You never want to make too much out of the Ravens’ spring workouts, whether it’s overanalyzing every Lamar Jackson throw or inflating the roster chances of the rookie labeled a sleeper after the draft.
Ravens safety Tony Jefferson said it best this past week about judging players during non-contact voluntary workouts.
“We’ll see in training camp when the pads come on,” Jefferson said. “Obviously, some people look good in shorts, and some people look great in pads. That’s when we find out who the real football players are.”
It’s particularly difficult judging offensive and defensive linemen without pads, which leads to even more attention on players at the skill positions.
Acknowledging those limitations, below are five players who seemingly helped their stock this spring:
OL Jermaine Eluemunor
Head coach John Harbaugh threw some cold water on this one by noting Eluemunor’s need to get in better playing shape for training camp, but the third-year lineman taking virtually all first-team reps at left guard was one of the bigger surprises of the spring and speaks to his growth since his rookie year. This figures to be one of the more interesting position battles on the roster with James Hurst, Alex Lewis, Bradley Bozeman, and rookie fourth-round pick Ben Powers all in the mix, but Eluemunor has quietly expanded his versatility by filling in at left tackle last year and moving back to guard this spring, which should improve his roster chances even if he doesn’t win the starting job.
ILB Chris Board
The discussion following the March departure of four-time Pro Bowl linebacker C.J. Mosley centered around 2018 fourth-round pick Kenny Young moving into the starting lineup next to Patrick Onwuasor, but Board, an undrafted free agent who excelled on special teams as a rookie, split the first-team snaps with Young and even appeared to get more reps in certain packages. Harbaugh anticipates a rotation between the two with dime back Anthony Levine also factoring into the snap distribution, but Board could be on the same path traveled by the likes of Onwuasor, Zach Orr, Jameel McClain, and Bart Scott as undrafted players who started on special teams and eventually carved out starting roles.
S DeShon Elliott
The Ravens should have one of the best starting safety duos in the NFL with Earl Thomas and Tony Jefferson, but it was impossible to watch Elliott make plays this spring without thinking Wink Martindale needs to find ways to get him on the field. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Texas product showed off plenty of physicality last summer before breaking his forearm, but it was his range in pass coverage that stood out in spring workouts. Whether it’s working Elliott into the dime package or using a little bit of a safety rotation like we saw at cornerback last year, the Ravens will have a hard time leaving the 2018 sixth-round pick on the sideline if what he did in the spring carries into the preseason.
WR Sean Modster
The last two names on this list remain long shots to make the 53-man roster, but Modster flashed on multiple occasions this spring and even drew some praise from slot cornerback Tavon Young. The 5-foot-11, 183-pound receiver from Boise State has shown good hands and change of direction working out of the slot, but he’ll need to show that same ability against the threat of contact to put himself in serious contention for a roster spot. With a few veterans and several recent draft picks ahead of Modster in the pecking order and Baltimore’s run-based offense not exactly prioritizing wide receivers as highly as most teams, the rookie free agent will need to really impress in the preseason to have a chance.
CB Terrell Bonds
Only signed to a contract after trying out during rookie camp and a former member of the Memphis Express in the defunct Alliance of American Football, Bonds made quite an impression on the second day of minicamp when he intercepted Jackson twice in the same red-zone period. At 5-foot-8 and 182 pounds, the Tennessee State product faces what could be a near-impossible path to a roster spot with the deep depth as his position, but a strong summer would at least put him in position to catch on elsewhere like ex-Raven Darious Williams did with the Los Angeles Rams last fall. The fact that we’re even mentioning Bonds in this space is a credit to his hard work after he went undrafted in 2018.
