Though it’s dangerous to draw too many conclusions from preseason football, especially the first week of it, it is reasonable to wonder when long-standing questions linger.
After losing tight end Dennis Pitta for the season to a hip injury and trading wide receiver Anquan Boldin in a salary dump, the Ravens are looking for options to emerge in the passing game.
They’re still looking.
Despite a solid beating of the Buccaneers, the top-of-the-depth-chart pass-catchers didn’t do much.
Quarterback Joe Flacco was 7-of-9 with an interception in limited time. Torrey Smith caught a couple of passes, but Jacoby Jones didn’t, and the young guys they’re looking for progress from (Tandon Doss, Deonte Thompson) had a catch for 5 yards between them. It’s probably a good sign that recent pickup Visanthe Shiancoe caught three passes, as they’re short on tight ends at the moment.
Otherwise, the star of the night for the Ravens was special teamer/wideout LaQuan Williams, who caught a touchdown pass from backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor and recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown.
Again, it’s early. But over the next two weeks, when the regulars play more, someone is going to have to emerge from an odd lot of players to be a reliable target for Flacco.