Baltimore Ravens: What Benjamin Watson Injury Means for the Offense

The Baltimore Ravens have lost tight end Benjamin Watson for the entire 2016 season, which changes the way the team must approach the tight end position.

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The Baltimore Ravens managed a 30-9 preseason rout of the Detroit Lions on Saturday night. The game saw quarterback Joe Flacco’s return from a 2015 torn ACL, but unfortunately, it also saw the end of the season for veteran tight end Benjamin Watson.

The 12-year pro suffered a torn Achilles just after the start of the game. He is expected to now miss the entire 2016 season.

The loss of Watson is notable because the Ravens were planning on utilizing him as a pass-catching weapon from the tight end position. Watson was coming off a resurgent 74-reception, 825-yard season with the New Orleans Saints and was expected to be a reliable target for Flacco.

The Ravens went after Watson pretty aggressively in the offseason, finally inking him to a two-year, $7million deal.

Now the Ravens are forced to move forward without him.

“It’s going to be very tough on us,” Flacco said of the loss of Watson, per Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.

The good news for Baltimore is that the team has other options at the tight end position. Injuries were a serious problem for the Ravens in 2015, and the team made sure to add depth at positions like tight end.

The NFL handed Darren Waller a four-game suspension this offseason for violation of the league’s substance-abuse policy, and fellow tight end Nick Boyle is facing a ten-game ban for violating the PED policy. Yet, the Ravens still have 2015 second-round pick Maxx Williams, Crockett Gillmore and potentially a returning Dennis Pitta.

“This is the best group in the NFL,” Gillmore said of the Ravens’ tight ends early in the offseason, per Jake Lourim of the Baltimore Sun. “I’m not afraid to say it. It’s hands down, and there’s guys that unfortunately won’t be here with the numbers—it’s just you can’t keep that many guys. There’s going to be some really good, talented guys that can do everything not be here.”

The Ravens are now down to a handful of available tight ends, which means those guys Gillmore spoke of do have an opportunity to make the final 53-man roster. The problem is that even with a group of talented tight ends, the Ravens don’t seem to have that dependable go-to tight end to ride during games.

Instead, Baltimore will likely have to platoon its tight ends in a manner similar to last season. According to Pro Football Focus, Williams saw 486 offensive snaps last season, Gillmore saw 528 and Boyle saw 298.

Pitta is currently dealing with a finger injury, and if he can’t go when the season opens, it could be a two-man operation at tight end for the Ravens, at least until later in the season.

The Ravens can probably survive with a tight-end-by-committee approach, of course, but the lack of a true every-down tight end changes how the offense must operate. Offensive coordinator Marc Trestman must now figure out how and when to best utilize each tight end individually.

With a healthy Watson, the Ravens had a high-caliber receiving tight end that could stay on the field for virtually every passing down. He was rated 11th among all tight ends in receiving by Pro Football Focus last season.

Without Watson, the Ravens must find a different approach at tight end in the passing game, and the options at the position are quickly dwindling.

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Perhaps even more alarming is the fact that the Ravens now have two weeks to make all the necessary adjustments.