Griff Whalen could become a pleasant surprise

While Griff Whalen may little on his professional resume he does have skill sets that fill needs for the Ravens.

While Jeremy Maclin may have been a bigger splash signing in the free agent market for the Baltimore Ravens, Griff Whalen potentially has a chance to become a pleasant surprise for the team.

Whalen gained slight notoriety with a few big plays during his time with the Indianapolis Colts but despite having years of chemistry with quarterback Andrew Luck he was never given a real opportunity on a team that had become loaded with high draft picks at wide receiver and tight end. After a four year stint with the Colts organization, Whalen was briefly with Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and San Diego Chargers last season. He caught only two passes in eight games with the Chargers and never saw any action with either of the Dolphins or Patriots. For his entire career, he has 47 receptions for 509 yards and two touchdowns.

But while Whalen’s history and numbers scream him only being a camp body, he does fit a major need for the Ravens, and if given the right opportunity he could carve out a nice role.

At 6-foot-1, 185-pounds, the 27-year-old Whalen could become an over-the-middle type slot receiver. The Ravens receiving corp. is primarily built around speedier guys and ever since the loss of Dennis Pitta and the suspension of Darren Waller, there has been extreme worry and wonder who the chain mover of the team may be.

The only locks at receiver the Ravens seem to have right now are Mike Wallace, Breshad Perriman, Jeremy Maclin and Chris Moore. All bigger and faster outside receivers. Michael Campanaro continues to stick around with the Ravens, but has a long history of injuries, zero production and was cut once before. Kenny Bell and Chris Matthews are both bigger receivers and could become chain movers, but are not as quick over the middle as Whalen is. Quincy Adeboyejo has the perfect build but is only considered a longshot to make the team as an undrafted rookie.

Whalen is far from a proven player, but often success in football is about opportunity. The New England Patriots have long been successful at finding complete afterthoughts and making them stars by putting them in situations that can maximize the player’s skillset. If given the right opportunity, Whalen just may prove to be one of those kinds of guys who bounces around before settling in the right situations.

Combined with his experience and ability as a return man, Whalen has some extra value that should help create an opportunity for himself to get some time in camp and eventually in preseason games. Not every move has to be an addition of a Pro Bowler. Whalen could be a guy who slipped through the cracks and carves out a nice role for himself at a position the Ravens need.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Corey Johns

Editor in Chief

You could say Corey was born to become a sports journalist. His father won a national championship coaching college soccer. His mother is a baseball fanatic who hasn't missed seeing an Orioles game since 1983 (literally, sometimes it's annoying). His great uncle was a big-time boxing promoter and his maternal grandfather was once a department head at the Baltimore Sun. Basically, sports and journalism run through his blood. He played just about every little league sports there was when he was a kid and was a multi-sport athlete in high school; even playing in the first-ever high school sanction Rugby game in the country. Eventually he retired from sports as an undefeated Maryland state Rugby champion as a high school senior. Perhaps lack of athletic talent has more to do with the retirement, but he will tell you that it more had to do with a great desire to jump right into media. Upon his graduation from University of Maryland, Baltimore County as a triple communications major, Corey started the So Much Sports network and has continued to grow his websites and continues to work to make them premier sports media outlets.

Latest posts by Corey Johns (see all)

• So long and thank you from So Much Sports - August 7, 2017
• Os stand pat, pressure is now on this offseason - July 31, 2017
• John Urschel retires from NFL - July 27, 2017