Dennis Pitta

It's hard being Dennis Pitta right now. Grading all those term papers, monitoring all those final exams, attending all those faculty meetings - it can wear on you. Plus there's another guy in town with the same unusual name and people keep getting the two of you confused, even though THAT Dennis Pitta is someone you've never even met. But that ended Tuesday when Dennis Pitta, long-time University of Baltimore marketing professor, finally found...

Who is there, or more appropriately, who isn't? That undoubtedly will be the most popular question this week as the Ravens start the first of three sessions of organized team activities. The sessions will run from May 21 to 23, May 29 to 31 and June 4 to 6, leading into the mandatory veteran minicamp, which starts on June 11. During the OTAs, players don their helmets and jerseys, but they don't wear all their pads. There is blocking, but no full-on tackling. And above all, the sessions are voluntary.

Three weeks away from the first weekend of the NFL season, injured tight ends Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta are on the mend and optimistic that they will be ready for the Sept. 10 season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. Pitta broke his right hand during practice July 30. Dickson sprained his right shoulder while hauling in a touchdown pass in a 31-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons in the preseason opener. “It's much better, a lot better,” Dickson said. “I can actually do some catching and stuff, and more conditioning.

Months after trading veteran wide receiver Anquan Boldin to the San Francisco 49ers following a contract dispute, the Ravens waited until the seventh round to draft a wide receiver. Ravens assistant general manager Eric DeCosta attributed that to how their draft board stacked up with only a few elite receiver prospects like former Dunbar star Tavon Austin, but didn't rule out the possibility of acquiring an established receiver prior to the regular season. "I think the hunt goes on," DeCosta said Monday night during The Baltimore Sun Sports Forum.

Dennis Pitta's crazy catch over Eagles safety Kurt Coleman was the highlight of Thursday's preseason game. The Ravens tight end posterized the second-year player, playing the role of your average 90s NBA big man as a foil for Coleman's best Shawn Bradley impersonation (if you don't get the reference, this should video should help ). I don't care if it was a catch in a meaningless exhibition game, the above picture deseves the Fathead treatment.

The loss of tight end Dennis Pitta -- who could miss the entire preseason and maybe even the season opener because of a broken hand -- really hurts the Ravens. Despite the team having another quality tight end in Ed Dickson, Pitta is the better of the two players. Dickson has more speed and is more of a deep threat, but Pitta has been more consistent catching the ball. He is also a better blocker on running plays, although both players needed to improve from a year ago. Dickson had become a liability as a blocker on short-yardage running plays.

The Ravens have been fixtures on national television shows since winning Super Bowl XLVII a month ago. Wide receiver Jacoby Jones will be “Dancing with the Stars.” Head coach John Harbaugh and quarterback Joe Flacco, the Super Bowl MVP, stayed up late with Dave Letterman. Free safety Ed Reed played red-carpet reporter at the Oscars for NFL Network. Wide receiver Anquan Boldin and kicker Justin Tucker even played something called “bubble soccer” with Jimmy Fallon and actor and Baltimore native Josh Charles days after the win. But when soft-handed tight ends are critiquing fashion on TV, you know it is starting to get out of hand.

After catching 18 passes in his first three games of 2012, in the process endearing himself to fantasy football aficionados, Dennis Pitta was shut out by the Cleveland Browns last Thursday. He played 57 snaps as the Ravens continued to line up the tight end all over the field, but he had zero catches on a season-low two targets. As a result, those finicky fantasy football folks have been bailing on Pitta, but there is no reason to think he won't continue to be a big part of the Ravens offense.

With tight end Dennis Pitta nursing a broken bone in his right hand that is expected to sideline him until the Ravens' regular-season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 10, the burden has been on Ed Dickson , who started all 18 games (regular season and playoffs) last year, to perform well. But Dickson is not alone. Davon Drew has been getting his share of reps that would have normally gone to Pitta, and with two rookies (Matt Balasavage and Bruce Figgins)

Each week, we bring you a Q&A with a Ravens player, coach or team executive to help you learn a little more about the team. Today's guest is tight end Dennis Pitta. How would you assess your growth with the Ravens? Good. I'm comfortable in the offense, and it's more of a matter of continuing to gain experience and develop chemistry with [quarterback] Joe [Flacco] in the offense. Over time, it will continue to grow. Obviously, there's things I need to work on — just like everybody else.

Just two days ago, the Ravens wrapped another successful draft, selecting a 10-player class that is being hailed as one of the weekend's best by many analysts. Next there are minicamps, offseason workouts and later a training camp to be conducted, and eventually, football games will be played. But who cares about all that? OK, fine, that stuff is important, too, I guess. But since the NFL draft is still fresh in our minds -- and since draftniks are already releasing their premature lists of the top prospects in next year's draft -- let's take a look at what the Ravens might be targeting in 2014.

The Ravens did us beat reporters a minor disservice on Saturday afternoon, drafting Harvard fullback Kyle Juszczyk, whose surname will leave behind many red squiggly lines as we learn to spell it, in the fourth round. It's too soon to say that this did a disservice to Pro Bowl fullback Vonta Leach, whose future could be in doubt . “I couldn't ask for a better mentor,” Juszczyk said Saturday. “I think he's been the best fullback in the league.” As we have seen for two years, Leach is probably the best blocking fullback in the NFL, and he has the dented facemasks to prove it. But Juszczyk appears to be a better fit for the future as the Ravens, with quarterback Joe Flacco, continue to modernize their offense.

Each weekday through April 24, the day before the first round of the NFL draft, The Sun will look at where the Ravens stand at each position, the likelihood that they will address that spot early in the draft and some of the prospects that they may consider. Today we'll examine wide receivers and tight ends: Current wide receivers under contract : Torrey Smith, Jacoby Jones, Tandon Doss, LaQuan Williams, David Reed, Deonte Thompson, Tommy Streeter, Tori Gurley Current tight ends under contract : Dennis Pitta, Ed Dickson, Alex Silvestro, Steve Watson Chances that the Ravens draft a WR or TE in first three rounds : Good chance for wide receiver, unlikely for tight end. The trade of veteran slot man Anquan Boldin created a big hole within the Ravens' receiving corps and they opted not to fill it in free agency.

The Baltimore sports scene is blessed with a bunch of talented bloggers who bring their unique perspective to the conversation. Each week, I hope to chat with one of them in a regular feature called Blogger on Blogger. This week, I exchanged emails with Chris Worthington, who blogs about the Ravens for Baltimore Sports and Life . MV: The Ravens made a splash Sunday, agreeing to terms with Elvis Dumervil. Your thoughts on the move? CW: My initial thought is that this is a very good signing for the Ravens.

The most debated move the Ravens made this offseason and arguably the biggest subtraction from their Super Bowl roster was the trade of gritty 32-year-old wide receiver Anquan Boldin to the San Francisco 49ers. Boldin never cracked 1,000 receiving yards in his three years in Baltimore, but he was quarterback Joe Flacco's favorite target and the team's leading receiver in each of the past three seasons. Boldin was traded after refusing to take a pay cut, something that owner Steve Bisciotti says was necessary, albeit very painful.

A little more than a month since the Super Bowl XLVII victory parade, the party has officially ended for the Ravens. When they next take the field for the start of organized team activities, the Ravens will have a significantly different look from the group that beat the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31, on Feb. 3 to capture the second world championship in franchise history. Since their offseason began, they have lost eight players who were starters at different points of this past season.

Thin on tight end depth after Dennis Pitta broke a bone in his right hand in Monday's practice, the Ravens today signed veteran Billy Bajema , who started 11 games for the St. Louis Rams last year. Bajema, 29, is 6-5 and 260 pounds, and is considered more of a blocking tight end. When Pitta returns -- he's expected to miss four-to-six weeks after having surgery yesterday and team officials are optimistic he'll be back for the Sept. 10 regular-season opener -- Bajema should compete with veteran Davon Drew and undrafted rookie free agents  Matt Balasavage (Temple)

During an episode of “Fashion Police” show on the E! network, Baltimore Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta talked about his Super Bowl experience, and joked about the game being sort of an opening act for singer Beyonce. During the show, which aired March 8, Pitta was questioned by host Joan Rivers about “opening” for the singer's halftime show, and said with a smile, “That was what I was most excited for, opening for Beyonce.” He also quipped that the singer, “took all of our power,” referencing the blackout that delayed Super Bowl XLVII play during the second half.

The Ravens have been fixtures on national television shows since winning Super Bowl XLVII a month ago. Wide receiver Jacoby Jones will be “Dancing with the Stars.” Head coach John Harbaugh and quarterback Joe Flacco, the Super Bowl MVP, stayed up late with Dave Letterman. Free safety Ed Reed played red-carpet reporter at the Oscars for NFL Network. Wide receiver Anquan Boldin and kicker Justin Tucker even played something called “bubble soccer” with Jimmy Fallon and actor and Baltimore native Josh Charles days after the win. But when soft-handed tight ends are critiquing fashion on TV, you know it is starting to get out of hand.