By: Jake Rajala

The Baltimore Ravens don’t have the sexiest wide receiver group without Hollywood Brown heading into the 2022 season. If Rashod Bateman can prove to be a quality WR1 leading up to the season, LJ should still have modest passing production w/ him and TE Mark Andrews. Nonetheless, Jackson could certainly benefit from the arrival of a proven and electric wideout. Hence, I’m going to untwine 5 WR trade targets for the Baltimore Ravens right now.

Curtis Samuel

The explosive wideout Curtis Samuel recorded 851 yds in 2020 and then fell off the end of the earth last season (27 receiving yds in five games). Samuel is certainly a unique athlete, but he clearly doesn’t jell well in the Washington offense. Samuel is still 25 years old and he can be a dynamite profile for many years to come in the right scheme. It would be quite intriguing to see Samuel involved in the Ravens diverse offense, to say the least.

Denzel Mims

Denzel Mims is certainly a polarizing wideout that sits among a talented and crowded WR room. Mims stands behind Elijah Moore, Corey Davis, Garrett Wilson, and Braxton Berrios at this point in time. Mims actually had a strong opening day of mini-camp – as reported by Brian Costello of the New York Post. Yet, it may be quite difficult for Mims to come close to unleashing his full potential in the Big Apple. The Giants should be aggressive to acquire Mim’s talent.

Marquez Callaway

The Saints completely changed their WR position this off-season — as they brought in Jarvis Landry and Chris Olave. They also retained the gifted Michael Thomas. They still have the exceptional KR/WR Deonte Harris and the speed-demon Marquez Callaway. With that enunciated, the Saints may be tempted to ship away the WR4/WR5 Callaway — after he ousted 698 yds and 6 TDs last season. The Ravens lost the juice from Brown, so they could help heal the wound by acquiring the young, deep-threat in Callaway.

Sterling Shepard

The Ravens should make a sneaky move by acquiring Sterling Shepard — who has slowly fallen out of the Giants WR picture in the past two seasons. He will be a FA in 2023, so the GMEN may wish to ship him out. The 29-year-old wideout that wouldn’t cost the house (to say the least) could be a fine slot weapon for LJ for 2-3 more seasons.

Jalen Reagor

It’s safe to say that Jalen Reagor (21st pick in the 2020 draft) isn’t as near as scary as Justin Jefferson (22nd pick in the 2020 draft), but he still has some potential. Reagor may not show up in Philly in 2022, but he could be a nice value-pickup and more involved wideout in Baltimore.

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By: Jake Rajala

The New Orleans Saints have ascended into a popular bandwagon team this off-season. I don’t believe that the Saints ability to win a championship with Jameis Winston is a foolish thought, but I do reconcile that there are many profiles on the Saints that don’t deserve a lot of hype. With that said, I’m going to simply outline three overrated players on the Saints at this moment.

Andrus Peat

The former Stanford offensive lineman that impressed Sean Payton with his quickness in his draft process hasn’t lived up to his five-year extension worth $57 million. He scored a 52.1 PFF grade last season while missing 10 games. After the Saints were unable to retain the talented Terron Armstead at the key LT position, they realized Peat’s hefty contract on the offensive front may not have been the best idea. On the bright side, Peat did play in 13+ games in 2018 (Pro Bowl selection) and 2020 (Pro Bowl selection), so the 28-year-old could stay healthy and be due for a Pro Bowl season in 2022.

Zack Baun

It would be an understatement to say that Zack Baun hasn’t lived up to expectations in his Saints tenure thus far. After the Saints traded up to select him in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, he has barely touched the field in his two seasons. He simply has 42 combined tackles and 0 sacks in his career. The 2022 season will tell whether the amped-up special teams player can be trusted as a quality LB for the long-term.

Marquez Callaway

Marquez Callaway hasn’t quite lived up to his 2021 pre-season performance against Jacksonville. The scrappy and talented UDFA WR can potentially grow into becoming a WR3 (or maybe WR2) on a team not in the Big Easy. The Saints have a healthy Michael Thomas, gifted rookie Chris Olave, and they even brought Jarvis Landry back home this off-season. After the Top-3 Saints WRs, I expect the elusive and special teams star Deonte Harty to be involved with Callaway for screens and long bombs on occasion. I fully expect him to take a significant drop-off from his 698 yard and 6 touchdown campaign last season.

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By: Jeremy Trottier

The New Orleans Saints have had a pretty intriguing offseason, primarily in the wide receiver room, as many moves have happened.  WR1 Michael Thomas is expected to miss time with an ankle surgery recovery, previous WR2 Emmanuel Sanders has left, WR3 Tre’Quan Smith is battling a hamstring injury still, Deonte Harris is facing suspension still, despite gameday nearing, etc.  The one bright spot at the top of the new depth chart is 2020 UDFA Marquez Callaway from Tennessee University.  Callaway has solidified at the very least a starting role in the Saints offense as of now, if not the top receiver spot prior to a Thomas return.  In this article, I will be going over what to expect from Marquez Callaway in week 1.

Large Score in PPR Leagues

I personally believe that Callaway will have a high volume of offensive passing touches, which will lead to some high PPR numbers if anything.  He should most definitely have double-digit receptions at the very least, as with the Tre’Quan Smith injury putting him back out of practice today and not many outside options otherwise, he is the primary target for the Saints.  Even with having to go up against Jaire Alexander this weekend, he should be able to get open a few times with his route tree or make some contested catches when available.

Quick, Short, Shifty Route Tree

I fully expect this game to be a battle of how the Saints can play the short pass and then throw one or two deep passes and catch the Packers defense off guard if possible.  Callaway should be running a tree primarily consisting of curls, flats, slants, and short-out routes to be able to get underneath the defense and open up some capability for Deonte Harris to get behind the defense.  Letting Callaway play the short passing game and letting Jameis Winston get the ball out quickly and effectively should help this offense move the chains.

Tone Setting Deep Catch or Two

As we saw in the preseason, Callaway was able to keep up with the likes of Marlon Humphrey for a few downs before he was taken off to prevent injury, and against Shaq Griffin for a longer period of time where he had his two amazing touchdown catches, even regardless of coverage, the catches were spectacular.  We should expect to see one or two catches of this nature again, not necessarily touchdowns, but large gains of 25+ where they can keep the defense honest by opening it up in the safety level.

This deep placement should allow for Alvin Kamara to get some more touches and rushes if used at the correct time, as the defense will be forced to put men further back in coverage to prevent the deep pass, which opens up screens and zone rushes for Kamara.  Callaway overall should have a solid game, I am not sure to expect him to be having the showing of a lifetime yet where he absolutely torches the opposing defense, but it should be a respectable statline nonetheless.

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