Ravens trade for Lee Evans

Lee Evans may have seemed pedestrian in Buffalo on occassion but he is definitely an elite receiver.
After last night’s preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles it became pretty clear that the young wide receivers were not ready step up and provide the Ravens offense with big plays. Today, the Baltimore Ravens addresses that issue by trading for Buffalo Bills wide receiver Lee Evans in exchange for a fourth round draft pick in 2012.
While there was word that the Ravens were targeting Jerricho Cotchery, who signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Evans may prove to be the best option for the Ravens. While he put up pedestrian numbers in Buffalo last season he is one of the best receivers in the league, just one that has never had a good quarterback situation.
Evans is a very fast wide receiver that will be able to stretch the defense. That ability will not only provide the Ravens with a big offensive weapon for emerging quarterback Joe Flacco, but it should also make Anquan Boldin better as he is most effective cleaning up the underneath passes when there is a fast receiver opposite him.
Torrey Smith, Tandon Doss, David Reed, Justin Harper, Marcus Smith, Brandon Jones, and LaQuan Williams, among some others, will still compete for playing time but Evans should be the clear-cut starting receiver opposite Boldin.
Corey Johns
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.By John EisenbergRavens InsiderCSNbaltimore.comThe Ravens are making a determined effort to re-energize their rushing game after it faltered so badly in 2010.The additions of All-Pro fullback Vonta Leach and veteran runner Ricky Williams and the re-signing of guard Marshal Yanda made clear the Ravens intentions to get back to what they do best on offense grind out yards on the ground.Oddly enough their trade for veteran receiver Lee Evans late last week might be the key to the process the most important step.Logic says the Ravens acquired Evans to help their passing game and of course that is true Evans is stepping right into the starting lineup as the No. 2 receiver opposite Anquan Boldin.But in the strange calculus of offensive football it is the Ravens running game that might benefit the most.There are a handful of reasons why the Ravens yards-per-carry average dropped from 4.7 to 3.8 last season — subpar blocking being one but the inability of the passing game to stretch out defenses was crucial.Knowing the Ravens receivers didn t have the speed to get behind them on deep routes opponents stationed their defenses closer to the line cramming the interior box where big bodies collide.This was a major problem. The Ravens blockers were dealing with more defensive beef than usual more than they could handle in many games.