With the Ravens dropping their preseason opener in a 16-13 final to Philadelphia on Friday night, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. The overall offense was forgettable, but Andrew Vorhees and Roger Rosengarten remained on track competing at left guard and right tackle with quality outings. Patrick Mekari could still receive the early-season nod at right tackle, but Vorhees not being the Week 1 left guard would be surprising at this point.
2. Daniel Faalele had his moments, but the eyeball test still says he’s too big and not quick enough for right guard. Between his uneven performance and Ben Cleveland’s solid showing at center in place of Tyler Linderbaum, you wonder if Cleveland will start seeing more practice reps at right guard.
3. Trenton Simpson playing 62 snaps was surprising and perhaps a product of Chris Board’s concussion, but it reinforces that nothing is being handed to the second-year inside linebacker, who played so little last season. The game’s leading tackler, Simpson acknowledged some bad run fits in an otherwise solid outing.
4. The new kickoff setup is definitely strange from an aesthetic standpoint, but it will add more returns back into the equation. Even if it’s not as dynamic or fast as the old return setup, there were too many touchbacks. I hope to see more creativity from return teams moving forward.
5. Josh Johnson playing with starters would look different than what we watched Friday, but I’d still like to see more from both the 38-year-old and Devin Leary. I’m not big on dwelling on the backup quarterback situation, but losing Lamar Jackson for even a short time is a scary proposition.
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6. Nate Wiggins was the obvious star of the secondary before his shoulder injury, but both Damarion Williams and Ar’Darius Washington fared well, which is notable with Arthur Maulet likely to be sidelined into September. Washington’s ability to play some safety has only enhanced his value as a depth piece.
7. If there were any doubts about Zach Orr borrowing tricks from Mike Macdonald, the new defensive coordinator called a handful of nickel blitzes with Williams sacking Kenny Pickett late in the first half. The Ravens are going to continue trying to manufacture pressure in creative ways.
8. There were scenarios where Tylan Wallace could have been on the bubble entering a contract year, but these young wide receivers simply aren’t pushing hard enough to put the special-teams standout in roster peril. His back-shoulder catch was more impressive than anything else we saw from that position group Friday.
9. None of the young running backs are seriously vying for touches behind Derrick Henry and Justice Hill, but Owen Wright and even Chris Collier showed more than Rasheen Ali, who didn’t demonstrate great vision or run with much physicality. The fifth-round rookie also dropped a pass.
10. Speaking of late-round rookies, Sanoussi Kane whiffed in the open field on Britain Covey’s 26-yard punt return, but he made amends with a good tackle on his next opportunity. The unnecessary roughness flag and the stinger he gave himself later weren’t ideal, but he looks like an ideal special-teams contributor.
11. David Ojabo not being cleared to play was mildly surprising since he’s been a full participant in padded practices for a while, but you understand caution. Still, he really needs reps to develop, and the Ravens were sorely lacking healthy edge options. Ask Joe Evans and 5-technique C.J. Ravenell.
12. Emory Jones obviously isn’t making the team. Fourth-string quarterbacks aren’t guaranteed to play in preseason, which is why I was bummed to see that fumble. The outcome’s meaningless, but this preseason will mark the end of the football road for many back-end roster players. I hope he gets another chance.
