Hello Baltimore Beatdown Readers!

Nikhil Mehta is the new managing editor at Baltimore Beatdown. It is an honor to serve as such. You might recognize me from Beatdown’s stint during the 2024 season or Russell Street Report. Or you may have seen my presence on Twitter ( @nikknowsball). It’s an honor to take over from Kyle Barber. He has been a mentor and close friend for nearly a decade. Beatdown is what it has become today thanks to Kyle Barber, a close friend and mentor who spent nearly ten years(!) building Beatdown. I’m excited to work with Frank Platko, Zach Canter, and Dustin Cox.

Let’s start with a few words about myself. As Kyle, I also have a Colorado connection: I was born in Colorado. My Baltimore-born dad instilled a strong Ravens fandom in me as I grew. I played pickup games in my neighbourhood, collected trading cards and, like many others in the industry, tried blogging in an embarrassing way. Tom Mullen was my journalism professor at University of Richmond. He taught me how to write properly. It wasn’t until 2020 that I learned how to write about the game of football. Tony Lombardi was willing to take a risk on a youngster who had no experience and published my very first article for Russell Street Report.

There, I learned as much as I could from Tony, Derek Arnold and Dev Panchwagh about writing, football, and the Ravens. RSR has given me the opportunity to attend the NFL Combine and the NFL Combine Combine for two years, as well as my first credentialed preseason game.

Since then, I have realized that I am a football fanatic. I believe it’s the best sport and the NFL the best league in the world. NFL football is fascinating, from the constantly evolving chess game between coaches to the intense physical matches between players to the intricate intricacies that go into roster management. The offseason is filled with drama and excitement, and we get to enjoy the best of both worlds every week. The draft and salary cap are the two primary mechanisms for building the rosters in the league. They were designed to be equal, so the phrase “Any Given Sunday” is more than a Hollywood cliché. Football continues to evolve and grow with the advent of analytics and international fandom.

I am excited to bring this passion to Baltimore Beatdown. The plan for the future is to continue providing high-quality Ravens news, analysis and commentary. Kyle has set a great example in his stewardship and professionalism of the website. I plan to follow this.

However, you may notice some differences. There will be more movie references, for example. The salary cap and draft will be covered in greater detail. I’d like to give you a peek behind the scenes of the NFL, and show how teams make decisions and how they sometimes get them wrong.

But I’m here more than anything else. Baltimore Beatdown’s subtitle is ‘A Ravens community’, and I intend to run it as such. We want to hear from our readers with their opinions, analysis, and their feelings about their favorite team. What is sport without fans?

I appreciate you taking the time to welcome me back to Baltimore Beatdown. I can’t wait to start.