ExtremeRavens Posted August 1 Posted August 1 The Ravens have completed their first eight practices of training camp, and the first preseason game on Thursday against the Indianapolis Colts is inching closer. For some players — such as quarterback and two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson — performance at this point shouldn’t be read too deeply into. Jackson is a known entity and, some inconsistencies aside, he has looked every bit one of the best players in the league. Many others, however, have stood out or struggled, thus heightening expectations or raising questions about impact or role. While there are not a lot of opportunities to start on either side of the ball for a roster that is rich with front-end talent, an injury or two could change things significantly. Already, there has been the usual spate. Here’s a look at whose stock has risen and fallen so far during training camp: Brian Wacker, reporter Stock up: WR Devontez Walker. Perhaps no Ravens player has made a bigger leap from Year 1 to Year 2 than Walker, who at times last summer was nonexistent or didn’t know what to do. This summer, he’s been the antithesis of that. On Tuesday alone, Walker hauled in a touchdown pass from Cooper Rush over cornerback Nate Wiggins, snagged another score over the middle from Jackson and had an outstretched catch in front of safety Malaki Starks. Three days earlier, he hauled in a deep ball from Jackson after separating from Wiggins, and in one-on-one drills against Jaire Alexander, he snatched a pass from Jackson on a nice comeback route. There has also been more polish and explosiveness to his routes and his hands have looked great, even in contested situations. He remains one of the fastest players on the roster and he’s been a special teams contributor. “He’s doing a tremendous job of just being in the playbook, understanding what he’s supposed to do and then going out and trying to make plays each and every opportunity that he gets,” wide receivers coach Greg Lewis said. While Baltimore’s top three receivers will be Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman and DeAndre Hopkins, Walker could push Tylan Wallace for the No. 4 spot. Ravens wide receiver Devontez Walker, left, is congratulated by quarterback Lamar Jackson after catching a touchdown pass against the Giants in 2024. The second-year wide receiver is off to a great start to his 2025 training camp. (Adam Hunger/AP) Stock down: LB Adisa Isaac. On the plus side, Isaac has at least been healthy, which he wasn’t during his rookie season last year when a hamstring injury that dated to his draft preparation resulted in him missing too much time. Now that the 2024 third-round pick out of Penn State is on the field, he has to make a bigger impact if he hopes to find a regular role amid an outside linebacker group that already includes Odafe Oweh, Kyle Van Noy, Tavius Robinson and rookie second-round pick Mike Green. It has been a process. Simply put, Isaac has lacked explosiveness, hasn’t shown much in the way of pass-rush moves and has struggled to shed blockers, thus not coming close to getting to the quarterback. His run defense has been OK, but David Ojabo, who figures to be battling Isaac for the fifth outside linebacker spot, has outperformed him significantly. “When you think of all the guys that can rush, you think of Maxx Crosby; he can spin. You think of the guy at Pittsburgh; he can ghost. I’m not going to say his name, because that’s how we roll, but when you think about different guys, though, they’ve got skilled rushes,” pass rush coach Chuck Smith said. “So, that’s what Adisa is working on. That’s one thing we want to implement. Guys are at different levels right now, and they’ll continue to work to get better. Adisa is on the right path. I hope that he continues to work hard, and he’ll get better.” Mike Preston, columnist Stock up: LB Trenton Simpson. So far, weakside linebacker Trenton Simpson has been impressive. A season ago, he was benched after Week 13 for Chris Board and Malik Harrison. Simply put, he couldn’t cover. In this camp, Simpson has gone stride for stride downfield with tight end Mark Andrews and been very solid covering running backs out of the backfield and into the flats. There have also been times when Simpson has put pressure on Jackson, forcing him to either slide to one side or step up in the pocket. The six to eight pounds of muscle he added in the offseason appear to have helped because Simpson hasn’t lost any quickness. In fact, he seems more comfortable this season compared with a year ago playing next to middle linebacker Roquan Smith. Ravens guard Andrew Vorhees, shown in 2024, is off to a slow start to training camp. (Kim Hairston/Staff) Stock down: LG Andrew Vorhees. The belief here was that Andrew Vorhees would step up and become the starting left guard, but that hasn’t happened yet. Vorhees worked hard in the offseason and he runs and pulls extremely well. The problem is his pass blocking. For whatever reason, he stands too high coming out of his pass set and smaller, quicker guys — tackles Nnamdi Madubuike and even tackle Aeneas Peebles — can work under him and gain leverage. It appeared that Vorhees would easily win the starting job over top competitor Ben Cleveland, but neither has established much of an advantage. Both are good when it comes to run blocking, but struggle in pass protection. Sam Cohn, reporter Stock up: CB Nate Wiggins. He’s played sticky coverage upfield, gotten a hand in the way over the middle and surged into the backfield to disrupt the screen game. Wiggins’ freshman year was an hors d’oeuvre. Based on his first two weeks of training camp — one of which included pads and only one day included live tackling — he’s showing signs of being the lockdown corner the Ravens hoped when they used a first-round pick on the skinny kid from Clemson. Wiggins seems to be one of the beneficiaries of adding Alexander, whom wide receiver Zay Flowers called the most confident defensive back he’d ever been around. Late last week, Wiggins’ second pass breakup of the day called for celebration alongside Alexander, teaming up for the patented seatbelt move. Orr has been most excited to see him step up to the challenge of facing the three-time All-Pro (and beat him a couple of times). “Nate has had a couple really good practices,” Harbaugh said Monday. “Two [or] three really good practices in a row, both playing press and off and coverage. He’s also reacted nicely to underneath throws in zone and made some nice tackles, too. … So, so far so good.” Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins runs during training camp. The second-year cornerback has impressed during the early stages of camp. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) Stock down: QB Cooper Rush. If all goes well, this will prove to be the most inconsequential question mark of training camp. If Jackson were to suffer any sort of setback, the onus might fall on Rush to keep the Ravens’ season afloat. Otherwise, the only time the journeyman backup might see the field is during the preseason and late in out-of-hand games during the regular season. Still, the Ravens went out and signed Rush, an established backup, to be serviceable insurance. He’s been shakier than that during camp thus far. A few of Rush’s deep balls forced receivers to pull back or reroute. He’s been solid in the short game, but his timing downfield is head-scratching. Rush knows his role as well as anyone. “You don’t have to be Superman,” he told The Baltimore Sun, “you’ve just got to go play football.” Sam Jane, reporter Stock up: CB Chidobe Awuzie. All the fanfare in the secondary is centered around the additions of Alexander and Starks. But through the first week of training camp, it’s been a different offseason pickup who has impressed. Awuzie made multiple nice plays against the starting offense this week, including two pass breakups Wednesday and an interception Tuesday. The veteran cornerback had the worst season of his career last year in Tennessee, leading to his release by the Titans. But he’s been a solid CB2 for the most part since entering the league in 2017. Awuzie‘s impressed and is making a push up the depth chart. Stock down: CB Robert Longerbeam. A different backup cornerback has had a tougher week. The Ravens drafted Longerbeam in the sixth round out of Rutgers, but he has struggled to cover in the opening practices. The rookie is lean and undersized, which has led to him getting overpowered by bigger wideouts. He also missed a tackle along the sideline during Wednesday’s practice, which surely won’t help him get on the field, then he appeared to get dinged up in a collision with rookie receiver LaJohntay Wester in Thursday’s practice. With a deep defensive back room, Longerbeam will have to make up ground to earn a spot on the 53-man roster. Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Tim Schwartz at timschwartz@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/timschwartz13. View the full article Quote
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