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| Tuesday, September 7 | |||||||||||||||||||
Pro Football Weekly | ||||||||||||||||||||
Not since the "Music Man" arrived in River City has a man taken a town by storm the way Brian Billick has in Baltimore.
Since being named head coach of the Ravens in January, Billick has become a household name. His face and the name "Billick" appear on billboards around town. After three consecutive losing seasons since moving from Cleveland, the Ravens are selling their coach and counting on him to overcome myriad problems. One of them is a lack of cash. Owner Art Modell, who has no other businesses to support the team, is $185 million in debt, even though his new stadium deal is one of the most profitable in the league. The NFL had to arrange a $65 million loan to keep lenders from foreclosing this summer, and he has to find a minority partner to help pay it back. The cash shortage has hindered the team in free agency. Its big-ticket offseason acquisition was OT Harry Swayne, who got a $5 million signing bonus. Meanwhile, the Ravens lost starting OLs Orlando Brown and Wally Williams, DT James Jones and TE Eric Green in free agency. Billick isn't bothered by any of this. He notes that his old team, Minnesota, wasn't a free-spending club until last year and yet was a perennial playoff contender. He plans to install the same multiple offense that helped the Vikings become the highest-scoring team in NFL history last year. The Bill Walsh (Billick wrote a book with him) and Dennis Green disciple isn't deterred by the fact he has little of the offensive talent he had in Minnesota. Billick's new quarterback, Scott Mitchell, produced just three points and fumbled four times in his first eight series of the exhibition season. Backup Tony Banks did throw a TD pass in each of the first two games, but he has been shaky in practice. Billick, though, believes in his system and isn't going to back off. "I'll go down 2-14 trying to make something happen before I'll bleed at 6-10," he said. Billick thinks he can produce enough offense to complement a strong defense and make the playoffs at 9-7. Here's a position-by-position look at Baltimore's roster:
Quarterbacks But Mitchell has to prove he can operate Billick's offense first. Billick also brought in Stoney Case, a player he thinks has potential, and cut Wally Richardson. Grade: C-
Running backs Errict Rhett and Jay Graham are fighting for the backup job, and Chuck Evans, one of Billick's Minnesota imports, will upgrade the FB position. Grade: C
Receivers Billick has to hope they play well, along with rookie Brandon Stokley, who has had shoulder problems. Billick also hopes to get some help from a veteran group that includes Floyd Turner, Webster Slaughter, Billy Davis, Qadry Ismail and Justin Armour. Lovett Purnell, Aaron Pierce and Greg DeLong will man the TE position. Grade: C-
Offensive linemen The other two slots, left guard and center, are wide open. Everitt Lindsay, another ex-Viking, figures to win one of them, with James Atkins or Jeff Mitchell likely to win the other. Billick is confident this group can be a good one. Grade: C+
Defensive linemen Billick plans to rotate eight players, with Rob Burnett, Tony Siragusa, Larry Webster, Lional Dalton, Keith Washington, Larry Fitzpatrick and Fernando Smith all playing roles. The Ravens want to come at opponents in waves. Grade: B-
Linebackers Pro Bowl MLB Ray Lewis goes from sideline to sideline, and Jamie Sharper is improving his pass coverage skills on the weak side. Cornell Brown, who played in Boulware's spot in the exhibition season, provides depth. Grade: B+
Defensive backs The safeties could be a problem. Veteran Rod Woodson, making the move from cornerback to free safety, has lost a step, and SS Kim Herring separated his shoulder twice last year. Grade: B
Special teams The team has a good corps of kick returners led by the always-dangerous Jermaine Lewis, and Bennie Thompson spearheads the coverage teams. But the special teams struggled with mistakes in the second exhibition game. Grade: B-
Material from Pro Football Weekly. | ALSO SEE Jaguars preview
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