With one more fake football game left, the Baltimore Ravens don’t have a lot of jobs up for grabs or injuries to report so the big foot of Tyler Loop and the large shoes to fill of the former kicker makes every kick a little more jumpy. Luke Jones and Nestor continue the slog through Ravens training camp and look ahead to preparations for Buffalo on September 7th.
Tyler Loop had had six field goal-attempts in a recent game, showed promise but faces high expectations, especially in pressure situations. The conversation also touched on the impact of the new kickoff rule, which moves touchbacks to the 35-yard line, and the potential for undrafted rookies like Ruben Lowry and CJ Akoye to make the roster. The Ravens are preparing for final roster cuts, with key decisions on depth players and special teams.
- [ ] Analyze Tyler Loop’s performance in the preseason games and assess his readiness for the regular season.
- [ ] Follow up with John Harbaugh on whether the canceled joint practice with Washington will impact the team’s plans for the final preseason game.
- [ ] Identify the key roster battles and players on the bubble as the team makes final cuts.
Ravens Training Camp and Personal Updates
- Nestor Aparicio discusses his recent activities, including a trip to Ocean City, playing golf, and attending an event hosted by Curio Wellness.
- Nestor mentions the Orioles’ weekend games, including a near-perfect game by Brandon Young.
- Nestor talks about his crab cake tour and upcoming events, including visits to various local restaurants.
- Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the upcoming Ravens training camp games and the importance of evaluating young players.
Tyler Loop’s Performance and Expectations
- Luke Jones talks about Tyler Loop’s performance in the recent game, including his six field goal attempts and his leg strength.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the challenges of kicking in different conditions, such as in Dallas and in cold weather.
- Luke mentions the importance of consistency for Loop and compares him to Justin Tucker.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the potential impact of Loop’s performance on the Ravens’ season and the expectations for him in critical games.
Comparisons to Justin Tucker and Field Goal Opportunities
- Nestor and Luke discuss the high standards set by Justin Tucker and the challenges Locket faces in meeting those standards.
- Luke explains the importance of Locket being consistent from shorter distances and the impact of the Ravens’ offensive style on field goal opportunities.
- Nestor and Luke talk about the potential for the Ravens to go for it on fourth down more often due to their offensive capabilities.
- Luke emphasizes the need for Locket to perform well in high-pressure situations and the importance of his consistency.
Impact of Kickoff Rule Changes
- Luke Jones discusses the impact of the new kickoff rule changes on Locket’s performance and the importance of directional kicking.
- Nestor and Luke talk about the safety benefits of the new rule and the potential for more kickoffs and returns.
- Luke mentions the importance of field position and the challenges Locket faces in adapting to the new rule.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the potential for returns and the impact of the new rule on special teams.
Preseason Games and Roster Decisions
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of the final preseason game and the decisions that will be made regarding the roster.
- Luke mentions the potential for injuries and the impact on roster decisions, including the possibility of players being placed on IR.
- Nestor and Luke talk about the depth chart and the decisions regarding offensive linemen, running backs, and defensive players.
- Luke highlights the importance of special teams and the potential for players like Ruben Lowry and CJ Akoye to make an impact.
Undrafted Rookies and Potential Surprises
- Luke Jones discusses the potential for undrafted rookies like Ruben Lowry and CJ Akoye to make the roster and contribute to the team.
- Nestor and Luke talk about the importance of preseason games in evaluating these players and their potential impact.
- Luke mentions the history of the Ravens keeping undrafted rookies on the initial 53-man roster and the potential for surprises.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of special teams and the potential for players like Keon Martin to make an impact.
Final Thoughts and Preparations for the Season
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of the final preseason game and the decisions that will be made regarding the roster.
- Luke mentions the potential for injuries and the impact on roster decisions, including the possibility of players being placed on IR.
- Nestor and Luke talk about the depth chart and the decisions regarding offensive linemen, running backs, and defensive players.
- Luke highlights the importance of special teams and the potential for players like Ruben Lowry and CJ Akoye to make an impact.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Ravens training camp, Tyler Locket, Justin Tucker, preseason games, field goal consistency, special teams, roster cuts, undrafted rookies, offensive line depth, defensive line depth, practice squad, injury updates, game-winning kicks, kickoff rule changes.
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 Taos of Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. It is our 27th anniversary. I have the 27th logo. It’s beautiful. I’m about to get it up. I this week. I’m going to do a lot of things this week, because I was at Ocean City over the weekend. I was at golf all day. My guest. I was a guest of the curio wellness folks. Just had the greatest day. I don’t be hard pressed to believe I could have this much fun at golf, especially we got stuck in a rainstorm after the whole thing. But Scottie Scheffler, nice work. Orioles over the weekend with the visayo and the Dylan beavers call up in the near perfect game Brandon young. We hope our crab cake tour has the kind of success we had over the weekend. Around here, we’re going to be down to fade leaves on Thursday. On Friday, I’m going to be pizza Johns and Essex on Monday. We move back to Costa sentimonium. Really looking forward to that. Back downtown, to cilantro on Tuesday of next week, and then we’re going to be Coco’s next Wednesday, featuring my favorite things to eat. And I am on the trail. I mean, I did ugly pie in Salisbury. I went all the way down to old salties and had another crab cake down there. It was delicious. Making my way back from the beach and doing a lot of great places, local places this week. I think you’ll dig it. It’s, they’re all tasty. I have, there’s a little bit of the cookie left from patisserie Poupon that I had during the break here. Lucas and I have been discussing not just the fact that I will not only have the lucky sevens in the pressure locks, I’ll have Raven scratch off soon. This week, you’ll hear the new ads around here. It is Raven season. God Luke, one more of these god forsaken games. I mean, just, let’s Whoo. You know, before we began with this, you use the word, it’s a great AI word for you. You use the word unremarkable about their trip down to Dallas, right? Not nearly as remarkable as jeras world, yeah. I
Luke Jones 02:00
mean, it’s just look, we know what it is from from an entertainment standpoint, right? Which, at the end of the day, that’s what this is. Bring on the bananas. It’s not a great product. We understand that. However, it was fruitful for purposes of evaluating young players. John Harbaugh went as far to name Tyler loop his kicker that he won the job after Saturday night’s game, which he was the only kicker on the roster after they had let Hoyland, the other rookie, go a couple weeks ago. So Not exactly earth shattering or all that meaningful. I mean, we know that him being named the week one kicker is one thing, him continuing to be the kicker. Beyond that is the test, right? In the same way it was for Justin Tucker when he replaced Billy Cundiff 13 years ago, right? So it was good to see him get what six opportunities he missed, one from beyond 50, made two from beyond 50. I’ve said it all. Spring and Summer, you watch Tyler loop kick. You can see he’s got a leg. I mean, there’s no question about that in that way, he reminds you very much of Justin Tucker once upon a time, where you say, I see why they liked him, because he can kick the heck out of the football. The question will be the consistency, right? So we learned that that was kind of the big takeaway. And beyond that, you know, some young
Nestor Aparicio 03:18
conditional kicking, it’s summertime, and it is what it is, kicking in Cleveland, in the muds, a whole different gig. Oh
Luke Jones 03:24
yeah. I mean, especially kicking in in Jerry’s world, right where it’s in. I mean, Brandon Aubrey, their kicker, which we’ve talked about, that guy. He’s got an unbelievable leg. I mean, we saw him make, what was that? A 62 yarder casually against the Ravens early in that game. I think it was, it was beyond 60. It was like, casual. It’s like, what the heck? They just, like, tried a field goal early in the game that long, and he made it like it was nothing. But he also gets to kick half his games there so but you know, you want to see him pass every test. And he hasn’t been perfect. He’s even had some practices where you’d say, Oh, that wasn’t good. But part of that is also, how do you
Nestor Aparicio 04:00
respond from that, when you miss one, do you let it snowball and suddenly you have two or three bad practices in a row? Or you make two or three miss two or three in a row? Or do you get back on the horse and you make the next one? And I think that’s where they’ve they’ve liked him, right? Well, you know, I hate to tell the kids around here, don’t know any better, but most other places, kickers Miss kicks they do. They do practice on the back fields, on the front fields, and, you know, in warm ups, they miss kicks. They do because it’s, I mean, this is not, it’s like baseballs. You know, you get three under you’re doing a good job. There’s a number here. And it ain’t perfect.
Luke Jones 04:36
It’s not and it also needs to come with an understanding of putting aside anything about Justin Tucker off the field, or even how he kicked last year, which he didn’t kick very well last year, right? I mean, we might have been talking about competition, even if the banners report or nothing ever comes out about that, we still might have been talking about at least somewhat of a competition this. This summer
Nestor Aparicio 05:01
may not have been journalists weren’t out meddling, but, but it may it may not
Luke Jones 05:05
have been Tyler loop drafted in the sixth round, but chances are, there would have been someone at least pushing the issue a little bit. But part of this is also recognizing that Tyler loop could end up being a heck of a kicker. Chances are he’s not going to be as much as great as what Justin Tucker was for a decade plus, right? I mean, that’s you
Nestor Aparicio 05:25
went through Dylan beavers and Nick mark just doing the comparisons. I don’t know there’s going to be any comparison to Justin Tucker, like, you know, wake me in five years, if this kid’s making 60 yard field goals on the regular and never missing kicks. And then we’ll start talking about, I mean, even 810, weeks into this year, if he’s remarkable and and flawless, it’s just such a high bar to do it, as long as Justin Tucker
Luke Jones 05:54
did it. If he does that, the next question will be, Okay, how’s he doing December, when the weather turns? How does he do in January, when the stakes are at their highest, right? I mean, it No pun intended. It absolutely is a case of moving the goalpost because, I mean, like, Dude, that’s, that’s your job, right? I mean, so,
Nestor Aparicio 06:10
oh, well, let’s be honest. If Lamar is going to win a Super Bowl and they’re going to win four games in January, probably a big kick, they’re going to need a
Luke Jones 06:17
big kick at some point or two or five, yeah, no doubt, no question about it. So I think you start with in
Nestor Aparicio 06:24
bad weather. Let me throw out it’s going to throw that into so the weather will not be good.
Luke Jones 06:29
But I think a reasonable expectation to start with is, can he be better than what Justin Tucker was through the first 11 games last year? Justin Tucker was bad through the first 11 games last year. He was one of the worst kickers in football, when you look at it statistically now, he regrouped and kicked well the rest of the year after the buy. But you start there. Can he be consistent? Can he make all of his kicks inside 40 yards? Can he make all his kicks inside 45 yards? Again? The leg will not be a question. He has a strong kicking leg. We’re going to see that. But part of what made Justin Tucker great and before him, what made Matt Stover great for all those years, making the kicks that you’re supposed to make, not the not the one that’s going to be the highlight that’s going to get you to the Pro Bowl, necessarily. But can you be automatic from inside 45 can you be automatic from inside 50, and Justin Tucker was and Matt Stover, maybe not inside 50, because Stover, even in his prime, didn’t really have that kind of mega leg, but he made them all from inside 40 and inside 45 which, you know, is kind of a different game 30 years ago, kicking the football.
Nestor Aparicio 07:36
Well, I was going to say John plays the game differently now, sure, then he did when Justin Tucker was a rookie, yeah, I mean, Justin Tucker was kicking a lot more field goals, and Joe Flacco was around. They’re playing different football at that time. They’re playing four down football. Now they’re playing downhill football with Derek Henry. I don’t know that there’s a fourth down or a place on the field where he could kick a field goal, where they wouldn’t go for it, you know. So, I mean, they’re gonna be opportunities. Tyler loop doesn’t sniff, yeah. I mean, a dozen or dozen and a half over the course of the year that he will not come onto the field and not will never know if he could have made a 52 yard field goal or 58 yard field goal, because he’s going to try
Luke Jones 08:20
it. Yeah, they’re going to go for it on fourth and one, and they might score a touchdown three plays later. They’re going to go for it on fourth and six. Oh, I mean, they might, I mean, depending on where it is on the field. I mean, usually not fourth and six. But your point is spot on in terms of when you have this kind of offense and the way they want to play, when you have Lamar Jackson, when you have Derrick Henry, they’re going to be it’s not even in their mind. It’s not even being aggressive. The math and the analytics would tell you when you’re at fourth and one, just about anywhere on the field other than maybe, like inside your own 12 yard line or something absurd. I mean, we saw it a couple times last year when they went for it on fourth and one deep in their own territory. So, but the math would tell you you should go in those spots. And when you have an offense as prolific as this offense, why wouldn’t you? So that’s going, but that should also help him, right? He should be in a position where you’re not going to necessarily have that kind of pressure on you all the time, but they might be in a spot where they are down one with 20 seconds ago, and they’re trying to get to the 41 yard line so he can try a 59 yarder to win a game he’s
Nestor Aparicio 09:32
going to make he’s going to have less opportunities, and they’re going to be more important. No question, no and that and that again, therein lies how great Justin Tucker was more so in the last you know, the last five, six years of his run with the ravens, with Lamar and this offense being it’s almost like for a baseball player getting four at bats a game against, as opposed to six. Sure, you know, some games you get six at bats if you bat first and you score runs and things. Happen and you got some base runners, but if you’re Batting ninth and Brandon Young’s pitching in Houston, you know, you only get three hikes, maybe four, right? You know? So I would say it’s a little bit more on the line of that, where you go back and see Justin Tucker, ravens, 18, dolphins, 12, six field goals. You know what I mean, like, this is, yeah, this won’t be that way. And I, I don’t know what that means. It just means the shrinkage gets a little tighter, and there’s less opportunities even to judge him, to give him the atta boys when you’re look the Ravens could be three and one. Let me be optimistic. While I’m wearing a purple curio jersey, I’ll be optimistic the Ravens could be three and one and win games and extra points, and they’re going to go for some deuces as well, but between extra points and and they should score touchdown. So the extra points are 34 five yard field goals. They’re like legit. So to me, his foot on the football six, seven times a game, maybe, as opposed to Tucker, sometimes eight or nine or 10 if they’re well, not kickoffs. But I’m just looking for points. I’m talking point scoring opportunities. Sure I he, he, it’s a small sample size. It’s like at bats for a baseball player to say that he go one for 60465, for six, because that’s kind of how we’re going to be. We’re gonna have a scorecard out on this kid. There’s no doubt about it, because he could miss two kicks against the browns and the Ravens. Could still win 36 to 14. But if anything goes wrong in any of these other games, just incredibly magnified by the stakes in the bigger games, especially that they’re early in the year, and that’s going to be, is you better hope he’s not a story in that way, you know what? I mean, not in a bad way. Yeah, no
Luke Jones 11:58
question. I mean, you would kind of like him to kind of blend into the background, right? Be be good when he’s asked to be good, but you don’t really want him to be the story, because that also would mean their offense probably isn’t firing on all cylinders. To your point when you end their entire games, yeah, when you think back to what Justin Tucker had to do at times when, let’s face it, when the Ravens offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders years ago.
Nestor Aparicio 12:23
So, and that’s when the game gets in the balance. And Lamar is not just out boat racing teams, the way, dude, we’re seven years into this, and we’ve seen that a lot. They both raced the bills here last year. It didn’t, it didn’t matter who was kicking or out. I mean, I think that was a sideline Well, we’re a little worried about Justin Tucker, dude. They won. 3713 stop. You know what? I mean? You don’t even want to talk about that. That’s okay. You’ll be able to hide from that, but it’s hard to hide your kicker, I guess is what I’m saying. Sure, and it’s hard for the kicker to be as great as the other guy was. And I just think he’s going to lose a game or two for them this year, and we’re gonna sit here talk about it the next day and put the black hat on him, because that’s just kind of the way it goes with
Luke Jones 13:06
kids. The job, that’s the job. But I would also remind and I’ll be the first to say, they lost a few games with Justin Tucker being in the middle of it last year. I mean, go back and look at their law. They didn’t for a decade. I know, but, but my point is, even when it was 63
Nestor Aparicio 13:19
yards in Detroit,
Luke Jones 13:22
but part of this is also, how many times in recent years have you said, or have I said to you, you know what the mark of a great third down offense is, one that avoids third downs altogether, right? Because you’re just a great offense. It’s not that you’re a great offense because you’re really good on third down. And let me be clear, the Ravens have been good on third down, but what’s made them special is they aren’t in a ton of third downs compared to some other offense. Well, when they are boat racing teams, it’s kind of the same, it’s kind of the same principle here that you know, you’re hoping that Tyler loop doesn’t have an extraordinary volume of kicks that he’s needing to make this year. I mean, we talked about that. Go look at Justin Tucker. What his numbers were in 2013 1415, 1617, compared to beginning in 2019 you know, the sheer volume of opportunities it dropped. You know, we talked about that with Sam Cook a couple of his years, where he barely punted, you know, where it was just like, oh my gosh, like, Sam punted, I think he had half the number of punts he had and yeah, once more ball, reread the analytics and the cost. They were just and they had just, yeah, yeah.
Nestor Aparicio 14:27
I mean, they’re all their numbers got really weirdly skewed just for how much they ran the football, how they didn’t throw, how their quarterback runs for 1000 yards, you know, like, just all of the weirdness of all of it went out the window when Lamar ball came in here. But the one thing that always held it together was we can kick it anytime we get to the 50 from anywhere. And we got three points, and I don’t know that they’re going to live that way for a little
Luke Jones 14:54
while. Well, I mean, but at the same time, you got to find out one way or the other. So, you know, it. It’s going to be interesting. And that’s why, again, Saturday night, being what it was, it’s the most pressure situation he’s faced to this point, because you can’t simulate December games in August. So he had a chance to kick six field goals. He made five of them, right? And he looked good doing it. I mean, missed one wide left, the part, right? I mean, yeah, he does. He’s talented. And I talking to someone in the organization right before the start of training camp, the the overall thought was, this kid’s gonna kill it in the summer, like we think, he is extremely talented. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. We gotta see how he kicks in the preseason games. But yeah, there’s going to be some unknown until we get to that moment. I mean, because think about it and we talk, you know, preseason is perfect right now. I mean, you have all these young guys out on the field where, like, Ruben Lowry, I remember I mentioned to him that you back in, like, June, you know, he was my undrafted rookie, and he’s made me look smart, even though I wasn’t the only one talking about him back in June, because he’s a rookie free agent who’s done a nice job. But these games that he’s played in, you know, these first two preseason games, they’ve been like the Super Bowl for him. He’s trying to win a job, right? Tyler loops, trying to prove himself. But at the same time, we also know that this is nothing like what week one’s going to be in Buffalo in three weeks, and it’s nothing like what it’s going to be in Kansas City in week three. And guess what, those week one and week three games will be nothing like if they’re playing the bills and Kansas City in January like we all anticipate. So, you know, but, but you can only, you know, you have to walk before you can run, you have to jog before you can run. You have to run before you can all out sprint, right? I mean, it’s, it’s kind of that principle here, to this point, they’ve tried to create as many game situations for him to practice. And, you know, they’re on the backfields and they’re running up a two minute drill where they’re running out of time and they’re out of timeouts, and the offense runs a play, they go up and spike the ball or the he has to run out and they have to set the ball, kind of like the Billy Cundiff scenario in Foxboro, whatever. You try to do as much of that as you can. But you also know it’s not the same. So just like any of these young guys, I mean, you know, I’ve mentioned Ruben Lowry, it’s great story. I think he’s going to make the team at this point. Does that mean he’s going to be ready to play if they have three injuries in their secondary in week seven. And he has, he’s thrown to the fire. I don’t know, right? I mean, because it’s not the same so, but for Tyler loop, you know, it’s gone. I think, think it’s gone as well as they could have reasonably expected to this point. And now, hey, week one’s three weeks away. It’s almost here, and we’re going to see, we’re going to see if he has to make a game winning kick, or maybe he won’t have to. But you know, you certainly want some consistency. The one thing I’ll point out, and you mentioned it in passing, and I don’t want to belabor this, but keep in mind this kickoff rule that was implemented last year, they’ve tweaked it this year, that if there’s a touchback. It doesn’t go to the 30 now, it goes to the 35 so there is way more directional kicking placement, trying to drop it into that zone where it’s not just a touchback. He did kick a ball out of bounds on Saturday night, so that was kind of a blip against him. But there’s some of that that goes on as well. So he’s got to do all those things, you know, because we know how important field position is. So, you know, it’s sort of like a golf shot with your foot at that. It’s very different. Yeah. I mean, I think it’s, it’s going to be interesting. You know, I was kind of, I think the dynamic kickoff rule change last year served its purpose. We did see more kickoffs than we had seen in recent years, but I still wasn’t, like wowed by it. I do think the change now of creating an even greater penalty for a touchback is going to make for some interesting, some
Nestor Aparicio 18:53
interesting. Do you want the ball and play to have the injuries, or do you not? And somewhere in the middle there, you know whether it’s making any more money in the league because they’re having kickoffs or having violent ones. I mean, well,
Luke Jones 19:06
well, but part of it, keep in mind a lot of the research that you know with the head injuries and the concussions, they think it was these guys running full force for 50 yards and then having a car crash, whereas they’re all now advanced downfield, and they have to wait for the ball to be, you know, to be touched. Or it’s more like a football player. It’s a little more like a punt. Now, rather than, you know, just this guy’s running at full speed, and then you know, two guys running at each other, 20 yards in opposite directions, and just boom, head, head on collisions and all that. So, you know, I think they I think the numbers, you know, as much as I’m skeptical when the league puts out numbers, I do think there were some legit numbers suggesting that it was a safer play last year than it had been in previous years. So, you know,
Nestor Aparicio 19:54
that makes all the sense in the world that, you know, I buy that and you know, I still want to see returns.
Luke Jones 20:00
You know? I mean, we saw this, it was a punt, but we saw La Jolla Wester do what he did in the first preseason game that was really exciting. You know? It reminded you of Jacoby Jones or Jermaine Lewis. You’re hoping that they’ve got something with Wester. So, yeah, we’ll see how it plays out. But, but that’s part of of loops, you know, that what he’s getting accustomed to, and I don’t think, obviously, that’s not number one in the mind of fans and what we’re going to be watching on a weekly basis. But it still matters. You know, it’s still something that tell you. It matters for John Harbaugh on Chris Horton and Randy Brown as they’re trying to make their special teams, unit units, better than they were in general last year. I mean, their special teams are really underwhelming last year overall. You know, Tucker was a big part of that. But, you know, they’re, they’re punt, punt team, and, you know, their return game. I mean, it was really a non factor for them. So unspecial, special teams, exactly, exactly. So that’s something that they’re trying to, you know, when you’re talking about a team that’s this close, right? I mean, they’ve been this close, those are the things that can matter in a big game. So, you know, that’s just another part of what they’re trying to get a little bit better with as they try to finally break through here in 2025 Luke
Nestor Aparicio 21:07
Jones is here. The Ravens will be there at Northwest Stadium, the other team here in Maryland. As I rubbed elbows with the governor a couple times. Who is ravens guy? But saw a lot of commanders fans and whatnot at Mako this week, we’re going to get the crab cake tour out this week. It is our 27th anniversary. Tastiness is the way to find all of the tips and tidbits that I’ve been giving for delicious foods around here. All right, Luke, to round this thing up, it’s cut week, right? It’s Turk week. It’s there’s a lot of bodies out there all who the hell knows? You these guys are been playing the last two weeks. There’s more of that this week. That’s the dynamic of this. And I know there’s going to be scrimmage in this that there wasn’t against Dallas
Luke Jones 21:50
that that actually the joint practice that actually got banged, yeah, right. And I think it has to do with Washington. They played the, you know, they had the Monday night game, you know that. But anyway, that got
Nestor Aparicio 22:01
axed, just it got banged right? But for whatever it is, the starters will play, there’s no more. They’re playing a quarter. They’re playing after play the very, always important third preseason
Luke Jones 22:15
game. You know what? Like? Oh, no, it’s the last one. At least, at least you can say that it’s the last one.
Nestor Aparicio 22:20
Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe I should just say, what have we learned here? What, what are you expecting to come down the pipeline on a, W, N, S, T, text brought to you by cold roofing or in any shuffling at the bottom of the deck here? Because it just, it feels like this has been very perfunctory, this whole preseason thing, just not getting any more injuries beyond our Darius Washington, and you know what they’ve already had happen with Isaiah, likely, yeah,
Luke Jones 22:52
and we did find out a decent Isaacs. He dislocated his elbow on Saturday night. That sounds to me like decent chance he ends up on IR to start the year that probably, if it weren’t going to, it definitely saves David ajabo roster spot for the time being. You know, I think a job. Oh, to me, if he was on, he’s one of the last guys making the 53 man roster. So that probably saves him for the time being. But really, you know, I mean, it’s depth right now. I mean, they’re trying to figure out who are going to be the eighth, ninth and maybe 10th offensive lineman, Corey Bullock, the former Terp, looks like he’s emerged to be the backup center to Linder bomb. That’s surprising. I wouldn’t have called that back even three or four weeks ago, let alone back during OTA. So that’s good, you know, it’s nice to see a local kid, you know, make good in that way. But they’re trying to figure out, you know, who’s going to be the ninth offensive lineman. How are you going to keep 10? You know? So you have a little bit of that, you know, quarterbacks clear cut running back, I think, you know, it sounds like they’re going to keep four running backs. So Rasheed Ali is the fourth running back. That’s not that consequential, right? I mean, you hope not. You certainly hope not that you’re not, although four years ago, when they lost three running backs to the season ending injuries, and what a week’s time, then it ended up being a really, a very real factor. But offensive line, defense, the defensive depth, you know, I think defensive line beyond their three starters, you know. You know Matt abika, you know Travis Jones, you know Broderick Washington, like, who are the the depth guys? I mean, people’s the six round pick, he’s going to be on the team. I think, you know, I think the 36 year old knows tackle John Jenkins. I think he’s on. Yet they’ve had this really interesting 370 pound Nigerian guy that that has, you know, kind of taken everyone by surprise talk, and of course, I’m talking about CJ akoye. I mean, the team, the team’s website, did a story on him. He’s only been playing organized football for three years, but he’s done at least a nice enough job that they’re absolutely going to want him on the practice squad. So, you know, does he, has he shown enough? Or maybe you. Say, Oh, we don’t want another team to claim him off waivers. Do we sneak him on the back of the roster? And, you know, maybe you do a wink wink with John Jenkins, because they’ve done that with guys like Brandon urban in recent years, where they, you know, they cut them at the end of the preseason and then bring them back three days later. So there’s, you know, there’s some
Nestor Aparicio 25:16
of that going on. Also, vest salaries too, exactly,
Luke Jones 25:19
that’s part of it, too, no question. So, you know, I think I this is relative intrigue. This isn’t like, edge of your seat, oh my gosh, what’s going to happen third preseason game kind of stuff. But you’re looking at that, I mentioned Ruben Laurie, who, you know, this guy’s just, he just makes plays. He’s played safety, he’s played nickel, he played cornerback in the spring, and he’s just, he makes plays. I’m, you know, obviously he’s not going to see the field anytime soon in terms of, like, regular season, necessarily, but, man, he’s, he just, he’s got a knack for for being around the football. I mean, had a pick on Sunday night playing deep safety in a sudden change situation late in the second quarter. And then guess what he did early in the third quarter? They had him playing nickel, and, you know, he’s blowing up guys close to the line of scrimmage. I mean, he’s undersized. He’s like five foot nine, two, and I was gonna say real small guy, man. He just, he makes some plays where you say, Man, I mean, maybe he’s the next Tavon young and that that’s kind of a lazy, just throwing out, kind of a, you know, an under the radar guy. I mean, Tavon Young was a fourth round pick, so it’s not like he was undrafted, but, man, he’s just, I look at him, and I say, for an undrafted guy out of what, Tennessee, Chattanooga, I mean, he’s done nothing, but just go out there and make every single play and take care of every single take advantage of every single rep that’s been afforded to him. And I look at that and say, Man, maybe they keep him over someone like Bo braid, right, who made the team last year as an undrafted rookie. But if you noticed Lowry was playing before him on Saturday night, so you kind of pay attention to when these second and third string guys actually see the field in these preseason games. That That, to me, is way more informative than you know, if a guy makes a tackle or bats about a pass up in the third or fourth quarter, where you just say, okay, he’s going up against other third string guys. So, you know, I think you know, there’s, there’s a lot of that going on, but in terms of, like, major job competitions, things of that nature. I mean, I think most of that’s been decided. I mean, I really think you’re going into Saturday afternoons, preseason finale, really. And you know this, Nestor, you you, I mean, no so many coaches that you talked to 2030, years ago, where, in reality, you’ll hear a lot of talk about all these different guys on the bubble by Saturday, there’s maybe one or two jobs still up for grabs for the most part. The rest of that stuff’s going to be decided, and it’ll really come down to, okay, these backups that have to play on Saturday. Does someone else get hurt? You know, I mentioned Isaac, who gets hurt probably is on IR now the first four weeks of the season, and that probably saves David ajabo At this point if he wasn’t going to make it. So, you know, there’s, there’s always that factor. That’s why you try to keep as many of these guys out of harm’s way as possible. You know, I’m guessing there’s a good chance they might even hold out Malachi Starks on Saturday, because they saw him play the first two preseason games. And I think they saw enough to say, all right, he’s on track. He looks the part. He’s probably going to have some hiccups as a rookie here or there, because Kyle Hamilton did three years ago. And we know what Kyle Hamilton, what kind of player he is, but we probably don’t need to see him out there on Saturday. So I’m guessing you’ll see even a few more guys held out. I don’t think we’re going to see it go the other direction, you know? I don’t, I can’t fathom that they’re going to play their starters. I mean, I don’t know. I’m going to ask John Harbaugh, the fact that their their joint practice got banged you know, got canceled. Does that change anything? I’m guessing the answer is no. I’m guessing it just changes, maybe their reps in practice this week a little bit. But you know, for the most part, again, this is back end of the roster stuff, which some people eat that up and look, we all love the stories of the undrafted rookie. I mean, Ruben Lowry stood a good story. But hey, Keon Martin is another guy that, if you told me right now, he’s got a outside chance of making the roster. He he made a couple plays right off the bat on Saturday night.
Nestor Aparicio 29:19
So Mitchell and his dad were both, you know, edge of the roster guys. How about that?
Luke Jones 29:24
I mean, once upon a time, no one knew who Bart Scott was, and then Bart Scott ended
Nestor Aparicio 29:28
up, well, we did, Casey and I we No, but I mean,
Luke Jones 29:33
when he when he first arrived, right? I mean, oh
Nestor Aparicio 29:36
yeah. I mean, that was for Matt judon. It’s
Luke Jones 29:39
fun. Absolutely is. I mean, you know, it’s one thing to talk about late draft picks, but these guys that are undrafted, I mean, we know what it’s. Think it’s 20 of the last 21 years, they’ve kept at least one rookie free agent on their initial 53 man roster. Week 153 man roster. So I think it’s going to be Ruben Lowry, but I’ve also been wrong before, so I. So, you know, from that standpoint, I guess, stay tuned as much as you can for Saturday afternoon’s game, but in terms of really, truly big time, consequential stuff now, I mean, we’re talking about, you know, I mean, it could end up being, we see Devin Leary go the distance, because, you know, they gave Cooper rush his extended reps on Saturday night, which, you know, some good, some not so good, but
Nestor Aparicio 30:24
dude, it’s terrible football. Please don’t let me watch it again. I know
Luke Jones 30:28
I’m not, believe me, I I’m, this is my best sell job for you. And I think you could tell you know I’m interested, because, hey, this is, it’s my job. I’m, I’m, I’m to tell you and everyone listening about which guys have a chance to to make the back of the roster. But you know, beyond those couple good stories, and like I said, I mean, Ruben Lowry is a good story, and I mentioned a coy who has really been a good story. I mean, I still think he’s more practice squad, but, man, you can’t teach he’s 663, 70 pounds, and he’s every bit of that. He might be more than that. He is a monster of a human being.
Nestor Aparicio 31:07
It sounds like what Vince McMahon would always say about, like, Big John Studd,
Luke Jones 31:11
right, right? Yeah, exactly.
Nestor Aparicio 31:13
Whoever,
Luke Jones 31:14
whoever was trying to to slam it and beat Andre
Nestor Aparicio 31:18
right in Kong Moscow, yeah,
Luke Jones 31:20
so, but, but, you know, those are the guys that are, hey, if you’re, if you’re watching the game on Saturday, that’s who you’re watching. So, so we’ll see how it plays out. But, yeah, we are, what a week from Tuesday. So the 26th that is when cuts to 53
Nestor Aparicio 31:37
I’m doing all this. Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s get let’s go. Let’s get the buffalo.
Luke Jones 31:41
You ready? I’m ready. I am ready. Absolutely, I’m ready.
Nestor Aparicio 31:47
I’ve been ready. He’s Luke, I’m Nestor. We are W, N, S T am 15, 70,000 Baltimore, and we never stop talking, Baltimore positive. Stay with us.
