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The Baltimore Ravens addressed the most glaring need on their roster when they made veteran wide receiver Nelson Agholor their first outside free-agent addition of the offseason on Friday, March 24, 2023.
Up to that point, the only signings they had made were retaining several of their own pending free agents, most of which were core special teams players on inexpensive short-term deals.
At the onset of the offseason, head coach John Harbaugh vowed that the team would make it a priority to “build up” their wide receiver room after it was ravaged by injuries and failed to make consistent contributions in 2022.
While the move to sign Agholor was a solid first step, the Ravens don’t intend on it being the only notable one they make to improve the position group in the coming month in an effort to surround quarterback Lamar Jackson with a plethora of pass-catching weapons in a new scheme under first-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
“We’re not done; we’re not done in there at all – plus, the guys we’ve got coming back,” Harbaugh said at the annual league meetings on Monday, March 27, 2023. “We like the guys we have coming back as well.”
Agholor is joining a group that is returning 2021 first-rounder Rashod Bateman who is expected to be the No. 1 assuming he stays healthy, two-time Pro Bowl returner and dangerous all-purpose weapon Devin Duvernay, Tylan Wallace, James Proche, Shemar Bridges, Mike Thomas, and Andy Isabella.
The team reportedly has met with three-time Pro Bowl and Super Bowl-winning veteran wideout Odell Beckham Jr. in Pheonix during the league meetings on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, according to CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson. She later reported that the meeting went well per Beckham Jr. himself.
Harbaugh is Still Excited About New Addition
The Ravens were linked as a possible landing spot for Agholor when he was coming out of college in the 2015 NFL Draft but the former USC standout was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles six picks before they were on the clock at No. 20 overall.
Nearly a decade later, they were finally able to get him on the team and are excited about the well-rounded skillset and other intangibles he brings to the table.
“He’s a guy that we’ve had to play against, a former first-round pick, big rangy receiver, tough player, [and] a pro,” Harbaugh said. “That’s the way he has been described and when we had him in for a visit that’s the way he presented himself.”
Even though he’s heading into his ninth season in the league, Agholor is still just 29 years old and will be 30 by the time the season starts. He is already the oldest receiver on the roster and the team values the veteran leadership he will provide to their inexperienced room at the position that will get even younger following the draft.
“I think he is going to be great for our young receiver room,” Harbaugh said.
The Ravens are Agholor’s fourth team and he comes with a wealth of big game and playoff experience that includes being a key contributor on the Eagles’ 2017 team that won Super Bowl 52 and his most recent previous team in the New England Patriots.
Ravens Think Highly of Incoming Wide Reciever Class
While many draft experts and analysts are down on the wideout prospects in the 2023 crop, Harbaugh said that he has watched tape on around 40 of them and not only likes what he has seen but believes that there are many who could excel in their system in particular.
“It’s been fun to look at those guys and I think it is a deep draft at receiver,” he said. “There’s a lot of guys that fit the way we want to play.”
Under Monken, the Ravens intend to heavily utilize their current and prospective offensive skill players in the open field by getting them the ball in their hands with plenty of space to generate big plays after the catch.
Harbaugh went on to detail that the next step in the evaluation process will be getting together with Monken, new wide receivers coach Greg Lewis, recently promoted quarterbacks coach Tee Martin, and even running backs coach Willie Taggart to determine which prospects that they are the highest on that fit the new evolved vision of their offense.
“We’re going to draft a receiver,” he said.
Despite having just five picks in this year’s draft as it currently stands, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Ravens wound up resuming their trend of taking two wide receivers through the draft as they did from 2018 to 2021. The streak ended last year but after losing Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown via trade, an argument could’ve been made that they should’ve made it a fifth year in a row.
Given how widely down the rest of the league might be on this year’s receiver class that lacks a lot of big-bodied options but is littered with undersized yet dynamic playmakers that specialize in route running, gaining separation, making defenders miss, and generating big plays.
Some of the top prospects at the position that are projected to come off the board in the range they’re slated to pick in the first round include Boston College’s Zay Flowers, USC Jordan Addison, and Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Two larger wideout targets that might be in that range in the first include TCU’s Quentin Johnston and Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt.
With no second-round pick as a result of the Roquan Smith trade, some third-round targets that could be available and still make a difference include UNC-Chapel Hill’s Josh Downs, Houston’s Tank Dell, Michigan State’s Jayden Reed, Michigan’s Ronnie Bell, LSU’s Kayshon Boutte, and Ole Miss’ Johnathan Mingo.
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