Here is the Athletic Article. I copied and pasted the article for all to read, but also added the link for members with a subscription.
https://theathletic.com/1389429/201...e-some-money-the-ravens-coveted-coordinators/
Why the Ravens’ offense is just starting, Matthew Judon should make some money, the Ravens’ coveted coordinators
By Jeff Zrebiec 6h ago
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Of the 19 Ravens who played at least 10 offensive snaps in Sunday’s 41-7 rout of the Houston Texans, wide receiver Seth Roberts is the only one who is eligible for unrestricted free agency after the season.
Of the 25 offensive players on the Ravens roster, 14 of them are 25 years old or younger.
The Ravens woke up Monday morning as the league’s highest-scoring team (34.1). They are second behind the Dallas Cowboys in yards per game (428.6) and first in rushing yards per game (203.8). They lead the league in time of possession and are second, again behind the Cowboys, in first downs per game.
Largely forgotten during quarterback Lamar Jackson’s ascent into MVP consideration and the team’s torrid play of late is that this was supposed to be a year of transition on offense. Ravens coach John Harbaugh didn’t charge offensive coordinator Greg Roman and his staff with rebuilding the offense to get a one-year bump.
The Ravens are building something, creating a foundation that they expect to carry them beyond 2019. Starting center Matt Skura and fullback Patrick Ricard are in their third seasons. Jackson, running back Gus Edwards, wide receiver Jaleel Scott, starting left guard Bradley Bozeman, starting right tackle Orlando Brown Jr. and tight ends Hayden Hurst and Mark Andrews are all in their second seasons. Wide receivers Marquise Brown and Myles Boykin and running back Justice Hill are rookies.
In that group lies the foundation of an offense that is currently bedeviling the rest of the league. That doesn’t mean the Ravens won’t have moves to make. They certainly could use another receiver and some interior offensive line help. They’ll have to secure the future of left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who is playing at an All-Pro level. It would surprise no one this offseason if right guard Marshal Yanda, the backbone of the offense, retires. They’ll also have to continually evolve and improve as teams figure out better defensive game plans to combat them.
But time is on the Ravens’ side here. They are thriving offensively with a young core that figures to be together for a while. Sure, it all revolves around Jackson staying healthy and playing well, but there’s plenty of youth being served around him, too.
The Judon decision
Even with his two sacks on Sunday, Ravens outside linebacker Matthew Judon is tied for 26th in the league this season with six total sacks. However, just focusing on those numbers and concluding that Judon will not get a deal similar to the four-year, $66 million pact his friend and former teammate, Za’Darius Smith, got from the Green Bay Packers this past offseason would be ignoring several factors.
One, Judon already has 25 career sacks and six more regular-season games to add to that number before he gets to the open market. Smith hit free agency with 18.5 career sacks on his résumé, and 8.5 of them came last season. Two, Judon is a three-down linebacker and makes an impact even when he’s not registering sacks. He’s a capable edge setter and he’s also been among the league leaders in quarterback hits. He has 23 quarterback hits on the season, and he’s had at least three of them in four different games. So teams wouldn’t be paying for just sacks. And three, Ravens defensive players are well received on the open market. We’re reminded of this every offseason. Smith wasn’t the first and he surely won’t be the last.
The Ravens tried to sign the 27-year-old edge rusher to a contract extension before the season, but there was a gap between the offer and the player/agent asking price. They’ll likely try again at some point to bridge that gap, but the closer Judon gets to free agency and the more plays he makes, the harder it will become.
Maybe the Ravens are unwilling to invest $16-$18 million on an edge rusher, or if they do, they want somebody who has been a little more productive than Judon, whose career-high in sacks in a single season is eight. However, assuming Judon remains healthy and he has a solid finish to the season, he’s likely to get that kind of money from someone. And if it’s not the Ravens, then the team’s most significant projected offseason need becomes even bigger.
The good news for the Ravens is the projected free-agent edge rusher class should have several options. Currently, Jadeveon Clowney, Yannick Ngakoue, Whitney Mercilus, Dante Fowler Jr., Bud Dupree, Shaquil Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, Robert Quinn, Ezekiel Ansah and Markus Golden are all in line to hit the open market. There’s also a handful of top-notch interior pass rushers that could be free agents, including Chris Jones, Gerald McCoy, Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed.
Baltimore Ravens running back Gus Edwards (35) had some big plays against the Houston Texans on Sunday. (Evan Habeeb / USA Today)
Ten random thoughts/observation
1. The Ravens have totaled 341 points through 10 games. That’s 46 more than the San Francisco 49ers, the next highest-scoring team. The Ravens’ franchise record for points in a season is 409, established in 2014. They are on pace to score 546. That’s a pretty stunning total for a franchise long known for its defense.
2. Each dominant performance brings more talk that Roman and Don “Wink” Martindale, the Ravens offensive and defensive coordinators respectively, could become prime candidates for head coaching vacancies this offseason. It’s still a little early to handicap their chances, but the best way for the Ravens to keep them is to win. It’s a flawed system and unfair to assistants, but coaches on teams which make extended playoff runs often, but not always (see Zac Taylor last year), get the shaft. Some teams don’t want to wait on certain candidates. Roman and Martindale have been at it for a long time, and they’re both deserving of head coaching consideration. The Ravens wouldn’t stand in their way, but an extended playoff run could serve that purpose.
3. It would be easy to blame that curious roughing the passer call on Tyus Bowser for costing the Ravens defense a shutout. That play turned a potential fourth down into a first down and prolonged the drive for Carlos Hyde’s touchdown run. However, let’s not forget that the Ravens were presented an early Christmas gift with the non-pass-interference call on Marlon Humphrey against DeAndre Hopkins in the end zone. Not only was it not called on the field, but it wasn’t reversed upon review. Even though they’re not reversing any of them these days, I thought this was egregious enough to be changed. Humphrey was not only pulling Hopkins’ jersey, but he was draped all over his shoulders before the ball arrived. It was pass interference by any measure and if had been appropriately called, the Texans would have had 1st-and-goal from the Ravens’ 1-yard line. It’s a pretty safe bet that Houston would have ended that first-quarter drive with points.
4. If you have a chance, go back and watch how long Boykin holds his block on veteran corner Johnathan Joseph on Edwards’ 63-yard touchdown run, and how much Willie Snead IV hustles downfield to get in the way of another would-be tackler. Go back and watch Andrews’ 51-yard reception and how Snead, Roberts and Edwards hustle downfield to try to help get the tight end into the end zone. There’s been a lot of talk about the Ravens’ modest wide receiver production this year and why they haven’t signed a big-name veteran off the street to come in and give Jackson another target. I’m not suggesting that was or is a bad idea necessarily, but we all need to remember that the Ravens ask a lot of their receivers and not everybody has the personality, unselfishness and skill set to fill those roles. Snead and Roberts have pedestrian numbers, but they’ve been very important to what the team does on offense. Boyle gets a ton of credit for his blocking and it’s deserved, but the receivers also warrant some praise for the work they do on the outside and downfield.
5. Sam Koch has punted once over the past three weeks and just three total times in as many games. With 21 punts in 10 games, he’s on pace to punt the ball 34 times this season. To put that into perspective, his previous career-low in punts was 60, set in 2014 and 2018.
6. Justin Tucker hasn’t looked as precise in recent weeks, missing from 43 yards Sunday, missing an extra-point try against the New England Patriots and just sneaking in a few others. He has set such a high bar for himself that even a very small patch of imperfection stands out. Still, I wouldn’t be worried about him. The colder and windier it gets and the more worn down the field surfaces become, the harder it is to make kicks consistently. Tucker will be fine. Now, about the Ravens kick coverage and return game …
7. Yes, I remember Eric Weddle, after signing with the Los Angeles Rams, saying he wouldn’t give up any secrets about the Ravens to his new team/coaching staff, because of the respect he had for his former teammates. Even many months later, I don’t believe him. With the strength of the NFC playoff field, the Rams are pretty close to must-win territory. Weddle, I imagine, will do anything he can to help the Rams win, as he should. I don’t know that it will ultimately matter because the Ravens offense is quite different than it was last year, but there might not be another opposing player in the league who understands the Ravens on both sides of the ball as well as Weddle.
8. I don’t want to make light of the brawl at the end of the Cleveland Browns-Pittsburgh Steelers game last Thursday. It was an ugly incident and a terrible look for the league. However, I’m not sure the game could have worked out any better for the Ravens. The Steelers lost, slowing their momentum and opening up a three-game gap behind the Ravens. The Browns lost their best defensive player with Myles Garrett getting suspended for at least the rest of the season for swinging a helmet at Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph.
9. The Ravens-49ers matchup on Dec. 1 will not be flexed and will remain a 1 p.m. kickoff, the league announced on Monday. The NFL moved the Kansas City Chiefs-Oakland Raiders Dec. 1 game to a 4:25 p.m. kickoff on CBS and switched the Steelers-Browns rematch from 4:25 to 1 p.m. The Patriots-Texans, meanwhile, will stay on Sunday Night Football. While the fans probably wanted to see the Ravens-49ers in primetime, the organization won’t be complaining. They’ll be happy that the 49ers are forced to go East and play at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.
10. An under-discussed factor in the Ravens’ defensive turnaround: the play of nose tackle Brandon Williams. Williams has sort of been a guy who you don’t realize the impact he makes until he’s not on the field. That’s not been the case lately. Over the last month, he’s put together probably the best stretch of his Ravens’ career and that’s saying something for one of the league’s top interior run stuffers. He’s doing more than just stopping the run and absorbing double teams. He’s chasing down plays and he’s getting penetration inside. He’s just a load to block right now.
