Baltimore Ravens: Kamar Aiken increasing optimism for future of offense

Steve Smith Sr.’s season-ending injury thrust Kamar Aiken into the role of the Baltimore Ravens No. 1 wide receiver, and the 26-year-old UCF product has performed better than expected.

Although Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Kamar Aiken isn’t going to earn plaudits for being a game-changing player and ideally isn’t a No. 1 wideout for the team in the future, he’s been on fire lately. Aiken has caught at least five passes or 48 yards in each game since Week 8, and he’s coming off of back-to-back eight-catch performances.

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Even without Joe Flacco starting at quarterback, Aiken has managed to rack up the catches, and he’s quietly starting to look like one of the NFL’s more reliable wideouts. After putting up five catches for 90 yards against the Seattle Seahawks, Aiken blew up for an 8/128/1 line in Week 15 against the Kansas City Chiefs before leading the team’s passing attack with eight catches on eight targets for 66 yards in the 20-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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Aiken’s consistency can be illustrated by the fact that he’s averaging 7.6 yards per attempt as the clear-cut best option in an otherwise anemic passing attack, as well as his 77.8% catch rate over the past three weeks. Since he’s playing his best ball here in the home stretch of the regular season, the Ravens have to be high on him going forward, and Aiken is showing that he can be a big part of the Ravens offense in the future.

With Smith likely coming back for the 2016 season in order to leave the game on his own terms and Breshad Perriman set to be a part of the offense as a potentially explosive weapon, Aiken’s ability to move the chains would combine well with the more dynamic options that would ostensibly be above him on the depth chart (assuming Perriman is ready as a sophomore and worth the first-round selection).

In Smith and Perriman, Joe Flacco would have two playmaking wide receivers, and in Aiken, Justin Forsett, and Crockett Gillmore, he would have three reliable targets to supplement those big plays. Throw in second-year TE Maxx Williams, and Flacco should go from having a barren cupboard in 2015 to having a full gauntlet of weapons in 2016.

Again, nobody will mistake Aiken for being a game-changing No. 1 receiver like Smith, but he’s been a high-end No. 3 receiver at worst and would be a legit No. 2 receiver if Perriman isn’t ready to start. After all, Aiken is quietly up t0 70 receptions and five touchdowns this season, and his average of 12.4 yards per reception is nothing to scoff at.

As of right now, Aiken is one of 33 pass-catchers with 70 receptions this season, and he’s 41st in yards per game. Over the second-half of the regular season, he’s bested his season average mark of 57.9 yards per game on six out of eight occasions, and that should only increase the amount of optimism that Marc Trestman and Flacco should have in the offense in 2016.

Nov 30, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Kamar Aiken (11) against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Ravens won 33-27. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Next week, Aiken and the Ravens must face the Cincinnati Bengals, but considering how well Aiken performed against the Seahawks secondary a few weeks ago, it’s hard to see his rather lengthy streak of consistent performances ending.

The Bengals did a nice job of preventing Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas from doing major damage against them last night, but Aiken is another receiver who can beat defenses in a steady manner, even if he may be dealing with a wrist injury.

Aiken’s hard work and reliability haven’t gone unnoticed by the Ravens organization, and it will be interesting to see what the future holds for him.

He’ll be a restricted free agent in 2016, so while there’s no guarantee he’ll be back, but it’s hard to see the Ravens letting him go.

I wonder what type of tender they will extend to him- assuming they do, considering how valuable he has been lately– and I also wonder if a team will try to poach him, just as the Cleveland Browns poached Andrew Hawkins from the Cincinnati Bengals as an RFA a couple of years ago.

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Barring an unexpected turn of events, Aiken will be back, and the ever-improving 6’2″ receiver has clearly carved out a role for himself in the Ravens offense in 2016. Smith will be the No. 1 guy if he is indeed back and Perriman has massive upside, but Aiken could average at least four catches per contest as a chain-mover.