Courtesy: Yahoo Sports
As of right now, the Baltimore Ravens have 13 wide receivers on their roster. However, only six receivers caught at least one pass in 2012.
I’m not sure that six wide receivers will even make the team this year.
The average combined age of Baltimore’s wide receivers is only 23 years and eight months. Youth is clearly on their side. Unfortunately, youth and inexperience often go hand-in-hand.
Besides Jacoby Jones and Torrey Smith, no other wide receiver on the current roster caught double-digit passes or made at least one start in 2012.
If there is such a thing as a sure thing, Smith is going to start. After all, he’s definitely inspired to become more of a leader after his visit to The White House on Wednesday.
Jones is likely to play a lot but will probably focus his efforts on the return game.
Since offenses can only field five wide receivers on one play (and don’t often do so), the Ravens will likely keep just five wide receivers after their final cut.
After running backs Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce, tight ends Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson and Smith and Jones all get their touches, those other three wide receivers will have to make the most of the few opportunities they’re given.
To get a more in-depth view of the current Ravens wide receivers, here are their career numbers and their numbers from last year, according to Pro-Football-Reference:
| Experience | Receptions | Yards | Touchdowns | |
| Jacoby Jones | 7 | 157 | 2,147 | 12 |
| David Reed | 4 | 5 | 66 | 0 |
| Torrey Smith | 3 | 99 | 1,696 | 15 |
| Tandon Doss | 3 | 7 | 123 | 1 |
| LaQuan Williams | 3 | 4 | 46 | 0 |
| Deonte Thompson | 2 | 5 | 51 | 0 |
| Tommy Streeter | 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Marlon Brown | Rookie | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Rashaad Carter | Rookie | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Omarious Hines | Rookie | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Aaron Mellette | Rookie | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Gerrard Sheppard | Rookie | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Marcus Rivers | Rookie | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Now here’s a look at how the current wide receivers performed in 2012:
| Starts/Games Played | Receptions | Yards | Touchdowns | |
| Jacoby Jones | 3/16 | 30 | 406 | 1 |
| David Reed | 0/5 | 5 | 66 | 0 |
| Torrey Smith | 16/16 | 49 | 855 | 8 |
| Tandon Doss | 0/14 | 7 | 123 | 1 |
| LaQuan Williams | 0/11 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Deonte Thompson | 0/6 | 5 | 51 | 0 |
| Tommy Streeter | 0/11 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Marlon Brown | 0/0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Rashaad Carter | 0/0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Omarious Hines | 0/0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Aaron Mellete | 0/0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Gerrard Sheppard | 0/0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Marcus Rivers | 0/0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
As you can see, after Smith there’s a significant lack of starting experience among this group. Of the players who haven’t started yet in their careers, Doss has played the most and performed the best.
Although nearly half of this group is comprised of rookies, those rookies have an average size of 6’2 1/2″, 214 pounds. Not to say they will all go on to be productive, but beginning your professional career with that kind of size is definitely a plus.
All in all, these Baltimore Ravens wide receivers need work. While Joe Flacco may not need to throw to a wide receiver on every play, if he looks their way they’ve got to be ready.
