Well, good morning, afternoon, or evening everyone. Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far, even our weekend warriors that work all weekend. Welcome to the ATB Ravens Report. You know, your favorite average Ravens article series. Anyways as Call_me_cookem on TikTok says “Let’s get into it, let’s do it.”
Last night’s BIG Preseason W was history itself but also history in the making. The team tied the Lombardi Era (1959-1962) Green Bay Packers exhibition record of 19 Wins with their 20-3 win over the Carolina Panthers. This is a big feat for the organization and shows that even with the “struggles” that we can see or that are obvious to the naked eye, they can get the job done & get the win.
Offensive Breakdown
The Ravens were on an offensive series with all starters outside of 2 WRs, LT1, QB1, TEs1 & 2, FB1, & LG1? The reason I put the question mark at the end of that sentence is because honestly who is our actual starting LG. I know according to the depth chart & coaches (which I have faith in their decisions) it’s Ben Powers but where was Tyre Phillips or BIG COUNTRY Ben Cleveland. I understand that immediate LG “backup” Patrick Mekari was fielding the starting LT spot since Ronnie Stanley is easing his way back to full strength and will be hopefully be ready by regular season week 1.
The O-Line is still a work in progress
We had a small glimpse at the starting OL yesterday minus one. They have to figure out the LG spot they have plenty of depth to get it figured out. Bozeman looks like he’s getting back to his college Center days which is good. A. Villanueva & K. Zietler are out there looking like their getting back in their prime which is also good. Patrick Mekari is making himself known for the second or third time now? Honestly I’m enjoying it, this dude is giving me Ryan Jensen vibes right. Before he solidified the fact that he was one of the best Centers in the game. The starting line seems like they just need to get the final bits and pieces of chemistry out the bag.
As far as the Backups, correct me if I’m wrong in this order, but we’ve seen
- LT: Michael Shofield
- LG: Ben Powers/Foster Sarell
- C: T.C.C.
- RG: Ben Bredeson
- RT: Andre Smith
These guys did a fairly decent job the entire time outside of minor things or the guys across from them being the better dude. They kept QB2 safe from harms way while creating holes for RB3 competition Nate McCrary(Not to be confused with former DE Michael McCrary, sorry TD, had to throw that one in there) & Ty’Son Williams. Week 3 will be the final test for this young back up group.
RB3 Competition is heating up like no other!
If I could put a fire emoji in this article I’d put too damn many. So many skill position contests heating up. Ty’Son Williams continues to punch in touchdowns & make defenders miss or put them on their ass but Nate McCrary is to quote the 2005 Adam Sandler Movie Longest Yard “He makes fast people look, not fast.”
McCrary has been putting up stats along the lines of 15 carries, 64 yards, 4.3 Avg, & 1 TD. They way he moved along and made defenders miss is like the Great Value JK Dobbins or Ty Montgomery right before his name got big in GB.
Ty’Son Williams(pictured to the right or below) gives me the Gus Bus feel. Every time he got the rock, I’d see him just brushing off tacklers or running them over if there wasn’t an open hole. With 10 carries, 47 yards, 4.7 avg, & 1 TD, there isn’t any reason why this guy couldn’t be the next RB3.
This contest is going to be rough to chose from & either backs could make the team. Front Office & Coaches have their work made out for them.
Defensive front still standing tall
Now I’m not gonna go much into the starters because we know that they’re great & know how to handle business. This set is for the rotational & camp bodies. We all know that Madabuike is making his stock stay high, but there are other names for people to know. Justin Ellis, Broderick Washington, & Chris Smith all making it hard for the coaches to make decisions. And with stats like these, it’s clear that they’re looking to stay on the roster
- C. Smith: 2 Total, 2 Solo, 1 Sack, 1 TFL, & 1 QB Hit.
- J. Ellis: 2 Total & 1 Solo(but lots of pressure on the QB/Run game)
- B. Washington: 2 Total(same as Ellis with pressure placed on opposing offense)
Personally I’m curious to see how these three men hold up in the last preseason game of the season.
“Next Man Up” or so they say.
Seeing L.J. Fort go down and later on finding out that he tore his ACL is heart breaking because, he’s a key impact rotational player. Even though he only had 1 official recorded tackle, he was doing so much for communication & chemistry. But nonetheless the team had faith in the Next man up which happened to be Kristian Welch. Yes, he did exit last week’s game vs NOLA with stingers & severe cramps but it was heart warming to see him back out on the field. This guy can be a decent NMU with Fort out.
Also talking about LBs… It makes my soul or heart or whatever you wanna say happy/full of joy knowing that Daelin Hayes fell to the Ravens and that he’s absolutely balling out along with 1st round pick Odafeh Oweh. Most of you that have followed my stuff with DraftRite or NFLDraftRite dot com, before & after the site crash & rebuild know that I’ve been very keen on this young gentleman. An absolute technician of an EDGE/Traditional OLB. Which also makes it little more tough for Sack Daddy Jaylon Ferguson on the depth chart.
As far as tradition OLBs go, Malik Harrison & Chris Board were showing out their stuff as much as they could. Harrison with 4 Total Tackles & 3 Solo make for a good argument to stay high in the rotation. Board only has 2 Total & 1 Solo but with having keen eye on the ball placement & communication skills will make him a great piece to the LB Corps.
Secondary Showing out & other notes.
Again the defensive backs showing out in excellent fashion. Even though there’s only 3 logged Passes Deflected, they stayed on top of their assignments & kept up top of the tackling list. 6 DBs with 2+ total tackles. Nigel Warrior had four tackles, one TFL, & one PD. He made a clear message to the coaching staff that he deserves to be on this team. Anthony Averett kept on his assignments and made sure no one got behind him. I’m expecting big things out of this guy in the coming regular season. Chris Westry with two tackles is a guy I can get behind for a mean depth choice. Even if he doesn’t make the official roster, it’d be nice to have him on the practice squad. Granted no one takes him off waivers first.
Going to the TE Position for a brief moment, I just want to say that Josh Oliver is TE3. You can’t convince me otherwise. Yes he had a fumble very early on in the game but played much better the rest of the game.
Ben Mason is FB2 if they decide to keep a second FB this season. Last time they did that was when they had Kyle Juszczyk & Vonta Leach. Man that was some fun times back then but it’s now the present & we’ll see if they do it again.
And to wrap up the article up…
Just take a few moments to check out the previous R.R. articles, check out all of head Ravens contributor TD Hunter’s articles, & any of the Around The Block Network’s content. It’s a pleasure to work beside all these great writers, pod hosts, & anchors, but till next time have a good one!
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