November 25, 2024

Welcome To Ravens: Ravens Head Coach Announced The New Signing….

A day after adding depth to their offensive line, the Ravens signed cornerback Ka’dar Hollman to help fill out their secondary, according to the Athletic.

Hollman, a 29-year-old heading into his fourth season, played in all 17 games for the Houston Texans last year with one start. He finished the year with one fumble recovery and 10 tackles. Most of his snaps were on special teams, although he helped on defense in eight games.

Green Bay’s sixth-round pick in the 2019 NFL draft, Hollman came out of college at 25, having attended prep school before walking onto Toledo’s football team. He played four games in 2019 and 14 in 2020 before he was traded to the Texans in 2021.

The Texans waived Hollman eight days after trading for him, thus beginning Hollman’s journey with multiple NFL organizations. From August 2021 to January 2023, Hollman changed teams seven times, spending time on six rosters: the Texans twice, the San Francisco 49ers twice, the New Orleans Saints, the New York Giants, the Atlanta Falcons and the Miami Dolphins.

Hollman has played 35 NFL games with three passes defended, one fumble recovery and 20 tackles.

This move comes after the departure of cornerback Ronald Darby, who played a key role filling in when starting cornerback Marlon Humphrey was out. Darby signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars after playing 16 games for Baltimore and allowing just 23 completions on 48 targets as the nearest defender in coverage, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats — a coverage success rate of 60.4%.

The Ravens re-signed cornerback Arthur Maulet, who was another key depth player in the secondary. They will also return starting cornerbacks Humphrey and Brandon Stephens.

The Baltimore Ravens have one focus this offseason and that is building a team to get over the hump and get to the Super Bowl.  After coming up short to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2023 AFC Championship Game, Lamar Jackson and company are seeking to get better offensively and defensively, which makes the 2024 NFL Draft an interesting one.

After the first wave of free agency, the Ravens have added running back Derrick Henry on offense, but have lost some key players on defense, including inside linebacker Patrick Queen and EDGE Jadeveon Clowney who is still unsigned in free agency.  If the team does not plan to re-sign the veteran pass rusher, will they turn to the draft to fill that void?

Baltimore Ravens add edge defensively with the selection First-team All-SEC Edge rusher

CBS.com’s latest NFL Mock Draft says yes, and that player is Missouri star edge Darius Robinson who is a 2023 First-team All-SEC defender who led the Tigers with 8.5 sacks and 14 tackles for a loss.  An interesting selection at No. 27 for the Ravens.

In his latest NFL Mock Draft, Josh Edwards writes:

“Baltimore has lost a few key pieces on the offensive line so it is difficult to see it not addressing that unit in the first round. The Ravens may love a future with Ben Cleveland, Andrew Vorhees as their starting offensive guards and Patrick Mekari as their starting offensive tackle, but there are too many unknowns for a contender to feel comfortable. Despite all that, a run on the position has already taken place and the franchise is left filling the void of Jadeveon Clowney.”

At 6-foot-5, 285 pounds, Robinson has the combination of size, speed and power would fit right into the aggressive style of defense the Ravens play.  His high motor and pure power in gaining quick advantages over blockers will fill some of the void left by Clowney, but he will need some time to adjust to the NFL and the Ravens have the right mix of veteran leadership on defense for him to slowly grow.

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In all, not a bad selection by Edwards, but Maryland native and NFL combine standout Chop Robinson would be an even better fit for the Ravens at No. 27.  Some mock drafts have [Chop] Robinson going anywhere from the mid-to-late first round to a Day 2 selection.  A bit smaller than Darious Robinson, Chop has proved to have the speed that could help contain a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes.

While either of those players would be ideal fits for the Ravens, NFL Mocks has the Ravens drafting wide receiver Adonai Mitchell.  With the team not expected to re-sign Odell Beckham Jr, the team could use another young target for Jackson.  With the addition of Henry and the two tight ends in Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely, along with speedy receiver Zay Flowers, the Ravens offense should be fine, but another big target would make for a hard offense to stop.

In whatever direction the Ravens go with No. 27, they are in position where the pick should be able to come in and contribute in 2024.

 

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