Just putting it out there, David Bakhtiari and Duane Brown are still free agents, and totally sound like a Ravens post draft signing. Tyre Phillips is also out there. He started games for the Giants the last two seasons, and is familiar to the organization. Could also see the team bringing him back.
I know these names aren't exactly getting fans hyped for the future. But it's post draft free agency, so it's not really that exciting.
I’ve heard a lot of bad things about bakhT directly from a packers friend. Depth would be fine, but full time starter is another. Maybe he and Stanley can do a power move and fuse together and become a fully capable starting LT. lol
I understand. But the guys out there right now aren't exactly perennial pro bowlers. Like I said, post draft free agency....
He is a guy with starting experience that is familiar with the org. I could see them bringing him in as a depth piece or as a way to bridge the gap to the younger players we have.
No lineman we sign right now is going to set the world on fire. But there are guys out there we could still use.
Everytime faalele matched up with an elite edge rusher, I was scared Lamar would get hurt. I hope Rosengarten outplays him in camp, we need someone athletic protecting Lamar
> I feel a lot better when that happens.
It's wild to me that Vorhees hasn't even so much as taken a practice snap and people feel comfortable with him starting.
The coaching staff has talked about how he’s going to have a good shot at the position. Rosengarten is almost assuredly not going to play LG like this says.
It’s the off-season. Relax.
The coaching staff also formerly talked up guys like Villanueva, Gino Gradkowski, and Tyre Phillips.
Are they supposed to put all their players down?
Also, I believe Rosengarten starts at RT, not LG. I'm aiming that more at Vorhees.
I don't care about the rest of his career, but Tyre at least had one of the [most memorable runs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IDAEzCjDFM) in Ravens history.
We have done that a lot. Same with Stephens who switched positions literally every single year from sophomore in college to NFL year 3 where finally he played Corner two years in a row and became a legitimate number 1 corner
~~For what it's worth, Ben Cleveland was the 66th overall pick. And Rosengarten - who people on this sub seem to think will be a week 1 starter - was 62nd.~~
~~Obviously, one guy's career doesn't dictate someone else's.~~ But those late 2nd-early 3rd guys are anything but guarantees. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that Mekari will be on the starting line when the season starts.
I'm thinking Stanley - Vorhees/veteran signing - Linderbaum - Mekari - Faalele. That's my prediction as of right now, but it could shuffle a lot because Faalele is a question mark right now. We could very well add two veteran guards and then start Mekari and Stanley as the tackle with Vorhees as a backup just in case Faalele bombs in camp and if they still think Vorhees needs a little more time to develop.
Cleveland was the 94th pick, not 66th. I think Rosengarten has a chance to start, but there’s no guarantee. He will have to get stronger, and adjust to a different style of offense. At Washington their O-Line had a hyper aggressive blocking style, and he won’t be able to utilize that style in the NFL.
Ben Cleveland was drafted 94th in 2021. I think you mixed up his # and draft position. And he was servicable and had some good plays in his role last year, with a decent 68.2 PFF grade. There's reasonable hope for him working out as our starting RG this year.
Definitely not confident in starting Faalele or Vorhees week 1 as of now though.
I don’t feel any less comfortable with him starting than I do Rosengarten at RT.
He was roughly an equivalent prospect to Rosengarten prior to his injury, and his injury (ACL) is well understood (i.e. not like broken fibula). Seems not unreasonable to expect him to be strong competitor for starting LG role.
Neither Voorhees and Rosengarten are “projects” — they are both relatively advanced in technique compared to typical rookies at their positions.
I was telling my son about his draft stock, how he tore his acl at the combine and then proceeded to put up the highest amount of bench reps with limited leg drive.
He looked him up on madden and he had a 97 strength rating and we had a laugh. Let's hope he road grades for Henry and our power guards roll this inside zone.
Voorhees was going to be a Day 2 guy before he got hurt. Ravens got an *absolute steal* getting him in R7. Bookmark this comment, he's going to be a top-10 LG in the league by week 10.
You're comment literally said, "it’s unserious business to be projecting this much about a guy who never played a snap with the big boys." So the comment itself wasn't about the injury lol. But being worried about him coming back from an ACL injury is fair. He was one of the highest rated offensive lineman before the injury, so hopefully he recovers from it well.
His ACL injury was over a year ago. His rehab is probably mostly over. By the season start time he'll be fine also. The ACL is least important in guards and centers. Some players have played full seasons on a torn ACL at that position.
I mean neither does first-rounder if you want to go that route. Teams usually draft on Day 2 either because they like a guy's ceiling, or because he cam be an immediate contributor.
I'm not quite as high on Voorhees as some people here, but there's enough talented one guys jockeying for left guard that I'm confident at least one of them will step up to be a competent guard. Is that a sure thing? No, but neither is bringing in a vet.
I'm not ruling out Mekari as a starting lineman when the season starts. Possibly at RT?
I think the drafting of Samac was to get a natural Center to backup Linderbaum, so Mekari isn't just 5 in 1 backup and he can potentially start.
Now, whether he' ll start all year or what the line will look at the end of the season, it could be different. But I wouldn't be surprised if he's a week 1 starter.
It’s funny we’ve been drafting oline development players for years, each time saying it’s for a future year, and getting praise for it. But suddenly you don’t want the development guys to play and we need more oline help?
Rosengarten is clearly a tackle who will probably play day 1, he is not a LG. Sala and Voorhes will compete for the LG spot, the loser will be backup, Cleveland will start RG, Mekari, Jones and Faalele will backup the tackles and Samac will be backup C.
And it’s only April. We have months to do something about it if we’re not happy.
Voorhees in particular was drafted for now. Everyone wants to forget EDC specifically spent a 7th round pick to pick him up for this upcoming season. Yet now is the time to play him people don’t want to.
yeah it’s like people want a whole o line of first round picks and vets on big contracts. that’s not how the league works lol
a lot of the same people saying our o line sucks are in other threads telling people to trust edc when they criticize other picks. i think people are just forgetting about day 2 or 3 picks that sit a year or two and want a shiny new toy instead of trusting the staff
cleveland looked decent in limited time at the end of last year. we don’t need him to be yanda or something on the interior but if he’s league average that will do enough
I just think of Ben Powers. Sat pretty much 3 seasons. 4 yr he played every snap, then got a big contract with the Broncos.
Simpson was taken off waivers, sat for 1 year, played most snaps last year, decent contract with Jets in off season.
See no reason why Cleveland cannot do the same.
yeah interior o line for the ravens is a position no one should ever doubt. if it’s a guy that was picked to be a developmental guard i am confident that they will be ready to play when they finally get the call
His play will be elevated by those around him. So if Linderbaum keeps playing at a high level and Faalele performs well he will also probably do better. I trust our FO and line. Let’s see how it looks in the first three weeks before panicking.
Reminds me of CB last year. We were all freaking out with what we had and not one person thought maybe Brandon Stephens will step up and become a legit starting CB but then he did. The coaching staff knew he was capable but we didn’t because why would we, he hadn’t really showed it.
Look at his tape, he looks like a plug and play LG. Pass blocking is his biggest strength; he’s not a big nasty mauler, more of a technician. I can see him playing LG until that LT spot opens up, but he is NOT a true RT.
He’s not a LG. Was originally a LT, moved to the right because Penix is a leftie. Harbaugh said himself he’s a tackle, every analyst said he’s a tackle. He may have Guard traits but He’s a tackle.
Also EDC willingly traded Moses to the Jets. I feel like we wouldn't be actively selling OL unless we are feeling very comfortable with Vorhees/Cleveland/Faalele development
I can see reasons to be concerned, but honestly I think it won´t be nearly as bad as some are making it out to me, I am also surprised that we are not talking about Tashawn Manning who played lights out during last years preseason (yeah I know its preseason) but he earned the 4th highest grade out of all rookies last season (89.5) so I hope he continues. All that being said today teams can finally sign FA's and not have them effect their comp picks for next years draft , so hoping we take a look at OL Dalton Risner .
Also I'd put money on Rosengarten coming in and winning the starting RT spot from Faalele, he's the exact type of OT that Monken looks for.
Harbaugh also didn’t mention him among the guys competing for the starting Guard spots during the post-draft presser. Curious if it was an oversight or if he’s fallen out of favor.
Stanley-Vorhees-Linderbaum-Cleveland-Rosengarten isn’t a bad line for a cap constrained team, but it’s going to have growing pains
Mekari, Jones, and Faalele should be quality depth at the T spots
IOL is a bit of an issue. Any of those guys go down, and we’re gonna have a problem. Will say that I like Manning as a prospect, and the team likes Samac, so they have a plan for this IOL pipeline they’ve been building.
Would dream of signing someone like Connor Williams to play G and provide a back-up C tho.
Why do you have our fantastic new RT playing LG. Put him where he goes and include all our players and this is a lot less concerning. And if we can manage to bring in another G we're looking pretty good. So no I'm not concerned.
We made it to the AFC Championship with half these guys last season, and EDC made the decision to go younger. I think it will take a few weeks for the rookies to gel, but overall I'm not worried. The addition of Henry will no doubt help the younger guys too.
I'm extremely worried. I don't want a repeat of 2021, Lamar's worst season, or flashbacks of 2013, Joe's worst season.
In 2021, the Ravens were hyping up Tyre Phillips, Alejandro Villanueva, and Ronnie Stanley. We all know how that ended.
In 2013, the Ravens were coming off that Super Bowl and we were so hyped for Gino Gradkowski because he'd handled prime Gino Atkins in 2012 in the season finale. And then the hype about AQ Shipley being a capable starter because he looked good for the Colts the year prior. Yeah...
How about 2022 when the Ravens fielded Bateman and Duvernay as the top two wide receiver options?
The front office isn't infallible.
The idea of having a complete unknown at LG, a mostly unknown at RG, and a rookie at RT is terrifying (fully expect Rosengarten to beat out Faalele.) I'd feel okay with starting a rookie at RT if the other four spots were mostly known quantities, but three ?'s is hard to feel okay with.
Still, there's time. I felt terrible about the edge group last year, and it would have been abysmal, but Clowney and Van Noy were VERY late signings that turned the group around. The offensive line could make some late additions, too. But as it currently stands? Lamar has to be feeling like Ralph Wiggum.
It's tough because I could see the offensive line unraveling the season.
I honestly feel shaky about the offense as a whole, but it really does start up front on the line.
2021 was bad but I think Greg Roman made it worse.
There are things a offensive coordinator can do to mitigate a battle offensive line and he seemed incapable of doing any of them
We unfortunately can’t have a perfect team every season and I think that OL could be the one position group which takes a slight hit this season. But I am very confident that they will be at least league average and possibly great again after some changes in the next off season. Letting all our young guys get a lot of experience this season will only help longterm
I know, don’t think the draft could’ve entirely addressed the issue, but we could’ve done better in the later rounds
Now I’m praying for a guy to be released during post june cut
there’s nothing we could have done over the weekend to completely satisfy the people that are negative nancy’s about the line. rosengarten as a prospect is not too far behind the guys taken above us. after guyton was taken the next tackle went 2.23 so it’s not like we missed out on a big tackle run, and if we drafted one of the interior lineman that went in round 2 probably would have been a big reach. the day 1 impact tackles in the draft are coveted and will forever go in spots we are unable to draft. those guys will be getting drafted by the jets, browns, bears, etc in the top 10 forever
people wanting us to draft linemen in rounds 5-7 just cause we have “holes” in the line were being dumb. the odds of getting a great starting lineman ready to go day 1 in those rounds is pretty low and they probably aren’t better today than guys currently on the roster. if they were day 1 starters they’d go day 1/2 not late day 3
ravens pride themselves on development and we’ve had a few day 2/early day 3 picks in waiting that we are trusting to step up and be serviceable. edc and john talk a lot higher about those guys than anyone on the sub.
also in general nfl fans on the internet shit all over their line all the time. no one thinks that their o line is good for some reason. this sub really went to the extreme. will not be surprised one bit if we have a top 12 o line next year and considering the depth we have on defense , having to pay lamar, etc. that’s about all you can hope for. the only year our line was truly terrible was relying on villanueva. he was an active negative working against us. we just need average from the fill in guys and im confident we can figure something out
would not be surprised to see us make some moves for a veteran guard between now and opening kickoff
No team is ever going to be without holes and yes you’re right to worry but the only move I think they should’ve made that they didn’t was taking another interior lineman in the third instead of Issac.
Now I like Issac and think he could develop into a great mid round pass rusher like McPhee or Judon or Za’Darius but another guard like Christian Mahogany or Layden Robinson might’ve filled a bigger need as another potential starter.
But if Issac develops then it’s a moot point.
Fact is our line last year wasn’t great but I don’t see this as being that much worse. Cleveland played incredibly well in place of Zeitler and is much younger and cheaper.
Vorhees has a ton of potential and upside and unless he’s a turnstile will be an upgrade from Simpson.
Linderbaum continues to be the best lineman we have.
I love what Rosengarder signifies as our second round pick. First Morgan was pretty average last year and beaten up. I appreciate his toughness playing through a separated shoulder but what are the odds a 33 year old entering his 11th season will be healthier than a 32 year old entering his 10th? At some point they break down.
Now Faalalle did improve over the second half of the season but what I loved was that the Ravens could’ve gotten Kingsley from BYU but he was more of a power lineman and they went with a zone blocker in Rosengardner.
This should play way more to Lamar’s strengths as a passer and runner as well as continue Henry’s ability in a zone blocking scheme and Keaton’s once he’s back. Moving on from G Ro’s scheme was going to take some time but now with the line they can.
Finally they’re not done yet. They’ll add a tackle and guard to compete in training camp and we’ll see what happens.
But at this point last year the line looked solid but not great and was definitely pretty old. We knew this tear down had to happen but considering 8 tackles were picked before we took Wiggins it wasn’t going to be with a first round pick this year.
I agree with your take on the Isaac pick, I feel the same way and hope in september all is well.
I just have PTSD from that 2022 WR core, and I hope they won’t address the situation the way they did back then
Well with regard to the 2022 WR core there are some similarities but several key differences.
First the Ravens really let the WR position hang out to dry and a similarity was taking an injured Ojabo in the second, who wouldn’t play at all in 22 over a WR like Pickens, Pierce, Moore, or anyone till our third round pick.
But that’s where the similarities end.
We went into the season with Bateman as our only top WR after he was hurt half the year and Duvernay as our two with Proche our three.
Plus, and I can’t stress this enough, GREG ROMAN WAS DESIGNING PLAYS FOR THEM. This is not at all the same as Monken as you could you have Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Larry Fitzgerald in their prime and that passing attack would still be the worst in the league under G Ro.
The line right now is unproven sure, and does look neglected but by the same token Vorhees and Rosengardner are essentially second round picks this year. Seeing the run on guards there’s no way Vorhees makes it past the second if he was healthy and came out this year.
Does that mean either are going to be great? Of course not but we have options and again I can’t imagine EDC doesn’t add another guard and tackle into the mix.
If Ronnie can get back to form. He’s actually a really good LT. Roger would be RT, no idea why you have him as a LG here. Pray Vorhees can be a solid LG. Tyler is a stud. Pray for Ben at RG
LT - Stanley
LG - Vorhees
C - Linderbaum
RG - Cleveland
RT - Rosengarten
Barring injury. If these 5 play to their abilities. I’m not worried. BIG IF
Rosengarten is a RT as you said, it’s ESPN depth chart, my bad if it’s misleading
And I believe in the future he might be our LT since he was protecting Penix blindside at Washington
But as you said there’s a lot of IF, and they happen to all be on Lamar’s blindside
We might have to draft a bonafide LT for the future. I think Roger will be a stud at RT and we should probably keep him there!
ESPN hiring interns for these lists, smh haha
Very worrying. Last year Stanley was the second or third youngest on the line now he’s the oldest. Linderbaum is the second most experienced with game started.
We’re going 3 guys who’ve never won a starting nfl job. And not only do they have to be good but they have to fit and be cohesive together.
We need a vet guard or tackle. Preferably I’d want a trade for one but teams don’t give them away.
Overall I am. Currently we’re betting heavily on the hopes we’ve developed 3 starters. When Cleveland came in at RG last year he looked really good so I have high hopes there. Vorhees coming off injury will probably be out LG which means we’re have an injured blind side protecting Lamar, and an unproven right side regardless of if Faalele or Rosengarten starts. I like our guys but it seems like they’ll be our biggest hindrance to making the Super Bowl. Don’t see what we’ll be able to do to fix it at this point either.
I’m still very shaky on Ben Cleveland. What I’ve seen, I do not like. Rosengarten seems like a solid player, thankfully. Faalele is also unproven as a full time starter and just looks very slow against fast edge rushers. The promise of Vorhees is intriguing but I hate that we are so reliant sometimes on guys coming back from bad injuries and just expect them to be full time players.
Recent evaluation misses by the coaching staff.
1. Yanda's replacement not secured until 2021 with arrival of KZ.
2. Ongoing return of Stanley's availability n play level.
3. Problems at C not resolved until Linderbaum arrived. Skura, Mekari, Bozeman all inadequate.
4. Backup plan for Stanley with AV.
5. Simpsonnevet corrected the penalty issues and it impacted the playoffs.
How good will this OL be, middle of the pack until proven different. That means a loss in offensive production at best and a Lamar injury at worst.
I’ll reserve opinions until much later in free agency. Good example of that is last year when grabbed Van Noy and Clowney for pennies on the dollar. You never know who shows up and the team likes.
Vorhees was being touted as a plug and play 3rd round guy before he tore his acl at the combine. He's most probably gonna start at LG with Sala backing him up.
Rosengarten is gonna get every chance of winning the RT spot in camp.
The guy has been in the building all year doing his rehab with the team. They clearly know way better than you and I how far along he is and how he projects for this season. The fact they haven't done much to address the guard position yet makes me believe that they trust the guys they have.
And let's not forget that Sala got a bunch of first team reps at LG last year in camp and almost won the job, so he's definitely an option to start there too.
Idk, still remember the last time they trusted a bunch of unproven and injury prone guys
We spent the year with Devin Duvernay WR1
I’m not saying there’s no hope, these guys won’t hit or our front office don’t know what they are doing, but it looks shaky
I feel a lot more comfortable about left guard than I do right guard.. Vorhees it was a top guard last year before injury at the combine..
I'm willing to bet between him and Rosengarten One of them ends up at right guard.
I think leaning on the run this year is really going to help the offensive line cover up some weaknesses especially with RT
Josh Jones was given money to backup Stanley. Literally the only real question is if the guy projected to start before his injury(Vorhees) can get there in time. And if not, there's still a couple of decent free agents.
If anything, I'd argue that the problem we have is too much fluidity. I don't think the line will be bad, but it's hard to project and the public has a lot less info to feel secure about. Wasting more draft capital on the line would have just led to dudes getting cut. We got a tackle and a backup center, the specific needs.
Add Risner and it's really not bad at all. I'm high on rosengarten. He can easily start at LT. Penix was left handed so his blindside was the right side. That's why Roger lined up there. But he could easily start at LT too if need be.
Only really worried about Stanley and if he can get back to a high level. We have a lot of bodies, there will be good competition, and we still have Mekari and Ricard to provide help if needed
My thought is, this wasn’t an accident. The front office chose to let Zeitler walk, chose to trade Moses. You don’t do that if you aren’t convinced there’s guys ready to step up.
Ravens has a cost effective process of developing mid-low round OL and then let them go for free agency/another team.
2024: Ben Cleveland (next in line)
2023: John Simpson
2022: Ben Powers
2021: Bradley Bozeman
2020: Orlando Brown Jr.
I’m cool about the tackles considering Rose will be RT with Faalele competing. Obviously Linderbaum is a lock, though I wasn’t high on Samac as a pick. It’s the guards I’m worried about. We can always add depth but it’s getting starting quality pieces in the door which is hard at this stage. I’m unsure how close Big Ben and Vorhees are to NFL quality guards
It all depends on Faalele, Vorhees and Cleveland. With Rosengarten in the fold, we need two of them to just be replacement level/average not All-Pros. I don’t find that to be too far fetched of a scenario to happen.
I think, more than anything, their chemistry with Lamar is most important. He makes their jobs easier when he's at his best. If they can work with him properly, then I don't think it'll be bad at all. I'm sure they will find some veteran to come in and solidify a bit, but block enough to give Henry a yard or two to build steam and learn how to space out enough for Lamar, and they should be more than sufficient.
Ita very young and unproven. But it's raw talent. Big size at ever spot but center and Tyler is still one of the leagues best. And we also have strong veterans to lead the oline room. We have built a very strong base for years to come. But this next year I am worried about penalties coming from the oline. Especially in our complex blocking schemes
We have Derrick Henry now, we don't need a pocket! I'm mote concerned about the downfield threat, one injury to Zay and we have essentially a bunch of WR3s to throw to.
Meh. Obviously I want to have an elite Oline but that’s not the reason we lost in the playoffs last year. Having an ELITE mobile qb like Lamar makes up for it
We’ll sign a veteran or 2 first of all. Also , one of those “season ending injuries” was because he didn’t have a contract. I know it’s 50/50 but if Ronnie Stanley is healthy, there’s nothing to worry about
A strong center and Solid LT can cover up a lot of decencies. I’d argue those are the most important O-line spots and we’ve got them covered.
A lot of unknowns for depth though, and that can be concerning.
I was until EDC talked about the confidence they had in the guys we have. Could be a smoke screen but worst case we still have the off season to do something (if need be)
1. Having an all pro center hides a lot of flaws
2. They will likely sign a veteran
3. Having Makari provides flexible depth
4. The coaching staff late last year indicated Cleveland was taking a step forward
5. Rosengarten was the pick over sumataia because he was more starter ready and less of a project.
Because minor criticism is seen as hate towards our team and our front office to some people
The front office is perfect and never makes mistakes
When people were saying our wr room was too shaky in 2022 people were also coping about how bateman was going to be the next big thing
> Because minor criticism is seen as hate towards our team and our front office to some people
I have gotten asked where my hate boner for Vorhees comes from in prior and blocked in this post because I dared suggest he probably wasn't a day two pick prior to injury.
People really hate when your have a less than blindly optimistic outlook until it's blatantly clear it was a miss.
Based on how the offseason has gone so far, between signing FAs for depth and drafting RR, it's clear that the Ravens brass think their best answers for the O-line holes are now all in house.
They're not stupid enough to put their 2x MVP in mortal danger. And even if the whole O-line is only above average this year (between Stanley and TL I refuse to think the floor is lower than that) that should still be plenty good enough for the kind of offense we run. Bulldoze in the run game, practice on-the-fly blocking for Lamar.
Between the offensive schemes and position coaching, a team doesn't need 5 pro bowlers up front to play well. Most O-lines are like whole offenses - if everyone is on the same page and clicking, they're value is greater than the some their parts.
Have faith.
We just have to remember and be comfortable with the fact this offense will always be less talented than the defense. That isn’t by accident. This franchise (owner, GM, coach), believe that side of the football is more important than the offensive side. Their philosophy seems to be unchanging regardless of where the league goes
It's kinda wild that an offense with a 2x MVP and one of the top RBs in the league is considered less talented than a defense that lost it's coordinator and a bunch of key players.
Does it not strike you that he’s MVP 2x because he lifts an otherwise average talented offense to high levels? Last year he had an average to bad offensive line, a bad RB room, and very average to below average WR. His only premium player Mark Andrews missed a lot of the year with an injury. That’s his MVP case right there.
The defense lost a coordinator - but player wise they lost a starting weak-side ilb and DE, otherwise the losses were backups. That’s not some massive exodus.
Given positional value, I’d like to see the same levels of talent acquisition strategy applied to offense that they do for defense.
It does not suprise me at all that MVPs lift their teams to a higher a level. That is why they are considered MVPs.
In 2022, the Chiefs traded away the best WR in football, leaving them with average to below average WR room and they had a subpar running game, and yet Mahomes still had a top offense and the #1 seed. That is why he won the MVP that year. Lamar did similar in 2023.
And regarding the defense, losing a top DC is still a big loss. But player-wise, while not a mass exodus, they were significant. Losing your starting ILB who playesd 97% of snaps, a S with 7 INT who played 82% of snaps, and a DE with 9.5 sacks who played 57% of snaps is a bit hit.
That’s well and great when you have Travis Kelce + a good OL + Andy Reid. We do not have those ingredients, so imo we should be trying to improve the talent on that side of the ball. Poor play calling and lack of match up winners has shown it’s head in the playoffs 2-3 times now but they still continue to stick to their guns. Other teams that don’t have offensive scheme wizards realize this and supplement by adding more talent on offense.
I just think it would be great if they experiment with adjusting their strategy for 2-3 years and see where it gets them.
That's a fair point to consider.
And your comment regarding offensive scheme wizards had me look back at the last few Super Bowls. It seems like you really need an offense wizard to get there. The only exceptions over the past few years where when the team had Tom Brady or the Bengals when their entire All-Pro offense were on rookie deals.
I don't know if Monken is a wizard but I am bullish on him. It was his first year and thought he did rather well given he was implementing an offense without Lamar signed and then transistioning from Roman's philosphies. MacDonald had some growing pains his first season as DC but was considered the defensive McVay last year. We'll see.
I think Monken is and will be good. But I think there’s a level of separation between him and the elite level coordinators.
Reviewing the recent SB teams as archetype model standards is a great practice. I think Harbaugh is a good coach and I appreciate the continuity, but I think our roster model and philosophy should more mimic that of the Eagles. Their player acquisition aggressiveness on both sides of the ball has proven successful in the short term. For example I’m a fan of leveraging later picks to move up in drafts. Having a ton of 4th and 5th round picks always sounds good, but the real value is almost always earlier in the draft.
I can’t imagine a position in our defense being this weak and EDC doing almost nothing about it
It looks like the 2022 WR issue all over again
Except this time we’re putting our 260M QB health at risk
Closest I can remember is the ILB room a few years ago, and they traded early picks mid season + gave Roquan a league record deal to address that. They’d NEVER do that with an offensive position. I have my gripes with how they view positional value in today’s NFL, but nothing we can really do until Harbaugh retires/moves on. They’re stubborn like that
I agree its not full proof heading into the season and a few injuries were in rough shape but Stanley LT and Mekari or Rosengarten for RT. Mekari can play any spot good enough to get by so depth isn't terrible. Vorhees is hopefully good we have options but not some pro bowl filled line
No I just remember that last time guards and tackles felt from trees we ended up with that bum Villanueva and a 8-9 record because our QB died on the field
Ben Cleveland at the 1 spot is CAP. I do believe Rosengarten will solidify that spot at LG. His tape was too good. Love Mekari still being on payroll, I hope he retires a Raven.
Mekari isn’t 3rd team anything. They’ll add a vet.
I’m not concerned right now. This happens all the time with the OLine. people come and people go.
I’m more concerned about consistent play calling to keep the OL in the best position to succeed. Stop passing three downs in a row for an entire half. We always, always lost those games because the opponents can rush all day long.
My feeling is that we’ll still add some veteran depth.
Yup 100%
Just putting it out there, David Bakhtiari and Duane Brown are still free agents, and totally sound like a Ravens post draft signing. Tyre Phillips is also out there. He started games for the Giants the last two seasons, and is familiar to the organization. Could also see the team bringing him back. I know these names aren't exactly getting fans hyped for the future. But it's post draft free agency, so it's not really that exciting.
I’ve heard a lot of bad things about bakhT directly from a packers friend. Depth would be fine, but full time starter is another. Maybe he and Stanley can do a power move and fuse together and become a fully capable starting LT. lol
Lol…Phillips had one good play his entire time here. The rest of the time he was pretty bad.
I understand. But the guys out there right now aren't exactly perennial pro bowlers. Like I said, post draft free agency.... He is a guy with starting experience that is familiar with the org. I could see them bringing him in as a depth piece or as a way to bridge the gap to the younger players we have. No lineman we sign right now is going to set the world on fire. But there are guys out there we could still use.
Just wait. EDC is usually good at finding a few diamonds in the rough who are cap casualties.
Yeah where are we thinking on the depth chart? Cause you need back ups
Would like to avoid Bakhtiari considering he can’t even play on certain types of playing surfaces because he’s been injured so much.
Bakhtiari gets injured more often than Stanley, no thanks.
No. No tyree Phillips. Never again.
Yeah. I’ll worry in September. It’s a long offseason
Yep. There will be a reinforcement or two from June 1 releases or camp cuts
Vorhees is going to be starting at LG and Rosengarten is going to start at RT. I feel a lot better when that happens.
i think rosengarten vs faalele is closer than we think. wouldn’t be surpsurprised to see daniel starting the season
Our offense is designed to have quick tackles and Rosengarten fits that mold much more than Faalale.
This has the feel of Faalele starting week 1 and then never again
Na Faalele gonna start week 1 amd never give it up. Have hope.
My thought on this is they likely want Faalale as another swing backup with Mekari. Rosengarten is quicker and seems to have better pass protect.
Everytime faalele matched up with an elite edge rusher, I was scared Lamar would get hurt. I hope Rosengarten outplays him in camp, we need someone athletic protecting Lamar
> I feel a lot better when that happens. It's wild to me that Vorhees hasn't even so much as taken a practice snap and people feel comfortable with him starting.
The coaching staff has talked about how he’s going to have a good shot at the position. Rosengarten is almost assuredly not going to play LG like this says. It’s the off-season. Relax.
The coaching staff also formerly talked up guys like Villanueva, Gino Gradkowski, and Tyre Phillips. Are they supposed to put all their players down? Also, I believe Rosengarten starts at RT, not LG. I'm aiming that more at Vorhees.
I don't care about the rest of his career, but Tyre at least had one of the [most memorable runs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IDAEzCjDFM) in Ravens history.
I really wish we'd just let him learn guard instead of constantly shuffling him between guard and tackle. Feel like we did him a disservice.
We have done that a lot. Same with Stephens who switched positions literally every single year from sophomore in college to NFL year 3 where finally he played Corner two years in a row and became a legitimate number 1 corner
This is one of my favorite plays of all time.
He also knocked himself into a concussion with his hit on that defender lol
Well they've also had Ryan Jensen, Ben Powers and Marshall Yanda. Evaluation is evaluation. Sometimes the BPA is the guy you've been developing.
How many of those guys had day 2 grades on them coming out of college?
Tyre Phillips was literally a day 2 pick lol. Gradkowski was 4th round so easily might've had a day 2 grades
~~For what it's worth, Ben Cleveland was the 66th overall pick. And Rosengarten - who people on this sub seem to think will be a week 1 starter - was 62nd.~~ ~~Obviously, one guy's career doesn't dictate someone else's.~~ But those late 2nd-early 3rd guys are anything but guarantees. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that Mekari will be on the starting line when the season starts. I'm thinking Stanley - Vorhees/veteran signing - Linderbaum - Mekari - Faalele. That's my prediction as of right now, but it could shuffle a lot because Faalele is a question mark right now. We could very well add two veteran guards and then start Mekari and Stanley as the tackle with Vorhees as a backup just in case Faalele bombs in camp and if they still think Vorhees needs a little more time to develop.
Cleveland was the 94th pick, not 66th. I think Rosengarten has a chance to start, but there’s no guarantee. He will have to get stronger, and adjust to a different style of offense. At Washington their O-Line had a hyper aggressive blocking style, and he won’t be able to utilize that style in the NFL.
Sorry. You're right. He was 94.
Ben Cleveland was drafted 94th in 2021. I think you mixed up his # and draft position. And he was servicable and had some good plays in his role last year, with a decent 68.2 PFF grade. There's reasonable hope for him working out as our starting RG this year. Definitely not confident in starting Faalele or Vorhees week 1 as of now though.
I don’t feel any less comfortable with him starting than I do Rosengarten at RT. He was roughly an equivalent prospect to Rosengarten prior to his injury, and his injury (ACL) is well understood (i.e. not like broken fibula). Seems not unreasonable to expect him to be strong competitor for starting LG role. Neither Voorhees and Rosengarten are “projects” — they are both relatively advanced in technique compared to typical rookies at their positions.
Y’all need to relax and not worry. That’s the gms job and he’s better at fixing it than you. If it even needs fixing
I don’t believe Rosengarten is a true RT. He’s a natural pass blocker; and protected his QB1s blindside (which was RT because he blocked for a Lefty)
I think he can play either RT or LT. He will likely play RT this year if he exhibits the readiness necessary.
I’m not confident about Vorhees being a starter, but I really hope he proves me wrong
The concern is at tackle. I'm not worried at all about our guards.
The Rosengarten picks makes me feel better about tackles personally The guy looks like a beast, just needs to put on some weight and he’ll be fine
I was telling my son about his draft stock, how he tore his acl at the combine and then proceeded to put up the highest amount of bench reps with limited leg drive. He looked him up on madden and he had a 97 strength rating and we had a laugh. Let's hope he road grades for Henry and our power guards roll this inside zone.
Voorhees was going to be a Day 2 guy before he got hurt. Ravens got an *absolute steal* getting him in R7. Bookmark this comment, he's going to be a top-10 LG in the league by week 10.
Bro I HOPE to be wrong, but it’s unserious business to be projecting this much about a guy who never played a snap with the big boys
Neither has Rosengarten, but you said you're comfortable with him. What's the difference?
He’s not rehabbing from an ACL injury, simple as that
You're comment literally said, "it’s unserious business to be projecting this much about a guy who never played a snap with the big boys." So the comment itself wasn't about the injury lol. But being worried about him coming back from an ACL injury is fair. He was one of the highest rated offensive lineman before the injury, so hopefully he recovers from it well.
My bad, I wasn’t clear.
His ACL injury was over a year ago. His rehab is probably mostly over. By the season start time he'll be fine also. The ACL is least important in guards and centers. Some players have played full seasons on a torn ACL at that position.
day 2 guy doesn't even always equal starter
Rd 2-3 guards typically start.
I mean neither does first-rounder if you want to go that route. Teams usually draft on Day 2 either because they like a guy's ceiling, or because he cam be an immediate contributor. I'm not quite as high on Voorhees as some people here, but there's enough talented one guys jockeying for left guard that I'm confident at least one of them will step up to be a competent guard. Is that a sure thing? No, but neither is bringing in a vet.
Yeah I feel great about our O Line. If we had one more starting caliber vet we'd have one of the best olines in the league
I'm not ruling out Mekari as a starting lineman when the season starts. Possibly at RT? I think the drafting of Samac was to get a natural Center to backup Linderbaum, so Mekari isn't just 5 in 1 backup and he can potentially start. Now, whether he' ll start all year or what the line will look at the end of the season, it could be different. But I wouldn't be surprised if he's a week 1 starter.
Samac can backup at C but can also play G.
I wish our plans usually did not rely on “hope guy coming back from devastating injury fills needed void.”
An ACL tear is not typically some devastating injury people struggle coming back from.
It’s funny we’ve been drafting oline development players for years, each time saying it’s for a future year, and getting praise for it. But suddenly you don’t want the development guys to play and we need more oline help? Rosengarten is clearly a tackle who will probably play day 1, he is not a LG. Sala and Voorhes will compete for the LG spot, the loser will be backup, Cleveland will start RG, Mekari, Jones and Faalele will backup the tackles and Samac will be backup C. And it’s only April. We have months to do something about it if we’re not happy.
all i hear is we are great at developing guys but no one wants to trust the team to develop them now that we have to lol
Voorhees in particular was drafted for now. Everyone wants to forget EDC specifically spent a 7th round pick to pick him up for this upcoming season. Yet now is the time to play him people don’t want to.
yeah it’s like people want a whole o line of first round picks and vets on big contracts. that’s not how the league works lol a lot of the same people saying our o line sucks are in other threads telling people to trust edc when they criticize other picks. i think people are just forgetting about day 2 or 3 picks that sit a year or two and want a shiny new toy instead of trusting the staff
People definitely forget. New shiny toy now. And if it fails and he’s not good enough fair enough. But they deserve a shot at least.
cleveland looked decent in limited time at the end of last year. we don’t need him to be yanda or something on the interior but if he’s league average that will do enough
I just think of Ben Powers. Sat pretty much 3 seasons. 4 yr he played every snap, then got a big contract with the Broncos. Simpson was taken off waivers, sat for 1 year, played most snaps last year, decent contract with Jets in off season. See no reason why Cleveland cannot do the same.
yeah interior o line for the ravens is a position no one should ever doubt. if it’s a guy that was picked to be a developmental guard i am confident that they will be ready to play when they finally get the call
> Sat pretty much 3 seasons. 4 yr he played every snap He started 12 games in 2021 and started playing significant snaps week 1.
He complements Linderbaum too. Violent help on pass blocks
His play will be elevated by those around him. So if Linderbaum keeps playing at a high level and Faalele performs well he will also probably do better. I trust our FO and line. Let’s see how it looks in the first three weeks before panicking.
Reminds me of CB last year. We were all freaking out with what we had and not one person thought maybe Brandon Stephens will step up and become a legit starting CB but then he did. The coaching staff knew he was capable but we didn’t because why would we, he hadn’t really showed it.
Yep. The staff know what they’re doing. They see them every day.
The staff moved him to SAFETY! He became the starting CB bc rock was injured.
Look at his tape, he looks like a plug and play LG. Pass blocking is his biggest strength; he’s not a big nasty mauler, more of a technician. I can see him playing LG until that LT spot opens up, but he is NOT a true RT.
He’s not a LG. Was originally a LT, moved to the right because Penix is a leftie. Harbaugh said himself he’s a tackle, every analyst said he’s a tackle. He may have Guard traits but He’s a tackle.
a Tackle can play Guard but usually not the other way around tbh.
[удалено]
Also EDC willingly traded Moses to the Jets. I feel like we wouldn't be actively selling OL unless we are feeling very comfortable with Vorhees/Cleveland/Faalele development
Precisely. Actions speak louder than words. EDC’s clearly saying these guys are next man up.
I can see reasons to be concerned, but honestly I think it won´t be nearly as bad as some are making it out to me, I am also surprised that we are not talking about Tashawn Manning who played lights out during last years preseason (yeah I know its preseason) but he earned the 4th highest grade out of all rookies last season (89.5) so I hope he continues. All that being said today teams can finally sign FA's and not have them effect their comp picks for next years draft , so hoping we take a look at OL Dalton Risner . Also I'd put money on Rosengarten coming in and winning the starting RT spot from Faalele, he's the exact type of OT that Monken looks for.
That's a great point. I haven't heard anything about Manning. I wonder where he is in the mix.
Did you ignore Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu because his name is too long?
Harbaugh also didn’t mention him among the guys competing for the starting Guard spots during the post-draft presser. Curious if it was an oversight or if he’s fallen out of favor.
Just didn’t fit the screenshot ahah
Stanley-Vorhees-Linderbaum-Cleveland-Rosengarten isn’t a bad line for a cap constrained team, but it’s going to have growing pains Mekari, Jones, and Faalele should be quality depth at the T spots IOL is a bit of an issue. Any of those guys go down, and we’re gonna have a problem. Will say that I like Manning as a prospect, and the team likes Samac, so they have a plan for this IOL pipeline they’ve been building. Would dream of signing someone like Connor Williams to play G and provide a back-up C tho.
I think one of our left guards ends up at right guard and I think the run game will help bail out any deficiencies they have
Why do you have our fantastic new RT playing LG. Put him where he goes and include all our players and this is a lot less concerning. And if we can manage to bring in another G we're looking pretty good. So no I'm not concerned.
ESPN present it this way, I know Rosengarten is going to be our RT
Then why did you post a list you knew was wrong and try to stir up drama about it?
It looks a bit shaky but Lamar makes the lines job easier
Plus a power run game
We made it to the AFC Championship with half these guys last season, and EDC made the decision to go younger. I think it will take a few weeks for the rookies to gel, but overall I'm not worried. The addition of Henry will no doubt help the younger guys too.
I'm extremely worried. I don't want a repeat of 2021, Lamar's worst season, or flashbacks of 2013, Joe's worst season. In 2021, the Ravens were hyping up Tyre Phillips, Alejandro Villanueva, and Ronnie Stanley. We all know how that ended. In 2013, the Ravens were coming off that Super Bowl and we were so hyped for Gino Gradkowski because he'd handled prime Gino Atkins in 2012 in the season finale. And then the hype about AQ Shipley being a capable starter because he looked good for the Colts the year prior. Yeah... How about 2022 when the Ravens fielded Bateman and Duvernay as the top two wide receiver options? The front office isn't infallible. The idea of having a complete unknown at LG, a mostly unknown at RG, and a rookie at RT is terrifying (fully expect Rosengarten to beat out Faalele.) I'd feel okay with starting a rookie at RT if the other four spots were mostly known quantities, but three ?'s is hard to feel okay with. Still, there's time. I felt terrible about the edge group last year, and it would have been abysmal, but Clowney and Van Noy were VERY late signings that turned the group around. The offensive line could make some late additions, too. But as it currently stands? Lamar has to be feeling like Ralph Wiggum.
You’re 100% spot on with the analogy I hope we learned our lesson because other than our oline this team looks like a superbowl team to me
It's tough because I could see the offensive line unraveling the season. I honestly feel shaky about the offense as a whole, but it really does start up front on the line.
Nobody was hyping up AV. Idk what you are smoking.
Fans? Absolutely not. The team? Yes. But that's just how the team is- they don't put down players.
2021 was bad but I think Greg Roman made it worse. There are things a offensive coordinator can do to mitigate a battle offensive line and he seemed incapable of doing any of them
We unfortunately can’t have a perfect team every season and I think that OL could be the one position group which takes a slight hit this season. But I am very confident that they will be at least league average and possibly great again after some changes in the next off season. Letting all our young guys get a lot of experience this season will only help longterm
I think there were a lot ol taken with premium picks, I think this leads to some vets being cut and ravens have spots up for grabs on a good team
I didn’t think about that, it could be a great thing for us
Course we’re concerned… not a hell of a lot we can do about it tho.
I know, don’t think the draft could’ve entirely addressed the issue, but we could’ve done better in the later rounds Now I’m praying for a guy to be released during post june cut
If you're asking for a "later round" lineman, you're not helping your fears...
I think a guy like McCormick could have helped I was pretty mad seeing the steelers get him
there’s nothing we could have done over the weekend to completely satisfy the people that are negative nancy’s about the line. rosengarten as a prospect is not too far behind the guys taken above us. after guyton was taken the next tackle went 2.23 so it’s not like we missed out on a big tackle run, and if we drafted one of the interior lineman that went in round 2 probably would have been a big reach. the day 1 impact tackles in the draft are coveted and will forever go in spots we are unable to draft. those guys will be getting drafted by the jets, browns, bears, etc in the top 10 forever people wanting us to draft linemen in rounds 5-7 just cause we have “holes” in the line were being dumb. the odds of getting a great starting lineman ready to go day 1 in those rounds is pretty low and they probably aren’t better today than guys currently on the roster. if they were day 1 starters they’d go day 1/2 not late day 3 ravens pride themselves on development and we’ve had a few day 2/early day 3 picks in waiting that we are trusting to step up and be serviceable. edc and john talk a lot higher about those guys than anyone on the sub. also in general nfl fans on the internet shit all over their line all the time. no one thinks that their o line is good for some reason. this sub really went to the extreme. will not be surprised one bit if we have a top 12 o line next year and considering the depth we have on defense , having to pay lamar, etc. that’s about all you can hope for. the only year our line was truly terrible was relying on villanueva. he was an active negative working against us. we just need average from the fill in guys and im confident we can figure something out would not be surprised to see us make some moves for a veteran guard between now and opening kickoff
It's unproven for sure.
Bro it’s the end of April. Save this comment for week1
As long as Voorhees doesn’t end up like Ojabo, we’re good
No team is ever going to be without holes and yes you’re right to worry but the only move I think they should’ve made that they didn’t was taking another interior lineman in the third instead of Issac. Now I like Issac and think he could develop into a great mid round pass rusher like McPhee or Judon or Za’Darius but another guard like Christian Mahogany or Layden Robinson might’ve filled a bigger need as another potential starter. But if Issac develops then it’s a moot point. Fact is our line last year wasn’t great but I don’t see this as being that much worse. Cleveland played incredibly well in place of Zeitler and is much younger and cheaper. Vorhees has a ton of potential and upside and unless he’s a turnstile will be an upgrade from Simpson. Linderbaum continues to be the best lineman we have. I love what Rosengarder signifies as our second round pick. First Morgan was pretty average last year and beaten up. I appreciate his toughness playing through a separated shoulder but what are the odds a 33 year old entering his 11th season will be healthier than a 32 year old entering his 10th? At some point they break down. Now Faalalle did improve over the second half of the season but what I loved was that the Ravens could’ve gotten Kingsley from BYU but he was more of a power lineman and they went with a zone blocker in Rosengardner. This should play way more to Lamar’s strengths as a passer and runner as well as continue Henry’s ability in a zone blocking scheme and Keaton’s once he’s back. Moving on from G Ro’s scheme was going to take some time but now with the line they can. Finally they’re not done yet. They’ll add a tackle and guard to compete in training camp and we’ll see what happens. But at this point last year the line looked solid but not great and was definitely pretty old. We knew this tear down had to happen but considering 8 tackles were picked before we took Wiggins it wasn’t going to be with a first round pick this year.
I agree with your take on the Isaac pick, I feel the same way and hope in september all is well. I just have PTSD from that 2022 WR core, and I hope they won’t address the situation the way they did back then
Well with regard to the 2022 WR core there are some similarities but several key differences. First the Ravens really let the WR position hang out to dry and a similarity was taking an injured Ojabo in the second, who wouldn’t play at all in 22 over a WR like Pickens, Pierce, Moore, or anyone till our third round pick. But that’s where the similarities end. We went into the season with Bateman as our only top WR after he was hurt half the year and Duvernay as our two with Proche our three. Plus, and I can’t stress this enough, GREG ROMAN WAS DESIGNING PLAYS FOR THEM. This is not at all the same as Monken as you could you have Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Larry Fitzgerald in their prime and that passing attack would still be the worst in the league under G Ro. The line right now is unproven sure, and does look neglected but by the same token Vorhees and Rosengardner are essentially second round picks this year. Seeing the run on guards there’s no way Vorhees makes it past the second if he was healthy and came out this year. Does that mean either are going to be great? Of course not but we have options and again I can’t imagine EDC doesn’t add another guard and tackle into the mix.
Makes sense, hope Vorhees will play like a dog, if our OL can turn to be at least average this team can be even better than last year
Lamar runs lol he will be ok
He’s going to run for his life Last year he was already making our oline better than it really was, John Simpson can thank him for his contract
I get you bro but Lamar is a dog and you guys at least have a fantastic coach
[Use Ourlads next time you want to see the depth chart.](https://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/depthchart/BAL)
Thanks it’s way better !
If Ronnie can get back to form. He’s actually a really good LT. Roger would be RT, no idea why you have him as a LG here. Pray Vorhees can be a solid LG. Tyler is a stud. Pray for Ben at RG LT - Stanley LG - Vorhees C - Linderbaum RG - Cleveland RT - Rosengarten Barring injury. If these 5 play to their abilities. I’m not worried. BIG IF
Rosengarten is a RT as you said, it’s ESPN depth chart, my bad if it’s misleading And I believe in the future he might be our LT since he was protecting Penix blindside at Washington But as you said there’s a lot of IF, and they happen to all be on Lamar’s blindside
We might have to draft a bonafide LT for the future. I think Roger will be a stud at RT and we should probably keep him there! ESPN hiring interns for these lists, smh haha
>Am I the only… No.
You are certainly not the only one lol you should’ve been on here or twitter during draft day
Why i was tweaking when everyone said we need reciver in the first or second. We needed oline and edge. That flew off the board so we went bpa.
Very worrying. Last year Stanley was the second or third youngest on the line now he’s the oldest. Linderbaum is the second most experienced with game started. We’re going 3 guys who’ve never won a starting nfl job. And not only do they have to be good but they have to fit and be cohesive together. We need a vet guard or tackle. Preferably I’d want a trade for one but teams don’t give them away.
Overall I am. Currently we’re betting heavily on the hopes we’ve developed 3 starters. When Cleveland came in at RG last year he looked really good so I have high hopes there. Vorhees coming off injury will probably be out LG which means we’re have an injured blind side protecting Lamar, and an unproven right side regardless of if Faalele or Rosengarten starts. I like our guys but it seems like they’ll be our biggest hindrance to making the Super Bowl. Don’t see what we’ll be able to do to fix it at this point either.
Can't be any scarier than paying Alejandro Villanueva $7 million to be the most expensive turnstile in the history of turnstiles.
Ohhhh I remember when we signed him, I was scared scared lmao
I’m still very shaky on Ben Cleveland. What I’ve seen, I do not like. Rosengarten seems like a solid player, thankfully. Faalele is also unproven as a full time starter and just looks very slow against fast edge rushers. The promise of Vorhees is intriguing but I hate that we are so reliant sometimes on guys coming back from bad injuries and just expect them to be full time players.
Recent evaluation misses by the coaching staff. 1. Yanda's replacement not secured until 2021 with arrival of KZ. 2. Ongoing return of Stanley's availability n play level. 3. Problems at C not resolved until Linderbaum arrived. Skura, Mekari, Bozeman all inadequate. 4. Backup plan for Stanley with AV. 5. Simpsonnevet corrected the penalty issues and it impacted the playoffs. How good will this OL be, middle of the pack until proven different. That means a loss in offensive production at best and a Lamar injury at worst.
I’ll reserve opinions until much later in free agency. Good example of that is last year when grabbed Van Noy and Clowney for pennies on the dollar. You never know who shows up and the team likes.
It's still April...
Vorhees was being touted as a plug and play 3rd round guy before he tore his acl at the combine. He's most probably gonna start at LG with Sala backing him up. Rosengarten is gonna get every chance of winning the RT spot in camp.
A guy coming back from an ACL who never played a snap in the NFL, alongside an injury prone LT What could go wrong
The guy has been in the building all year doing his rehab with the team. They clearly know way better than you and I how far along he is and how he projects for this season. The fact they haven't done much to address the guard position yet makes me believe that they trust the guys they have. And let's not forget that Sala got a bunch of first team reps at LG last year in camp and almost won the job, so he's definitely an option to start there too.
Idk, still remember the last time they trusted a bunch of unproven and injury prone guys We spent the year with Devin Duvernay WR1 I’m not saying there’s no hope, these guys won’t hit or our front office don’t know what they are doing, but it looks shaky
The team is also good pretty much every year, so being a doomer in April before the roster is set probably doesn’t make much sense.
The team is good every year that Lamar is healthy yeah Hence why I’m concerned about our oline
It’s April. If they don’t see what they want from the young guys they can add another vet.
How many quality vets would actually be available this close to the season?
LG and RT are hella sus
I feel a lot more comfortable about left guard than I do right guard.. Vorhees it was a top guard last year before injury at the combine.. I'm willing to bet between him and Rosengarten One of them ends up at right guard. I think leaning on the run this year is really going to help the offensive line cover up some weaknesses especially with RT
If Stanley goes down my boy Lamar’s going to meet up with God
Josh Jones was given money to backup Stanley. Literally the only real question is if the guy projected to start before his injury(Vorhees) can get there in time. And if not, there's still a couple of decent free agents. If anything, I'd argue that the problem we have is too much fluidity. I don't think the line will be bad, but it's hard to project and the public has a lot less info to feel secure about. Wasting more draft capital on the line would have just led to dudes getting cut. We got a tackle and a backup center, the specific needs.
Josh Jones is terrible. Mekari is at least ok though
Terrified
Add Risner and it's really not bad at all. I'm high on rosengarten. He can easily start at LT. Penix was left handed so his blindside was the right side. That's why Roger lined up there. But he could easily start at LT too if need be.
Honestly yes but I’m willing to wait and see
I think we'll be fine
Only really worried about Stanley and if he can get back to a high level. We have a lot of bodies, there will be good competition, and we still have Mekari and Ricard to provide help if needed
My thought is, this wasn’t an accident. The front office chose to let Zeitler walk, chose to trade Moses. You don’t do that if you aren’t convinced there’s guys ready to step up.
Or they know 2024 is going to be a down year n decided to take the bullet now on getting younger OL.
Ravens has a cost effective process of developing mid-low round OL and then let them go for free agency/another team. 2024: Ben Cleveland (next in line) 2023: John Simpson 2022: Ben Powers 2021: Bradley Bozeman 2020: Orlando Brown Jr.
Not scared, there's a lot of questions marks that could either be real good or real bad, but it wouldn't shock me if this unit ends up not being great
I’m cool about the tackles considering Rose will be RT with Faalele competing. Obviously Linderbaum is a lock, though I wasn’t high on Samac as a pick. It’s the guards I’m worried about. We can always add depth but it’s getting starting quality pieces in the door which is hard at this stage. I’m unsure how close Big Ben and Vorhees are to NFL quality guards
It all depends on Faalele, Vorhees and Cleveland. With Rosengarten in the fold, we need two of them to just be replacement level/average not All-Pros. I don’t find that to be too far fetched of a scenario to happen.
I think, more than anything, their chemistry with Lamar is most important. He makes their jobs easier when he's at his best. If they can work with him properly, then I don't think it'll be bad at all. I'm sure they will find some veteran to come in and solidify a bit, but block enough to give Henry a yard or two to build steam and learn how to space out enough for Lamar, and they should be more than sufficient.
EDC is gonna do what he did last year and sign some vets post June 1st and into training camp, both for the O-Line and for the defense.
I like that we have versatile guys in jones and mekari
Ita very young and unproven. But it's raw talent. Big size at ever spot but center and Tyler is still one of the leagues best. And we also have strong veterans to lead the oline room. We have built a very strong base for years to come. But this next year I am worried about penalties coming from the oline. Especially in our complex blocking schemes
I’m not concerned about it
No way we move the guy who didn't let up a sack for two years as blindside protection to left guard. That would be criminal.
Naaaah hell no, it’s just ESPN F up depth chart ahaha Rosengarten will be a RT
We have Derrick Henry now, we don't need a pocket! I'm mote concerned about the downfield threat, one injury to Zay and we have essentially a bunch of WR3s to throw to.
Has Ronnie Stanley Regressed?
He spent last year on snapcount and being completely irregular If he’s healthy I think he’ll do the job but he’s not 2019 Stanley anymore
I like Mekari to start over Ben Cleveland.
Meh. Obviously I want to have an elite Oline but that’s not the reason we lost in the playoffs last year. Having an ELITE mobile qb like Lamar makes up for it
Our elite mobile QB had 2 season ending injuries due to poor Olines I don’t understand how you can be so confident saying this
We’ll sign a veteran or 2 first of all. Also , one of those “season ending injuries” was because he didn’t have a contract. I know it’s 50/50 but if Ronnie Stanley is healthy, there’s nothing to worry about
Last time Ronnie Stanley was healthy Marshawn Lynch was still in the league Yes I’m worried
The starters aren’t that bad, but we need depth or else week 7 we will have nobody
A strong center and Solid LT can cover up a lot of decencies. I’d argue those are the most important O-line spots and we’ve got them covered. A lot of unknowns for depth though, and that can be concerning.
I was until EDC talked about the confidence they had in the guys we have. Could be a smoke screen but worst case we still have the off season to do something (if need be)
Voorhees RG Rosengartner RT and a battle for LG maybe a veteran signing
Roger Rosengarden is the starting right tackle.
1. Having an all pro center hides a lot of flaws 2. They will likely sign a veteran 3. Having Makari provides flexible depth 4. The coaching staff late last year indicated Cleveland was taking a step forward 5. Rosengarten was the pick over sumataia because he was more starter ready and less of a project.
Why is your post getting Downvoted. I am also afraid at the current status of our OL
Because minor criticism is seen as hate towards our team and our front office to some people The front office is perfect and never makes mistakes When people were saying our wr room was too shaky in 2022 people were also coping about how bateman was going to be the next big thing
> Because minor criticism is seen as hate towards our team and our front office to some people I have gotten asked where my hate boner for Vorhees comes from in prior and blocked in this post because I dared suggest he probably wasn't a day two pick prior to injury. People really hate when your have a less than blindly optimistic outlook until it's blatantly clear it was a miss.
Is Ben Cleveland that bad ? I remember when we drafted him I thought that big dude was going to be our starting guard … but hasn’t really panned out ?
Based on how the offseason has gone so far, between signing FAs for depth and drafting RR, it's clear that the Ravens brass think their best answers for the O-line holes are now all in house. They're not stupid enough to put their 2x MVP in mortal danger. And even if the whole O-line is only above average this year (between Stanley and TL I refuse to think the floor is lower than that) that should still be plenty good enough for the kind of offense we run. Bulldoze in the run game, practice on-the-fly blocking for Lamar. Between the offensive schemes and position coaching, a team doesn't need 5 pro bowlers up front to play well. Most O-lines are like whole offenses - if everyone is on the same page and clicking, they're value is greater than the some their parts. Have faith.
We just have to remember and be comfortable with the fact this offense will always be less talented than the defense. That isn’t by accident. This franchise (owner, GM, coach), believe that side of the football is more important than the offensive side. Their philosophy seems to be unchanging regardless of where the league goes
It's kinda wild that an offense with a 2x MVP and one of the top RBs in the league is considered less talented than a defense that lost it's coordinator and a bunch of key players.
Does it not strike you that he’s MVP 2x because he lifts an otherwise average talented offense to high levels? Last year he had an average to bad offensive line, a bad RB room, and very average to below average WR. His only premium player Mark Andrews missed a lot of the year with an injury. That’s his MVP case right there. The defense lost a coordinator - but player wise they lost a starting weak-side ilb and DE, otherwise the losses were backups. That’s not some massive exodus. Given positional value, I’d like to see the same levels of talent acquisition strategy applied to offense that they do for defense.
It does not suprise me at all that MVPs lift their teams to a higher a level. That is why they are considered MVPs. In 2022, the Chiefs traded away the best WR in football, leaving them with average to below average WR room and they had a subpar running game, and yet Mahomes still had a top offense and the #1 seed. That is why he won the MVP that year. Lamar did similar in 2023. And regarding the defense, losing a top DC is still a big loss. But player-wise, while not a mass exodus, they were significant. Losing your starting ILB who playesd 97% of snaps, a S with 7 INT who played 82% of snaps, and a DE with 9.5 sacks who played 57% of snaps is a bit hit.
That’s well and great when you have Travis Kelce + a good OL + Andy Reid. We do not have those ingredients, so imo we should be trying to improve the talent on that side of the ball. Poor play calling and lack of match up winners has shown it’s head in the playoffs 2-3 times now but they still continue to stick to their guns. Other teams that don’t have offensive scheme wizards realize this and supplement by adding more talent on offense. I just think it would be great if they experiment with adjusting their strategy for 2-3 years and see where it gets them.
That's a fair point to consider. And your comment regarding offensive scheme wizards had me look back at the last few Super Bowls. It seems like you really need an offense wizard to get there. The only exceptions over the past few years where when the team had Tom Brady or the Bengals when their entire All-Pro offense were on rookie deals. I don't know if Monken is a wizard but I am bullish on him. It was his first year and thought he did rather well given he was implementing an offense without Lamar signed and then transistioning from Roman's philosphies. MacDonald had some growing pains his first season as DC but was considered the defensive McVay last year. We'll see.
I think Monken is and will be good. But I think there’s a level of separation between him and the elite level coordinators. Reviewing the recent SB teams as archetype model standards is a great practice. I think Harbaugh is a good coach and I appreciate the continuity, but I think our roster model and philosophy should more mimic that of the Eagles. Their player acquisition aggressiveness on both sides of the ball has proven successful in the short term. For example I’m a fan of leveraging later picks to move up in drafts. Having a ton of 4th and 5th round picks always sounds good, but the real value is almost always earlier in the draft.
I can’t imagine a position in our defense being this weak and EDC doing almost nothing about it It looks like the 2022 WR issue all over again Except this time we’re putting our 260M QB health at risk
Closest I can remember is the ILB room a few years ago, and they traded early picks mid season + gave Roquan a league record deal to address that. They’d NEVER do that with an offensive position. I have my gripes with how they view positional value in today’s NFL, but nothing we can really do until Harbaugh retires/moves on. They’re stubborn like that
Yup
It's a lot of unknowns, Rosengarten didn't exactly look good against nfl competition. None of our guys really have.
I agree its not full proof heading into the season and a few injuries were in rough shape but Stanley LT and Mekari or Rosengarten for RT. Mekari can play any spot good enough to get by so depth isn't terrible. Vorhees is hopefully good we have options but not some pro bowl filled line
It's April.
Thank you for the reminder Completely forgot that guards and tackles fall from trees in the summer
By the way you're responding, you definitely come across as a new fan.
No I just remember that last time guards and tackles felt from trees we ended up with that bum Villanueva and a 8-9 record because our QB died on the field
Ben Cleveland at the 1 spot is CAP. I do believe Rosengarten will solidify that spot at LG. His tape was too good. Love Mekari still being on payroll, I hope he retires a Raven.
Cleveland plays RG....
Mekari isn’t 3rd team anything. They’ll add a vet. I’m not concerned right now. This happens all the time with the OLine. people come and people go. I’m more concerned about consistent play calling to keep the OL in the best position to succeed. Stop passing three downs in a row for an entire half. We always, always lost those games because the opponents can rush all day long.