The Ravens will have the option of an extra player on their practice squad this season as German fullback Chris Ezeala was awarded to them as part of the International Player Pathway program.
The initiative began last year and is designed to give a small group of international players the opportunity to compete at the NFL level. Ezeala will be on the preseason roster with Baltimore then having the option to place him on the practice squad during the regular season if he doesn’t make the 53-man roster. As a special exemption for the normal 10-man developmental squad, he would be ineligible to be activated during the season.
Ezeala, 22, played fullback and linebacker in the German Football League for the Ingolstadt Dukes and began playing the sport for the Munich Rangers and Allgäu Comets. He and seven other international players have been training alongside other NFL players and draft hopefuls in Florida for the past three months, working with a group of coaches that included former Ravens running back Earnest Byner and former Ravens defensive backs coach Donnie Henderson
“My coaches told me that while there are many linebackers like me in the NFL, there is no fullback that is so athletic and fast,” Ezeala said in a press release. “They are trying to create a new type of player with me.”
Ezeala has typical fullback size at 5-foot-11 and 243 pounds, but his 40-yard dash time really stands out as he completed the run in 4.54 seconds, according to the Ravens official website.
In other Tuesday roster news, the Ravens claimed former Cleveland defensive back Kai Nacua off waivers. The 2017 rookie free agent from Brigham Young appeared in all 16 games for the Browns as a rookie, making three starts and collecting 14 tackles.
Luke Jones
Luke Jones is the Ravens and Orioles beat reporter for WNST BaltimorePositive.com and is a PFWA member. His mind is consumed with useless sports knowledge, pro wrestling promos, and movie quotes, but he often forgets where he put his phone. Luke's favorite sports memories include being one of the thousands of kids who waited for Cal Ripken's autograph after Orioles games in the summer of 1995, attending the Super Bowl XXXV victory parade with his dad in the pouring rain, and watching the Terps advance to the Final Four at the Carrier Dome in 2002. Follow him on social media @BaltimoreLuke or email him at Luke@wnst.net.
8Paid Advertisement
Podcast Audio Vault
88Paid Advertisement
Share the Post:
8Paid Advertisement
Right Now in Baltimore
Getting hip to the facts and realities of knee and joint health – and replacement – with Dr. Ronald Delanois of GBMC
Getting back to the best version of you is always the goal of our friends at GBMC and with many friends going through hip and knee replacements, we reached to Dr. Ronald Delanois to get Nestor hip to the facts about knee replacements and better joint health as we age.
Mayo's home run sends Orioles to 3-2 comeback win over Yankees
Baltimore had been no-hit through six innings before Coby Mayo hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.
Holding pro sports franchises and billionaires accountable
In an extended chat with longtime WJZ sports director Mark Viviano, we discuss the role of the modern media and why the questions for the important people are so important. Especially for two kids from Baltimore and St. Louis, who had their childhood teams taken away by the NFL monsters and goblins named Irsay, Bidwill and Kroenke.
888Paid Advertisement
