‘Wink’ awaits nod to gatherings
Martindale eager to start working with defense in person
Ravens defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale is a little more antsy this season.
The Ravens had one of the best defenses in the NFL in 2019, ranked No. 5 against the run and No. 6 versus the pass. They allowed only 17.6 points and 300.6 total yards per game, both in the top five of the league.
They should be even better in 2020, which means Christmas might have come early for Martindale.
The Ravens had a minor facelift during the offseason. They traded starting defensive end Chris Wormley to the Pittsburgh Steelers and declined to re-sign a few starters: inside linebackers Josh Byne and Patrick Onwusasor and nose guard Michael Pierce.
Instead, they traded for one of the best defensive linemen in the game, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Calais Campbell, and signed another high-motor defensive end in the Denver Broncos’ Derek Wolfe. The Ravens drafted LSU inside linebacker Patrick Queen with their No. 28 overall pick in the draft and took Ohio State inside linebacker Malik Harrison two rounds later.
They’ll also get nickel corner Tavon Young back after he missed last season because of a neck injury and they will move veteran cornerback Jimmy Smith to safety part time.
Martindale can’t wait to get back on the field, but the Ravens, as well as the other 31 NFL teams, are in a holding pattern because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But that doesn’t mean Martindale can’t dream.
“You know the players that we have in Calais Campbell and Derek Wolfe,” Martindale said. “Schematically, does it change a whole lot? We’ll wait and see with different personnel flexibility.
“They’re two great players and leaders. Calais and Derek both have been just phenomenal in these Zoom meetings and getting to know their teammates as well as
we always want to focus that creativity and that energy into winning football decisions on the field. Accuracy, timing, vision, all those things. There’s certain things we want to work on and emphasize more — throwing the ball into different parts of the field, for example.”
Even with returning a bulk of the offense’s production from last season, key questions loom, mainly regarding Jackson’s supporting cast. Jackson’s improvement as a passer was well noted, but he struggled targeting receivers outside the hashes, compared to over the middle of the field.
After relying heavily on tight ends in the passing game, the Ravens added two wide receivers through the draft in Devin Duvernay and James Proche, as well as running back J.K. Dobbins. Roman also expressed optimism with the maturation of second-year wideouts Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Miles Boykin, as well as the return of veteran Willie Snead IV.
Brown has frequently uploaded videos of his offseason workouts and seems to have no lingering issues with the Lisfranc injury that kept him out of the first week of training camp, as well as the high ankle sprain that forced him to sit out two games.
“I think last year all of us to a man were saying, ‘Once Hollywood has an offseason, a real offseason, wow, that’s going to be something,’ ” Roman said. “So I think we’re going to see that this year.”
After Boykin admitted he went through growing pains his rookie year, Roman said he would “load his plate” and also called Snead a “Swiss Army knife.”
As for the addition of Dobbins to a crowded backfield, Roman invited the challenge, calling it a “good problem.”
“I don’t think you can have enough really good running backs, and we’ve certainly got a plethora of them,” Roman said. “I’m really excited to see J.K., and I love the guys we already have, Mark [Ingram], Gus [Edwards] and Justice [Hill]. We’ll find ways to make it work.
“To have that kind of backfield is a blessing and we definitely want to get into training camp and work through it and kind of evolve as we go as far as how we’re actually going to deploy them, who are we going to emphasize how. I think that’s going to happen on the fly every day in training camp and we’ll get a better feel for that. But I love problems like that.”
Roman added that “opportunity looms” for undrafted free-agent tight ends Jacob Breeland and Eli Wolf, as well as secondyear player Charles Scarff, after Hayden Hurst was traded to the Atlanta Falcons this offseason.
And with stalwart guard Marshal Yanda retired, Roman said there will be a “real competition” to fill his void.
Training camp will come at some point, there will be competition at various spots and Roman will integrate the changes he has conceived. But make no mistake, his system will still resemble the recordbreaking one that has altered many perceptions of a modern-day offense.
“We’re going to use multiple personnel groups,” Roman said. “Everybody’s going to have different roles on different plays.
“We’re going to be a very multiple offense. You might see three, four tight ends on the field; you might see five [wide receivers]. The next play you might see something completely different and everybody’s going to have an important role.
“How we build the overall attack week to week will be different. But one thing is for sure: We’re going to be multiple with how we deploy personnel. So the more the merrier and [I’m] really excited to get to work with those guys.”