The Baltimore Ravens dominated the opposition throughout the 2019 regular season, looking like the favorites to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at Super Bowl LIV. Yet, the team lost convincingly to the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Divisional Round to the surprise of everyone.

After licking their wounds, the Ravens bolstered their team throughout the offseason, and enter the 2020 campaign as the overwhelming favorites to win the AFC North. But, the organization still needs to build the team around quarterback Lamar Jackson, who’s still on his rookie contract. As they look to add perfect complements for him on both sides of the ball, there are bound to be players who are shown the door.

Here are three with the most likely odds to find a new home in the NFL in 2021.

PITTSBURGH, PA – OCTOBER 06: Willie Snead #83 of the Baltimore Ravens in action during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on October 6, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

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Willie Snead

WR Baltimore Ravens

Last year, the Ravens offense rivaled that of the Kansas City Chiefs in terms of explosiveness. Baltimore’s rushing attack was downright unstoppable….but we can’t say the same for the passing game. Plenty of that was due to the Ravens’ rather lackluster wide receiver corps, which ultimately led to their demise in the AFC Divisional Round against the underdog Titans.

The name near the top of the 2019 receivers depth chart was Willie Snead, and let’s preface by saying he’s not terrible. Through 16 games, Snead hauled in 31 passes for 339 yards and five touchdowns on 46 targets. Additionally, the veteran receiver only logged one dropped pass throughout the entire season.

It’s clear that the Ravens offense is in the midst of a complete overhaul. Marquise “Hollywood” Brown is the team’s undisputed top wideout. Furthermore, the Ravens used two of their 2020 draft picks on wide receivers Devin Duvernay (Texas) and James Proche (SMU). It’s quite clear that Baltimore is looking to get younger and faster in the coming years, so that automatically rules out a return for Snead, who’s contract is up at the end of the upcoming season.

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ESPN analyst Greg McElroy said Wednesday that he’d take Aaron Rodgers over 2019 MVP, Lamar Jackson.

ESPN analyst Greg McElroy said Wednesday on Get Up that he’d take Aaron Rodgers over 2019 unanimous MVP Lamar Jackson “and it’s really not even close,” prompting a debate over the two quarterbacks’ places in the NFL hierarchy.

While Rodgers has had a historically great NFL career, a quick look at the stat sheet from 2019 shows that McElroy’s statement misses the mark. While Rodgers edged out Jackson in passing yards and had two fewer interceptions, Jackson had 10 more touchdowns and a superior completion percentage, not to mention his contributions in the ground game.

Jackson tallied an NFL-record 1,206 rushing yards from the quarterback position, adding an extra dimension to Baltimore’s offense that the 36-year-old Rodgers simply cannot match. While Rodgers was still statistically good in 2019, his last truly elite season came in 2016, and Jackson is undoubtedly a more explosive player.

McElroy’s biggest hang-up with Jackson seemed to be his rocky playoff record, but, as Dan Orlovsky pointed out, Baltimore’s 2019 divisional-round loss to the Tennessee Titans does not fall on Jackson quite as much as the stat sheet might suggest.

Additionally, with the Ravens defense giving up over 200 yards on the ground to Tennessee, Jackson simply cannot be the scapegoat for Baltimore’s loss. In fact, with 365 passing yards and 143 rushing yards, he was likely the only thing keeping the final score from being worse.

As Marcus Spears pointed out, Rodgers is still a fantastic quarterback, but ranking him above Jackson based on 2019 simply does not hold up. Led by Jackson, Baltimore’s offense was, in a word, revolutionary last season. Green Bay’s, on the other hand, was largely boom-or-bust.

McElroy basing his decision on Jackson’s two playoff games ignores a much larger body of work that places the 2019 MVP firmly among the NFL’s top three quarterbacks, if not top two.

This is not to take away from Rodgers and his accomplishments. The Green Bay quarterback has been transcendent throughout his career and is one of the best arm talents the league has ever seen. However, to say he is better than Jackson at this point in their careers ignores the recent play of both quarterbacks.

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If true, RGIII’s sources have the right idea on the 2020 NFL preseason.

After it was recently announced that the NFL preseason would be reduced from four to two games, Robert Griffin III seems to believe there will be no preseason at all.

With a simple tweet, RGII wrote, “Sources say there will be no preseason this year,” in a way that sounds more like a reporter than a Ravens quarterback.

It isn’t all that difficult to believe either. As COVID-19 persists across the United States, NFL teams are likely to see serious delays in training time throughout the summer. An extra four weeks to prepare for the regular season in place of preseason games may provide the time to gear up for the games that matter.

On the other hand, some may argue that preseason games are essential to transition players from practice pace up to that of a regular NFL game. They have often been particularly valuable for coaches in evaluating their players while also providing opportunities for unproven players on the roster. Eliminating those opportunities could have serious repercussions on the regular season.

How would the NFL react without a preseason as Robert Griffin III suggests?

The debate is just one of the many complications of attempting to conduct an NFL season amid a global pandemic. There are no right answers here, but cutting the preseason may be one of them.

Throwing players into the regular season straight from practice is a tremendous gamble. If it provides the time for players to safely prepare for the regular season, then it may be worth it though. And it would be an even bigger risk to jump into NFL games when the health danger is far greater than the importance of the result, which has never really mattered much in the first place.

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The league’s last two MVPs are also the two hottest young quarterbacks in the game – and the debate about who is better will last for the next decade.

In 2018, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes became just the third player in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns, and justifiably won the league’s MVP award.

In 2019, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson became the second consecutive, second-year quarterback to win the league’s most coveted regular-season prize.

Not surprisingly, then, if one were tasked with building an NFL franchise around any young quarterback in football, Mahomes and Jackson would be near the top of most lists. But, which signal-caller would you choose to build your team around if you were starting from scratch in 2020?

We would take Mahomes for (at least) the following five reasons. And this is not to say that there are not strong arguments in favor of taking Jackson. But, for our money, give us the Super Bowl champion.

Patrick Mahomes’ accuracy makes him a coveted asset

Mahomes is one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the NFL. In fact, in 2018 he led the NFL in the category by a wide margin according to Pro Football Focus. This is not a measurement of completion percentage – which is far more arbitrary and contextual; rather, this is a measure of how “on-point” a pass is thrown.

Another barometer by which one could measure accuracy is through interception percentage – and Mahomes leads Jackson in this category as well (by .5% which sounds small, but is a separation of about 25 percent of the NFL’s starting quarterbacks).

Completion percentage can be increased by any number of ways but especially, through short, high-percentage passes – which were Jackson’s bread-and-butter in 2019 en route to a 66.1% completion rate. Chiefs fans should be very familiar with this strategy – they watched Alex Smith deploy it (quite effectively) for five years.

So, when all else seems sporadic, team contingent, et cetera – we’ll take overall accuracy for the quarterback position – so we’ll take Mahomes.

The post Would you rather have Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson? appeared first on Bet Sunday.

Can Mark Andrews break the 1,000-receiving yard threshold in 2020?

We know who the top-three tight ends in the NFL are. It’s been established with it being Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers and Zach Ertz of the Philadelphia Eagles in some order. But after that, there are plenty of great players who make up this second-tier, including Mark Andrews of the Baltimore Ravens.

The Fantasy Footballers look at what could be in store for Andrews’ third season out of Oklahoma in this Baltimore offense. They wonder if he will eclipse the 1,000-yard receiving threshold in his third year in the league. As a second-year pro, Andrews had 64 catches for 852 yards and 10 touchdowns in 15 games for the Ravens.

Check out The Fantasy Footballers for all their advice

Jason Moore has Andrews just getting over that 1,000-yard threshold. He believes much of this has to do with former Ravens tight end Hayden Hurst now a member of the Atlanta Falcons. Hurst wast traded for a second-round pick this offseason, as he goes to Atlanta to replace Austin Hooper, who now plays for the Ravens’ AFC North rival Cleveland Browns.

Will Mark Andrews hit four figures as a receiving tight end in 2020?

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Andy Holloway and Mike Wright feel similar on this issue. While they both project a slight uptick in receiving yardage production out of Andrews, they have him more in the 900-yard range as opposed to going over four figures for the first time in his NFL career. They believe Baltimore will remain a run-first offense with Lamar Jackson as the face of the franchise at quarterback.

Though it’s clear the guys view Andrews as a fantasy football monster, they don’t necessarily view him as a volume receiver at tight end. Andrews’ value comes from making the big play and coming up with grabs in the red zone for touchdowns. While he’s a no-doubt, TE1 in any league this year, it’s probably not advantageous to bank on him having 1,000 yards just yet in 2020.

While the Ravens may pass slightly more in Jackson’s third season out of Louisville, look for second-year pro Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to get more involved in the receiving game. Andrews can still be a stellar player in Greg Roman’s offense, but we’re still a year away from him getting to Ertz, Kelce and Kittle levels of overall tight end dominance.

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There are different feelings about the Ravens’ playoff loss to Tennessee.

It was the latest case of a hot team playing its best football of the season taking that momentum into the playoffs. A year ago, the Tennessee Titans overcame a 2-4 start and won seven of their final 10 regular-season games on the way to grabbing a wild card berth. Mike Vrabel’s club was eventually led by quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who was dealt to Nashville that offseason and expected to back up Marcus Mariota. He would not only eventually take over behind center but earned NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors for his performance.

Of course, workhorse running back Derrick Henry played a big part in the revival as well. The Titans’ upset of the Patriots in the wild card round opened some eyes. Their stunning 28-12 victory over the top-seeded Ravens at Baltimore in the AFC Divisional Playoffs was arguably more impressive.

Of course, opinions vary. And this week, 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson had some thoughts on how Tennessee managed to defeat the team with the best record in the league this past season.

“It’s any given Sunday,” said the two-year pro (via Nick Shook of NFL.com). “You can’t underestimate no team, no opponent and that’s what we did.”

Is that what the defending NFC North champions did in January? Apparently, opinions vary. “I don’t think we took them lightly personally. We just didn’t play well,” said Ravens’ head coach John Harbaugh to NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala (via Kevin Patra of NFL.com).

John Harbaugh said he respects Lamar Jackson’s opinion that Ravens took the Titans lightly. But Harbaugh added, “I don’t think we took them lightly.”

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) June 22, 2020

Perhaps the bigger issue was a Baltimore defense that may not have been as good as its final numbers. Hence the offseason additions of veteran defensive linemen Calais Campbell and Derek Wolfe. Or maybe the Ravens were a big flat after resting many regulars in Week 17? In any case, the team with the league’s best record and the leader in points scored fell in its first playoff game. Revisionist history isn’t doing anyone any good at the moment.

The post John Harbaugh contradicts Lamar Jackson’s claim of overlooking Titans appeared first on Bet Sunday.

If Jamal Adams were traded to the Baltimore Ravens, here’s what to expect.

Jamal Adams wants to be traded, and preferably to one of these seven teams.

After three years with the New York Jets, the two-time Pro Bowl safety wants out of the Big Apple. Adams may have had great personal success with Gang Green, but three years of perpetual dysfunction would inevitably drive the sanest of men crazy. One of the teams he reportedly wants to go to is the Baltimore Ravens. Could the Ravens put together an enticing enough of an offer?

There are pros and cons in trading with the Ravens. Baltimore is one of the most well-run teams in the NFL. That means they have a ton of great players, but also aren’t going to get worked over by a team that’s not as well-run as them, like the Jets. Baltimore is loaded on defense, but may not have a ton of tradable assets on offense. Plus, they play in the same AFC as the Jets.

Entering 2020, Baltimore is favored to get to the AFC Championship game to face the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. New York is one of several teams in line to contend for one of three wild card spots now available in the AFC. Could these two AFC teams find a deal that could work to get Adams in the Ravens’ secondary and Gang Green back into the playoffs?

Here’s what a Jamal Adams trade to the Baltimore Ravens could look like.

The good news is the Ravens and Jets could do a defensive back-for-defensive back deal straight-up no problem. Baltimore has so much talent in its secondary that it’s borderline unfair. There are three players that could go the Jets’ way in a deal for Adams: Marlon Humphrey, Jimmy Smith and Earl Thomas. Would any of them with a pick attached to him move the needle for the Jets?

With Smith, it would have to be a first-round pick as well. Though he’s spent his entire nine-year NFL career with the team who drafted him No. 27 overall out of Colorado, Smith has never been a Pro Bowler for the Ravens. Adams has been a Pro Bowler twice in three years and was a First-Team All-Pro player last year. If Smith goes to the Jets, he’s coming with at least a first-round pick.

Thomas is a bit more complicated, just like his relationship with his brother. He’s a future Pro Football Hall of Fame player, but are his best years behind him? Trading Adams for Thomas straight up would be an incredible Jets-y move for the Jets to make. Too bad general manager Joe Douglas knows what he’s doing and isn’t living at Dunkin’ Donuts like Mike Maccagnan.

While a Smith deal is possible and a Thomas deal would be uncomfortable, the easiest deal for the Ravens to make would be to send Humphrey New York’s way with maybe a pick attached. It doesn’t have to be a first-rounder, maybe something of the day two or day three variety. Humphrey was a first-round pick in the same draft as Adams and just made it to his first Pro Bowl.

Would the Jets be able to trade Adams to the Ravens? This may only be a tertiary option of the seven listed at best, but it is an intriguing fit. Swapping a defensive back out for another seems like a very clean break if you ask me. Though the Humphrey-for-Adams deal seems more enticing by the second, the Ravens are too smart to get wrapped up in perpetual Jets dysfunction.

It shouldn’t be a favorite, but the Jets trading Adams to the Ravens sure does feel interesting.

The post Here’s what a Jamal Adams trade with the Ravens could look like appeared first on Bet Sunday.

The Baltimore Ravens quarterback admitting he uses the Chiefs in Madden is a head-scratcher

Lamar Jackson solidified himself last season as one of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League, winning MVP honors after an incredible year leading the Baltimore Ravens. However, Patrick Mahomes got the last laugh, powering the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl win.

While fans everywhere can’t wait for the two sides to go to battle next, go ahead and give Kansas City the upper hand leading up to things. Why? Because Jackson came out and inexplicably said he uses the Chiefs in Madden. Why would he do such a thing?

The #Chiefs have fans everywhere:https://t.co/k0wiE0quyz

— Arrowhead Pride (@ArrowheadPride) June 18, 2020

All eyes will be on Lamar Jackson when the Chiefs and Ravens meet this year

Kansas City and Baltimore are set to face off on Sept. 28 at M&T Bank Stadium. Chiefs defenders will probably have a field day screaming at Jackson about his latest Madden admission.

If Jackson enjoys playing with Kansas City so much, just wait until those same defensive linemen try to lay a monster hit on him. Then we’ll see how much he really does like Kansas City.

All jokes aside, this probably wasn’t a great idea for the third-year signal caller. It’s one thing to respect your opponent, but to basically admit you’re a fan of the team, especially after they just won the Super Bowl, isn’t going to make them fear you come Sundays.

Conditioning test🥴🥵 pic.twitter.com/FAKuHwFZRo

— Lamar Jackson (@Lj_era8) June 17, 2020

At the same time, perhaps this is Jackson pulling off a genius move. Maybe this is just him hyping up the Chiefs, just so he can bury them when they meet in late September?

The two sides were expected to dance in the AFC Championship game last winter, but the Titans’ upset of Baltimore in the Divisional Round ruined the dream matchup.

This year, though, we’re guaranteed at least one meeting between the two powerhouses. Jackson will be forced to put his fandom aside, though, and try to win a ball game. Entering play, he’s already got his team a bit behind thanks to his recent Madden comments. What a mistake.

The post Lamar Jackson might have just admitted the Chiefs are inside his head appeared first on Bet Sunday.

Is Marquise Brown the sleeper pick you are looking for in fantasy?

2019 was a big season for the Baltimore Ravens, but not so much for first-round wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. While Baltimore went 14-2 last year, much of that had to do with quarterback Lamar Jackson winning NFL MVP running Greg Roman’s plus-one offense. That’s not to say Brown was bad, but he wasn’t talked about like other rookie wide receivers in 2019.

The Fantasy Footballers address the question of which young players could be sleepers in your upcoming fantasy football draft. Though Andy Holloway and Mike Wright had their picks, Jason Moore was very high on Brown having a breakout fantasy season from a value standpoint this year. He believes you can get great value for him behind his other draft classmates.

Check out The Fantasy Footballers for all their advice

The idea is your fantasy football friends are more likely to draft A.J. Brown of the Tennessee Titans, D.K. Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks or Terry McLaurin of the Washington Redskins ahead of Brown in snake drafts this fall. Are those players better than Brown? At this point of their NFL careers, yes, but for the value, you might be able to benefit from Brown on the come-up in 2020.

Can you get great value on Marquise Brown in fantasy football this year?

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The reason to be optimistic on Brown having a good year is we saw him put up gaudy stats at Oklahoma with Kyler Murray throwing him the football. 2020 will be the second year Brown will be in the NFL, as well as his second year in Roman’s one-of-a-kind Ravens offense. He may have a greater rapport with Jackson as a second-year player, so he could get more targets this fall.

The other big thing to keep in mind here is Brown’s older cousin is former All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown. Though they are different players and people, pedigree is usually something to not overlook in NFL circles. The Ravens are one of the better-run organizations in the NFL and they drafted Brown in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft for a reason, to be Jackson’s No. 1 receiver.

So should you draft Brown as your WR1? Absolutely not. What about your WR2? Only if you have an elite TE1 and you doubled-down on elite running back talent early in your snake draft. But for a flex player, yes, you should be safe going with a guy with a ton of upside like Brown entering your 2020 fantasy football season. He’s worth the risk as a fringe starter for you for sure.

The post Fantasy football: Is Marquise Brown this year’s sophomore sleeper? appeared first on Bet Sunday.

Lamar Jackson said he isn’t wanting to have a rivalry with fellow MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Who could blame him honestly?

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson appeared on The Ringer‘s Slow News Day and was asked if he considers Patrick Mahomes to be a rival of his. Jackson said he’s “not trying to have no rivalry” with Mahomes and just wants to focus on playing football.

It’s not hard to see why these two would be considered rivals, as they’re the two best quarterbacks in the AFC and also are the quarterbacks of the two best teams in the AFC in the Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Mahomes won the MVP in 2018 after an electric season where he threw for over 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns, then Jackson went on to win it in 2019 after rushing for over 1,200 yards and leading the Ravens to a 14-2 record.

The two also traded Madden cover appearances, which is another thing linking them together. It’s only natural for them to be considered as rivals due to how dominant both have been in each of the past two seasons.

These two quarterbacks are two of the biggest names in all of football and it’s going to continue to be that way for the foreseeable future.

Mahomes already has a Super Bowl ring on his resumé and he did so with his explosive arm and ability to make plays. Jackson has struggled in the playoffs, but the way he both passes and runs roughshod over defenders can’t be underestimated at all.

So far in this ‘non-rivalry,’ Mahomes can point to the scoreboard and flex, as he and his Chiefs are 2-0 against Jackson and his Ravens. The Chiefs were the home team in both of those games, but even still, the Chiefs won both and have bragging rights.

The Chiefs – and Mahomes – have had Jackson’s number, handing him two of his three regular season losses and making him look human in both of those losses. It did take overtime for the Chiefs to beat Baltimore in 2018, but that was Jackson’s only regular season loss during his rookie season.

These two will square off for the third time in three years in week three of the 2020 regular season and this time it will be in Baltimore. Will Jackson finally get a W against the 2018 MVP? He’s due for a win against Mahomes and the Chiefs and if he does get that victory, maybe then he’ll consider this to be a rivalry.

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