ExtremeRavens Posted July 30 Posted July 30 The one-on-one pass protection drill is a great time to observe Ravens practice, because there is no “turned” or rotated blocking scheme, just players going against each other. It’s hard to draw conclusions from these sessions, but I have watched several during the past couple of days. Starting left tackle Ronnie Stanley is using his arms and hands better, something he didn’t do last season. Stanley had a problem with power rushers, but at least he appears to keep them away from his body. Second-year guard Andrew Vorhees gets better every practice and his body language shows his confidence. Center Tyler Linderbaum, still undersized at 314 pounds, has good versatility and surprising strength for a player in only his third season. As a rookie, he got overpowered by big nose guards such as Michael Pierce, but that’s not the case any more. Just go ask 6-4, 338-pound defensive tackle Travis Jones. As the line develops, the major concern is at right tackle, where veteran Patrick Mekari is expected to start. He appears to be a step slower than a year ago, and that will cause problems when the Ravens go pro left or use a tight end to the same side as Stanley. The team needs rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten out of Washington to develop quickly, but he might need an offseason in the weight room like Linderbaum. Tight end blocking I haven’t seen any of the team’s tight ends block well except for fullback Patrick Ricard, but that could be a giveaway if the Ravens only use him in running situations. Mark Andrews has worked hard as far as run blocking, but that’s not his forte. No. 2 tight end Isaiah Likely thinks he is a wide receiver and won’t attempt to block. At 6-6 and 267 pounds, third-year player Charlie Kolar has the prototype body, but he isn’t knocking anyone off the ball either. This is going to have to be another creative solution for second-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Nice catch The best catch of the day came on a 20-yard floater from quarterback Lamar Jackson to Andrews in the two-minute offense. Jackson was on a semi-roll to his right and sent a pass to the outstretched Andrews, who pulled down the reception. Another great catch came late in the practice, when safety Kyle Hamilton had Likely covered but Likely still hauled in an 8-yard touchdown pass on a perfect and tight pinpoint pass from Jackson. After the catch, Hamilton just shook his head in disbelief. Now, if only Jackson and Likely would learn how to block … One to watch Keep an eye on Jones, the third-year defensive tackle out of Connecticut. He could get some of Broderick Washington’s playing time before the season is over. Because of his long arms in the middle, Jones might be able to knock down several passes along with 6-7, 304-pound Brent Urban, a reserve defensive end. Greatest of all time? Ravens Hall of Fame offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden attended practice Tuesday and spent the final minutes with former general manager Ozzie Newsome. I tried to get Ogden to critique the line play after practice, but he gave me the standard line of “wait until I see film or give them some time to develop.” It was all in good fun for Ogden, the best offensive tackle to ever play the game. There are still some debates about the best player in team history, and while middle linebacker Ray Lewis was more of a complete player as far as appeal, camaraderie and leadership, Ogden was technically the best player ever. It just goes back to the draft in 1996. Ogden was the fourth player taken and Lewis was picked No. 26 later in the first round. That’s all that needs to be said. Case closed. Short game Jackson completed a lot of short passes in practice. I don’t know if the Ravens were working on their short passing offense specifically, but it was like that during Monday’s practice as well. I’d still like to see Jackson be able to throw a better long ball down the field. Kansas City forced him to do that in the AFC title game, but neither Jackson nor his receivers were a match for the Chiefs’ cornerbacks or strong pass rush. There are days, though, when Jackson is scrambling and you really don’t know how he completed a pass. He appears to be rounding back into shape after missing the first couple of days of training camp with an undisclosed illness. Bateman out Starting wide receiver Rashod Bateman didn’t practice Tuesday. On Monday, coach John Harbaugh said Bateman had some soreness but added that the injury wasn’t believed to be serious. Roster moves The Ravens placed linebacker Malik Hamm on injured reserve with a knee injury and signed his replacement, outside linebacker Quincy Roche, to the 90-man roster. Roche starred at New Town High and worked out for the Ravens earlier in the offseason. Roche was a 2021 sixth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers and later played with the New York Giants in 2021 and 2022. View the full article Quote
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