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Baltimore Ravens: The battle at Tight End is getting interesting

By Rocky Friedman

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The Baltimore Ravens receiving corps is very much up in the air at this point in time. It obviously all starts with the wide receivers, where a 38-year-old Steve Smith will begin the season as the team’s No. 1, and a 22-year-old rookie will start off as the No. 2. That in itself is a question mark, but where the real doubt lingering upon the team falls is at the tight end position.

Rookie Maxx Williams came up huge in the Ravens’ preseason opener on Thursday, as he converted on a 4th-and-20 with seconds remaining in the game, leading to the game-winning score with two seconds left on the clock. He is one of the two or three candidates that could start the season as the N0. 1 tight end on the depth chart.

The leading candidate as of now remains second-year man Crockett Gillmore out of Colorado State. The 23-year-old received a very minimal amount of playing time in his rookie season, participating in 15 games but only being targeted 15 times, hauling in ten receptions for 121 yards and one touchdown. Regardless of how much playing time Gillmore receives, you can bet that he will get a lot more than that.

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Another tight end that potentially falls into this equation is a man by the name of Dennis Pitta. The talented 6-foot-4, 245 pound tight end got his career off to a rocket-fast start. He started all 16 games in 2011 and 2012, totaling just over 100 receptions, 1,000 yards, and exactly ten touchdowns in the two years combined. However, as they do for many people, injuries put a huge hold on Pitta’s career.

He played in just four games in 2013 with a dislocated hip, hauling in only 20 passes for 169 yards and one touchdown. He then participated in just three games in 2014, leaving us all to wonder what his injury status will be heading into the season. After being placed on the physically unable to perform list a few weeks ago, many fans question whether Pitta will ever step on the field again or not.

Although I wouldn’t go as far as to say that he will never play another game, his injuries should still be a huge concern to his career as a whole.

With that being said, either second-year man Crockett Gillmore or rookie Maxx Williams will step up to the plate for the Ravens and begin the 2015 season as the No. 1 receiver. The organization will use these last three preseason games to determine which one of those guys it will be.

Next: Will Breshad Perriman effect the wide receiver battle?

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