Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

John Harbaugh says big changes are coming to Ravens WR room

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated Jan 25, 2023 8:35 AM ET

While it’s still not known who will be the Baltimore Ravens starting quarterback in 2023, whomever is under center will have a completely different supporting cast of wideouts, according to head coach John Harbaugh.

Speaking to reporters at his end-of-season media availability, Harbaugh stated that roughly 75 percent of Baltimore’s offense would remain unchanged but the group that would need a facelift, so to speak, is the receivers.

“The one area that needs to be built is the wide receiver room,” Harbaugh said. “So that’ll be a new room, basically. There will be pieces of it still there; you know the guys. And then we’ll be adding a lot of pieces to that room and there will be competition too. …That wide receiver room can be built up, and those are pieces we can give Lamar and give him a chance to really thrive.”

Greg Roman may be of the greatest run game tacticians I have ever been around at the NFL level. RBs and TEs love his system because they EAT. WRs absolutely hate it. That’s why free agent WRs didn’t want to go to or stay in Baltimore. It was never about Lamar Jackson.
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) January 19, 2023

Baltimore’s receivers ranked 22nd in touchdowns (19) and in yards per reception (10.7), 28th in receptions (300) and 30th in yards (3,202). The Ravens' top-two leading receivers — Demarcus Robinson and Devin Duvernay — combined for just 85 receptions, 865 yards and five touchdowns.

While the free-agent market for receivers is nothing to write home about, there are some decent options the Ravens could consider, including Sterling Shepard, D.J. Chark, Allen Lazard, Jakobi Meyers, Juju Smith-Schuster and Mack Hollins. The team could also pursue a trade for either Arizona's DeAndre Hopkins or Houston's Brandin Cooks.

The likelier scenario would probably involve Baltimore using its No. 23 overall pick on one of the wideouts with a first-round projection including Quentin Johnston, Jordan Addison, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Josh Downs, Kayshon Boutte, Jaylin Hyatt or Zay Flowers.

Michael Gallagher

Michael Gallagher is a longtime sports journalist based out of Nashville with a decade of experience covering college football, mixed martial arts and prep sports plus the NFL and NHL — specifically the Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators. He’s covered several notable sporting events including an AFC Championship game, a Stanley Cup Final, an NHL All-Star Game and an NHL Stadium Series. Some of his past bylines can be found at the Nashville Scene, SB Nation, The Hockey News and Fox Sports Knoxville

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