Alright. All seriousness.
For the Ravens to Succeed in 2017.
1. First and foremost Ryan Jensen has to at worst, be a solid starter. If he's solid, then the offense is solid. Now I'm going to be optimistic and hope that the scheme change benefits him greatly. I think we know what we have in Alex Lewis, as in he's a very good pass blocker. Austin Howard is a road grader who will help out the offensive line. If Jensen is a solid player, then we could have found our center for the immediate future. Which would be huge.
2. Alex Lewis also needs to take the next step. Lewis is a very good pass blocker. He's a bad run blocker though and can be a liability. If he becomes DECENT, the run blocking becomes that much better.
3. Marty needs to commit to the run. People seem to forget how good West looked last season when we actually decided to use him and not abandon him. Ideally, Roman being here indicates that we are going to run the ball more. But saying and acting upon these things are very different. As much as I'd love to add a Ryan Matthews, I think a trio of West, Allen, and Woodhead will be just find.
4. Offense needs to convert a lot more on third downs. This is one of the ones that gets overlooked. However, with Pitta gone we might be able to do this. Woodhead alone is likely to add an extra third down conversion a game on his own just because of how good he is after the catch. I think Maclin's addition will also help as he knows how to get open and is a very reliable player.
5. Breshad Perriman needs to break out- We have potentially our best group of WR's of all time. 3 fast dudes, and one of them is a great route runner, and two of them are some of the fastest players in the league. Perriman has the potential to be a star in the NFL. I'm slightly worried about him because according to some who went to the live practice, he dropped his fair share of balls. He needs to get more reps and playing time. Otherwise he's going to be a nightmare to deal with.
6. Maxx or Boyle need to break out- I'd prefer Maxx, but if Boyle takes the next step that's good too. One of these two will be the starter come the seasons end guarenteed. Both will likely see significant playing time. Both have good hands, both are good blockers. Boyle appears to be a better route runner, Maxx is better after the catch. One of these two breaks out, Flacco has another underneath option and the offense just becomes better.
7. We need to get more pressue. Forget sack totals for a second. We need to get better at bringing the heat. Adding Williams was a massive addition, and the more Judon grows, the more I feel confident in him. But it's not just him. Pierce, Bronson, Davis, and Henry all have good potential from the interior to be good pass rushers. If we can collapse the pocket, then it makes the life of the secondary that much easier.
8. Jimmy Smith needs to be healthy-duh.
9. We need to create more turnovers in the red zone. Our offense will likely struggle early on in the season, and the best way to get around it is to create more opportunities.
10. Finally- We need to finish drives with TD's rather than FGs. I love Tucker, but we lost a few games last year because we couldn't get TD's rather than FGs. We need to get better at finishing in the red zone.
