Ravens Insider: Risers and fallers: Ravens’ defense dominates in preseason win over Cowboys

[ExtremeRavens]

ARLINGTON, Texas — Ravens cornerback Keyon Martin raced in and dropped Dallas Cowboys quarterback Joe Milton III in the end zone for a safety. Later, fellow defensive back Reuben Lowery fell backward in the end zone while hauling in an overthrown pass by Milton for an interception.

Preseason games — particularly for teams like Baltimore with few open jobs across a highly talented roster — are about opportunity as much as anything.

That was the case Saturday night at AT&T Stadium, where the Ravens, again resting almost all of their starters, easily defeated Dallas, 31-13. More important than the result, though, was how those on the margins of Baltimore’s roster performed.

Here’s a look at the risers and fallers.

Risers

Rasheen Ali: The 2024 fifth-round draft pick had been making his case for the Ravens to at least consider keeping four running backs on the 53-man roster. After 62 yards on 19 carries against the Cowboys, it became official with coach John Harbaugh saying that he would, in fact, do just that.

“Thought he was quick, explosive, very good vision,” Harbaugh said of Ali’s latest performance.

That performance included four straight carries on Baltimore’s second possession, with a pair of 8-yard runs as bookends. He also had an 11-yard gain on a third-and-9 later in the drive, a 25-yard kick return and a catch in the second quarter that went for 10 yards (though he also had a pass from Cooper Rush go off his hands for an interception later that same quarter).

Carrying an extra back might seem odd with Derrick Henry, Justice Hill and Keaton Mitchell getting the lion’s share of touches, but with Mitchell currently dealing with a hamstring injury and given his injury history, it’s not a bad idea, even at the expense of depth at another position.

As for Ali, he said that the experience of being around a deep and talented room of backs has been “amazing” and that he’s been able to pick parts from everyone’s game to add to his own.

He also said last season was “rocky” and filled with “trials and tribulations,” but that he put in “a lot of work” in the offseason and came into this year with a “new mentality.”

Devontez Walker: It was an active evening for the second-year wide receiver, who has had an up-and-down training camp but was trending the right direction against Dallas.

He was the leading pass catcher with six receptions on eight targets for 61 yards, including one that went for 17 yards on the game’s first play. He also had a grab on a sideline out on third-and-9 in the opening quarter that went for 11 yards, hauling in the pass in front of a lunging Andrew Booth.

At one point in the second quarter, Walker had more yards and first downs than the Cowboys, which was an indictment of Dallas but also a sign of Walker’s continued growth.

Keyon Martin: First, the cornerback shot through untouched on a third-and-14 from the Cowboys’ own 3-yard line to drop Milton for a safety and the game’s first points. Later in the opening quarter, the 5-foot-9, 170-pound undrafted rookie made a nice open-field tackle on the bigger Jalen Tolbert to keep the receiver to a minimal gain.

In all, Martin finished with three tackles, including two for loss and a sack.

He likely won’t make the roster, but performances like the one he had against the Cowboys bode well for a practice squad spot. It’ll also present Baltimore a good problem to have, with Harbaugh saying that he will have some difficult roster decisions to make with more than 53 players having performed well enough to make the team. That is particularly true in the defensive backfield.

Ravens rookie kicker Tyler Loop went 5-for-6 on field goal attempts against the Cowboys, including a 53-yarder. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Tyler Loop: The Ravens have their next kicker.

Though it was pretty clear that the sixth-round rookie out of Arizona was already headed toward landing the job, Harbaugh made it official Saturday night after Loop converted on 5 of 6 attempts, which included makes from 53 and 51 yards.

“He’s earned it,” Harbaugh said. “He had a good night, good night on kickoffs, too.

“It was good to see.”

Loop knocked in kicks of 29 and 51 yards in each of the first two quarters, then banged in a 42-yarder with nine seconds remaining in the first half. He added another from 32 yards in the third quarter and a 53-yarder late in the fourth.

He also made both extra point attempts, with his lone field goal try missing wide left from 50 yards in the fourth quarter.

Loop’s reaction once he found out from a reporter after the game? “Nice,” he said. “That’s fun.”

Fallers

LaJohntay Wester: On one punt return, Wester had a Cowboys defender so faked out (worried?), that the player hit him — even though the ball had already sailed over the rookie’s head and into the end zone for a touchback.

Unfortunately, that was about the only highlight for the sixth-round pick, who was targeted four times in the passing game and didn’t make a single catch. That included juggling one pass that would have been good for a first down. Worse yet, he also turned too late on another pass from Rush that was a little off-target and intercepted by Booth and returned for a touchdown, with Wester doing little to try to disrupt him.

Wester is a flashy returner but will need to sharpen his receiving skills.

Cowboys cornerback Andrew Booth intercepts a pass and returns it for a touchdown in front of Ravens wide receiver LaJohntay Wester. (AP Photo/Richard Rodriguez)

Anthony Miller: It was a bit of a rough stretch at one point for the veteran receiver who spent last season on the Ravens’ practice squad.

First, he was flagged for being out of bounds on Baltimore’s first punt of the night, wiping out a fair catch at the Dallas 10-yard line. Later, he whiffed on an attempted tackle of Jalen Cropper during a kick return that resulted in a 19-yard gain.

He did haul in a 25-yard catch on a third-and-5 from the Cowboys’ 29-yard line that help set up the Ravens’ first touchdown of the night, but he didn’t appear to complete the catch. Replay assist confirmed the call on the field, but it still looked at least questionable as cornerback Kemon Hall contested the play.

Adisa Isaac: Zero tackles on defense and one on special teams is not the kind of line the second-year outside linebacker was looking for given a potentially tight battle with David Ojabo for the fifth (and possibly) final spot at the position.

Worse yet, Isaac, whose rookie season was set back by a hamstring injury, went down in the second quarter with a dislocated shoulder, per Harbaugh, and did not return. He is expected to miss at least a few weeks.

That’s obviously a blow to his chances of making the roster and means that he’s more likely headed to the injury list. It also means that Ojabo is all but certain to make the roster.

Carson Vinson: One of the Ravens’ concerns this season could be their tackle depth.

Vinson, a fifth-round rookie out of Alabama A&M, is viewed as a project but played plenty Saturday and struggled at times.

On one play near the end of the first quarter, he was run over by Cowboys defensive end James Houston, with Rush getting popped just after he got rid of a pass. Harbaugh called Vinson over right after that.

The play before that, Vinson was leading Ali on a run to the left and knocked a defender out of the way but didn’t do much in terms of blocking. 

Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1.

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