When the Ravens cut their roster down to 53 players yesterday, they decided to keep six WR’s: Anquan Boldin, Derrick Mason, Donte Stallworth (out until the BYE week), Mark Clayton, David Reed, and Marcus Smith.
Marcus Smith has developed into a very good Special Teams player, and as Jerry Rosburg has indicated, John Harbaugh, a former Special Teams coach himself, places a very high emphasis on Special Teams.
As I have previously acknowledged regarding David Reed, Ozzie Newsome, Eric Decosta, and the rest of the Ravens talent evaluators obviously saw something that they liked in this guy to take him in the 5th round out of Oklahoma State.
The Ravens do not an abundance of young WR’s who are under contract for a few years, and David Reed fits that bill. He can be developed for a year or two, and perhaps be ready to grab some significant playing time when Derrick Mason retires, or when Mark Clayton and/or Donte Stallworth move on to another team.
While both Marcus Smith and David Reed do bring some positives to the field, some of which I just outlined, I am a bit surprised that the Ravens decided to keep both of them over Demetrius Williams.
Demetrius Williams has been much maligned over the last few years here in Baltimore. Injuries have kept him off the field consistently throughout his time with the Ravens, and the immense talent and upside that he has flashed in Training Camp and in practice just has not carried over into the meaningful games.
Last season, the Ravens were struggling mightily with their WR depth, and Demetrius Williams was seemingly healthy down the stretch. In the Monday night Green Bay game last December, Williams came in and quickly stretched the field, forcing interference penalities and providing Joe Flacco that big, athletic target that he has lacked here in Baltimore.
However, he did not get much playing time after that, and he was virtiually non-existent down the stretch as the Ravens made their playoff push. There was talk that he was in John Harbaugh’s doghouse.
For whatever reason, things have just not worked out with Demetrius over the past few seasons.
All of that being said, Williams once again flashed his potential during Training Camp this yaer, and with Donte Stallworth going down for the first half of the season, the Ravens still do not have that big, down the field target. Williams could have been that guy.
I’ve argued that in a year in which it is basically Super Bowl and bust for the Ravens, the tiebreaker for the close roster decisions should go to the player most likely to help this season.
Should Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton, or Anquan Boldin go down early in the season for any length of time, either David Reed or Marcus Smith would be elevated to the #3 WR.
In a year when the Ravens were suppose to feature their most explosive passing attack since the Testaverde days, Demetrius Williams sure could have provided some much needed depth; depth that any legitimate Super Bowl contender, over the course of a 16 game season plus the playoffs, is going to need to play, and also produce.
Hopefully for Ravens fans, David Reed and Marcus Smith can grow up in a hurry. Say what you want about Demetrius Williams, but he has had four years of experience, and he has found some success in spurts throughout his career.
As much promise as the Ravens feel David Reed and Marcus Smith may have down the line, that “down the line” is unlikely to help the Ravens make a run at a Super Bowl this year.
Demetrius Williams could have.
