As the dog days of Ravens training camp really take hold, our Luke Jones joins Nestor for a long discussion on battle of several players for a starting spot on the offensive line that will protect Lamar Jackson and open holes for Derrick Henry.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
lamar, play, practice, week, offensive line, ravens, year, talking, point, work, starters, tackle, rookie, game, ronnie stanley, preseason games, football, guard, fans, luke
SPEAKERS
Nestor J. Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:01
8Welcome home, we are W en st Towson, Baltimore, Baltimore positive. We are positively taking the show on the road, the Maryland crabcakes. were presented by the Maryland lottery in conjunction with our friends at Jiffy Lube, multi care and the freshwater of liberty pure solutions. We’ll be getting that back out on the road in a couple of weeks into August and into September, the oyster tour is going to be here. And we’re gonna have new Orioles. We’re gonna have games in Cleveland this weekend. And we’re gonna have practice on the backfields in Owings Mills. Luke will be there all week, a little more, he a little more humidity. And Lamar Jackson has been the story. Imagine that the first week of camp had thrown a lot of passes. I’m assuming this is just a illness of some kind. But is it made for a choppy first week? I mean, it’s certainly not the way Powerball drew it up. Right. Yeah,
Luke Jones 00:49
I mean, look, I mean, we’re still we’re not even into the month of August, as you and I are talking about this. So there’s no concerns, and not in terms of just with Lamar missing some time and what it means from a football standpoint. I mean, it’s fine. They’re just a couple days into pads. When you and I last talked, he had returned to practice on Wednesday, I had said that he was limited, left about halfway through. I assumed it wasn’t a big deal. At that point in time. I thought maybe even it’s part of their plan. But he missed practice again on Friday. So it seemed like he had a little bit of a setback. But long story short, he was back on the field Saturday, Nestor, and he looked like Lamar. He was fine. He was energetic. He practiced fully. He practiced well, wasn’t a perfect practice. You know, he throw picked Marlon Humphrey at one point, but he also threw touchdowns and, and finished a practice on a high note. And I think he’s healthy. I think he’s over it. If there’s something I could compare it to, because obviously, you know, we’ve talked about this. I mean, Lamar every year, misses a practice or two because of illness for whatever reason. You know, and there’s always been a little bit of mystery with that. But
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:00
slack was sick more often when he had kids.
Luke Jones 02:03
And there’s something that we do, we do know, Lamar has at least one daughter. I mean, we know that. Is he living with little, you know, does he have little kids at home? I don’t know. It’s it’s a little strange for someone of his age, but at the same time, the only thing that it reminds me of a little bit was that bears game three years back where remember, he was sick over the course of the week, he was back Friday, practice fully, you assumed Okay, he’s good to go. And then his, his health went took a turn for the worse the following day. And he ended up missing that bear and
8Nestor J. Aparicio 02:34
Chad Steele stood up in front of me and everybody else and said no more questions about the quarterback after they lost the game or won the game actually, then they won the game,
Luke Jones 02:41
right? Yeah. But so you know, so it was strange in that step from that standpoint, I think it was smart on the Ravens part that, you know, they from what my understanding is, they really were thorough with looking him over and running tests and make sure there wasn’t something more serious going on or anything like that. But he was back out there Saturday. He looked good. He looked energetic. Fans were pumped. He took snaps from Linda Obama and then sprinted down the field and Lindenbaum throw him a pass. The kids went nuts. It was just like a fun, fun moment where he say, Okay, back to your regularly scheduled programming, I think. I think he’s okay, now. I really do. Because he looked totally fine. On Saturday. If you just had dropped in and knew nothing about what had happened the previous week, you’d have no idea Lamar had been sick for the better part of a week. So I think it’s okay. And I think now, you kind of settle in the pads have come along the last couple of days, business picks up a little bit. I mean, we’re still still long over a month away from the season opener. So still plenty of time to work on football and get ready for the season. You know, we’re still over a week out from the first preseason game, which we know most of the starters won’t play in any way. So but but it’s definitely you see the difference? I’ll say this much. And this is probably a captain obvious statement because you’re talking about an undrafted rookie and Emory Jones, a sixth round rookie and Devin Leary. And Josh Johnson, who’s what 39 years old and I think has made two starts in the NFL since 2018. The defense dominated without Lamar on the field, big shock, right? Big shock that the defense would totally dominate. But with him being back out there Saturday, much more competitive offense looked a lot better as you would hope as you would expect. And now we just get into Okay, Omar is back is practicing. Now you settle into what will be the dog days of camp as the pads have come on, gets a little more exciting, but still very early and still tough to make any sweeping observations as far as how the 2024 ravens are shaping up and a
Nestor J. Aparicio 04:49
real fake game next week. I mean, we’re now at the point where like we could say next week at the end of next week is a real fake game. You’ve been doing this so long. 15 years you I’ve I said throw myself on the sword of getting thrown out out there. I never liked being out there this time of year. What do you see? I mean, this is on a daily basis, I asked you observations and things you’re seeing. The one thing I would say for Linder bomb throwing passes to Lamar and stuff is they are a little performative. When the kids come out there, there is a little different pop when you have to pull up out there, and it’s hard to park and there’s people and people feel lucky to get tickets, and everybody’s got a kid and everybody wants an autograph, it’s a different kind of playing to the room, then the practices, you’ll see that they they lock you out of primarily and make you stand somewhere in Reisterstown to watch the practice and Owings Mills. You know, yeah, I mean it, but it, it’s a different everything. So many people, lots of bodies moving around lots of fans moving around the heat, there’s a different energy out there this time of year. And
Luke Jones 05:55
8it definitely is. And that’s that’s a good thing, mind you. I mean, that’s, that’s how you make fans for tomorrow. I mean, that’s something they lost when they left Westminster, that has never been the same. But they’ve, to their credit, they’ve made something out of it, rather than just completely closed in practice, and not allowing fans to come get up close whatsoever. So So you have some of that, yeah, there, there’s a performative aspect to it, there’s a little more juice to it, and that’s okay. I mean, that’s, that’s totally fine. I mean, some of my favorite memories of some of my favorite football memories, were going out to McDaniel College back in the late 90s, in the early 2000s, just not not as an aspiring media guy, just as a fan back then, and getting autographs and meeting players and talking to players and talking to coaches at a couple points for a few minutes here and there. That, you know, you don’t have that level of intimacy, you know, you don’t have that level of, you know, where that was, there was such an organic and spawned and spontaneous way that you could do that, you know, if you had a half day off from work, you could decide that morning, you were gonna go out there, whereas now, with the tickets and signing up for it, and all that, that’s, you know, it’s a much more controlled environment in that way, but, but it’s fun. And I think for the players, to a man having talked to plenty of players over the years, they like having, they like having fans out there for this time of year, because there is a monotony to it, that it does get tedious, where you look at a schedule, and you say, Oh, we’ve got six straight days to our next day off, and we’re gonna be sleeping in a hotel that that is better than the than the Best Western back in the day in Westminster. But it’s still a hotel, it’s not at home. And, you know, you got a long day where you got meetings, and you’re on the field. And even though it’s not two days, it’s still, you know, it’s still taxing. So they like having the fans out there. I mean, they do and the organization should want to have the fans out there. You know, again, that’s how you grow and maintain a brand for the long haul. So, you know, from that standpoint, certainly notice a different vibe, a different energy. I mean, Lamar is entering year seven, and I will continue to say the energy, the reaction that he solicits from fans, just by jogging out to the field. I mean, the only thing that it compares to is, I don’t know, Ray Lewis in his prime, right. But but it’s still different when it’s the quarterback, you know, it’s just just different elements. But that’s something that even years into the Lamar era. Now, that is still amazing to me. And it speaks to why he’s a $260 million quarterback. I mean, that’s that the kids say what you want about old guys like us, the kids. I mean, Lamar has everything. You know, they don’t care about the history of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. And it’s Lamar Lamar is the ravens to them, you know, to a 10 year old. And for him to be back out there. Yeah. I mean, it certainly creates a different environment, like I said, creates a different competitive battle. You
Nestor J. Aparicio 08:56
say that to a 10 year old Lamar is the ravens, because he’s been here long enough now that he’s the ravens, right? Yeah.
Luke Jones 09:02
Yeah. I mean, and again, that’s where you’re
Nestor J. Aparicio 09:05
thinking about Flacco anymore, or purple rain to or purple reloader, let alone Purple Rain one, you know, but like, he went and got all this money in the offseason, last year and went out won the MVP. He should have a gaggle of people behind him everywhere he goes, as well as the responsibility and the expectations that at some point, this is going to be a parade, and that’s why they’re out there working in July on a hot day.
8Luke Jones 09:29
Exactly. But I mean, with all of this, I mean, it’s the same thing. You know, Brooks Robinson was to my father what Cal Ripken was to me to what maybe Gunnar Henderson will be to my knees. You know, I mean, you just you don’t know. I mean, it’s all generational. But this is this era of ravens football. I mean, Lamar is everything. So to have him back out there, obviously good. From a mojo standpoint, again, wasn’t all that consequential from a football prep standpoint to as it pertains to the season. Got plenty of time. I mean, plenty of time it’s not you know, year two of the Todd Monken offense all that so not nearly as much of a factor but you know, beyond Lamar just being out there, you know, I continue to look at the offensive line, it’s still work in progress. I don’t think anything is going to be decided until maybe later in August. I think where he’s at left guard the I think he’s have the three open spots that might be the strongest grip that anyone has right now. It doesn’t mean it’s decided. But I think Vorhees I think they really want him to be the left guard. But I think right guard and right tackle are still very much open. Daniel fall lay lay right guard might be the biggest surprise. I mean, they not saying he’s gonna be the weak one guy there. But in the past, they had talked about playing him at guard. But going back to the end of spring, this is the longest we’ve seen fall lay lay and it’s at, you know, this is a guy who played right tackle, right? I mean, he’s certainly not, you know, he’s six foot eight 380 pounds. That’s not the prototypical right guard by any stretch of the imagination. So I’m like Marshall yonder. Yeah. Or Kevin Zeitler. Right. You know, go back to any ravens, right? Guard, I mean, that squat
Nestor J. Aparicio 11:12
shorts, short arms, right, that was the guard, right? Like he’s not?
Luke Jones 11:17
And the question is, is he going to be able to move his feet, to the degree that you need to as a guard, you know, where, you know, even if you’re not an offense, where the right guard is gonna pull nonstop, he’s still gonna be able to move his feet, right, he’s still gotta be able to do those things. So I’m still skeptical that he’s going to be the guy there. But they’re clearly serious about really taking a long look at him. And then Cleveland, here we go. Straight summer, it feels like it’s kind of him, drifting into the background after making the assumption again, and hey, that’s on me, that’s on other people, we’ve made that assumption, to this point, doesn’t look like he’s in that. But I’ll also point out late July, 1, couple of weeks of August, I can give you probably half a dozen competitions on the offensive line, over the years, that time of year where I thought it’s moving in one direction. And then it’s a total 180. And either the guy that you thought might be the guy, and you’re thinking oh, maybe not he ends up being that guy, or it’s someone that we’re not even talking about right now ends up seizing that job, or they go out and trade for a veteran player and plug in plug and play him there. So so you don’t really know but but you know, those have been the you know, that’s been a little surprising and it right tackle that’s played out more like I thought it would you know, they they’ve given the carry the open look, you know, the early initial look at right tackle Rosengarten. I think they’re, they’re making him on it. And I don’t think he’s been bad or anything like that. But he’s a second round rookie. I think they’re, they want him to work his way into that role, rather than putting him into that role. And then he struggles and you got to deploy, he’s
Nestor J. Aparicio 12:57
8got to be better than a swing backup. Not really built for it. right tackle Macquarie’s built much more to be a senator or guard, right? He’s been playing this position, because he’s kind of special in that way. And they gave him money to be the swing guy. But you know, second round draft pick, you’ve got to at least be as good with upside. You can’t be less than a backup sort of swing guy. If you’re not that good. You can’t get on the field right now.
Luke Jones 13:25
Right. And that’ll be the big question. I mean, I think I will say this, I think they have confidence in Patrick mCherry playing the role in terms of his ability. I think the concern and this has been a concern for a long time. And I’ve talked to multiple people in the organization about this. You know, it’s been mentioned, probably, on the record, but also there have been times where just you know, you know, having talked to people more casually mCherry, there’s just a concern with him that if he is an every down every week player starter, that they wonder about his back holding up, and you know, his back has flared up at a couple of different points over the years minor, but something gone all the way back for him back to his college days, you know, that was a concern. So I think they still feel his optimal role is that six lineman who can literally play all five spots on the offensive line, which is so wildly valuable on game day, when you might have one, let alone maybe sometimes two guys go down in the midst of a game where mCherry can play anywhere, just
Nestor J. Aparicio 14:27
get kicked in the nuts or literally, exactly. Check it out for a play. Right, exactly. Yeah.
Luke Jones 14:32
And that’s the thing. They trust him. They trust him to play any of those spots, but ideally, I think they like him in that swing role. They like him as that six linemen, that, you know, that guy that can play anywhere and feel good about him playing anywhere. But that said to your point, and you’re 100% right on this, if Roger Rosen garden isn’t up to the task, come week one. I think Patrick Macquarie will be there, you know, and I think they’ll start them at A tackle and then then it will become is Rosengarten. Ready in week three or week four or week eight. Now that’s where and look Orlando Brown Jr, who was one of the big success stories in terms of not being a first round pick, but playing almost right away. I think you go back and look at his rookie year, what was it week six, week seven was when Orlando brown started playing right tackle for the Ravens as a rookie. So if Rosengarten is not ready in September, then I think they’re, I think they can more than live with Patrick mCherry at right tackle and be okay. You just want to see enough from Rosengarten to say, okay, he’s still, maybe he’s not ready right now. But he’s still on track to be ready sooner than later. And if they get that much accomplished by the end of training camp, I think they’ll feel okay. What they don’t want is you have Macquarie at right tackle because no one else, including Rosengarten has shown the ability to play there, then that’s where it’s a little more of a problem where you say okay, it’s mCherry going to hold up, let alone talking about Ronnie Stanley at left tackle whether he’s going to hold up knowing his injury history. So So you want to have options. You know, even if a rookie isn’t quite ready to start week one, you want to see enough flashes, you want to see enough signs a promise that he’s going to be able to contribute as a rookie. And on the defensive side. Nate Wiggins is another great example. Do I think Nate Wiggins is gonna be a starting corner for the Ravens week one? No, I don’t. But I think he’s showing enough that he’s going to be in the mix in their sub packages, whether we’re talking about nickel dime, move Marlin Humphrey inside in the nickel or dime package. I think Wiggins is on track there. Because the thing that I’ve liked about him, even though all we’ve talked about is he’s so wiry and skinny. And he needs to put on weight and he’s so light. He he shows a toughness. I’ve seen him and it’s only been a couple of days in pads. But he’ll mix it up. I have not seen him shy away from contact. And when you’re talking about someone who he’s listed at 182 pounds, I don’t know if he’s actually 182 pounds. You want to see a toughness factor there that he’s willing to tackle when hit. And I’ve seen that and I liked seeing that. And Chris Hewitt, their secondary coach talked about that a few days ago. Is that the Dwayne Starks
8Nestor J. Aparicio 17:15
thing a little bit like him just being small, and you’re looking at him and saying what’s he got under the hood? Yeah,
Luke Jones 17:19
LaDarius Webb was the same way. Tavon Young was the same way. You know, smaller guys, but hey, if you’re willing to tackle if you’re willing to hit you, look, you don’t need a corner to tackle like a linebacker. You just want him to not just be diving at someone’s ankles. And that’s all he does in terms of trying to tackle someone so especially a six foot four foot wide receiver. Exactly, exactly. So from that standpoint, he looks on track. Rosengarten has been working with the second team, you know, I haven’t seen anything that I’ve been concerned about. He’s just he’s developing though, you know, he’s, he was a late round, late second round pick. You typically aren’t asking someone like that to start week one as a rookie. So that’s where I keep saying, yeah, do look at Macquarie do look at Josh Jones, the veteran newcomer that they signed, as well to maybe be this year as John Simpson in terms of someone that steps up and starts for them for a year or play some games for them for a while. So you know, that’s that’s what you’re looking at right now. It’s still very early. And you know, a lot a lot is made about, you know, what pass rushers look good. You know, what offensive lineman has been beat. It’s not until you get to pads and you start stacking days and pads where I really start paying attention to that, because I find in my experiences Nestor, that, especially for those practices, where you’re just in shells and shorts, and you’re not going full contact, that you have varying degrees of I don’t want to say effort, because I don’t want to make it sound like veteran players are shaking it because no, that’s not what I’m implying. But I think you do have different degrees of intensity, where a young guy is trying to win a job or prove himself
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:00
or you’re just trying to throw himself around to show that he who he is right, well, that’s a little scary July for the coaches.
Luke Jones 19:08
8For sure we’re at but on the flip side, you have veteran players who are getting their work in right. We talked about this with pitchers in spring training all the time, right. I mean, you might have a rookie who’s out there max effort, hey, I want to get a job in the bullpen or I want to land the number four number five starter role, whereas Corbin burns. He’s getting his work and go back and look at what Corbin burns spring training numbers are by the way, that was actually a thing where his brain trading numbers he he scuffled? Yeah, he gave up a lot of homeruns and and I remember at the time I not you obviously but someone asked me if I was worried. I said no. And I didn’t say another word. Because you know that there was established guys are getting their work in. They’re trying some things which talked about this last week and just the kind of the holistic approach of covering training camp understanding that yeah, you know what I actually want to see Lamar Jackson throwing some interceptions here and there because that means he’s trying some things out, right? He’s testing out. Okay, can I get away with throwing a ball in that window against when Marlon Humphrey and Kyle Hamilton are converging in that window? You know, can I get away with throwing a ball there, you know, back shoulder throw against that kind of coverage? So, yeah, the veteran players are
Nestor J. Aparicio 20:23
gonna see him say flowers is gonna fly for the ball. No question.
Luke Jones 20:26
I mean, there’s, there’s evaluation that’s always going on. But the point is, it’s still so much more about process than the results of the play when you’re talking about practice. So, so there’s some of that that’s, that’s at work here. But I mean, it’s, there’s nothing about this training camp that other than Lamar is absence that has really been out of the ordinary, that’s changed my thoughts on the trajectory of this football team or anything like that. Like I said, a couple fall lay lay being an example of something I didn’t necessarily anticipate. But again, he could be back at right tackle at this time next week, and we’re talking about Ben Cleveland there, or big Salah there, or Josh Jones there. I mean, this
Nestor J. Aparicio 21:06
is their time to try out everything that they thought up and dreamed up in March, April in May. Right, literally, no
8Luke Jones 21:12
question. And, you know, I mean, that for the coaches. I mean, we’ve talked about it with the secondary, you know, they added, you know, they added Eddie Jackson, and they resigned Daryl Warli. And, you know, you look at the secondary now, it’s on paper, it looks pretty deep. At this point, it looks pretty good, pretty promising at this point. You know, what’s going to work? You know, are you going to, you know, who you’re going to play in the nickel package, you know, are you going to play a little more dime, because now you have Trenton Simpson as your Will linebacker not Patrick, queen, and you don’t know if he’s going to hold up and pass coverage quite as well, when it’s an obvious passing situation. And you’ve got the horses that you might feel really good about playing the dime package. So you might just take him off the field when it’s third and long. And Kyle Hamilton will come down to the dime spot and play that. And then he might blitz from that spot and do the things that Kyle Hamilton could do so. So there’s, you’re you’re, you’re playing around with all these things. Yeah, you’re getting your work in. And yeah, there’s a business there very much a business like approach to what you’re doing day in and day out. But that’s why I’m not big on keeping stats on, you know, what Omar’s completion percentage is or who has the most interceptions or anything like that. I mean, it’s interesting in the moment, but then I forget about it immediately, because you’re on to the next player, you’re on to the next period, or you’re on to the next point of emphasis in practice. So, you know, with Lamar being back on the field, that his absence was really the only truly notable newsworthy item of the first week, you know, everything else is just camp stuff, which, like I said, is fun in the moment. And I write about it in the moment. And you know what, I forget about a 10. Because it’s not all that terribly critical to the big picture, other than just preparing and understanding that you got a season that’s going to kick off here in about five weeks. Well,
Nestor J. Aparicio 23:01
I have it on my schedule for next week that they’re playing a football game on Friday night. You know, I’m looking at it and saying, all right, I’m supposed to be seeing Teddy swims my wife’s favorite, and we’re going to Washington Nationals game because Teddy swims his play. So nonetheless, I’m going to be doing that that evening. So I’ll be monitoring fake football, the offensive line. And what? It’s the concert. It’s the symphony that John Ogden and Mike Flynn and Wiley Williams taught me about. And the late great Orlando brown taught me about 30 years ago, that part of these preseason games. I don’t think you could put Ronnie Stanley out there. I don’t know how long they want Linder bum, snap into a backup quarterback to your point, getting that part of the field together. And that part of the most important thing we’ve talked about all offseason? I mean, we’re going to talk about the offensive line until Derrick Henry runs for 200 yards and Lamar passes for 300 yards. And they’re six in one or whatever they are. But the offensive line, what do you expect in these games, because this is the time they really take it out and drive it. And they’re not gonna have to quarterback to drive it. They’re not going to play Henry, they’re gonna play most of their guys. But I’m thinking they don’t want Stanley out there. But they want something that feels like a real offensive line after the practice, right?
Luke Jones 24:17
Yeah, and that’s what’s tough. I mean, that’s where there is the challenge. That’s where I’m hesitant to say none of the starters play, right? Obviously Lamar is not going to play. Obviously, Derrick Henry is not going to play. Go down the list of the most obvious guys, but even what you mentioned. And let me be clear, I’m not saying that Linda, mom and Stanley will play or that they should play. But there probably is at least a reasonable argument to be made that maybe they should play a little bit because you are trying to build this cohesiveness with your offensive line, once you actually decide who the five are going to be. So I think early on, they I don’t expect that we’re going to see them to be clear. If you You’re asking me yes or no I’m gonna say no they don’t care
Nestor J. Aparicio 25:02
8how the offensive line looks next week right? They care more like fit right? I gotcha. Okay.
Luke Jones 25:06
I think you want to see how individuals on the offensive line look next week but still we’re talking about Rosengarten we’re talking about Andrew Vorhees we’re talking about Daniel file Les Les, we’re talking about Josh Jones we’re we’re talking about those candidates that are saying
Nestor J. Aparicio 25:21
starters we’ll play two or three of those guys are going to play they’re going to be starters against cancer because you don’t know
Luke Jones 25:25
they’re gonna be right. You don’t know they’re gonna be starters. So yeah, so So obviously, some starters are gonna play defensive line. I expect Travis Jones is going to play some even if he’s not gonna be a starter. He’s gonna play a lot. He played a lot last year, you know, so it’s not as though it’s all 22 starters. But it’s, you know, your core established starters aren’t going to play so the guys
8Nestor J. Aparicio 25:45
were single digits won’t play except for talker he’ll kick. Yeah, yeah. That’s where we are now single digits are all you know, Ro Quan, Lamar ze you know, that’s where we are. Now. It’s all single day, all the Retired numbers are going to be zeros and ones and twos moving forward like the Yankees. But you know, it is. If they have a single digit they won’t play. That’s going to be my new preseason rule. Probably eventually, although
Luke Jones 26:09
I’ll point out Nate Wiggins is number two he’ll play. I mean, he’s he’ll play in the preseason. Well, next year. Yeah. Right. If he’s as good as they think he’s gonna be, I would assume he probably won’t play next year. Right. Just like, it’s not gonna play this year, obviously. And Brandon Stevens, probably won’t play this year, even though he would have played last year. So So you know, loves
Nestor J. Aparicio 26:30
winning preseason games with backups? Well,
Luke Jones 26:33
8I’m glad you said that. He loves the preseason games, but they’ve won with their backups. And that’s, that speaks to the roster depth they’ve had in recent years. But that whole streak, which I’m glad that streaks over to because that was a talking point I was tired about. But But yeah, I mean, it’s, I think for the old line, I mean, that’s where practice time is just gonna be so important. And I think what’s really going to be important, and we’ve hit on this, and we’ve talked about this in the past, when they go to Green Bay, and they have that joint practice two days before their game at Lambeau Field, that’s going to be the preseason game for the starters, you know, now, it’s a controlled environment, obviously, and that’s why they prefer it. But that’s going to be I’m guessing at that point in time, whatever that date is, and I don’t have the calendar in front of me, but you know, it’s that that last preseason game, they’re gonna want to know, they’re going to want to have a really strong idea of what their own line is, at that point, what the row line is going to be for Kansas City a couple of weeks after that. And what they’re going to do is Okay, how’s this look against the Packers? packers aren’t the best defense in the NFL by any stretch of the imagination? But how’s it look? How’s it look against guys who don’t know our place, guys who don’t go up against Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry in practice every day? And that’ll be an evaluation tool for them. But for the most part, you know, especially when you’re talking about Linda balm, and Stanley. Yeah, they’re gonna, they’re gonna want to see what all these other guys look like kind of in isolation, and how are they handling the job? You know, how are they doing in terms of pre snap penalties and pre snap discipline and technique and understanding their assignments? So there was a lot to be decided with that. And I remember back in the spring, Harbaugh made a comment. And he was asked about this. So it’s not like he, this was unsolicited. But he made a comment about ideally, they would have a decent idea of what their starting offensive line is going into the preseason game. Well, he’s already walked out back because he was asked about that. And he said, Look, I’d love that. In a perfect world. Yeah, we would know. Is that realistic? Probably not, you know? And, look, I would have told you that they’re not going to know for sure. At that point. It’s why you have the preseason, especially when you’re filling three open jobs. I mean, that’s just the reality of where they are right now. I mean, you’re, you’re you moved on from two really established veteran starters. And John Simpson who played what just about every snap, or I think maybe did play every snap for them last year, let them in snaps anyway. So on the O line, so yeah, that’s a lot to replace there. And doesn’t mean that they won’t figure it out. But are they going to have it figured out August 1? No. Are they going to have it figured out on August 15? Hmm, maybe? Are they even going to truly have it figured out on September 5 in the sense of the starting five, that night in Kansas City is guaranteed to be their starting five all year long. There’s a good chance that that’s even a no at this point. So it’s very much a fluid situation and what we see if I can tell you one thing, the O line that you see during mandatory minicamp is quite often not the O line that you see the second week of August, which is not quite often not the yellow line, you see week one, which now certain time, but sometimes is not the O line you see come week 15 So I mean, that’s just their injuries or performance concerns. There’s someone that emerges that you don’t expect you know maybe it’s maybe it is Daniel fall lay lay it right guard this Hear, but, you know, there’s there’s a lot to figure out. And I don’t say this to be an alarmist, but I think you’re kidding yourself if you don’t at least have some measure of concern in saying, all right, Tyler Lindenbaum was a Pro Bowl Senator next year, I feel great about him. I think he’s excellent. Whether he’s the best, or the second best, or the third best, or the fifth best center in football, he’s somewhere in that group, or at least is rapidly becoming that guy. So I feel great about him. After that, is there any short thing? No, including Ronnie Stanley, which the pay cut that he took suggested that he’s not a sure thing anymore. I mean, he knows it, let alone talking about the team. So. So there’s a lot to figure out here. That doesn’t mean they won’t figure it out, doesn’t mean they won’t have a good offensive line come October. But there’s a lot to figure out here. And there’s a lot of unknown. And for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. That’s why I said all along, it’s real easy to say, Oh, we’re gonna move on from Kevin Zeitler. And Morgan, Moses. Real easy to say that in March and April, because you’ve got time. Well, they still have time right. Now, let’s be clear. And they still could make a veteran addition before it’s all said and done. But there’s a lot to figure out. And as we’ve seen before, in the past, not just with the ravens, but with any team, look at the Bengals in recent years, you know, there’s a real close example to go off of, yeah, there are a few things that can sync a team’s championship aspirations quicker than having major problems on the offensive line. So I’m not saying they will, but they certainly have to figure it out. And they have a big pool of candidates. But you need three guys to emerge that look like they’re ready to handle the job. And at this point in time, they’re candidates. And there’s intrigue, and there’s interest. And they’re certainly we’ve talked about the names and we’ll continue to talk about them. But until they go out and prove it, there’s still going to be a lot of unknown about what the state of the offense offensive line is going to be and what impact that has on this offense that overall has very high expectations, of course,
Nestor J. Aparicio 32:07
and on tomorrow’s program, we’ll discuss Joe burrows blond hair, because it’s July and it’s football conversation. Luke Jones is here. He’s Baltimore, Luke, eight baseball games in seven days, six practices in a row. They don’t allow me to come to practice or come to the games only our Caucasian employee gets to do that. So Luke will be doing both you’ll look like he’s slicing and dicing and doing double headers and backfields. And you’ll hear things in Luke’s locker room at a Baltimore positive and you’ll hear our conversations all week long. I have been in Cleveland last couple days, I’m headed back to Baltimore, Cleveland. Baltimore is headed to Cleveland at the end of the week, and of course, couple games and a trading deadline here. Luke, I hope you’re resting comfortably here getting a little bit of rest. The trading deadline will be over and we’ll be on to just the offensive line and pennant race baseball beginning here in about 48 hours. He is Luke Jones. You can follow him out of Baltimore, Luke anywhere the internet travels you can follow both of us and all of our work at Baltimore positive.com. Stay with us
