Ravens at Vikings Depth Chart Preview

-My thoughts-

PFF has rated the Ravens as one of the worst teams in the NFL, and it doesn't help that they've been plagued by injuries. They have around 14 players on the IR already!!

The Vikings defense should have no problem shutting down the Raven offense. Their only strengths are their O-line, but they already the league's best guard, Marshal Yanda, for the season. They'll be starting rookie Eluemunor at RG and always terrible James Hurst at LG. Stanley, Jensen, and Howard are solid starters though. They'll try to run the ball with Alex Collins, a failed 5th round pick from the Seahawks who has seemingly turned things around in Baltimore. 

Their WR-corps are also depleted, with Perriman/Matthews out and Wallace/Maclin questionable. They don't have much at TE either. For some reason they are only carrying 6 healthy offensive lineman, so if they have injuries like the Packers did last week, they'll be playing TEs and DTs on the O-line. (I imagine a roster move or two is on the way)

Their defense is better, but not a ton better. Their two best players should be safeties Weddle and Jefferson, who were both top 10 safeties last season, but PFF gives him both Bad ratings for 2017 so far. Weddle was elite last season and Jefferson was Great so I don't know what happened. Their coverage unit has struggled and their only good covering DB is Jimmy Smith. Perhaps they should try using first round rookie Marlon Humphrey in a larger capacity.

The Ravens have some solid pieces in the front seven, with Williams and Mosley as great run stuffers and Suggs/Judon/Smith as good pass rushers. They will be a tough unit to beat.

I find it interesting that the Ravens spent most of their draft picks on defensive players when their offense badly needs help. They did lose 4th round rookie Nico Siragusa (a guy I thought the Vikes could target) to a season-ending injury, so that didn't help.


Let's also have a look at how the Vikings are fairing:





Any thoughts?