Today, the Baltimore Ravens become the first NFL team to begin training camp before the 2018 season. Ravens rookies arrived last week on July 11. The early start to training camp for the first year players gave them a much-needed head start over the veterans who have been through the process before. The Ravens are starting early this year as they have been selected to participate the Hall of Fame Game. Baltimore will face off against the Chicago Bears in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday, August 2, 2018. In the other four games of the preseason, the Ravens will face the Rams, Colts, Dolphins, and Redskins.
This year’s training camp is highly anticipated as many newcomers look to become stars. There is a new receiver trio in Michael Crabtree, Willie Snead, and John Brown. Fans hope that these three will give the Ravens passing game the explosivity it missed in 2017 when the team had a lack of wide talented receivers. There are two new tight ends in rookies Hayden Hurst and Mark Andrews. They are expected to overhaul that positional group, giving Joe Flacco a valuable new set of targets. Speaking of quarterbacks, above all is the hype surrounding Lamar Jackson. The Heisman Trophy winner was selected by the Ravens at the end of the first round in this year’s draft. He’s expected to be the heir to Flacco’s throne, and fans want to see how he looks in his first offseason.
It is an exciting time as the Baltimore Ravens and the rest of the NFL begin training camp. Each day is another day closer to football. The Baltimore Ravens will look to overcome the problems of years past and return to the playoffs after their absence. Even though it is early in the process, the grind starts today, as the Ravens take their first steps towards preparing for the regular season.
