Hey everyone, so I know this is kinda last minute and out of the blue but we are less than 24 hours away from kick off & there’s some things that need to be discussed. As I sit here & type this waiting on my work laundry to get done on Friday August 27th, 2021, I’m thinking about what the team is getting ready to do tomorrow for their 6pm EST Battle of the Beltway showdown vs the Washington Football Team.
Washington coming off a 17-13 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals are looking to put an end to the Ravens’ preseason win streak. Will that happen? I sure as hell hope not. Ryan Fitzpatrick doing pretty decent with the staters in the first half according to the box score stats on ESPN.
Taylor Heinicke looking sharp too. 11/13 attempts for 80 yards, not bad young buck, not bad. Their defense also looking fairly good. 55 total tackles, 36 solo, 1 sack, & 3 TFL. They put a deal on the Cincy offense.
Now this may seem like I’m giving the WFT too much credit but you know, gotta give it when it’s due. On the other hand, it’s a different story when Baltimore comes to town.
You all know when Baltimore comes to town it’s to make a statement.
Whether it’s in the Pre, Reg, or Post Season, the Ravens are here to get the job done. Save the lecture about the playoffs, they got the job done vs Tennessee but for the rest just have to be patient. This week we’ll have some first string fun again. LJ8 & Co looking to get on a rhythm in Q1, hopefully we’ll get a taste of Hollywood Brown & Ronnie Stanley being back on offense. On defense, look for the entire starting defense to completely dominate Washington’s air & ground games.
Now I’m gonna be honest here, I’ll probably miss half or most of the game when it’s live due to working 9:30a-6:30p then going out to eat with my wife and in-laws right after. That will take a lot of time away from any live tweet reactions. Plus I have to make another free trial, so maybe can catch it on GamePass replay. So this preview & rambles will have to do till later Laugh Out Loud.
Depth is both a blessing & a curse.
As most of us have seen & heard about the Shaun Wade trade to the patriots for a 2022 7th rounder & 2023 5th round pick has the fan base torn. All in all, he was probably going to be cut after this preseason/camp even with the phenomenal stats he was putting up. Soooo…. why not get something in return instead of letting that value go to waste.
With that being said I imagine that Tavon Young, Nigel Warrior(pictured to left or below), & Chris Westry will continue to step up and make plays within the secondary. These guys will stay on their assignments and make WRs miss. Now I’m not gonna dig into their full breakdowns cause the CB/DB’s aren’t exactly my strong suit.
But since we’re still in the secondary chat room, let’s talk about Brandon Stephens & Ar’Darius Washington for a second. Granted these are the only 2 Free Safeties behind DeShon Elliot, they’ve really been stepping up and making that back-up position battle tough. I feel like these two are gonna make it hard for the coaches to make a decision once they show out their skills one last time against Washington.
My prediction is that one or two of these guys will have an interception or forced fumble in the game.
The trenches are getting intense.
Ben Cleveland finally returns to practice, does that mean we finally get to see him suited up and play?! I sure as hell hope so. I’m not a Georgia Bulldog fan unlike a good friend of mine on twitter but man after seeing the Ravens take the chance at Big Country the tank of a man, I got excited to see the iOL competition heat up.
Prediction on him individually, the team is probably still easing him so we’ll either see him very early on in the game in basic packages or towards the end when they’re trying to wrap things up.
But for the rest of the OL, be prepared for a game of shuffle, as the versatility game continues and don’t be shocked if you see something along the lines of:
- LT: Trye Phillips
- LG: Ben Bredeson
- C: T.C.C (Because he stay clutch at the Center position.)
- RG: Foster Sarell
- LT: Adrian Ealy
Now you can quote this, tell me I’m right or wrong, but this is something we can see happening tomorrow evening. But a major name that we’ll probably see perform well and make the 53 man roster will most likely include Patrick Mekari. The guy is a versatile machine that can execute well in the Center, Guard, or Tackle spot. Be on the look out for a good amount of pancakes coming out of him too.
When one man falls, another rises.
To dig into last week’s article about LJ Fort going down & the next man up mentality that the Ravens have. Malik Harrison has been promoted to the official starting WLB. Harrison has proven himself worthy of the spot with progression made from all his hard work last season to this TC/Preseason. On either the ATB Week 1 preview or review, managed to sit & listen to the Ravens’ Lounge pod featuring this guy and man let me tell you, it’s hard not to like this guy.
Which also means Otaro Alaka, Chris Board & Kristian Welch, hell even Daelin Hayes have to step up for the traditional Will OLB position. All of these guys are in a do or die situation coming up tomorrow evening.
Before we run to the other big men, let’s stop and talk about my guy for a second. If anyone remembers my article before it got deleted on Hayes knows that this kid can play just about an OLB spot you can think of from Traditional to EDGE. I would imagine he’ll show out and make his case to stay on the roster.
Who is gonna make their case to stay in the trenches.
We’ll see Williams, Wolfe, Campbell, McPhee, & Bowser make note for them to have their starting spots but what about the rest of them? Justin Houston, Odafe Oweh, & Justin Madubuike are for sure roster spots secured but what about Crawford, Ellis, Washington, Smith & Sack Daddy Ferguson?
These guys have been putting up numbers but there’s not enough room for everyone but while they have the chance expect them to put Washington OL & backfield on their asses. Ellis & Washington, I can see making their cases but some of the other depth is what gets me alittle worried because well OL/DL is my thing.
Just look for all these guys to have fun out there.
Last minute notes and wrapping up
There’s a bunch of close contests in this last preseason game that make all of us question and/or praise coach & front office decisions. The WR & RB room wars are crazy right now, Tyler Huntley is solidifying his QB2 Spot with this game, and is this team gonna keep an official TE3? We don’t know for sure yet. I would take a wild guess that it’s gonna be 6 WRs, 3 TEs, 3 RBs and probably still 1 dedicated FB on the official roster.
The 2021 Ravens are going to break history and win 20 preseason games, but if it doesn’t happen I won’t be mad.
With everything being said now and it being late where I’m at typing, don’t forget to follow the Around The Block network on the website and all forms of social media. Also don’t forget to like & comment any feedback you have on the article wherever you may be. Have a great night & day everyone!