Willie brings a lot to the table
While Willie Anderson hasn't officially inked his deal with the Ravens yet, it's not too early to take a look at both the positive and negative impacts of his signing.
Let's start by thinking positive and thinking short-term: The Ravens play the Bengals this Sunday. Willie Anderson used to play for the Bengals. For 12 seasons.
You think Ravens coaches won't sit Willie down for a few hours over the next couple days and pick his brain?
Anderson will be able to clue the Ravens into a lot of aspects of the Bengals' offense. Everything from the X's and O's and how quarterback Carson Palmer signals his audibles, to Cincinnati's offensive tendencies -- what types of plays they run out of certain formations, what the coaches are thinking on a third and short, etc.
Anderson told The Cincinnati Enquirer that he would be ready to play this week, but I wouldn't expect that to happen. He needs time to learn the Ravens' offense. But he could play just as big of a role just by providing the team with some inside information.
In the bigger picture, the 33-year-old provides the Ravens with some stability on an offensive line that struggled through much of training camp and the preseason.
Look, with rookie Joe Flacco starting under center, the Ravens are going to need as much help for him as they can get. A lot has been made about Flacco's jump from a 1-AA college to the NFL, and while I don't buy as much into that as most, the more comfortable "Joe Cool" is, the better.
The pocket collapsed on him more than a few times this preseason, and adding a four-time Pro Bowl tackle to the mix obviously will help buy Flacco some more time.
On second thought, maybe having him suit up on Sunday isn't such a bad idea.
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