5 biggest story lines for 2016

By: Corey Johns

Football is back and boy do you know it has been missed. Last year was a very trying season for the Ravens and the Ravens fans that have come to expect so much more from their team that year-after-year proves to be one of the best in the league. Injuries really put a hurting to the team’s chances to win a season ago, but even before everybody went down with injuries the team was struggling. This year is a very big year for the team. They need to have a bounce-back year.

Here are five story lines that we’ll be watching as they look to make that comeback.

Joe Flacco’s leg

We’re been very, very fortunate in Baltimore that we had the league’s most durable quarterback through his first seven years in the league. Joe Flacco never missed a game in his first seven years and played an additional 15 playoffs games. He was beyond reliable and often that gets taken for granted in the NFL. Last year, though, it was almost like he was due for an injury. After 10 starts Flacco went down with a torn ACL, an injury that regularly takes a full season to come back from. Amazingly, Flacco is already back and flinging the ball around the field. As much criticism as the man takes, without Flacco the Ravens have little hope for a victory. His return and maintained health is the most important thing for the Ravens.

The young, but talented left side

With priority No. 1 for the Ravens making sure Joe Flacco doesn’t take unnecessary hits as he returns from his injury, it seems a bit counter-intuitive that they would start two rookies on the left side of their offensive line, potentially the first rookie left tackle-left guard tandem in the NFL in over 30 years, but that seems to be what will happen this year. At least, they are very talented players. No. 6 overall pick Ronnie Stanley doesn’t have much competition at left tackle, but also had Pro Bowl ability and seems poised to be the team’s next franchise left tackle. Next to him fourth round draft pick Alex Lewis seems ready to be the starter as third-year pro John Urschel has been battling injuries this preseason. Lewis is really an offensive tackle and was selected to compete with Rick Wagner and possibly replace him as Wagner is in the final year of his deal, but he transitioned inside and has excelled. Lewis also would have likely been drafted much higher had it not been for character concerns, including a 45-day jail sentence for third-degree assault.

Running back grab-bag

The Ravens at one point this offseason had six running backs that appeared to be in the mix for the starting job this year, now it’s down to much smaller handful with the release of Trent Richardson before training camp and injuries to fourth round pick Kenneth Dixon and former fourth round pick Lorenzo Taliaferro, but that still leaves former Towson star Terrance West, former Pro Bowler Justin Forsett and former four round scat back Buck Allen in the mix for the job. And when Dixon returns, he should be heavily involved in the offense as he was on track to win the starting job in the preseason before suffering an MCL injury.

The depth of starting-caliber players may seem like a huge plus for the Ravens, but in reality the season it’s such a jumbled mess is because nobody has really stepped up and separated themselves from the rest of the group. They need somebody to.

Terrell Suggs’ return

The last time Terrell Suggs has to come back from a major injury he put together back-to-back double-digit sack seasons. At 33-years-old that will be much harder for Suggs to do coming off another Achilles injury, but it cannot be denied that Suggs has gifted ability. There are no limits to what the guy can do and last year without him the defense was bad. He is a game-changer who draws the defense to him. Without him Elvis Dumervil was faced with constant double-teams that normally Suggs would draw, and beat. With Suggs, the Ravens could return to being a top-tier defense. We just have to see how it plays out.

The re-tooled secondary

The past few years the Ravens secondary was really bad, and that almost puts it nicely. It seemed like teams had no fear dropping back and throwing the ball against the Ravens. Part of that has to do with a diminished pass rush, but a lot of it has to do with the secondary just not having the talent necessary to compete in this era of pass-happy offenses. They don’t have ball-hawks like Ed Reed anymore, or shutdown cornerbacks like Chris McAlister. Those days are long gone, but the Ravens did make improving their secondary an emphasis this offseason. In free agency the Ravens signed veteran safety Eric Weddle and also announced they were moving cerebral defensive back Lardarius Webb back to free safety. Webb’s move to safety might fly a bit under the radar but his mind is something the Ravens need on the field, they just have to be able to keep it on the field and hide the physical limitations he had after several big injuries suffered throughout his career. With Weddle, the Ravens may prove to have the best safety tandem in the AFC North. With Jimmy Smith continuing to prove he is one of the better cornerbacks in the league, they just need to quickly find a No. 2 cornerback, but the group overall is in a much better place than it has been the past few seasons.

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