Nelson Agholor already making a 'strong impression' with the Ravens

Nelson Agholor never quite lived up to his lofty first-round status when he played five seasons with the Eagles. But he’s excelling with the Ravens, his new team, where he’s one of five first-rounders competing for passes from Lamar Jackson.

Baltimore added Agholor in the offseason, signing him as a free agent from the Patriots. New England’s offense stalled last season, so Agholor needed a fresh start, somewhere. He’s blossoming in Baltimore, albeit in minicamp. It remains to be seen whether that translates into the regular season.

ESPN’s NFL reporters are identifying “surprise” players who had the best showings in the offseason. And the network’s Jamison Hensley said Nelson Agholor was the player who stood out the most for the Ravens.

Here’s what Hensley wrote:

Agholor, a first-rounder in 2015, is on his fourth team in five years, but he has made a strong impression in his first offseason with the Ravens. “Nelly” — as Lamar Jackson calls him — has repeatedly stood out, whether it’s a long touchdown grab or a nifty grab on a back-shoulder throw. Agholor is the clear-cut No. 4 wide receiver in Baltimore, but he’s making a case for having a bigger role in the passing game.

And coach John Harbaugh mentioned Agholor in his final media availability to close mini camp earlier this month.

“He has been on point,” Harbaugh said of Agholor. “He’s a talented guy. … a former first-round pick. He looks it — rangy, big catch radius.” 

Agholor caught 31 passes (out of 53 targets) with two touchdowns last season with the Patriots. But as an indication of how poorly the Patriots played, Bill Belichick hired Bill O’Brien to be the new offensive coordinator for this fall. Meanwhile, Agholor’s best season was in 2020, when he caught 48 passes for 896 yards and eight touchdowns while he was with the Raiders.

He’s got a ton of competition on the Ravens. There are now five first round receivers on the team. Baltimore selected Zay Flowers in April’s first round. The Ravens also made a splash by signing Odell Beckham Jr., who missed all of last season as he recovered from knee surgery.

Other first rounders include Rashod Bateman (2021), and Laquon Treadwell (2016).

“They are humming, man. They’re playing really well,” Harbaugh said of the receiver group. “They all look good. They’re running really good routes. They’re being coached well. (And) they’re competing and taking the ball out of the air. Iron sharpens iron out there. So, as they get better, we’ll get better. As we get better, they’ll get better. So, that’s always good for the team.”

Harbaugh hired Todd Monken from two-time defending NCAA champion Georgia as offensive coordinator. And Monken is going to make the Ravens passing attack more of an in-space kind of game. That’s why these receivers are so significant.

“Fitting that all together is really a big part of it,” Monken said. “But it’s fun to try to figure out how to fit it together; you don’t always have that.”

Jackson said he’s also looking to throw deep on more occasions. And that’s where Nelson Agholor comes in.

“Just being able to throw the ball down the field — running can only take you so far,” Jackson told reporters during mini camp. “I feel like with this new era of teams and offenses in the league, I feel like we need that. And coach Todd Monken, what I’m seeing in this offense so far, it’s tremendous.”