Baltimore Ravens Camp Report: Surprises, Disappointments & Predictions

Each season brings new expectations, surprises and disappointments for NFL players, coaches and fans.  Ravens Training Camp 2008 is certainly no exception.  With that in mind let’s take a look at some of the surprises and disappointments thus far at Ravens Training Camp as they prepare for their first preseason game against the New England Patriots.  

SURPRISES 

Ray Rice: Without question the rookie RB from Rutgers is the star of training camp as of this writing.  One could argue and with good cause that Rice’s workload alone equals or surpasses the combined reps provided by Willis McGahee, Corey Ross, P.J. Daniels and Allen Patrick.  Rice has shown a great burst in short spaces enabling him to run well inside the tackles while demonstrating the ability to bounce outside when there’s too much congestion.  Wrapping up his diminutive frame has been a tall task for Ravens’ defenders. Rice also looks like a natural receiving the football and is dangerous in open spaces given his excellent change-of-direction skills.  

Haruki Nakamura:As bad as the Cincinnati Bengals are at finding talented players who can stay out of police line-ups coupled with how cheap they are when it comes to investing money in scouting, you’d think that they might know a little something about this former Bearcat from the University of Cincinnati.  But then again, they are the Bengals.  Nakamura wasn’t even invited to The Scouting Combine yet Eric DeCosta and his staff had this undersized safety pegged.  Coaches have raved about Nakamura’s instincts, some even equating them to those of Ed Reed.  Nakamura has had far more interceptions than any other player in camp and some may argue that his play could push Dawan Landry out of a starting position if Landry doesn’t regain his 2006 form. 

Antwan Barnes: In 2007 Barnes showed flashes, particularly during the Monday Night game against the Patriots.  Barnes is a year older and now much more familiar with the Ravens’ defensive system.  That allows him to play faster, think less and allow his athletic prowess take over.  Not only is he bigger, he has shown better instincts and has been far too much for most of the team’s offensive linemen to handle consistently particularly when one-on-one with the speedy linebacker.  In order for Barnes to stay on the field more, he needs to prove to the coaches that he can handle his coverage assignments and defend against the run.  So far, Barnes hasn’t disappointed.  He uses his top end speed to chase down ball carriers on the opposite side of the line and he puts his added muscle and compact frame to use to hold his position when runs are directed his way.  

In pass coverage he has shown a desire to improve while taking added reps against Todd Heap.  The work has paid off.  Recently during practice while participating in 7-on-7 drills, Barnes had a very difficult assignment – Ray Rice.  Despite no pass rush, Joe Flacco could not find a single receiver open and the coaches blew the play dead after 7-8 seconds. Improvement was expected from Barnes, but it’s doubtful that the club forecasted such a quick learning curve for the second year backer.  Barnes has made the most of his added reps given Terrell Suggs’ absence. 

Yamon Figurs:Last year at this time Figurs looked like a spindly, confused player whose only asset was speed.  Even then due to his lack of familiarity with the Ravens offensive system, he was thinking too much and the uncertainty slowed down his top end speed.  This year, Figurs is playing with more confidence, his upper body looks much stronger and he has played fearlessly while running crossing routes with confidence and purpose.  His hands have also improved.  If Figurs can pick up where he left off in the return game last year and force some mismatches against slower nickel backs when given snaps on offense, he could be a surprise contributor to the Ravens’ fortunes in the coming season.  He just needs to carry his practice momentum to the field of play. 

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