Injury list: Tavon Young and Dennis Pitta are the first to go down

This site isn’t going to be a rolling news site for the Ravens – others will do that a lot better – but I do plan to cover stories that have a major impact and a season-long injury is definitely one of those.

Dennis Pitta – June 2, 2017
Every Ravens fan will be saddened to hear that Dennis Pitta has injured his hip once again. The tight end has injured his hip twice before – serious injuries involving dislocation and fracture. The first injury occurred in training camp in July 2013, wiping out his season. In September 2014, he dislocated his hip for a second time and did not play again for two years. After that injury, doctors advised him against returning to football. He wanted to play too much and returned last year. This third injury will almost certainly end his career, though nothing has been announced yet.

As with the injury to Young, Pitta’s injury affects a position that is fairly deep for the Ravens. However, the players available are all relatively unproven. Nick Boyle plays occasionally between suspensions and might be converted to fullback to replace Kyle Juszczyk in any case. Crockett Gilmore and Maxx Williams have struggled with injuries, as has Ben Watson, whose age is a further question mark over how much we can expect from him. Then there’s Darren Waller, who has just 12 receptions in two seasons.

The tight ends group isn’t bad, necessarily. But there is no nailed-on talent there. Pitta was the closest to that and without him the pressure is on someone else to step up.

Tavon Young – June 1, 2017
There seems to be a grim inevitability to serious pre-season injuries for the Ravens. And in recent years, the secondary has been struck by one injury after another throughout the season. It’s hardly surprising then, that with OTAs barely underway the Ravens have lost Tavon Young for the season with a torn ACL.

Where does this leave the team? The bad news is that Young was one of the highlights of a poor season last year and now he loses much-needed time to build on that – and we’ll lose the opportunity to watch him. What’s more, Young is an ideal slot cornerback and the Ravens don’t have many other natural fits to replace him. The rest of the team’s corners fit outside roles better, as Jamison Hensley explains.

A season-ending injury for a starter is never a good thing but there are some reasons for optimism and this Reddit post does a good job of rounding those up. Essentially, if you’re going to lose a guy then knowing about it sooner is better because you have more options. The Ravens can now look for a replacement among salary cap cuts. If they go with someone who is already on the team, then they have time for that player to get comfortable in the role.