. Yanda held up really strong and
Monroe looked good too. I actually liked what I saw from Zuttah too
and wonder if he was hurt some in the second half of last year and if
that slowed him down some.
It’s nice to know Urschel is back and I thought Jensen flashed enough
to keep his spot. I’d like to see those guys and Hurst show they can
be the viable backup guys in the second half of this game. We’re just
going to have to play wait and see with KO but with 2+ weeks left
until opening day, it’s OK to wait.
4. Will Hill. He’s the forgotten man of training camp. And Kendrick
Lewis for that matter. It was a relatively quiet preseason games for
them if you ask me and that’s a good thing. The Eagles attacked the
outside a lot. And they threw a lot to the linebackers coverage guys
in space. We probably won’t see much from the TEs from the Skins as
they are all hurt, but I’d like to keep a close eye on Lewis and Hill
to see how they work together and the communications on defense. If,
as Harbs has said, we game plan a bit more for game 3 to simulate more
of a game feel, Lewis responsibility goes up as the guy calling the
plays. If Smith, Webb, Arrington, Melvin get a majority of the snaps
in the 1st/2nd quarters, we should finally see some more tests for
Hill and Lewis.
5. Buck Allen is going to get his chance now. He seems to be a
training camp guy so far. I’ve not been all that impressed with what
we’ve seen from him in games. He still seems tentative and not ready
to make the cut. I’ll also be keeping a closer eye for him in terms of
pass protection. I’m interested to see how the 3rd down reps end up
getting split up. Forsett seems well suited for those reps but at the
same time, he’s also the best guy for all the downs. Someone is going
to have to separate themselves in some way or another and Taliaferro
seemed on his way to doing that. Can Allen win back some of that
market share? The other RBs don’t seem ready to concede the spot to
Allen, but I just don’t see how within this roster crunch how any of
the other guys make this team.
6. Some deep shots. If it’s not Perriman then who? Will they use
Williams to stretch the field? Will it be S. Smith? Campanaro deep
over the middle. The Eagles had 8 or 9 in the box on about half the
plays in the first quarter against the Ravens and on the shot that Joe
did take down the field he threw into a Cover 2 shell (he had Smith
open underneath but he was taking some serious heat after blown
blocking assignments by Hurst and a combo Williams/Gillmore blocks
that both didn’t hold up). Either way we can’t let other teams force
us to be so one dimensional. I’m sure we’ll see adjustments on
audibles and play action calls against these fronts. I’m curious if
we’ll get a small taste of this in the final preseason game that
starters will play in.
7. Melvin. He’s making a statement that he wants a spot. He played
better and he’s gaining confidence. I’d expect we see a lot of him. I
want to watch him carefully. He’s not a guy that RG3 is going to
isolate and pick on as a passer, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on the
guys he’s covering and how he holds up in coverage. I don’t think DJax
sounds like he’s a go, but it should be a good test for him as he’s
likely to be thrust back into a semi-starting role if Webb is
sidelined again.
8. The Bilukudi – KLM – Tyson battle is probably one of the last ones
to be won. I’ll be watching this one more carefully. None of these
guys have done much to define themselves out of this role. I’ll be
interested to see if the Ravens keep Tyson. He’s been a favorite of
mine and is a veteran. I’ll be interested to see if he’s battling it
out in this next game. The latter two have faced injuries, but I
wonder if Bilukudi ends up being the odd-man out if the Ravens want
KLM’s upside and Tyson’s veteran presence. He seems to have a better
combo of both of those things, but not more than either of the guys
individually.
9. It’ll be interesting to see which of the bubble guys see a lot of
time. There are some really interesting spots up for grabs. Trawick
and Perry both seem worthy of a safety spot. Orr/McLellan/A.
Brown/Thompson/Bose/Beyer spot seems to only have 3 or 4 spots between
all of them. Throw Steve Means who hasn’t practiced into that mix and
it’s some tough sledding in there. Who gets the earlier reps, and who
is paired with whom? I’m thinking if they think Means will get healthy
he’s going to keep his spot. But maybe they like Upshaw as a rusher
enough to get by. Also, where is Jeremy Butler in these games? We hear
so much chatter about him and then nothing on the field when the games
roll around. With all the buzz you don’t think he’d get through to the
practice squad, but who knows. It really does feel like 3 or 4 spots
of various positions are being fought over by something like 9 or 10
guys.
10. Finally, can we get our special teams together? This is usually an
area of significant strength for the Ravens and thus far I’ve been
quite nonplussed. It’s not like Asa Jackson has stood much of a
chance, he got lambasted inside the 15 on the first return (which if
he’s fighting for the job he isn’t bringing out) but still…
This appears like a unit that doesn’t have it together just quite yet.
Tucker and the kicking side doesn’t seem bad, but the coverage and
blocking has been just OK. We’re testing a lot of guys out in a lot of
different positions, but it’s time for this unit to show us something.
