INDIANAPOLIS -- With Jerry Porter staying in Oakland and Randy Moss headed to the Raiders, to whom do the Baltimore Ravens turn their attention in their annual quest to land a clear-cut, No. 1 receiver?
Maybe not in the direction you might think. While Baltimore officials have great respect for Pittsburgh free-agent receiver Plaxico Burress, he is not atop their revamped wish list. Why? Because with the 6-foot-6, athletically gifted Clarence Moore already on hand in Baltimore, the Ravens see Burress as an accomplished but older and more expensive version of Moore.
"We've already got a [Burress],'' one Baltimore official said Friday, the second day of the NFL Scouting Combine. "Moore is 6-6, and he's got a higher vertical [leap] than Plaxico. And he's probably as fast. Now he's young. But there's a bit of duplication there for us. I wouldn't totally rule Burress out, but there is some redundancy there with his size and the size and skills of both Clarence Moore and Randy Hymes.''
Moore was a sixth-round pick last year who remains somewhat raw, but has basketball-like jumping ability and a 211-pound frame that should continue to develop. Hymes, a 6-3, 211-pound receiver, is entering his fourth season and also has flashed enough athleticism to excite the Ravens. For the money it would take to land Burress, the Ravens feel they'd be better served to shop for a different type of receiver, one whose strength is to be more of a possession, move-the-chains type of option.
While Baltimore already is facing a more limited pool of receiving options than it anticipated, its short list is topped by Titans' cap casualty Derrick Mason and soon-to-be Carolina free agent Muhsin Muhammad. The Ravens would be wary of giving either player huge money because both are over 30 and on the backside of their careers. But both are clearly the type of steady and dependable receiver Baltimore is seeking.
Cincinnati free agent T.J. Houshmandzadeh is another intriguing possibility -- and the Bengals veteran killed the Ravens last season in his team's upset road win at Baltimore -- but there is some concern within the organization that he might be an example of the classic No. 2 receiver who would struggle when cast in the role of lead receiver (a la Peerless Price in Atlanta).
"The way our offense works, we don't necessarily need a 90 or 100-catch guy,'' Ravens head coach Brian Billick said. "We need a guy who can come in and round out the receiving corps, and complement [tight end] Todd Heap and the young guys we have. Yeah, we want a dominant top receiver, but if he's a 65-catch guy, we don't say, 'We missed on this one.' ''
Just a hunch, but if I had to predict which free-agent receiver will wind up in Baltimore, I'd put a buck down on the ultra-productive Mason, who always has worked somewhat under the radar in Tennessee.
S,I,Com
Maybe not in the direction you might think. While Baltimore officials have great respect for Pittsburgh free-agent receiver Plaxico Burress, he is not atop their revamped wish list. Why? Because with the 6-foot-6, athletically gifted Clarence Moore already on hand in Baltimore, the Ravens see Burress as an accomplished but older and more expensive version of Moore.
"We've already got a [Burress],'' one Baltimore official said Friday, the second day of the NFL Scouting Combine. "Moore is 6-6, and he's got a higher vertical [leap] than Plaxico. And he's probably as fast. Now he's young. But there's a bit of duplication there for us. I wouldn't totally rule Burress out, but there is some redundancy there with his size and the size and skills of both Clarence Moore and Randy Hymes.''
Moore was a sixth-round pick last year who remains somewhat raw, but has basketball-like jumping ability and a 211-pound frame that should continue to develop. Hymes, a 6-3, 211-pound receiver, is entering his fourth season and also has flashed enough athleticism to excite the Ravens. For the money it would take to land Burress, the Ravens feel they'd be better served to shop for a different type of receiver, one whose strength is to be more of a possession, move-the-chains type of option.
While Baltimore already is facing a more limited pool of receiving options than it anticipated, its short list is topped by Titans' cap casualty Derrick Mason and soon-to-be Carolina free agent Muhsin Muhammad. The Ravens would be wary of giving either player huge money because both are over 30 and on the backside of their careers. But both are clearly the type of steady and dependable receiver Baltimore is seeking.
Cincinnati free agent T.J. Houshmandzadeh is another intriguing possibility -- and the Bengals veteran killed the Ravens last season in his team's upset road win at Baltimore -- but there is some concern within the organization that he might be an example of the classic No. 2 receiver who would struggle when cast in the role of lead receiver (a la Peerless Price in Atlanta).
"The way our offense works, we don't necessarily need a 90 or 100-catch guy,'' Ravens head coach Brian Billick said. "We need a guy who can come in and round out the receiving corps, and complement [tight end] Todd Heap and the young guys we have. Yeah, we want a dominant top receiver, but if he's a 65-catch guy, we don't say, 'We missed on this one.' ''
Just a hunch, but if I had to predict which free-agent receiver will wind up in Baltimore, I'd put a buck down on the ultra-productive Mason, who always has worked somewhat under the radar in Tennessee.
S,I,Com
