Is this the year the Cleveland Browns figure out Lamar Jackson?

Ravens may be hedging on commitment to be a run-first team

Speaking of figuring people out, the Browns never figured out the Ravens Hall of Fame general manager Ozzie Newsome, who also happened to be number 82 for our team, and was the best tight end we ever had. Every year it seemed that Ozzie would draft just the certain player that the Ravens needed and he never missed. Cleveland could never match him.

What really hurt Cleveland fans, was that our hero followed the despised Art Modell to Baltimore, and the worst part about it is that he was a superstar as a general manager.

Ozzie, as well as coach John Harbaugh, had the right idea. Lamar Jackson had unique gifts, and the team was going to build around those gifts.

The Ravens were scary because they had the personnel to gain 3,000 yards on the ground, led by the greatest dual-threat quarterback in NFL history in Jackson. The Birds also had two top-flight tight ends in the league (Mark Andrews and Nick Boyle).

But what really made us pee our collective pants was the best blocking fullback in the NFL (311-pound Patrick Ricard, who could also play defensive tackle). They also had a massive offensive line, allowing Jackson to run behind Ricard and offensive tackle Orlando Brown, who is 6-foot-9 and weighs 344 pounds.

Those were some big purple thunder chickens. Jackson had Mark Ingram gain 1,000 yards next to him in the backfield, along with Gus Edwards contributing another 700-plus yards on the ground.  Jackson was able to lead the NFL in touchdown passes throwing to no-name wide receivers like Marquise Brown and Willie Snead.

But Eric DeCosta is running the show now instead of Ozzie Newsome, and DeCosta seems to think a little bit more like the average ESPN sportscaster (that was not a compliment). What has DeCosta done that has failed to fully impress this adversarial sportswriter from Cleveland?

Well, there is a sneaking suspicion that DeCosta has it in his mind that he wants Jackson to become more of a pocket passer.

For one, he failed to make Orlando Brown happy, choosing instead to pay Ronnie Stanley, who is an All-World tackle. Perhaps the Son of Zeus was just not willing to be the second-highest-paid lineman in Baltimore, but Cleveland fans are happy to see him leave. Brown was traded to Kansas City, where he will be able to pursue his dream, so he says, of playing left tackle instead of right tackle.

In place of the Son of Zeus is Alejandro Villanueva, who should be a power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers, at 6-foot-9 and 277 pounds. Actually, his real weight might be different, as he has played at different weights over the years. But he is smaller and less formidable than Brown. Villanueva, like the other Pittsburgh linemen, has a terrific record for not allowing sacks.

However, in this fan’s opinion, it had more to do with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s quick release, estimated at 2.33 seconds average time to throw (TTT) last season. You might as well try to tackle a hippopotamus in 2.33 seconds or less. He is not going down.

Are the Ravens really going to stop Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney with a 277-pound right tackle who is 32 years old? Did anyone at ESPN and Fox Sports watch Pittsburgh play football last season? Their offensive line was not nearly as good as the sportswriters gave them credit for.

Now, can we please do something about Patrick Ricard? Right on cue, the Ravens drafted the top fullback prospect in the 2021 draft in Ben Mason, in the fifth round. The idea was that Mason would be a younger, cheaper option at fullback.

Was something wrong with Ricard? Well, buzz out of Baltimore now is that Ricard may have gotten banged up last season, but he is fine now, and Ben Mason has all but disappeared from view. They might even cut him. Still, it’s nice to think that the Baltimore front office was trying to get rid of Patrick Ricard for us. What, are you crazy?

The front office seems to be listening to the sportscasters and fans by investing in speedy wide receivers. They signed a big name in Sammy Watkins and drafted wide receiver Rashod Bateman from Minnesota in the first round, and Tylan Wallace from Oklahoma State in the fourth round.

These might be great picks. But speedy wide receivers are not what brought Lamar Jackson to the dance.

As long as the Ravens have Lamar Jackson as their quarterback and as long as the Browns have Baker Mayfield, this is going to be a rivalry. I do not feel comfortable picking a winner in advance, but I’ve stated my reasons for believing that this is going to be a close rivalry again in 2021.

I do feel comfortable in confidently predicting that whichever team loses, ESPN will blame it on the quarterback.