Beginning with placing at least a couple players on injured reserve as soon as Wednesday, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta will make several changes before the Sept. 11 opener against the New York Jets, but below is a breakdown of the initial 53-man roster for the 2022 season:
QUARTERBACKS (2) — Lamar Jackson, Tyler Huntley
Analysis: Baltimore will hope undrafted rookie Anthony Brown clears waivers and signs to the practice squad after an impressive preseason, but this is the only position group not to change from the start of last season.
RUNNING BACKS/FULLBACKS (4) — J.K. Dobbins, Patrick Ricard, Mike Davis, Justice Hill
Analysis: Though the pending addition of Kenyan Drake should raise the floor of this group in the short term, the position’s upside is still overwhelmingly tied to Dobbins’ ability to regain his pre-injury form sooner than later.
WIDE RECEIVERS (5) — Rashod Bateman, Devin Duvernay, James Proche, Demarcus Robinson, Tylan Wallace
Analysis: Robinson has more career receptions (145) than the rest of this group combined (118), but his late-summer addition is hardly enough to quell concerns about the overall quality and depth at the position.
TIGHT ENDS (5) — Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, Nick Boyle, Josh Oliver, Charlie Kolar
Analysis: With Kolar expected to be placed on IR as he continues to recover from sports hernia surgery, the Ravens will take no chances with their depth at tight end, especially with Boyle still having his practice workload managed this summer.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (11) — Ronnie Stanley, Ben Powers, Tyler Linderbaum, Kevin Zeitler, Morgan Moses, Ja’Wuan James, Patrick Mekari, Daniel Faalele, Tyre Phillips, Ben Cleveland, Trystan Colon
Analysis: With Stanley still not practicing after being removed from the physically unable to perform list last week and Faalele still sidelined with a knee injury, keeping 11 offensive linemen makes more sense for the time being.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (5) — Calais Campbell, Michael Pierce, Justin Madubuike, Travis Jones, Broderick Washington
Analysis: Of the vested veterans released on Tuesday, Brent Urban is the most likely to be re-signed to back up Campbell at the 5-technique and provide additional depth with Jones unlikely to be available for Week 1 due to a knee injury.
8
INSIDE LINEBACKERS (5) — Patrick Queen, Josh Bynes, Malik Harrison, Kristian Welch, Josh Ross
Analysis: Considering the prominent part inside linebackers typically play on special teams, the Ravens keeping five at the position shouldn’t be all that surprising, especially if Harrison plays more strong-side outside linebacker early in the season.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS (3) — Odafe Oweh, Justin Houston, David Ojabo
Analysis: With Ojabo expected to go on IR on Wednesday, DeCosta will clearly add to this position, but it’s still jarring to see a 53-man roster with only two healthy outside linebackers after journeyman Steven Means — who could still be re-signed — and disappointing 2021 fifth-round pick Daelin Hayes were cut.
CORNERBACKS (6) — Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters, Kyle Fuller, Brandon Stephens, Damarion Williams, Jalyn Armour-Davis
Analysis: This group has a good mix of established premium talent and younger options with upside, so it will be interesting to see who settles in as the No. 3 corner behind starters Humphrey and Peters.
SAFETIES (4) — Marcus Williams, Chuck Clark, Kyle Hamilton, Geno Stone
Analysis: The immense talent in this position group leads you to believe new coordinator Mike Macdonald will use plenty of three-safety packages to both maximize the pass defense and hide deficiencies at linebacker.
SPECIALISTS (3) — Justin Tucker, Jordan Stout, Nick Moore
Analysis: Stout has checked every box replacing retired punter Sam Koch to this point, leaving the specialist trio in healthy shape.
