Why shouldn't he be on the team? He made his case in training camp and preseason on why he should be on this team. Im seeing Ravens fans having interest in The Ravens signing Josh Gordon but I honestly dont think wide receivers is the issue. Willie Snead himself should be more productive this year but our offensive passing attack has been one dimensional. Hayden Hurst should be more productive as well but this is Greg Roman first year as The Ravens offensive coordinator and Lamar Jackson still growing as a passer. None of our wide receivers other than Hollywood Brown has been targeted enough for me to even judge their performance this year.
Well, generally speaking, I think he's on the team because a) he's quality on ST, which Harbaugh values and b) because during the preseason, we weren't able to develop or find somebody else who was more worthy of a spot.
In terms of the ability to judge another pass catchers on the roster based on target share, in my opinion, that won't change this year or even next year. I just don't think there will be nearly enough volume from a pass game standpoint at any point in the next probably 2-3 years that will warrant a #2 or #3 receiver being a significant part of the offense.
On a per game basis, Andrews and Brown represent 50% of the passing targets. If Lamar is only averaging 30 attempts/game, that only leads 15 targets/game for the rest of all pass catchers, which includes both our TEs, our RBs (who I don't think we use nearly enough in the passing game), and any other WRs.
So realistically, unless there's somebody else who greatly separates themselves from the pack, whoever the third option is in the passing game is still only likely to see maybe 4 targets in a game, because there's enough pass catchers who are all comparable from skill-set perspective that it makes no sense to elevate somebody else.
So the reality is... you may be saying the same thing about Hurst or Boykin or Snead or anybody else for the next few years. Because unless they find a way to differentiate themselves from the rest of the team who's competing for targets, or unless the Ravens just decide to go more pass-heavy and start letting Lamar throw it 35-40 times a game (I don't see this in the near future), I don't see when these guys are going to get opportunities to earn more targets.
For the most part, those opportunities only present themselves via injuries, or via a killer offseason.
