50 Words or Less: Mandatory Minicamp Will Provide Important Reps
Clifton Brown, BaltimoreRavens.com
I’m eager to see players next week that we didn’t see at OTAs, like outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy. He’s a veteran who knows how to approach the offseason. When a top player like Van Noy rejoins his teammates, it raises the intensity for everyone.
Baltimore has a talented and deep defensive line rotation led by All-Pro Justin Madubuike. Next week will provide a good test for Baltimore’s guards like Andrew Vorhees, Josh Jones, Ben Cleveland, and Sala Aumavae-Laulu who are vying to start. A strong minicamp would only help their case.
Rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten talked Thursday about how difficult Odafe Oweh has been to block. It’s early, but a strong mandatory minicamp by Oweh would be another indication that he’s ready to have a monster year.
Mark Andrews looks very ready for mandatory minicamp, showing no signs of last year’s ankle injury. Even when the Ravens didn’t wear helmets during OTAs, Andrews made a couple diving catches. A healthy Andrews and Isaiah Likely poses a scary tight end threat for opponents.
Charlie Kolar had a touchdown catch on Thursday that he celebrated by punting the football to midfield. Didn’t know that Kolar had such a powerful leg. But I do know that with Andrews, Likely and Kolar, the Ravens have the NFL’s deepest tight end group.
Twelve Ravens Thoughts on final week of voluntary OTAs
Luke Jones, Baltimore Positive
With Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Stephens absent this week, Nate Wiggins received plenty of reps against Baltimore’s starting offense, which should only help his development. Yes, he’s skinny, but as former Clemson teammate Trenton Simpson noted, “He’s so fast. Nobody is going to run past him.”
We tend to focus on the veterans who skip voluntary workouts, so Roquan Smith deserves a nod for being present for every open OTA. There’s no question that Simpson appreciates it. “His personality and the way he attacks it day after day, I feel like it impacts everybody around him.”
Given their standing on the depth chart, Devontez Walker and T.J. Tampa have already formed a bit of a rivalry facing off with each rookie winning reps this week. Walker has an easier path to immediate playing time, but both fourth-round picks have flashed their skills.
After ‘redshirt’ season, Andrew Vorhees in starting mix for Ravens’ new-look O-line
Jeff Zrebiec, The Athletic
“Just another day,” Vorhees said following Baltimore’s penultimate organized team activity on Thursday. “Just trying to put that day behind me and just kind of close that chapter and move on. I’m just so thankful to be where I’m at now in terms of my health and stuff. Proud of the work that I’ve put in and that all of our staff has poured in. And yes, I’m just looking forward, now, to what lies beyond us.”
The Ravens drafted the former USC standout with the expectation that Vorhees would likely need a redshirt year to get his knee right. He also focused on getting the rest of his body stronger. The work he put in has him in good position to compete for one of the Ravens’ starting guard vacancies.
“I just (want) to go out to practice every day and just try to be the best football player that I can become. We’ll let everything else take care of itself,” Vorhees said. “I know these gentlemen upstairs have quite the job to decide who’s going to play at the end of the day. But as an individual, it’s up to us to become the best football players we can become and just make their jobs easier.”
A clearer picture of the Ravens’ offense should arrive soon, plus other takeaways from OTAs
Jonas Shaffer, The Baltimore Banner
Bounce-back years could be underway
At cornerback, Jalyn Armour-Davis and Damarion “Pepe” Williams have been sticky in coverage, with each grabbing an interception in practice. Injuries have undercut the 2022 fourth-round picks over their careers; Armour-Davis’ rookie season ended with a hip injury, and he dealt with a concussion last year. Williams, meanwhile, played in just one game last season, when he underwent separate ankle surgeries. Snaps at cornerback could be hard to find in 2024, but both have contributed on special teams.
Along the defensive line, Broderick Washington has been one of the Ravens’ most impressive returners. Washington, who signed a three-year, $17.5 million contract extension in August, hit a low a few months later when he was a healthy scratch in a Week 11 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Overall, he finished with 31 fewer tackles and played 72 fewer defensive snaps in 2023 than he had in 2022. But Washington’s impressive strength has translated better into pass rush success in OTAs, and he should remain a reliable run defender.
On offense, all eyes are on left tackle Ronnie Stanley and wide receiver Rashod Bateman. Stanley, who struggled last year with his surgically repaired ankle, has been a fixture at OTAs, where Harbaugh said he’s “working super hard” and has looked good. Bateman, bedeviled by injuries himself, has overlapped with Jackson for just one practice over the past three weeks, delaying the chemistry lessons they sorely needed last season. But Wiggins called the former first-round pick the Ravens’ toughest wide receiver to cover in practice.
Every NFL team’s ideal kick returner with new safer kickoff rules: Lamar Jackson, Saquon Barkley wild options
Jared Dubin, CBS Sports
AFC North
Ravens: Lamar Jackson and/or Derrick Henry and/or Keaton Mitchell and/or Zay Flowers
Steelers: Justin Fields and/or Jaylen Warren
Remember when I said “almost” any team about the Dolphins? That’s because the Ravens exist, and their options are much more varied than are Miami’s. Lamar and Henry might be the two most interesting guys on this entire list, given their disparate skill sets and the way they can create in space. Mitchell has the electric speed, and Flowers has the joystick moves. Chase has already established himself as a top tackle-breaker and YAC guy. The same skill set would apply here. Moore has only returned three punts or kicks in his career. That’s a shame. We’re putting him back there and seeing what he can do. Fields and Warren could form a thunder-and-lightning kind of duo for Pittsburgh, except the thunder (Fields) would also come with like 1,000 mile-per-hour winds or something.
