Hello Ravens fans, my name is Marco and I am the Ravens blogger for this site and this is my first entry of the season. There are a lot of unique story lines surrounding the Ravens this season; how quickly will the new coaching staff and players gel? Will we have secondary depth? Will Trevor Pryce revert back to his 2006 form? and lastly, Who will be our starting quarterback and will they remain that for the entire season? These questions cannot be answered just by watching one preseason game, however there are 5 things that I believe will be important to watch tonight and here they are:

1. Will Marcus Smith emerge as a big play receiver?

Marcus is having a stellar training camp thus far, and has been the Ravens best receiver in camp. As we all know the Ravens have never really had a "big play" receiver and they are constantly looking to find one. Coming into the season the Ravens were hoping to hang their hats on Mark Clayton and Demetrius Williams to be their big play guys and provide some explosiveness for the offense. However, with their injuries that has not been the case in camp so far. Smith, the 6'1" receiver from New Mexico, will get his shot tonight to prove he is worthy of being a major contributor for this offense, and if he successful, he will put some pressure on the incumbents who would not want to lose their job to a rookie. Competition is precisely what this receiving corps needs. I believe Smith will have a big game tonight and make a statement.

2. Who is left on our offensive line, and can they protect anyone?

I do not need to tell you all about the injuries that have set back our offensive line so far. Both Adam Terry and Jared Gaither are out, and with the retirement of J.O, we have even less depth at an already thin position. The Ravens missed a great opportunity to sign veteran John Wellbourne, so instead they sign Chad Slaughter who was out of the league last season and is not the caliber player of a John Wellbourne. The Ravens have had to shuffle the line so much already and are being forced to give significant minutes to a practice squad player, Micheal Kracalick. If our offensive line can manage to not part like Red Sea, then our offense will be successful, however if they play that "matador" defense(just let the defensive person run right by them) as they did in the Chargers game(just ask Shaun Merriman) then it will not really matter who we have at quarterback and we will probably see all three during the season due to injury. If the offensive line questions are not answered this season, the Ravens might be making a call to J.O and hoping he pulls a "Favre".

3.Do we have depth in the secondary?

Our secondary was the most injury ridden part of the Ravens defense last season, with both starting cornerbacks missing significant time. Most people felt the Ravens dropped the ball(myself included) by not addressing the need for a cornerback in the first 3 rounds of the draft, however, after watching some of the performances in camp, I think we will have some depth in the defensive backfield that we have not had for years. Tom Zbikowski and Haruki Nakamura, are hard hitting, ball hawking safeties who are all over the field and have impressed in camp thus far. Nakamura(the 7th round pick out of Cincinnati)will get the start tonight and will show the kind of play that helped him get drafted without even being invited to the combine. It is safe to say that Samari Rolle has been a disappointment since his arrival in Baltimore. Rolle missed significant time with epilepsy last season and the Ravens had to hand the reins over to Derrick Martin and David Pittman and we all saw how that turned out. Corey Ivy is going to start along side C-Mac, however I believe that Fabian Washington, the former first round pick, will be the starter throughout the rest of the pre-season and into the regular season. Washington is the fastest player on the team and provides the secondary with a capable, proven, solid cornerback who provides depth for the secondary. With the acquisitions of Washington and Frank Walker plus drafting Tom "Momma said knock you outski" Zbikowski and Haruki Nakamura in the secondary, it could be a major strength this season.

4. How will the young linebackers play?

With the hold out of Terrell Suggs, this preseason should be coming out party for Antwan Barnes and Dan Cody. Barnes is a quick, explosive, hard hitting linebacker who is finally getting his shot to prove he belongs in the league and has impressed so far in camp. The Ravens linebacking corps was old and paper thin last season and injuries forced less then capable backups to see significant time. No offense to Nick Greisen, but I believe he is better bagging my groceries then he is starting at Middle Linebacker in the NFL. If Dan Cody can stay healthy, he, along with Antwan Barnes, Tavares Gooden and Prescott Burgess will provide the linebacking corps with the youthful depth that it needs. Take a long look Ravens fans, Ray will not play forever, and you just might be looking at the future at linebacker for years to come. HOPEFULLY.

5. Will Ray Rice run his way into the stating lineup?

Ray Rice has been the best player on the field in camp to date. He is hitting the hole with speed and power and is showing incredible vision. Willis McGahee got run of out Buffalo 2 seasons ago because of his work ethic and attitude, and that showed last season when he missed significant time in the 4th quarter of many games. The average career for an NFL running back is less then 5 years, Willis is in his sixth season(2nd with Ravens) and is looking to prove he is still answer at running back for this team. With McGahee on the sideline due to injury, the spotlight is on Ray Rice and he is being asked to shoulder the load at tailback. Cam Cameron utilizes his running backs a lot and with the questions at quarterback, the tailback is that much more important to this offense and will need to be an every down, 35-40 touch monster. Ray Rice will provide the Ravens with the 1-2 punch we so desperately need, and if he performs like he has been in camp, the Willis McGahee "era" in Baltimore could end as quickly as it began.

As I have said before, this is the first pre-season game so lets not read too much into it. The goal is to stay healthy and get a look at some players. The Ravens are missing a lot of starters and this game will provide the opportunity for the young guys to step up. No matter what the scoreboard or the stats say, if the Ravens can come out of this game without any major injuries then it was successful.

Thanks for reading this blog and feel free to give me your opinion. You can listen to me every Monday night between 7:30 and 9 p.m. on the SportsMaryland.com Showcase on ESPN 1300.

- Marco Romanell