ExtremeRavens Posted Friday at 09:00 AM Posted Friday at 09:00 AM Despite having one of the best overall rosters in the NFL, the Ravens have two positions that should be under the microscope Saturday night in the second preseason game against the Cowboys in Dallas: Offensive guard and weak-side linebacker. The Ravens have solid starting guards in Andrew Vorhees on the left side and Daniel Faalele on the right, but they have very little depth if either one falters. On defense, third-year player Trenton Simpson is expected to start at weak-side linebacker. Like Vorhees and Faalele, Simpson has improved from a year ago, but he didn’t dominate against Indianapolis in the preseason opener. The Ravens don’t have a lot of depth at either position. A year ago, Baltimore had Chris Board and Malik Harrison, who replaced Simpson after Week 13. Now, they only have free agent addition Jake Hummel or maybe rookie Teddye Buchanan. The options aren’t good, so the Ravens need Vorhees, Faalele and Simpson to play well. Let’s start with Faalele, the fourth-year guard out of Minnesota. He is about 25 to 30 pounds lighter and has moved and played reasonably well throughout training camp, though he did get trucked last week by Colts third-year defensive tackle Adetomiwa Adebawore. It was like a giant Redwood tree getting cut down. Of course, social media had a field day with the 6-foot-8, 370-pound Faalele falling to the ground. But everything must be kept in perspective. On a given play, a lot of NFL players can look bad, downright ridiculous at times. But pass blocking has never been Faalele’s strength. He is a mountain mover, a huge run blocker. I’ve been against that philosophy for years, but coach John Harbaugh prefers that strategy. It’s great when the run blocking is good and the play-action pass works, but that puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback. So, who would replace Faalele? It would be fifth-year player Ben Cleveland, who is also a mauler and limited in space as well. In fact, it might be better to pull out a calendar as opposed to a stopwatch when both players pull around the corner and try to get downfield. That’s when quarterback Lamar Jackson makes the difference. He can improvise and scramble and make something out of nothing when pressured, which he did against Kansas City in the Ravens’ 27-20 loss to open last season and again in the second half against Buffalo in the 27-25 divisional round loss. Both Faalele and Cleveland have limitations, but the Ravens like to strong arm teams. The dropped weight has been a big plus for Faalele so far in training camp. “I’m so proud of Daniel,” Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “He worked hard in the offseason and came to camp in great shape. I think I was talking earlier that we’re excited for Daniel. He’s come a long way. He is a really, really good football player. In today’s day and age, shock value, whatever’s seen for one shot on the Internet doesn’t make a man, or a great play doesn’t make a man.” But let’s be honest. When does a coach say anything bad about a player in training camp? Monken is also smart enough to realize that he’ll have to play with Faalele for the rest of the season unless Faalele gets hurt. This case is closed. As for Vorhees, he showed improvement last week against the Colts. He ran well, made some nice seal blocks and got into the second level. He didn’t have a defensive tackle over top of him for quite a few pass plays, but he held his ground well and seemed very comfortable protecting backup quarterbacks Cooper Rush and Devin Leary. Simpson is more intriguing. He hasn’t played poorly, but he didn’t make enough plays to be overly impressive in the Colts game. Unlike a year ago, when he’d get lost in coverage, he seems to read his keys while dropping back. The Ravens, though, have options with Simpson. Because the league has become so pass happy, the Ravens could replace Simpson with strong safety Kyle Hamilton or even cornerback Marlon Humphrey, putting both near the line of scrimmage. The Ravens can make that move because of the surplus of cornerbacks including Jalyn Armour-Davis and Jaire Alexander. But, overall, the Ravens prefer that Simpson dominate on first-down situations when teams prefer to run. Ravens linebacker Trenton Simpson is learning how to play on the weak side. (Kenneth K. Lam/staff) Simpson seems to be on the right learning curve, according to former Ravens weak-side linebacker Jamie Sharper. Sharper played for the Ravens from 1997 to 2001 on one of the best defenses in NFL history. He is now the linebackers and special teams coach for the DC Defenders of the UFL. “I think the Ravens might have him out of position to where he played at Clemson,” Sharper said of Simpson, who mostly played as a rush linebacker but also on the strong side and even at safety at times. “He is now on his second linebackers coach and it might take two years to teach him to play weak side instead of coming off the edge as a rusher. “For one, you have to have athletic ability and be able to move your feet and tackle in space. You have to know when you can get safety help, know where he is so he can cover up. You have to be a space guy and drop into coverages. He is a good kid but at Clemson he was a guy that could rush off the edge and this has been a change for him.” It’s part of a process. Former Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen was a weak-side linebacker at LSU, but the Ravens moved him to the middle. Faalele was a 400-pound offensive tackle at Minnesota. Now, it’s Simpson’s turn. Unfortunately, the Ravens don’t have a lot of solid backups at either guard or weak-side linebacker. It’s something to keep an eye on Saturday night, and probably for the rest of the season. Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. View the full article Quote
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