The Ravens’ victory over the Chargers on Monday night wasn’t free. Due to a broken arm, Ravens tight end Charlie Kolar is anticipated to be placed on Injured Reserve and miss at least four weeks of action.

First of all, Kolar deserves praise for persevering through a whole quarter despite having a fractured arm. When the adrenaline is running high, we as fans often forget how amazing these athletes are. Second, the Ravens have suffered a difficult defeat. Even though he doesn’t always appear on the stat sheet, Kolar is a reliable member of this offense who plays every snap—up to half of them in some games.

This season, Kolar has developed into a valuable run-blocking player who occasionally makes plays for the Ravens during drives. The Ravens prefer to use every tight end on the roster, and during the Lamar Jackson era, they have usually rostered three players throughout the season, even though most teams don’t have a big need for a third tight end. The Ravens don’t need to add anyone because they already have Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, and Patrick Ricard on the roster. However, it seems like John Harbaugh will try to fill the void rather than make accommodations for the injury.

The Ravens’ first draft pick, Qadir Ismail, who is the son of a former Ravens player, has been placed on injured reserve. This leaves Zaire Mitchell-Paden as the only tight end currently on the practice squad. Additionally, Scotty Washington, who was with the Ravens last season on the practice squad and participated in training camp, was recently signed by the team after a workout. Between Mitchell-Paden and Washington, they have a combined total of one NFL game played.

Lamar Jackson Declares the Ravens’ New Top Receiver.

Lamar Jackson claims that the Baltimore Ravens have a new favorite wide receiver. Rashod Bateman, a fourth-year veteran, is now the two-time NFL MVP quarterback’s top target.

According to Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Banner, Jackson boldly stated, “I look at him as WR1,” in response to a question concerning Bateman.

For a frequently injured former first-round draft pick who hasn’t always performed well, that is quite a vote of confidence. This season, Bateman has been healthy and productive, gaining the respect of the Ravens’ clear offensive leader in the process.

Bateman, Rashod Justification for Lamar Jackson’s Accolades

In 2021, the Ravens selected Bateman with the 27th overall pick in the hopes that he would emerge as Jackson’s genuine No. 1 receiver right away. Those best-laid plans were derailed by fate and circumstances, with Bateman’s extensive injury history being a significant issue.

Before making a comeback this season, he missed time due to hamstring, lisfranc, and groin problems. Although Bateman was an exciting possibility due to his vertical speed, the run-heavy strategies that were created around Jackson’s dual-threat abilities didn’t always work with him.

Thankfully, since Todd Monken took over as offensive coordinator in 2023 from Greg Roman, the Ravens have thrown the ball more aggressively. As a leading separator against media coverage, Bateman has benefited greatly from the schematic shift.

As the season has gone on, Bateman has also begun to triumph over other forms of coverage. According to ESPN’s Seth Walder, he had “0.9 yards per route run versus man coverage and 2.4 yards against zone coverage” going into Week 12’s contest against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Bateman proved to be an issue against a Chargers defense that mainly relied on zone coverage shells, as Walder had anticipated. This forty-yard touchdown catch was his best play.

Under pressure, Bateman made the difficult catch to enable Jackson’s gutsy throw pay off. A WR1 can do that for his QB, but Jackson has other high-caliber weapons besides Bateman.

The Ravens’ core group of pass-game creators

Jackson likely has a core of real playmakers to target through the air for the first time. All-Star tight end Although he is a traveling understudy, Mark Andrews remains a reliable safety valve. Isaiah is probably more active when holding the ball.

Nelson Agholor is a dependable veteran that Jackson can turn to when he throws to his wideouts. In the red zone and between the numbers, the latter can still prevail.

Last but not least, many would have referred to Zay Flowers, a second-year pro, as Jackson’s WR1. Flowers can win at several levels of the field and is an excellent after-the-catch player.

With 87 targets and 57 catches, he continues to outscore all Ravens receivers. According to Pro Football Reference, Bateman has been targeted at least four times in all but two games this season, though he is still a long way from those totals with 55 targets and 35 receptions.

Jackson is accompanied by a group of supplementary pass-catchers from the Ravens. The team is in need of an Alpha, someone who can defeat the league’s top defenses in one-on-one matches.

Jackson obviously thinks the 25-year-old is finally on his way, even though Bateman isn’t there yet.