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Finding the optimism and realities of Ravens season as Houston looms small

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As the season is set to kick off, Luke Jones and Nestor discuss how the Ravens final cuts are just the beginning of a squishy roster that general manager Eric DeCosta always knows goes beyond the first 53 men up.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

talking, years, lamar, play, starter, mark andrews, wide receiver, passing, ravens, point, give, throw, ball, football, find, lamar jackson, run, preseason, teams, roman

SPEAKERS

Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Looking back at W n s t tests in Baltimore and Baltimore positive we are positively into the week before the game that matters of faith. Footballโ€™s all over with its cuts weak. Guys are getting apartments and figuring things out and agents and teams are hiding players trying to trade players all sorts of things going on here this week. All of our wn St. Maryland crab cake tour stops brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. Iโ€™ll be giving away the Maryland lottery instance scratch offs on Tuesday, which is cut down day weโ€™re going to be a Pappas, I I found my Papist shirt so thank you very much to Justin Steve. Everybody on the paps team will be in Glen Burnie on Tuesday afternoon. Iโ€™ve never been to the passing Glenburnie Iโ€™m looking forward to that. I had been to the DMV down the street spent a lot of time at Glen Burnie during my formative years so itโ€™d be fun time there was an aroma county executive store picnic joining us as well as former executive wn st producer Ray Bachman I think heโ€™s been you know for being a producer who was always like, time time are you going to be Iโ€™m trying to figure out Ray Bachman so what anytime I get near Pasadena I need him to come on because it is our 25th anniversary. We are celebrating 25 years with 25 stories of glory Story number one are going to be our our signs the legendary the wacko for Flacco the in Duck art the Not a chance signs the fu fear fear the fu sides free the birds remember these I had nothing to do with this was fantasy thatโ€™s why the science kind of ugly though to say Budweiser on it and go Oreos thatโ€™s what I need to do go Orioles. Weโ€™re gonna talk some ravens here because weโ€™ve been talking Orioles and obviously the Felix Batista thing sucks. But at least weโ€™re going to make the playoffs ravens weโ€™ll find out Luka you know we got through more fake football thereโ€™s, they cut it from six games, the four games, the three games they run around in practice youโ€™ve been running around out there, all of us have only seen Lamar Jackson and sunglasses and st close for the most part, but weโ€™re getting there. Theyโ€™re gonna play football next week, right?

Luke Jones  02:03

Yeah, weโ€™re less than two weeks away. At this point. Weโ€™ll final cuts this week in roster maneuvering and practice squad formulating and starting to look ahead to the Houston Texans. We found out late Sunday night CJ Stroud is indeed going to be there week one starter which not surprising. I think youโ€™re seeing more and more with these teams when they draft a quarterback. They want to play because they want to have them take their lumps, but also you find out about them more quickly. And thatโ€™s the key for that. So you look at the early season schedule. Ravens are gonna play CJ Stroud in Houston, week one, Cincinnati week two, Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis in week three, so theyโ€™re gonna have a rookie quarterback on the other side, two of the first three weeks. And yeah, thatโ€™s where you look at where they are defensively with Marlon Humphrey, presumably sidelined for all those games. And trying to figure out this pass rush, which, you know, David Jabo, didnโ€™t show a whole lot in the preseason, which Iโ€™m not hot and bothered about one way or the other, but would have been nice to see him flash maybe a little bit more than we saw. But that doesnโ€™t mean that heโ€™s not going to be affected. They have to Davey on clowny however, theyโ€™ve added to the mix, you know, they have a number of corners, options, you know, thatโ€™s a step up for Humphrey, but they all kind of carry a question mark of health experience, you know, just overall ability when youโ€™re talking about a young player. So theyโ€™re trying to you know, theyโ€™re trying to figure that out, you know, meanwhile,

Nestor Aparicio  03:30

youโ€™ll find your ceiling when you see Jamar Chase running around, right? Sure,

Luke Jones  03:34

no question about it. But we, as we saw last year with Mike McDonald, the Ravens seem to from a schematic standpoint, they they did better against Cincinnati than a lot of teams did. Letโ€™s put it that way. So you know, in terms of your corners, playing a little more zone,

Nestor Aparicio  03:49

safeties last year to to be a part of this, right, like, theyโ€™re always thanks to your blog back in the day, you know, when Rex Ryan left here for 10 years, theyโ€™re always chasing the next corner, right? Or that trying to find the next LaDarius web trying to find that next sort of gem? Thatโ€™s sort of Ericโ€™s charge. This is where theyโ€™re gonna have to find that because hey, theyโ€™re not going to find a fountain of Marlon Humphrey anytime soon, right?

Luke Jones  04:15

Yeah, and thatโ€™s where theyโ€™re hoping that Ronald Darby who they brought in late in training camp, a guy who, when heโ€™s been healthy in his career has been an above average starter. But the problem is, heโ€™s only 11 months removed from a torn ACL in Denver last year. So normally, if he was just someone you were bringing in and your cornerback room was not stacked, but not quite as unsettled as it is right now. Heโ€™d probably be a guy youโ€™d want to bring along more slowly, but heโ€™s gonna have to play so so youโ€™re gonna have to figure this out. Thatโ€™s where you look at that position group right now. And Iโ€™m anticipating them keeping as many of these guys around as they can just because thereโ€™s so much unknown you know, I mean, even rakia seen who they signed to be Marcus Peters replacement after the draft, he missed most of August with a knee issue. Now heโ€™s back on the field, by all accounts looks like heโ€™ll be ready for week one. But, you know, how does he fit? How does he look in this ravens defense? You know, because there is a learning curve, they ask their defensive players to do a heck of a lot. So thereโ€™s a lot of question at corner. Certainly thereโ€™s question at the pass rush. But to your point, whether youโ€™re talking about safety, whether youโ€™re talking about row Quan Smith and Patrick queen, at inside linebacker, whether youโ€™re talking about a defensive line that even without class, Campbell, there are very high expectations, you know, theyโ€™re gonna need those other positions of strength to step up and be at their very best, because you arenโ€™t quite sure what youโ€™re going to get out of cornerback early on without Marlon Humphrey. So itโ€™s not, I donโ€™t think itโ€™s a situation of panic. But I do think itโ€™s a situation of whatโ€™s that going to look like. And certainly itโ€™s not ideal when youโ€™re going to Cincinnati and week two to play the Bengals. But on the flip side, if youโ€™re looking for reason to feel a little more confident, Joe burrow missed the entire preseason. So now that youโ€™re talking about a Cincinnati offense, that probably is going to be firing on all cylinders right out of the gate because they were missing their quarterback for the entire summer. So be interesting to see how it plays out. But youโ€™re right. Weโ€™re beyond the preseason. I do think I do want to note because we talked so much about the law of preseason winning streak. Theyโ€™ve lost two preseason games in a row now whatโ€™s going on? But I jest, but itโ€™s, you know, itโ€™s time for to kick it off. For real, you know, itโ€™s time to start looking ahead now and looking at the schedule. And this is a team that I have very high expectations for. I know youโ€™re not as high on the offense as I am Although Iโ€™m still I my curiosity and my questions about the offense. But I think the upside is really exciting. And itโ€™s going to look different. And we saw that even in the preseason, just from a personnel grouping standpoint, more three wide receiver sets more spread out, not quite as much of a playing phone playing football in a phone booth and the way that they did with Greg Roman as their coordinator. So no, we havenโ€™t seen Lamar Jackson in a live game setting. We havenโ€™t seen any of these starters, other than what ze flowers and a couple others. So thereโ€™s, thereโ€™s plenty of unknown thereโ€™s plenty of curiosity. But you know, the light is that, you know, weโ€™re reaching that light at the end of the tunnel, and itโ€™s just about time to kick it off for real. And thatโ€™s an exciting thing when youโ€™re talking about as weโ€™ve talked about Oreos hens of the playoffs, and the Ravens about to kick it off,

Nestor Aparicio  07:33

you know, for being a guy that kiss their ass for 27 years and has been thrown out and Iโ€™ll be writing about that next week at length for everybody to give some of the whys and wherefores this this reputation Iโ€™ve picked up for being negative about the Ravens or debt. Listen, they have the most talented wide receiver room that theyโ€™ve had in years because of your blogs, beating them up about it, right. I mean, and because everybody beaten them up about it. And Eric had to go back and rob the feelings of his wide receivers, like crochet and do Vernay and these guys because he drafted other guys and he signed other guys and he spent money on Odell Beckham and will Odell Beckham earn this money will will the stats at the end look like? What the The number on paper? I donโ€™t know. All I know is they did everything they could do to not throw the football for five years for a reason. I donโ€™t know what that reason was personnel grouping the way they wanted to run the ball, the way they control the clock down in distance in 2019. And Roman did it it was world class, weโ€™ll never see it again. That they that they tried to replicate that now they broken that egg. Theyโ€™re doing something different. I donโ€™t know what to make of their offense. I donโ€™t know what how Iโ€™m going to feel about Lamar Jackson throwing the ball 38 times a week because youโ€™re talking wide receiver wide receiver wide receiver wide receiver, they better serve the ball more 22 times. You know, I mean? Because if they do that theyโ€™re 14 of 22 that means Odell Beckham caught four balls and Andrews caught three, you know, I mean, theyโ€™re gonna have to throw the ball effectively. And with real stats, and with control where theyโ€™re not punting and theyโ€™re not turning the ball over. I need to see that now. Theyโ€™re gonna kill us the next week, right? Like, I believe that weโ€™re gonna play the rookie quarterback, I mean, like the whole deal at home, all this inertia, they have probably make some mistakes, and it wonโ€™t even cost them. They should win by 21 points next week. So I donโ€™t know that we learned anything when we get together after next week. But I think over the course of the season, whether this is really going to be effective, where theyโ€™re going to, I donโ€™t wanna say abandon the run, because youโ€™re gonna say, well, theyโ€™re gonna run it. They do. They can only do one or the other, and theyโ€™re not going to possess the ball to run ad plays. I donโ€™t believe that. If theyโ€™re that effective, theyโ€™ll get up and down the field and score on six plays, throwing the ball, say flowers, somebody misses, he goes 38 yards if theyโ€™re playing well. Dad if theyโ€™re playing Kurt Warner ball. Okay, Iโ€™ll hear it. I just gotta see it. Because Iโ€™ve never seen Lamar do it. I got questions about Beckham I get questions about Ronnie Stanley says, I get questioned about whether they can run the ball at all in this format. Itโ€™s one thing So Patrick guard out there and boxing up and having a quarterback that wants to run the ball 810 1221 times a week. How much is Lamar gonna run? Heโ€™s their best. Heโ€™s their best player. Heโ€™s their best weapon him throwing the ball I donโ€™t. I nonplussed by that I donโ€™t think heโ€™s going to be a great thrower. Nobody ever thought he was going to be a great thrower. They think that this balance thing of running and the sleight of hand and first guy misses him. How much is he gonna run? I donโ€™t hear anything about him running. I donโ€™t hear anything about him getting broken in half. Itโ€™s like he played full seasons, the last couple. I mean, all this optimism, itโ€™s beautiful. But I havenโ€™t seen anything. So Iโ€™m not optimistic about and Iโ€™m curious. I mean, Iโ€™m not pessimistic, Iโ€™m pessimistic at the notion that theyโ€™re going to throw the football a lot. And itโ€™s just going to be easy, because I donโ€™t think itโ€™s going to be easy.

Luke Jones  11:13

Well, and this is where Iโ€™ll continue to remind you because you want to just gloss over it. He loved the NFL and touchdown passes four years ago, he can throw the football. You know, this isnโ€™t heโ€™s only thrown at 10 times a game. Heโ€™s a much better passer than you want to give him credit for that aside. I hear everything youโ€™re saying. And I have curiosity too. Because where I look at it, and I donโ€™t, Iโ€™m not viewing it from a standpoint, thatโ€™s going to be Kurt Warner and the rams and the greatest show on turf either weโ€™re gonna throw the ball more than they have in the past. I donโ€™t think it means that theyโ€™re going to lead the NFL on pass attempts or anything like that. But where my curiosity lies, and this is along the lines of what youโ€™re just suggesting, Iโ€™m just going to express it in a way that, you know, that I feel gives Lamar more credit that he deserves, I think quite frankly, I am curious to see if weโ€™re going to see this prove out, you know that itโ€™s proven out in a way that itโ€™s a chicken or the egg kind of deal. Right? With Greg Roman and the offense they had in place and what they tried to be offensively. Was that a case of was that holding Lamar Jackson back? Was that holding this the potential of a passing attack back? Or was it something they were doing to hide some of Lamar Jacksonโ€™s limitations as a passer perceived? Or reality? So thatโ€™s where my curiosity lies. Now, the difference here and this is where I you know, some of what you just said, theyโ€™re gonna run the football, they have their four or five starters returning on the offensive line that run blocked really well. And, um, you donโ€™t have to have Greg Roman be your offensive coordinator to see that when Lamar Jackson is your quarterback, whether heโ€™s going to take off and run individually himself or not the simple threat of him doing that forces a defense to account for that possibility, which will continue to help them run the football so

Nestor Aparicio  13:05

and that still plays was drafted. Their best play has been Lamar might run. And if Lamar runs, so that thatโ€™s where I get weirded out by all these wide receivers and all this great room, we donโ€™t talk about Andrews, how often are they gonna want to throw? And I for five years, I said that every year when there was whatever the optimism would be the passing game would be better. Thatโ€™s all we talked about 2021 22? Like, will the passing game be better? Can it be better? Can they find more balance? Can Lamar run less? Can he run into linebackers less? What if we had better wide receivers? Well, they have all of that now, which means I think theyโ€™re going to throw more, and heโ€™s going to run less. And heโ€™s still their best player. And thatโ€™s their best play. And thatโ€™s their, thatโ€™s what makes him special. And to your point, itโ€™s still there. But how often are they going to utilize that and every time they utilize thatโ€™s one less pass that Mark Andrews gets or Odell Beckham gets. And one more first round where they say, well, letโ€™s run it again. And if theyโ€™re in second in one all day, like they were, then they can do stuff with a flowers like they did with Hollywood, like they did in 2019. To be really effective, where the run set up the past and and I know youโ€™re gonna say that itโ€™s going to be that way. But the run was kind of setting up the run for years. It was but

Luke Jones  14:28

again, go back and look at the efficiency of the way that they were able to throw the ball in 2019. Now, again, the volume wasnโ€™t extraordinary, but they had the number one in terms of efficiency and DVOA and different things like that. They threw the ball extremely well. Now, was that all set up off the run? Yeah, it was and I still think theyโ€™re going to do a lot of RPO play action, things of that nature. I just think itโ€™s gonna be youโ€™re gonna see more of that out of 11 personnel. Itโ€™ll force defenses to spread out. I think thatโ€™s going to help whoeverโ€™s running the Well then in turn, whether itโ€™s Lamar, who I still expect to run on, is he going to average 10? Or 11 Rushing attempts per game? Or is it going to be? Seven? Letโ€™s say, which, hey, if he takes one of those to the house, thatโ€™s still pretty darn good. And

Nestor Aparicio  15:15

what if theyโ€™re not designed plays? Right? I mean, the design of most of the plays was here, you take it, no, I got it. Letโ€™s go run. I mean, it was it was like magnet football five years ago to evolve beyond that. Roman tried to evolve it beyond that, then he kept getting hurt at the end of years after having some level of success some of the time. But like, Iโ€™m not. Iโ€™m not convinced that they that once they get in the fire, and theyโ€™re down 10 points in the third quarter, that thatโ€™s still not their best play. And I want to see Lamar play differently. And I want to see that be successful. I havenโ€™t seen that. Iโ€™m not saying it canโ€™t be done. They just gave him $250 million. They think he can do it. They they clearly have bet their lives that he can do it. I havenโ€™t seen him do it. And I certainly am seeing him do it in January, which is a whole. Iโ€™m just talking about between here and there. I am convinced Luke, theyโ€™re going to be seven into Iโ€™m convinced to that. Like, I think theyโ€™re gonna be good. But I donโ€™t know that itโ€™s going to be good through the air 42. I think itโ€™s going to look more the way you think it was going to look. And I donโ€™t think anybodyโ€™s going to burn the world up with stats passing in this or I just donโ€™t think theyโ€™re going to want to do it that way. Once the bullets are filled to your point, Dobbins run day, weโ€™re running the ball. Well, letโ€™s keep running. Weโ€™re running the ball. Hey, we won. Oh, doubt you only got the ball three times that. Okay. I mean, I think they can win that way. I think itโ€™d be dumb to not win that way. And thatโ€™s why all these wide receivers, Iโ€™m sort of confounded by it. Because this guy is going to have five, and thatโ€™s going to have six, and this is going to have for an answer. All of a sudden, that sounds like 40 passes to me. And I donโ€™t know where thatโ€™s coming from. Thatโ€™s the weird part. And Iโ€™m not there to ask questions anymore. And that was always my question for John that pissed them off, which is, what is balance? I would ask them that every April. What What? What does it look like when itโ€™s when itโ€™s perfect? When you get Lamar, where you want him? Whatโ€™s the statute look like? In an ideal scenario, what? For him running? Because he has a different kind of statute than any other quarterback? Because he can run the ball 150 times a year? Yeah, well,

Luke Jones  17:26

I think any, any coach is going to tell you it depends on the flow of the game, there are gonna be some and weโ€™ve seen this, Lamar Jackson doesnโ€™t run it 22 kind of times a game. But weโ€™ve seen him on occasion do that. That hasnโ€™t been that, especially, you know, since his rookie year, and you know, that hasnโ€™t been nearly as often. But there are times where he has to run more, there have been some times where heโ€™s only run three times a game, and then the passing game has worked. You know, I donโ€™t think it has to be 42 times, but I think itโ€™s probably going to be 35

Nestor Aparicio  17:52

Well run when the pocket breaks down is something we rarely see him do. Because they donโ€™t set a pocket and play that way. Theyโ€™re gonna play that way. Now, heโ€™s going to drop back, get chased by somebody elseโ€™s clowny and find space and become Superman. And thatโ€™s good, Lamar. But thatโ€™s not really what you want him to do. You want him to drop back in and hit save flowers, let him do it.

Luke Jones  18:15

Well, I think youโ€™re still gonna and thatโ€™s where I think youโ€™re gonna see the difference made up youโ€™re not gonna see as many designed runs for Lamar Jackson, but because you are throwing more than you have in the past. And again, Iโ€™m not gonna say itโ€™s 45 times because Iโ€™ll continue to say I donโ€™t think theyโ€™re gonna throw that much. I donโ€™t think theyโ€™re going from one extreme to the other. But I think because you are dropping back more, because you are going to put teams in positions where youโ€™re spreading them out more so there are fewer guys in the box. Youโ€™re because youโ€™re not playing two and three tight ends set football as often as they were in the past that youโ€™re now in a position where you have all these guys downfield and routes. Lamar Jackson, okay. John Simpson gets beat or Morgan Morgan, Moses gets beat and Lamar, dodgers Omen takes off, I think youโ€™ll see some dangerous. I think youโ€™ll see more scrambles in that way. So and you know, that doesnโ€™t mean that thatโ€™s going to happen 15 times a game. Iโ€™m talking a few times, you know, a handful of times that happens but if Lamar takes one of those for 45 or 50 yards for a touchdown, then there you go. I mean, thatโ€™s where if he evades

Nestor Aparicio  19:15

and gets on the run and stays behind the sticks and finds a flowers and somebody busted coverage, then that thatโ€™s where this really becomes dangerous. And Iโ€™ll say that going into it right? This becomes dangerous. Lamar fades back the past, somebody gets beaten, somebody gets off the edge. They think they got him they canโ€™t catch him. Heโ€™s waterbug. So he moves into a space where he becomes a nastier Ben Roethlisberger, right, like at that point, extending a play to throw it not to run it to throw it. We havenโ€™t seen him do that. They have tried to do that. Most plays. He was either the runner or the decoy in the running game. And they ran three out of four times, sometimes seven, eight times. Yeah, I mean

Luke Jones  20:00

Theyโ€™ve done it, but to your point, not a whole lot and when theyโ€™ve done it itโ€™s itโ€™s looked pretty good. And a lot of times itโ€™s been the improv that weโ€™ve seen with Lamar and Mark Andrews downfield but now you have as a flowers, youโ€™re hoping to have a healthy Rashad Bateman. You have Odell Beckham who look, I have my questions about Beckham over a full season. But Nestor, I will say, He impressed me this summer, he practiced way more than I thought he would. And yeah, they managed his reps day to day, itโ€™s not as though he was taking every single starter rep every single day. So they would have him on a pitch count, there would be days where theyโ€™d send them in early and he got his work in and they did that because you should do that with your veteran players. You know, Mark, Andrew should take more of that day. Heโ€™s quite frankly, Iโ€™ve said that for the last year or two, because heโ€™s that he doesnโ€™t need to practice every single rep. You know, heโ€™s that good. You know, heโ€™s that important to you. And heโ€™s getting older, you know, and heโ€™s so important to what they do. But the Beckham that Iโ€™ve seen, I think he can help them. And again, is that going to last for 17 games? Is he going to run as well, in October and November and December, as he ran in August? I have the same questions as everyone else in that in that regard. But heโ€™s looked good. And Iโ€™ll you know, Iโ€™m the first guy that says, Donโ€™t put too much stock into training camp and the preseason. And thatโ€™s true. But itโ€™s still all we have to go off of right now. Itโ€™s the first time heโ€™s been on the football field, since the end of you know, him tearing up his knee in the Super Bowl against the Bengals when he was elected Los Angeles RAM. But my point is, they are better at wide receiver. And on paper. It looks like it has the potential to be the best passing game that theyโ€™ve had under Lamar Jackson. And it better be to your point because of all the money theyโ€™ve spent and the resources, they pumped into it. But we had seen the Greg Roman offense and that approach. Go as far as it could go, and itโ€™s got itโ€™s gone as far as the divisional round of the postseason. And now the last couple years, it didnโ€™t go that far. Because Lamar was hurt. And thatโ€™s going to be paramount. Lamar has got to play six titles.

Nestor Aparicio  22:01

The system was broken. I think Lamar was broken. Well,

Luke Jones  22:05

I think youโ€™re given Greg Roman a little too much of a pass but and part of it was the receivers were never good enough. Theyโ€™re never good enough. Yeah. And he knew that what and what weโ€™re seeing right now Zaif in previous years, a flowers would have been in right say flowers is, you know, a marquis brown with more physicality. And heโ€™s heโ€™s a tougher player, you know, and I donโ€™t mean that as a as a person. As a football player. Heโ€™s he plays tougher. I mean, he just does it and you can already see that you could see it on tape with him at Boston College even. So, everything is in place to your point for them to be better throwing the football than they have been, at least since 2019. And even in 2019. It was Marquis Brown, Mark Andrews and hoping to get a couple plays from Willie Snead or Hayden Hurst on occasion, you know, thatโ€™s kind of what their offense was at that point. But beyond running the football, so now youโ€™re in a position where you still have JK Dobbins, you still have Gus Edwards, I think Justice Hill is going to be a little more involved in this Todd Monken offense than he was with Greg Roman because I think heโ€™s got a skill set that the Ravens like and you still have Mark Andrews, you still have Isaiah likely, you still have four fifths of your starting offensive line from last year. And everyone got through the offseason or got through training camp healthy

Nestor Aparicio  23:25

head start. I mean, we got the word on the guard. Have we got John Simpson?

Luke Jones  23:29

Yeah, I think, look, heโ€™s gonna be the weak link of their offensive line. But when youโ€™re talking about someone who is between Ronnie Stanley, who practice just about every day, Nestor, he had a few bad days here and there to healthiest. Ronnie Stanley has been in three years now. Will he stay that way? Time will tell. But heโ€™s, he finished last year healthy. And he was healthy this summer. So heโ€™s between Ronnie Stanley and Tyler Linder. Baum, who is an ascending player at the center position, probably has a good chance to be a pro bowl player this year. So my point is, they donโ€™t need John Simpson to be great. Just give them dependable high floor kind of play. And what that means is know your assignment. Donโ€™t jump before the snap count. Donโ€™t commit holding penalties. Give them a high floor at left guard. You know he can even be slightly below average in terms of starters, but when heโ€™s between those two guys, theyโ€™re not going to ask him to do a whole lot. So I think for the time being, I think I think weโ€™ll be okay there. You know, I I think they were hoping that big Salah you know, the sixth round rookie. They were hoping that he could seize control that job. He wasnโ€™t ready. And I think anyone, anyone who could stomach watching the last preseason game, he really struggled. I mean, he really struggled to the point where I wonder if they are going to keep betting Cleveland.

Nestor Aparicio  24:45

Well, and the other thing they were doing starters in that game, you know, they werenโ€™t but Tampa was so you know, he was thanks. He came in late. Yeah.

Luke Jones  24:54

Yeah, yeah, I mean, he played just about the whole game even struggled against some examples, backup players. I mean, it was it was just Off COVID For him it to the point where now Iโ€™m starting to lean that theyโ€™re going to keep Ben Cleveland around, not because they love Ben Cleveland because heโ€™s been underwhelming, but probably a better player than Salah at this point in terms of a game day backup guard. So you know that and weโ€™re gonna see how that

Nestor Aparicio  25:17

if you have to go play the Bengals next week with him, right, literally. Yeah, yeah, I

Luke Jones  25:21

mean, yeah. And weโ€™re gonna see how this works out. I mean, there could there could be a trader too. I mean, Iโ€™m not saying thereโ€™s gonna be anything big but thereโ€™s always some roster maneuvering, especially when you get to your eighth ninth 10th offensive lineman because everyone around the league needs offensive line. Hell, you know, so Ben Cleveland could end up being traded because some team liked them in the draft two years ago, and they give you a you know, you swap fourth round picks or something like that, and a deal. So, yeah, weโ€™ll see how it plays out. But John Simpson had a nice summer. He did everything they asked him to do. I will remind everyone even though heโ€™s heโ€™s young himself. Heโ€™s only 26 He started for the Raiders. I believe it was Iโ€™m gonna say what you know, he started every game for them in 2021. Problem is he had struggled, got to the point where he was benched early last year. They released him in December. He was on the Ravens practice squad last year. I mean, he finished out the season on the practice squad. he flat out said after Saturdayโ€™s game, you know, he was asked in the locker room after Harbaugh had announced that he was going to be the starting left guard. His confidence was shot when he arrived in Baltimore. But, you know, Joe Dallas Andrus, their offensive line coach, Todd Monken, the offensive coordinator and you know, John Harbaugh, you know, they, theyโ€™ve expressed belief in him and now theyโ€™ve awarded his work in the spring and summer being the starter and weโ€™ll see how it plays out. He struggles big time, he wonโ€™t be the starter long. But again, they donโ€™t need that left guard spot to be. They donโ€™t need that guy to be an all pro just be solid, you know, be dependable. Stay on the field. Donโ€™t commit to too many penalties. Know your assignment. You do that when youโ€™re playing between Ronnie Stanley and Tyler Lindenbaum youโ€™re probably going to be okay. You know. So I think thatโ€™s where they are right now. So yeah, there are questions. Thereโ€™s unknown when none of your starters have played in the in the preseason. So itโ€™s gonna be a big no, not that week one will be a big test. But itโ€™ll be a big sense of our curiosity beginning to be satisfied because weโ€™re finally going to see what this thing looks like, beyond some practices and joint workouts with the commanders and guys getting in fights and that, you know, weโ€™ll be kicking it off for real here and weโ€™ll be talking about a real game. In just a couple of weeks.

Nestor Aparicio  27:23

Matt Springsteen in town teams in first place, itโ€™s almost like Felix Batista didnโ€™t get hurt. We got football to talk about around here. Look, weโ€™ll get the cuts out. Itโ€™s all brought to you by our friends at Coons, Baltimore Ford, I need to give a shout out to when donation 8669 donations are cut 10 More percent off here for Labor Day weekend to get on line 866 90 days and if youโ€™ve been waiting to get your windows done, this is the time Iโ€™m Iโ€™m rolling my Pappas shirt today. I couldnโ€™t find it last week. It forced me to do all my laundry. Iโ€™m gonna be at Pappas on Tuesday. Maybe they give me a new maybe weโ€™re gonna hat Iโ€™m definitely going to crabcake and Roanoke county executive joining us at Pappas in Glen Burnie on Tuesday the 29th we get the tour back at fade leaves on September 15. Thatโ€™s a Friday morning. Weโ€™re going to be celebrating our Coppin State Partnership with Dr. Anthony Jenkins as well as new basketball Head Coach Larry Stewart, Sue as I called him back in the 90s when he was running around here and the bullets and all that stuff going on. So weโ€™ll have a little basketball in the brain as well as some Baltimore positive hope you guys enjoyed all of our Mako stuff. Weโ€™re back to doing like baseball, football, ravens all this great stuff happening and the Orioles in first place. Iโ€™m Nestor heโ€™s Luke we are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore. Positive

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