Ravens Week 15 News/Notes: Ravens Take On The Chiefs, Sign Ryan Mallet, And Marshall Faulk Rumors
Only 3 more weeks of this 2015 nightmare. Sunday brings a hot and hungry Chiefs team that I fully expect to chew us up and spit us out. They’ve got the playoffs in their grasp, we’ve got a top 5 pick in our grasp. It’s truly a recipe for another blowout, and I fully expect that’s how it’ll go. With Pittsburgh and Cincy behind them, 4-12 is looking like a near certainty. Just gotta go through the motions and finish it out and move on to 2016. Here’s some news/notes from this week in Baltimore:
Ravens sign Ryan Mallett
On Tuesday the Ravens announced that they signed Ryan Mallett to a 2 year deal. It’s interesting that they gave him that 2nd year given that neither Clausen nor Schaub are under contract for the 2016 season. Although I see Clausen starting this week (or Schaub if he’s healthy), it looks like they’ve made the investment for Mallett to have the backup job next year. Speaks a lot to what they think of Mallett given that they’re giving him the job despite not even having him play a snap for the team. He’s always been regarding as a high ceiling guy with a strong arm, so I’d love to see that in action in the next 3 weeks.
Marshall Faulk Rumor
As we discussed in the podcast this week, Marshall Faulk floated out a story yesterday that he was very close to being traded to the Ravens instead of the Rams before the 1999 season for Priest Holmes + picks (potentially a first rounder). It obviously has no relevancy to present day, but it would’ve changed the course of the league without question. We don’t get the Greatest Show on Turf in St. Louis, and maybe Faulk has a higher impact on the 1999 Ravens and gets an 8-8 team to the playoffs. And ultimately, the Ravens probably don’t pick Jamal Lewis 5th overall in 2000, which would’ve changed the course of the franchise completely. I think it’s pretty sweet that we can look at a missed opportunity to acquire a HOFer and say “Wow, glad that didn’t happen.”
Ravens Team Photo From September
This here is the team photo taken earlier this year. The green dots represent guys who are no longer on the active roster. Pretty incredible to see just how decimated the Ravens have been through injury, lackluster performance, and suspensions this season. Every team has its routine turnover every year, it’s just a part of the NFL, but this pic is pretty indicative of how the season has gone. I think it should be taken into account when we think about this team’s status going into 2016.
Ravens Officially Eliminated, Harbaugh Commits To Playing The Young Guys
Harbaugh has been playing most of the the young guys out of necessity, but now he’s going all in on 2016. It was refreshing to see him finally drop his usual narratives about fighting back into the playoff picture and just commit to focusing on the 2016 season. We’re already getting a healthy dose of the Brent Urbans and Buck Allens, and now we’re going to be able to see some of Tray Walker, a 4th round CB with a lot of raw skill. I’m looking forward to seeing if he can be a pleasant surprise, because we could certainly use one in the secondary.
That’s all I got for this week. 2016 it is.