Game overview:
The Packers got a nice win here, aided by the defense – four turnovers forced. The Ravens played some ‘name’ rookies and decent 2nd-team talent, they didn’t roll over here...but they were no match for the Packers B/C-team.
The Ravens have talent down the roster/depth chart...it’s a very good team/roster overall...one of the ten best, possibly top 3-5 best teams in the league – but the Packers...I’m starting to wonder/analyze if this isn’t the single best/deepest roster in all of the NFL. They have so much talent/depth...arguably the best 2nd/3rd-team group I’ve seen this preseason.
The Lions are in for a battle for the NFC North...and for the NFC title...with the Pack.
Scouting Notes from the game:
-- For some reason, Emmanuel Wilson (11-52-0, 2-26-0/2) worked a lot in this game. With MarShawn Lloyd with a hamstring issue that will hold him back for at least the first few weeks AND A.J. Dillon (at the time of this game) a worry on his neck/stinger, which ultimately led him to season ending IR – it all made me beg the question: Why was the team’s lone/real #2 RB for Week 1 out here working in this?
That aside, man...is Wilson good. He just needs a real, sustained chance...one he’ll probably never get here. They will push Jacobs...and then they will push Lloyd the moment he’s ready. The Packers will have to get hit with severe RB injuries before they HAVE TO work Wilson as a lead back. He looks like he’s ready to take another step forward, if he gets the call.
Wilson would be the best RB on the roster of about 5 or so other NFL teams, right now. He’s for damn sure better than Najee Harris, among others.
Why NFL teams chase and force more and more money to D’Andre Swift...and yet Emmanuel Wilson is working preseason Week 3, and is never sure if he’s going to make the 53-man, is vexing and perplexing.
-- Let’s talk about the Ravens RBs...
Obviously, Derrick Henry is going to start...and you likely know this has been the year of Henry for me/FFM back to March 2024, pre-free agency. Probably the best, most visionary move we’ll make all 2024 was hitting/acquiring (cheap) Henry, in Dynasty, back when everyone else was selling him as ‘shot’.
Justice Hill (DNP) begins the season as the primary, obvious handcuff for Henry...and will spell him some in an 80/20 or so split.
Rasheen Ali made the 53-man roster, which is a good sign...but he’s nowhere near ready for the handcuff role. He may get cut in-season for a roster spot when Keaton returns, and Ali to the practice squad. Ali is more 2025+ now.
Keaton Mitchell will come in midseason and throw the backfield into some chaos, eventually getting over Justice Hill as the handcuff but they work together working with the lead of Henry.
If the Ravens didn’t already have an explosion of RB talent, UDFA rookie Chris Collier (13-42-0, 0-0-0/1) has looked good this preseason, but really looked nice in this game – like not just good, but NFL legit. He quietly got cut and drifted right to the Ravens practice squad.
Baltimore is loaded for now...and the future at RB...for another Harbaugh who craves the heavy run game...that’s why our projections on Lamar and Zay are lower than most.
-- Ravens 1st-round draft pick CB Nate Wiggins (no stats) played a few snaps in this game, and he’s played in every preseason game, I believe.
I’ve been against (scouting wise) Wiggins as a super-fast, but sloppy in coverage corner -- and having potential knucklehead characteristics that could be issues at the pro level. However...damn, he looks good so far in the preseason.
He’s got the three S’s...size, speed, swagger. He just looks and moves like a Sauce Gardner type tall-skinny but ace in coverage just locking up WRs with no fear. If Wiggins is going to plug in for the Ravens D pretty quickly, and he keeps his head about him – huge bump for the Ravens defense. There are still questions, but I really like what I have seen so far with him.
-- Green Bay QB report...
I thought Sean Clifford (6-14 for 53 yards, 1 TD/0 INT) looked developmental-promising this preseason...the second preseason where I thought that.
And I thought rookie Michael Pratt (8-12 for 80 yards, 1 TD/1 INT) looked hopeful as well this preseason.
But then, the Packers cut both of them after the game/ahead of the 53-man. They then traded for Malik Willis, which is interesting/odd? I don’t know that he is better than Clifford right now.
They signed Clifford back. Pratt was grabbed by the Bucs.
Matt LaFleur has earned my trust on what he sees in QBs...given what he did with the Rodgers-to-Love change, which I thought was going to possibly cost him his career...instead, he was a genius...to this point.
-- Lastly, it’s sad watching Devontez Walker (1-4-0/2) flop against this level of competition. The Ravens are a well-run team, but I questioned their entire draft this year...and chief among them was drafting Walker who was very sketchy, and unnecessary for them to draft. I thought they might cut him because he has looked so bad this preseason...but the got the sunk cost fallacy going I think...they kept him on the 53-man.
Walker got kept because of ‘draft status’, while UDFA rookie WR Dayton Wade ran rings around him this preseason – but Wade got cut. Because the NFL is all about ‘best man for the job’, right?
Actually, the Ravens knew no one would likely know Wade was doing so well in the preseason...so, they could cut him and then stash him on the practice squad without any bother...and they did.
