The Wide World of Dirt

W-O-W!

WOW!!

Odell Beckham Jr was the belle of the ball for this offseason. After rehabbing through the entire 2022 season, Beckham met with multiple suitors in free agency.

We heard about the Cowboys. We heard about running it back with the Rams. We heard about joining Aaron Rodgers in New York, but before he could take the meeting with the Jets, he met with the Baltimore Ravens.

The Baltimore Ravens that don’t have a starting-caliber QB on their roster. The team that is absolutely stacked on the defensive side of the football.

The same Baltimore Ravens locked in a standoff with their MVP, 26-year-old quarterback whom they got 32nd overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.

The same quarterback that led the Ravens to a record of 45-16 as a starter. The same quarterback that garnered them a 14-2 record and the number one seed.

That guy, Lamar Jackson.

Bold move, Baltimore.

This is very, very bold, and I love it. I want Lamar to stay in Baltimore because the defense is positively terrifying. The Ravens, with backup Tyler Huntley in for Jackson, nearly eliminated the AFC defending champions last season.

It certainly wasn’t because of their offense, but they were moving the chains against a wounded Cincinnati team and wearing them down with a stout running game.

A goal-line fumble from Huntley fell right into the chops of Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard who took the ball all the way back for a wing-clipping touchdown.

Unable to make a comeback, Baltimore entered an early offseason with their superstar quarterback not under contract.

There has been much criticism at the Ravens’ front office for not brokering a deal sooner and surrounding the dynamic Jackson with equally dynamic receiving talent.

Though they drafted Hollywood Brown in the first round of the 2019 draft, the Ravens shipped the former Oklahoma product to the Cardinals last offseason after lackluster chemistry with Jackson and the worst drops imaginable.

Rashod Bateman looks like a stud when he’s on the field, but the 2021 first-rounder’s career sits at nine starts over two seasons with just 800 yards and 3 TDs.

Obviously this is due to injury luck, and I hope Rashod comes back better than ever. But, that’s just it: the Ravens’ injury luck has been plumb awful.

This really goes all the way back when half of the damn team had Covid during the wacky 2020 season, and it’s only spiraled from there.

The weight Jackson carries on his shoulders has caused his body to betray him the past two seasons, failing to play in December or January since the 2020 season.

Part of why Lamar found the injury report is due to the 2021 season where three different runningbacks went down for the team before October.

Yeah, JK Dobbins tore his ACL in the last preseason game. Then, Gus Edwards tore his ACL during Week 1 warmups. To make matters worse, their third runningback, Justice Hill, tore his Achilles’ around the same time!

Lamar was likely going to be the primary ball carrier anyway, but this only made that much more lopsided as the Ravens front office tried to plug a slew of formerly productive backs into the offense.

This was not a formula for long-term success.

Lamar went down in week 14 against the Browns with an ankle injury that kept him on the sideline for the rest of the regular season.

Huntley went in, and with an aging backfield and basically just Mark Andrews to throw to, the Ravens dropped all but one of the remaining games and missed the postseason after a week 18 overtime loss to the Steelers.

Despite injuries to his recent first-round wideout and all of his runningbacks, Lamar Jackson was on pace to shatter his career-highs in attempts, completions, yards, and (interceptions) as well as threatening a 1000-yard season in just 12 games.

All of this with Mark Andrews, Nick Boyle, and Hollywood Brown before his callouses grew in or whatever gave him the ability to catch the ball like he did at Oklahoma.

There are a myriad of compilations on YouTube of Hollywood Brown dropping passes from Lamar Jackson. Let’s not act like Lamar can’t pass.

We are here to lay things out, not lie.

Anyhow, Lamar was on pace for a career year in 2021 before the weight of the entire offense wore him down into injury.

2022 was looking similar to the year before with Jackson dealing with less consistent receiving threats.

Mark Andrews missed some games last season due to nagging injuries from carrying the passing game with Lamar. Rashod Bateman sadly sustained another injury, so in some instances, their best receiver was…Sammy Watkins. In 2022.

The same Sammy Watkins that couldn’t play well with Aaron Rodgers.

On the bright side, Lamar got help in the running game with all of the Ravens’ backs returning at different points in the season.

Dobbins saw action in weeks 3-6 with Jackson in the lineup and again weeks 14-17, rushing for an astounding 5.7 yards per carry for over 500 rushing yards.

Edwards returned for nine games as well, looking like he just left the game for a year. He replicated his 2020 yards per carry and came close to Dobbins’ yardage mark.

Hill got on the field the most of the trio by checking into 15 games this year. He carried the ball a little less than 2020, but he gained more yards. Pretty neat!

The rotating running backs all averaged over 5ypc. This effectiveness made Lamar that much more terrifying for opposing defenses.

Though his 2022 passing stats were worse than the previous season, he nearly equaled his 2021 rushing yardage mark with 20 less carries.

Lamar finished more drives through the air and on the ground than 2021 because he had a reduced productive burden.

With any luck, Baltimore’s running backs will remain healthy next season with a whole offseason of conditioning under their belts, pairing with an already dangerous Andrews and an all-time great at his position that just turned 30.

All of this being orchestrated by the best running signal caller the game has ever seen, the 2019 passing TDs leader (with a 36-6 TD-INT ratio no less), and the 2019 National Football League MVP.

We are pairing a Baltimore offense that features a stellar line, elite tight end play, and great runningback production with a receiver who gets active in the run game, can (hopefully) still beat DBs vertically, and runs solid, polished routes.

And, you give the keys to Lamar Jackson.

With that defense that we saw the last few weeks of 2022 and into the Wild Card game with the Bengals, that team is unstoppable on paper.

If I had a crystal ball and foresaw a good bill of health for the Baltimore Ravens, I would have them winning the Super Bowl this year.

Though I’m admittedly a Dolphins fan, I would love, I would very much enjoy seeing Lamar Jackson topple the AFC and its murderers row of field generals before kissing the Lombardi Trophy and going to Disney World.

I think people forget that the man is a cheat code when he is healthy and has support. Greg Roman’s offense got stifled in 2019, and he failed to adjust to the Titans’ defensive gameplan in the Divisional Round.

They neutralized the run game, and Lamar had to throw to his lovely receiving options practically all evening.

And everybody and their backup forget how to catch an American football.

It just wasn’t the Ravens’ night in 2019, but they faced the same team in the playoffs the next year with Jackson getting revenge.

Lamar completed 70 percent of his passes while swerving through the Tennessee defense for 136 yards and a touchdown that led Baltimore to victory.

The next game against the Bills was not great, but when you lack reliable playmakers, you fail to get plays made when you need them the most.

So, Baltimore: Why are you holding out on giving Lamar a fully-guaranteed contract?

He has shown he’s capable of being the most dynamic player in football when surrounded with even average talent.

He’s a pillar of the community. He has shown repeated and utter dedication to the franchise and the City of Baltimore.

You have been paying this man pennies on the dollar for years, and it’s time to match a dollar for a dollar. He has shown you he is worth it.

If he means that much to you and you truly believe in his ability to lead this franchise to the promised land, then give him what he wants and deserves.

Find a way to make it work. Even if it’s some sort of handshake deal where you pick up his fourth and fifth-year options automatically if he plays like five games. Make there be a stipulation that allows you to pay this incrementally.

Take out a loan on Affirm or Klarna. Put it on the company credit card. Do whatever you gotta do to bring Lamar back and give him what he deserves.

I promise you that with a healthy backfield, Odell Beckham Jr, Mark Andrews, Rashod Bateman, and that insane defensive unit, you should win a Super Bowl.

Odell Beckham is looking for somewhere to call home for the next few years, and why not feed him crab cakes until his belly hurts?

Odell didn’t sign with Baltimore to go play with Anthony Richardson to help him figure out the NFL game as a rookie QB.

He signed with you to play with Lamar Jackson. Your MVP quarterback.

Pay him. You pay a lot of people money to help crunch the numbers to make it work.

Make it work.