As is generally the case this time of year, the Ravens are looking to improve elements of their passing game. With Joe Flacco ensconced at quarterback, that means finding viable, reliable options at wide receiver and tight end.
The gaping holes at those skill positions aren't because the front office neglected to address them in recent years, it's just that the hit rate on finding those players is somewhere south of the Mendoza line. Most recently, Baltimore used its first and second-round picks in 2015 to take wideout Breshad Perriman and tight end Maxx Williams. In three seasons, the duo has combined to catch 90 passes for 930 yards and five touchdowns. They've also combined to miss 41 games.
But the Ravens looked like they found a reliable target in tight end Crockett Gillmore, taken in the third round of the 2014 draft. He had just 10 receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown as a rookie but tripled his production in Year 2: 33 receptions, 412 yards, four touchdowns. But a thigh injury during the 2016 season limited him to just seven games and he missed all of 2017 with a knee injury.
The good news is that Gillmore is preparing for the 2018 season. The bad news, according to the Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec, is that he's transitioning to the offensive line.
Interesting news on one of the Ravens pending FAs: Crockett Gillmore is making the transition to a new position. Previously a tight end, Gillmore is moving to the offensive line. He's been training w/former NFL player LeCharles Bentley who runs a highly-respected OL Academy.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiecsun) February 21, 2018
Listed at 6-6, 266 pounds, Gillmore is now up to 305 pounds and getting bigger, reports Zrebiec, who adds that the tight end was talking in 2015 of playing offensive or defensive line though at the time people thought he was joking.
"I could care less about playing offense," Gillmore told Sun in October 2015. "I have the mentality and the want-to to be the best, no matter what I'm doing. To me, defense is where I belong. That's where I've always belonged, and I have that mentality. I play with, I've always said, a mentality of playing with bad intentions."
The 26-year-old is an impending free agent though the Ravens, a top-10 offensive line in the run and pass game last season, are at the very least curious.
It's unclear how this will impact a potential return to the Ravens in free agency for Gillmore. But they figure to be intrigued. Gillmore was a very good blocker as tight end. Has the mindset and physicality to make transition and it's not unprecedented either.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiecsun) February 21, 2018
If Gillmore needs additional motivation (and it doesn't sound like he does), he needs to look no further than the Eagles' Jason Peters, considered one of the NFL's best left tackles before suffering a knee injury last October. Peters began his NFL career as a blocking tight end with the Bills.
