Baltimore Ravens Player Analysis

Joe Flacco:
Flacco will be interesting this season. It'll be hard to repeat his real-life success from last season, Mason is a year older, Clayton is currently sidelined 4-6 weeks...it seems like things are in chaos, but things will settle down. That said, he's still a QB2 because the Ravens will be a run-first, defensive, low scoring game type team, as always. They won't be out of that many games, so Flacco won't get much garbage time yardage. He'll get you 250/2 at BEST on any given week, and an average week will likely be something like 175 yards and 1 TD. You do the math...his ceiling is likely the low 3000s in yardage and mid to high teens in TDs.


Derrick Mason:
Old man Mason back again...he scared a ton of people with his 'retirement', but he should be back to the same old tricks, and those tricks are a PPR asset as a WR2/3 or a WR3 in non-PPR. I mentioned he's a year older, but he's extremely savvy (is that word used too much?), and has the tools that most older successful WRs have: toughness, good hands, and good routes. Expect 70+ receptions and yardage approaching 1,000 once again.


Mark Clayton:
Ugh. This injury could be pretty ugly if Demetrius Williams can stay healthy, since Clayton is out virtually all of preseason and is no lock for the WR2 slot anymore. Funny how he went from WR1 on the team to a potential WR3. Anyways, you know what to expect from Clayton provided he still starts: most weeks will consist of 3 catch, 30 yard performances, with a random big game sprinkled in every 6 weeks or so. That should tell you what you need to know about him.


Demetrius Williams:
I only mention him because he has a chance to supplant Clayton as the 2nd WR, as aforementioned. I think he's a better receiver in many ways than Clayton and has more potential, but he needs to stay healthy. He'll never be a PPR dynamo, but has big play ability, and relatively decent size at 6'2 to be a potential help in the redzone. Monitor what happens in the preseason closely.


The Three Headed Monster (Ray Rice, Willis Mcgahee, Leron Mcclain):
Let me say I was a genius for avoiding Mcgahee in every draft last year. That said, this could be a fantasy owner's nightmare, or Rice could win a good chunk of the carries. So here's how this breaks down: Draft Rice with the knowledge that if any one back breaks from the pack, it will be him. He's also a plus in PPR leagues, and has by far the most potential of the three backs. Mcclain is still a bruiser and will likely see goal-line carries, but noise that he might play fullback more does scare me a bit. Regardless, invest in him sooner than you'd invest in Mcgahee. Mcgahee does make a good late round flier in that if he stays healthy, he CAN succeed somehow/somewhere, but for now, I think he's just a change of pace guy without a specific priority. I took him late in a dynasty league as a flier as well (some round in the high teens), because maybe he gets traded if Rice works out well in BAL. Who knows. Aren't RBBC's the best?


Todd Heap and LJ Smith:
Who knows how this shakes out. They're both solid TEs when healthy, but Heap seems to be regressing fast, and LJ Smith is just way too random for my liking. Neither should be your starting TE.


The Baltimore defense is ranked 2nd in my books behind Pittsburgh (for now). They did lose Rex Ryan and a couple key players, but they have the same mentality and leadership they've always had. Don't be surprised if there's a bit of regression, but a top tier D in all likelihood.


Potential sleepers:
Only a couple people here to note. Justin Harper and Marcus Smith need to be monitored in deep leagues or dynasties. They've both got appropriate skills to be an asset at some point in their careers, and PT could be likely for them since Clayton is hurt and Demetrius is almost always hurt at some point in the season. If Clayton/Demetrius do go down, these guys would be serious steals.