THE FREE AGENCY period and the NFL draft can't get here fast enough. The Ravens have quite a few needs, but maybe none more glaring than a wide receiver. Make that a wide receiver who can catch.
The Ravens have plenty of receivers. There's Brandon Stokley, Ron Johnson, Travis Taylor, Javin Hunter, Randy Hymes and Jeff Ogden. What an intimidating crew, eh? They might be the worst group in the NFL. They can't catch, and they fumble a lot. Others get hurt all the time.
Please let the months of March and April roll around quickly, so maybe the Ravens can get a speedy receiver, or a possession type, or a go-to player. Just someone who can catch the damn ball.
The Ravens were no-shows yesterday in a 37-25 loss to the New Orleans Saints at Ravens Stadium. As a matter of fact, this team has a habit of disappearing in big games. We're not talking about those glitter, national TV games early in the season. We're talking about impact games against quality opponents like Pittsburgh, Miami and now the Saints.
One of the reasons the Ravens fade is because their receivers don't come up big in big games. Against Pittsburgh, the Steelers' defensive backs mugged them at the line of scrimmage for a half. In the Miami game, three wide receivers had seven catches for 89 yards.
And that's a good day.
Yesterday, the receivers dropped seven passes, clearly irritating the head coach.
"It's very disappointing," said Brian Billick. "We've learned a lot of things this season, but we haven't learned how to take advantage of an opportunity and to play with an upper-echelon team. It's disturbing that we can't raise our level of play right now against the quality teams, and that's the thing that sticks in my mind more than anything else.
"Don't fumble the ball, don't drop the pass. You do all the little things, like staying after [practice] working on catching the ball with the machine. You do the repetitious things to get them to work past it, or you decide they're not capable of catching the ball, at which point in the offseason you address that."
Unless someone on Billick's roster emerges in the final three games, there are a number of talented college receivers to choose from such as Michigan State's Charlie Rogers, Texas' Roy Williams, Miami's Andre Johnson and Illinois' Brandon Lloyd. Among NFL receivers, Arizona's David Boston, Buffalo's Peerless Price and St. Louis' Isaac Bruce might shake free via free agency.
The Ravens like to use the philosophy of drafting the best player available in the first round, but here's hoping that a receiver falls into their laps. The Ravens run a West Coast offense, which features the short passing game to control the clock much like other teams use a running game, but they don't have anyone who can catch the ball consistently other than tight end Todd Heap.
It's a joke.
Trailing 13-7 midway in the second quarter yesterday, Johnson ran a beautiful post, corner route but dropped Jeff Blake's 46-yard pass at the New Orleans 18 with 3:18 left in the half. Four plays later, Taylor dropped a 36-yard pass from Blake at the New Orleans 3.
Two plays later, David Zastudil's punt was blocked by the Saints. Nine plays later, New Orleans running back Deuce McAllister scored on a 1-yard run. Instead of going ahead 14-13, the Ravens were down 20-7.
"Maybe I'm not concentrating; maybe I'm concentrating too much, not relaxing and just playing football," Johnson said.
Asked about job security, Johnson said: "Definitely. When you are not doing the job, they'll find someone else to do it."
Johnson deserves some slack. He's a rookie who may have hit the proverbial wall because he was impressive early in the season. But there are no more excuses for Taylor. He is a third-year player and a former first-round draft pick.
The sand should be close to filling the other end of the hourglass. Earlier this season, he didn't get many passes because former starting quarterback Chris Redman preferred Stokley and Heap. Taylor would loaf when he wasn't the primary receiver. But he became Blake's favorite target, and for a while it looked like he might play up to his potential.
But the new Taylor is looking like the old Taylor.
"That's a very frustrating feeling for me," Taylor said. "I've got to make those plays, those are game-changing plays, especially the one down the sideline. We've got to go out there and make plays when they are there. ... We've got to do our jobs."
The Ravens wanted this group to perform well this season. Two of the members, Stokley and Taylor, could help form the nucleus of this team in the future. But thus far, Taylor has been a bust and shares Johnson's inability to catch the ball. Stokley has taken his usual place on the injured reserve list. He may have been the team's most consistent receiver, but he is a No. 3 at best for most teams in the NFL.
Rookie Javin Hunter has speed, but also a fumbling problem and he is suspended three more games for violation of the league's banned substance policy. That leaves the Ravens with rookie Hymes as the No. 3 receiver, and he couldn't remember where to line up yesterday. Ogden is the No. 4 guy, but he has spent more time on the bench than playing in games.
The "trash heap" gang that Billick had here in his first year was more efficient. Bring back the Stoney Case-to-Justin Armour combination. Once the Ravens fall behind early in games, as they did yesterday, it's hard for them to rally. They have an unpredictable quarterback, and only two impact players on offense in running back Jamal Lewis and Heap.
They don't have a receiver who is a major threat in the red zone, or one who's a force on the outside. They don't have any with speed, or one who can catch consistently.
It's a mess, one that won't get cleaned up until the offseason.