The Ravens must reduce their roster to 53 players by Tuesday afternoon, but cuts continued earlier this week and the final preseason game on Saturday provides that last chance for fringe players to land on the right side of the bubble.
The current look at the 80-man roster still weighs track record, contract status, draft standing, and positional need in addition to what we’ve witnessed over the first month of training camp. For now, I estimate at least 45 players to be comfortably on the roster, leaving eight spots to fill. We’ll continue to gain a better idea of where players stand with the rep distribution during preseason games. Not all bubble players are on equal footing, of course, with certain position groups lacking depth and others enjoying so much talent that the numbers game will likely victimize a couple players deserving of an NFL roster spot.
Though general manager Eric DeCosta, head coach John Harbaugh, and the rest of the staff and front office are cognizant of the numbers at each position, trying to arbitrarily pinpoint a particular number of tight ends or inside linebackers isn’t the most accurate way of projecting a roster. The Ravens prefer reserves who will contribute on special teams, so they’ll carefully look at other attributes in addition to what players bring to their individual positions when filling out the back of the roster.
The numbers in parentheses indicate how many players are currently on the roster at that position. Bubble players who are underlined are the ones projected to make the cut for the initial 53-man roster as of Aug. 25.
QUARTERBACKS (3)
IN: Lamar Jackson, Tyler Huntley
BUBBLE: Trace McSorley
LONG SHOT: none
Skinny: McSorley’s health makes for a tricky situation as the Ravens would need to waive him with an injury designation should he not be healthy by Tuesday’s 53-man roster deadline. You could go the route of leaving him on the initial 53-man roster to place him on injured reserve with a designation to return, but the optimal outcome is passing him through waivers while countless others are available and then re-signing him to the practice squad to be the scout-team quarterback and the No. 3 option.
RUNNING BACKS & FULLBACKS (7)
IN: J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards, Patrick Ricard
BUBBLE: Justice Hill, Ty’Son Williams, Ben Mason
LONG SHOT: Nate McCrary
Skinny: With Jordan Richards being released and L.J. Fort suffering a season-ending knee injury, the Ravens will be without two of their top five players in special-teams snaps from a year ago, which probably helps Hill’s cause to stick despite a so-so summer and his current absence with an ankle injury. The 2019 fourth-round pick led Baltimore in special-teams tackles last season, but Williams has shown intriguing ability running the football over the first two preseason games to create a tight No. 3 running back competition that few anticipated. Though carrying Mason as a second fullback would be unorthodox even by the Ravens’ unique methods, could that be the sneaky maneuver to account for the possible absence of top blocking tight end Nick Boyle to start the season?
WIDE RECEIVERS (12)
IN: Marquise Brown, Rashod Bateman, Sammy Watkins, Devin Duvernay, Tylan Wallace, James Proche
BUBBLE: Miles Boykin
LONG SHOT: Deon Cain, Jaylon Moore, Binjimen Victor, Devin Gray, Siaosi Mariner
Skinny: No, I don’t expect the Ravens to carry seven wide receivers into the season, but the health concerns that have already surfaced for the oft-injured Watkins and the rookie Bateman make one wonder if the Ravens are more reluctant to give up on Boykin despite his own absence with a hamstring injury this summer. The 2019 third-round pick hasn’t looked particularly close to returning when he’s worked out on a side field in recent days, so the bet is he will be on the initial roster and then go to IR to continue working his way back to full health and give the Ravens an option for later in the season. Still recovering from groin surgery, Bateman is also a candidate to go to IR after being on the initial 53-man roster, which would leave the promising first-round pick ineligible to play before Week 4.
TIGHT ENDS (5)
IN: Mark Andrews, Nick Boyle
BUBBLE: Josh Oliver, Eric Tomlinson
LONG SHOT: Tony Poljan
Skinny: Oliver is probably closer to being “in” than a true bubble player at this point, but he’s shown some inconsistency and Boyle’s status makes it difficult to completely dismiss the chances of Tomlinson, another blocking tight end who’d make sense for the practice squad at the very least. Not knowing how much the injuries at the wide receiver position have stunted the progress of this passing game, Jackson leaning more heavily on the tight ends seems plausible early on, which strengthens Oliver’s case.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (16)
IN: Ronnie Stanley, Bradley Bozeman, Kevin Zeitler, Alejandro Villanueva, Ben Cleveland, Patrick Mekari, Tyre Phillips, Ben Powers
BUBBLE: Trystan Colon, Michael Schofield, Ben Bredeson
LONG SHOT: Adrian Ealy, Greg Mancz, Foster Sarell
INJURED: Ja’Wuan James
Skinny: That Powers went from looking like he could be on the outside looking in to the current favorite — even if only slightly — to start at left guard in Week 1 speaks to injuries and mediocre performance muddying the summer competition. Schofield remains a possibility as a veteran swing tackle, but Bredeson appears to be in real danger of becoming that rare Baltimore fourth-round pick not to make it to a second regular season. Ealy shows some upside as a developmental offensive tackle who seems like a strong bet for the practice squad.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (8)
IN: Calais Campbell, Brandon Williams, Derek Wolfe, Justin Madubuike, Broderick Washington
BUBBLE: Justin Ellis
LONG SHOT: Aaron Crawford, Jovan Swann
Skinny: This initial roster maneuvering would come with a handshake agreement to re-sign Ellis after placing the two injured wide receivers on IR, but you always run the risk of another team entering the picture and signing a veteran in such a scenario. Crawford is a good bet for the practice squad and a solid insurance policy in case Ellis would balk at the idea. The Ravens rarely activate more than five defensive linemen for games anyway.
INSIDE LINEBACKERS (5)
IN: Patrick Queen, Malik Harrison, Chris Board
BUBBLE: Kristian Welch
LONG SHOT: Otaro Alaka
Skinny: Many have assumed the season-ending injury to Fort opened a 53-man roster spot for Welch, but this is where we should remember the practice-squad elevations that were introduced a year ago. A former undrafted free agent who played almost exclusively on special teams as a rookie doesn’t seem like a likely candidate to be claimed off waivers, which makes it very reasonable to believe you could re-sign Welch to the practice squad and elevate him for special teams as Richards was for the first two games last season. Such a scenario allows DeCosta to retain an extra offensive lineman or defensive back, two positions having more value than an inside linebacker only playing special teams at this stage of his career. A modest veteran signing — ex-Raven Patrick Onwuasor is out there, for example — would also make sense for this position group.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS (7) Wink Martindale on Jaylon Ferguson playing with confidence and better hand placement: “Last week, in front of the whole defense, I said, ‘You just had your two best practices as a Raven.’ He just keeps building on it, so we’re expecting him to flourish again in his role.” #Ravens
IN: Tyus Bowser, Odafe Oweh, Justin Houston, Pernell McPhee, Daelin Hayes
BUBBLE: Jaylon Ferguson
LONG SHOT: Chris Smith
Skinny: Ferguson’s future with the Ravens wasn’t looking good when Houston signed in late July, but the 2019 third-round pick responded with a more urgent motor and improved performance in practices and the first two preseason games, making it appear much more likely that he sticks on the 53-man roster. The fact that both Houston and McPhee are 32 and not under contract beyond 2021 helps Ferguson’s cause, and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale offered high praise for him this week. Smith has had a solid summer, but the numbers are too great here.
CORNERBACKS (8)
IN: Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters, Jimmy Smith, Tavon Young, Anthony Averett
BUBBLE: Chris Westry, Shaun Wade
LONG SHOT: Nigel Warrior
Skinny: Westry’s momentum has slowed over the last 10 days or so with some lapses in focus to go with the taunting penalty that drew the ire of Harbaugh in the first preseason game, but the 6-foot-4 corner has too many attractive traits and has fetched too much attention during camp for the Ravens to risk trying to pass him through waivers for the practice squad. Meanwhile, Wade enjoyed too high a profile playing at Ohio State to think another team wouldn’t take a chance on the fifth-round rookie. Ozzie Newsome always said you can never have enough corners, and DeCosta will find a way to carry seven, especially factoring in the injury histories of Smith and Young.
SAFETIES (6)
IN: Chuck Clark, DeShon Elliott, Brandon Stephens
BUBBLE: Anthony Levine, Geno Stone, Ar’Darius Washington
LONG SHOT: none
Skinny: The captain of the special-teams units, Levine is the second veteran I’m predicting to have a handshake agreement to re-sign with Baltimore once Bateman and Boykin are sent to IR. This would also allow the Ravens to guarantee keeping Stone or Washington on the 53-man roster while hoping the other makes it through waivers and to the practice squad. Considering how much discussion there was about the perceived lack of depth in the offseason, this group has been one of the pleasant surprises of training camp.
SPECIALISTS (4)
IN: Justin Tucker, Sam Koch, Nick Moore
BUBBLE: none
LONG SHOT: Jake Verity
Skinny: The Ravens figure to showcase the strong-legged Verity against Washington in hopes of getting a team to trade something of value for his services in the way Minnesota did for Kaare Vedvik two years ago.
