QB

Joe Flacco

(+) Flacco has gotten better each year and finally has an elite WR to play catch with in Anquan Boldin
(+) When a play breaks down, he has the best pass-catching RB to fall back on in Ray Rice
(+) The Ravens are a Super Bowl caliber team, and as a rule-of-thumb, you want your fantasy players to be on good teams
(+) He’s the tallest QB in the league and has a Dirty Harry shit-kicker for an arm.  Do you feel lucky, punk?
(–) The Ravens have the toughest pass schedule in the NFL
(–) It’s too bad that he happens to be on a run-first team loaded with talented backs

RB

Ray Rice

(+) Is one of the most multi-dimensional backs in the NFL
(+) The additions at the Wide Receiver position will open up more holes for him to squirm through
(+) Can score either running the ball or catching it from anywhere on the field
(–) A bunch of carries, especially in the red-zone, are taken by Willis McGahee
(–) Those same receivers that will open up holes for him will also steal touches from him at the same time
(–) Sixth toughest rush schedule in a dominant defensive division
(–) Rice was a terrible red-zone converter last season

Willis McGahee

(+) In his 6-year career, Willis and has proven to be a consistent touchdown producer on an offensively challenged team

(+) The diminutive size of Ray Rice should keep giving extra touches to McGahee despite being the RB2 on the team

(+) The Ravens have the toughest pass SOS in the league, which might lead to more of a ground-and-pound game - i.e. - McGahee over Rice

(–) With the emergence of Ray Rice, McGahee shouldn't expect more than 140 touches on the season this year

(–) The acquisition of Anquan Boldin might lead to a more west-coast type of offense, especially with a talent like Ray Rice around

(–) The prospects of Willis being traded will likely inflict upon his mindset entering the season

WR

Anquan Boldin

(+) Finally the undisputed WR1 again
(+) A balanced Ravens attack takes double-coverage off him and gives him more room to get open
(+) Possibly the strongest WR in the NFL and hes always been a reception/target monster
(+) Is one of the best possession receivers in the game and will now be playing in a ball-control offense
(–) Due to his nature, he tries to play through injuries at less than 100% - thus taking the wind out of your fantasy sails
(–) He’ll be working in a completely different system than he played in during his first seven years in the league
(–) Wide receivers normally do not produce on par when switching to a new team

Derrick Mason

(+) The presence of Anquan Boldin should help draw away the number one coverage that Mason has been receiving the past few years
(+) Flacco is going into his third year and should be more comfortable with the offense and opening it up downfield
(–) Mason is now 36 and a lot of decent WRs disappeared at that age (Rod Smith, Keenan McCardell, Muhsin Muhammad, Joey Galloway).  Injuries could be coming for the vet
(–) Targets will be harder to come by with the best possession receiver in the game (Boldin) on the field.  Of course, they love to pass the rock to Ray Rice as well
(–) The Ravens have a brutal Pass Schedule (worst in the league at 32nd overall)
(–) For as good of a run blocking team as Baltimore is, they struggle a bit in Pass Protection ranking 20th overall
(–) Mason has very weak potential for big fantasy days with having put up just two instances of 100+ yards and a TD in the same game over the past 4 seasons combined

TE

Todd Heap

(+) Todd Heap has been solid as the Ravens tight end. Last season he caught 53 passes for 593 yards and 6 touchdowns

-  The Ravens started the 2009 season with 2nd Year Joe Flacco under center, looking for fast improvement in his play
-  Flacco did improve, but he still struggled to get the ball downfield consistently without a gifted true #1 WR
-  Flacco’s improvement was coupled with the emergence of a top 5 RB - the dominant pass catching back Ray Rice
-  Though Ray Rice took the reins in the Raven backfield in '09, McGahee was the clear option at the Goal Line (12 TDs)
-  Derrick Mason was the Ravens top blackbird down field with 134 targets, 78 catches, 1028 yards, and 7 TDs
-  The Ravens finished the season second in the AFC North with a 9-7 record claiming a wild card birth in which
        they defeated the Patriots in the first round and lost to the Colts in the Divisional round
-  The Ravens scored 391 points while allowing 261 points against - a clear indicator of a playoff worthy team

Played on Baltimore and Cleveland last year...

2009 Total Points Rank:           27th (77 tot pts)
2009 Average/Game Rank:     20th (6.4 pts/gm)

Shayne Graham is also competing for this job.

With Cinci in 2009...

2009 Total Points Rank:           17th (97 tot pts)
2009 Average/Game Rank:     26th (6.1 pts/gm)

FR=Fumbles Recoverd, PA=Points Allowed, FP Rank=Fantasy Points Rank, FP/G=Fantasy Points per Game

2010 Ravens Defensive Outlook...  

Baltimore may not be the class of the NFL defensively anymore but you would be hard pressed to find a more well rounded Defense on the field.  They go into the season with the PYRO 8^th rank against the run and 7^th against the pass.  Put those two strengths together and you have one hell of a defense.   Per usual, they were stingy with points allowed and yards given last year (3^rd overall in both categories).  This team continues to build their strength in the draft, taking two D-Linemen with their first two picks this year (both second rounders).  They don’t put up monster sack totals (20^th in the league ’09) but they rank nicely in overall Turnovers, and they have Ed Reed who is good for a TD or two along the way.     

-  Ray Lewis led the team with 134 tackles, Dawan Landry had 89
-  The Ravens had 32 sacks last season
-  Leading sacker was Trevor Price with 6.5
-  Ravens are aging but continue to build a foundation with draft picks spent on defense
-  Domonique Foxworth and Dawan Landry led the team with 4 INTs each
-  Team forced 15 fumbles
-  Team forced a total of 37 turnovers

Team PYRO is hyper about Offensive Lines!  Understanding who will be blocking for the players on your roster is vital to your teams Fantasy success.  We take many factors into account when we rank these units, including weight, height, starts together as a unit, starts per year played, rushing average, sacks allowed, draft position, contact situation, pro bowl/all pro honors, Adjusted Line Yardage (ALY) and Adjusted Sack Rate (stats found at the link below).  O-Line Rank is one more piece of the puzzle that directs us towards delivering you a Fantasy Football Championship. 

Here is another great resource for looking at O-Lines…    http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

The fantasy lifeblood of the players sitting on your roster boils down to one EXTREMELY important stat.  Drum Roll please……………………………  ATTEMPTS!!!!  Ahhhh, there, we said it.  Before you can make a play, you gotta have the pill in your hands.  It’s pretty simple really, in the immortal words of the maligned Keyshawn Johnson… “Just give me the damn ball”.  There is no “I” in the word “team”, but don’t fool yourself, it’s in the word rotisserie twice. 

For the QB, it’s Pass Attempts, for the RB, it’s Carries, and for the WR and TE, it’s Targets.  If you look at the players in the league who are amassing large quantities of points, they are the ones who are seeing the rock come their way the most often.  Sure, you have to be good enough to do something with the p-skin when you get it, but never forget, you can’t make a play until you have the pill in your hands. 

The PYRO Offensive scheme charts aim to deliver you perhaps the most important information you could attain before and after draft day; Will my player get the chances they need to put out or will they be shut out?  It really boils down to what the offensive game plan on Sunday is.  These charts should provide some perspective on which teams are going to live by land and which are going to live by air. 

By Air

-  Joe Flacco developed in his second season increasing all his stats from his rookie season
-  The Ravens finished last season ranking 18th in the league with 3,419 passing yards
-  Anquan Boldin was brought in to be the teams #1 WR and brings an immediate improvement over last season
-  Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton, and Donte’ Stallworth provide the depth at the WR position
-  TE Todd Heap has been solid in his NFL career and grabbed 53 catches, 593 yards, and 6 TDs in '09
-  Ray Rice topped the receptions chart out of the backfield in the NFL last season

By Land

-  The Ravens ranked 5th in the league with 2,200 yards on the ground
-  Ray Rice is a young elite RB, ready to build on his tremendous '09 season
-  Durability is a concern for Ray Rice as a back handling the rock so frequently in this offense; at 5'8 210 Lbs.,
     the back has a similar build to Brian Westbrook (5'10 203 Lbs) who struggled with injuries throughout his career
-  Willis McGahee shines big time as a goal line TD producer
-  Le’ron McClain serves as the teams fullback and should see some carries in the singleback formation

RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number you see is Red Zone Touches (a pass attempt, a carry, or a target inside the 20 yard line).  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

% of Teams RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number is the players percentage of touches cut out against the total number of the Teams Red Zone plays called.  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.  So, if Thomas Jones received a touch in 45 percent of the Jets Red Zone calls last year, and Knowshon Moreno received a touch in 38 percent of all the Broncos plays last year, Jones would be ranked higher at his position than Moreno would be.

RZ TD Success Rate (Position Rank) = The first number is the percentage of which an individual player was able to score a TD against his total number of touches.   The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

Why Should I look at this Chart?

We couldn’t possibly take up a whole minute of your valuable fantasy football research time babbling about the importance of Attempts for your team and then leave out Red Zone Tendencies.

Yep, same drill with these charts, only a lot more important if scoring TD’s is what you’re leagues about.  The PYRO Red Zone Tendencies chart delivers a touchdown focused microcosm of the Offensive Scheme section.

To score a TD, your player needs a touch (pass att, carry, or target), and when they get a touch inside the 20, great things can happen for your Fantasy teams total points line.

It’s really easy, touches are King and converting a touch in the red is Fantasy Gold.

PYRO 2010 Raven Leaders in the Red Zone... 

1. Ray Rice
2. Willis McGahee
3. Anquan Boldin
4. Todd Heap
5. Derrick Mason

Grade* = Team PYRO took this number directly from NFL.COM - not a number devised here by us, you know, your friends who don’t sleep?  In other words, proceed with caution knowing the source, but we thought it was at least a worthy effort and could help you gauge just how solid the teams draft was.  We hope it helps, we think it will.

Draft Bits...

Dickson may see the field a bit more only because they may use him in blocking scenarios.  Pitta is considered the better pass catcher of the two, but Heap will take the Lion share of these duties.
 
WR Reed will fight for a roster spot.  He’s a potential future slot Wide in this league.  2010, he’s FANTASY IRRELEVANT

We are firm believers that strength-of-schedule analysis is essential when ranking players at every position.  We applied this system (without the 5% NFL draft impact) in hindsight to last year's schedule as we were curious how well it could work.  The notable results were that Michael Turner and the Falcons had a #32 ranked (easiest) rush schedule last season and DeAngelo Williams and the Panthers were #30.  

Our SoS considers three factors when determining rankings for schedules for the upcoming year:

80% weight is applied to the quality of defense from the previous year.  We determine quality of defense based on fantasy points given up (run and pass).  However, before we get to that number, we factor in the quality of teams that these defenses faced (basically a strength-of-schedule for the previous year).  This was all done by hand.  Let's just say our boy, Stitchface, has a bit of the carpal tunnel-syndrome going on.    

15% weight is applied to Free-Agent movement.  We ranked each free agent's impact to their former team (2008), and then ranked each team according to whether they added or lost talent overall.

5% weight is applied to the NFL draft impact.  It's tough to gauge a rookie's effectiveness which is why we valued it so low.  Certain teams not only drafted defensemen well in '09, but also will be sliding those guys into highly deficient positions from '08, and usually, anything is an upgrade when you are starting a rookie. 

If you trust Stitchface's formula (and you will eventually), all you need to realize is the following... The higher the SoS number, the easier the fantasy schedule. 

Ranking:  1=easiest  32=toughest

June 25, 2010

Agreed to terms with WR David Reed on a three-year contract and CB Walt Harris on a one-year contract.

June 21, 2010

Agreed to terms with TE Dennis Pitta and DL Arthur Jones on three-year contracts.

June 18, 2010

Agreed to terms with DB Ken Hamlin on a one-year contract.

June 3, 2010

Signed PK Shayne Graham to a one-year contract.

June 1, 2010

Named George Kokinis senior personnel assistant.

May 17, 2010

Signed CB Travis Fisher and S Brad Jones.

April 13, 2010

Terminated the contract of CB Samari Rolle.

March 22, 2010

Agreed to terms with DE Cory Redding on a two-year deal.

March 10, 2010

Agreed to terms with WR Derrick Mason on a two-year contract.

March 5, 2010

Acquired WR Anquan Boldin from Arizona for a 2010 third- and fourth-round pick and signed him to a four-year contract.

February 17, 2010

Signed WR Donte' Stallworth to a one-year contract.

January 30, 2010

Named Jim Zorn quarterbacks coach.