Posted Jan 9, 2014
Garrett DowningBaltimoreRavens.com Staff Writer@Ravens All Garrett Downing ArticlesThe Ravens have already identified the type of receiver they want next season.
Ozzie Newsome stopped just short of giving away too much information, but the Ravens general manager made it clear that he’s intent on getting another weapon for quarterback Joe Flacco
this offseason.“We will try to acquire – I already know this and I won’t share it with you – I think we’ve identified the type of receiver that we want,” Newsome said.
Newsome did not provide many specifics about what qualities that receiver will possess, but said he wants a target who “can make a third-and-7, third-and-8, catch and run some after the catch.”
Newsome was also confident that he will find and acquire the player over the next few months of the offseason.
“That player will be available between now [and the start of the season], whether it’s in free agency, whether he’s a cap casualty, whether it’s in the draft or whether it’s through trade,” Newsome said. “There is no reason that he might not be here at the beginning of the season.”
Newsome did acknowledge that it could take him into training camp or even the preseason to find a desirable target.
“I always try to leave myself a little leeway to give us a chance to get it right,” he said.
Head Coach John Harbaugh then jokingly chided him about having a little urgency.
“I’m going to put a little pressure on Ozzie to get that going a little bit before the first game,” Harbaugh said with a smile.
If the Ravens try to add a receiver through the draft, they have the benefit of holding their highest draft pick (No. 16 or 17) since the 2006 season. Drafting higher could give the Ravens a chance to nab one of the top receiving prospects, but Newsome also pointed out that a high pick doesn’t guarantee anything.
“The wide receiver position in the draft – there are a lot of hits and misses,” Newsome said. “You can draft aTorrey Smith
in the second round and you can have some success, and you can draft Travis Taylor in the first [round] and you can blow it.”The Ravens have some questions with the passing game heading into next year, as wide receiver Jacoby Jones
and tight end Dennis Pitta are both free agents. That leaves Torrey Smith and Marlon Brown as Flacco’s top two targets, if the Ravens don’t re-sign Pitta or Jones.Smith and Brown possess differing skill sets skillsets, as Smith is a speedy deep threat and Brown is a big body who can make tough catches over the middle of the field. It’s unclear what kind of qualities the Ravens desire in the receiver they add, but Newsome and Harbaugh are on the same page with what they want.
“When John told me [what he wanted], I lit up, because I was right there with him as to what we’re looking for in a receiver this year,” Newsome said. “And I think before the 2014 season ends, we will have that guy on our football team.”
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