Ravens should utilize roster depth with eye toward 2021 in final 5 weeks
The Baltimore Ravens sit at 6-5 on the season and are in real danger of not making the playoffs. Sure, they’ve got a very soft schedule that, at least on paper, looks like another five wins are in the bag. But with so many players still on the Reserve/COVID-19 list combined with the number of players on injured reserve, absolutely nothing is a guarantee when it comes to Baltimore right now. That means the coaching staff will have to make some tough decisions over the next few weeks about how they want to finish this season and what their goals truly are.
They can try to put the absolute best team on the field in every game, even if those players haven’t had much practice time or are a little banged up from a season of wear-and-tear. That decision could net more wins and a playoff berth but it also opens those players up to long-term injuries if they aren’t fully ready to go.
On the other hand, the coaching staff can continue to lean on the practice squad and depth players to step up. As we saw against the Pittsburgh Steelers Wednesday, that group is capable of playing pretty solid football as a whole, and could certainly win some games against lesser teams. But more importantly, it gives the team a chance to see the full extent of their depth and which players might deserve more playing time not only this season but next year as well.
Ultimately, it comes down to what chances the coaching staff and front office give this team of making a run in the postseason and winning playoff games. If they believe this is still a Super Bowl-worthy squad, the decision to do everything possible to earn a playoff berth is an easy one. But if there’s any doubt, getting an early look at what the 2021 Ravens could be might be the wiser investment.
That means getting guys like Devin Duvernay and James Proche more playing time at the expense of Miles Boykin, Marquise Brown, and Willie Snead. J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards should be the primary ball carriers instead of Mark Ingram. Instead of using Derek Wolfe — who’s set to be a free agent this offseason — get Justin Madubuike and Broderick Washington Jr. more meaningful snaps. The worst-case scenario is getting young players valuable live snaps in losses where the best-case scenario is finding out you’ve got an All-Pro buried on the depth chart. All the shades of gray between those two extremes are just information the Ravens can file away for the offseason when they’ll need it.
Baltimore has a bunch of cash to spend in the offseason and only a few holes that truly need to be filled with new faces. Finding out if a potential answer is already on the roster could save the Ravens millions of dollars in contracts and allow them to focus their attention on other positions that need more help (like wide receiver). If at full health this is a Super Bowl-caliber team, like everyone believed at the beginning of the season, then taking a long-term approach to scouting your own roster and putting eggs into next year’s basket is the smarter move.
That’s not to say a team made up of practice squad players and rookies getting more playing time can’t still get the job done this year. Again, this is a group that took the undefeated Steelers the distance and — had it not been for an egregious pick-six and some terrible calls from the officials — they might have actually won that game. If they win four of the next five games, Baltimore could still squeak into the postseason where they can still go on an improbable run. But allowing the diamonds in the rough to shine over a five-game stretch to close out this season might mean more to next year’s far better team.
