The Ravens Won't Win Anything Until They Get Legit Outside Receivers

The Ravens have been a failure at evaluating pass rushers and defensive backs under general manager Eric DeCosta, but don’t forget about wide receiver, as well.

Two-time MVP Lamar Jackson can do more with less, and he has throughout his entire career, but with no more guaranteed years on his contract and with the superstar holding complete and total leverage over this organization in 2027 and about to make over $70M/season no matter where he goes, now would be a good time for The Castle to get real about its deep receiver rot.

Zay Flowers is a great piece and he can do a lot of fun and exciting things. But he can't carry a modern passing game. And with tight end Mark Andrews beyond done, and Baltimore's rookie pass catchers doing nothing to this point (how about making Elijah Sarrat active Monday?), they could face a crisis in 2027.

But his lack of size is and always be a significant issue and he will never show up in the redzone and endzone like the very top receivers do, and trying to funnel a passing game to him on crossers and intermediate stuff is always going to come up empty when it really matters. Even with a football genius like Jackson at quarterback. Eventually, one would think the Ravens might recognize this, then again, stubborn and ego is their very scouting brand.

To this point DeCosta would rather keep playing his former draft busts like Rashod Bateman to pretend to be winning outside receivers and keep loading up on guys who really will only do damage in the slot (like all the pass catchers he drafted in 2026) than change his ways. Maybe he’s incapable of it. Whatever. But these kinds of rosters won’t be good enough - especially with running back Derrick Henry’s days as a 5.5 yards/carry guy long gone – and someone there better embrace that reality quickly.

Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner studies NFL offenses constantly as a game analyst and studio analyst on NFL telecasts, and is perpetually baffled by what the Ravens think they can get away with running Bateman and Devontez Walker out there on the outside and hoping Jackson can get by with those kinds of guys.

This Way Won’t Work

Dec 31, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta stands on the sidelines before the game against the Miami Dolphins at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Warner seemed pretty frustrated for Jackson (dealing with yet another injury suffered in the pocket) when I brough up the reality of Baltimore trying this “Zay And Pray” approach to the passing game on “The Daily Flock Show”, with one smaller receiver who warrants real attention and the boundary a wasteland.

“I think we all know what Zay Flowers is and he's really good at what he does,” Warner said, “in the slot, run after catch, you know, the quick throws, all of that stuff. And not that he can't break, big plays, because obviously he makes big plays all the time, but you need those complimentary pieces in your offense, even if they're not great, that, hey, when they want to stack inside, we can go outside and we can win the one-on-one battles.

“When they want to take Zay away in the middle of the field, we've got a guy that can stretch the field and give us some chunk plays to make life easier for us offensively. And, you know, that has been a question for a long time. They've really been built inside out. And they've never really found that outside piece that can be a difference-maker.”

Longtime Ravens defensive coordinator Wink Martindale brought up the same concept when we chatted about this roster “They don’t have any Werewolves,” he exclaimed when comparing Lamar’s weapons to other teams, and especially Joe Burrow with the Bengals. Flowers is a great piece, but as the main thing in a playoff winning offense that’s a big ask.

With Jackson holding all the leverage in negotiations, the Ravens need to recruit him to stay. And what they have to offer right now ain't much.

The state of this offensive roster is doing them no favors and they better have a pretty cogent plan to add a true outside receiver, because there isn’t one on this roster and Lane proving to be that guy is another reach and all DeCosta does is reach for receivers; finding the real thing (modern size/speed demon) has been impossible for him.

“There is something to having what I call an X receiver,” Warner said, “a big body, one-on-one receiver on the backside where we can put our three receivers to the right side and we can have this great concept. But if they go one-on-one on the backside, I know I can go there and win and make the game easier.

“I don't have to read through seven guys over here and get to the right read and make the throw. I can go back here and go, ‘Boom, take it!’ You know, throw it to him … Can be a jump ball, but I mean, even just winning on routes, you know, that was what Larry Fitzgerald was for me. You That was what, you know, Tory Holt was for me. If they want to push over here to Isaac (Bruce) and, you know, three receiver sets, I know that I have a great chance to win one-on-one on the backside and get a favorable matchup, and it just makes the game easier for all of us.

It's just go back and pitch and catch, you know, with that guy. And teams havie that guy as a difference-maker for their quarterbacks and especially if you don't have Lamar Jackson and you have a backup quarterback, man, it would be nice to be able to give them some easy completions here and there. And that's been something that, you know, they haven't seemed to have for as long as I can remember is a guy that can do that.”

Under DeCosta, perhaps they never will.

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