After five months of waiting, the Ravens are finally starting to get back to the pace of the game.
Rookies and Giants will report to the team facility at Owings Mills on Tuesday for the first 10 days of voluntary organized team activities. No “live” contact will be allowed in the pad-free drills, but the Ravens will graduate at walk-through pace to the seven-to-seven, nine-nine-nine and 11-on-11 exercises. Wednesday’s practice will be the first of three open to local media over the next three weeks, offering the team the best view as its 2021 season was short of the playoffs.
Of course, it’s still unclear how many of the Ravens’ most important players will be on hand. Some are recovering from injuries. Others prefer to train closer to home as they prepare for the mandatory minicamp in mid-June. And then there’s quarterback Lamar Jackson, whose unique contract status could prompt any outcome. He’s involved in following six of the most interesting people from Ravens as the OTA goes on.
QB Lamar Jackson
The Ravens undoubtedly want Jackson at the OTA, where he can work on his chemistry with a young gaining corps, helping develop rookie center Tyler Linderbaum in the more shotgun-heavy offense, ahead of other new faces on the team. can meet and maybe answer some questions about them Sometimes Hardly Pars Off Season,
But does Jackson want to do voluntary workouts? And if he does, how many? Jackson showed up for the OTAs last year, as do almost all quarterbacks, but the Ravens opted out already in the fifth year of his contract. Now he’s in the final year of that rookie deal, and talks for a record-breaking extension have made no progress. Unless Jackson says otherwise, all signs point to the Ravens holding the franchise tag on the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player after the coming season.
General Manager Eric DeCosta said after the draft that the Ravens had received “great reports” on Jackson’s off-season workouts; He has coached with personal quarterback tutor Adam DeDoux, with whom he worked last year, as well as a South Florida-based trainer. But if Jackson leaves the OTA, as is reportedly expected from Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, the focus will be on his contract status and future in Baltimore, not how well he could be for the bounce-back year. Is.
WR Rashod Bateman
The reaction to a 2021 first-round pick who was traded last month to leading wide receiver Marquis “Hollywood” Brown? “All the respect because of him… but it was like, ‘This is my time,'” Bateman recently told Marlon Humphrey on the cornerback’s team-produced show.
It’s time to prove it. DeCosta said last month that Bateman was “our first round guy, and I think he’s going to show you why.” After a groin injury ended his preseason and delayed his NFL debut, he is healthy again. He is also one step ahead of the team’s returning wide receiver, along with James Proche II, who has worked with Jackson in throwing the season this off-season.
As a rookie, Bateman had 46 catches for 515 yards and touchdowns in 12 games. Considering the team’s injury status at the cornerback, an exceptional performance in the OTAs may not mean much to him or the supposed starter Devin DuVernay. But it would be better than the alternative.
OLB Odafe Oweh
One of the NFL’s better rookie seasons ended last year on a down note. After posting five sacks, three forced fumbles and 15 quarterback hits in 15 games, Owe missed Week 17 and Week 18 with a leg injury. The Ravens also missed him, recording a total of two sacks in season-ending losses to the Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers.
With Tyes Bowser and rookie David Ozabo recovering from torn Achilles tendons, and Justin Houston still unsigned, Owe could enter training camp as the team’s top available pass rusher this summer. Coach John Harbaugh said in March that Owe was doing “fantastic” after off-season shoulder surgery and that his recovery “shouldn’t be a problem for training camp.” If he is healthy enough for OTAs, it will be a boon not only for his development, but probably for the offensive line as well.
S. Kyle Hamilton
The first-round pick saw the part in the rookie minicamp: tall, lean, flying around the backfield. Now Hamilton will have to level up, as he defends from un-drafted quarterbacks reading un-drafted wide receivers to picking up early-level talent. He admitted earlier this month that the Ravens’ defense is “quite different” from that of Notre Dame’s, and there’s still a lot to learn. From shell coverage to on-field communications, OTAs will give even more lessons on that.
Hamilton could have an advantage with Chuck Clark being around, but the veteran starting safety’s future in Baltimore remains unclear. With Marcus Williams, another top security, added to the secondary in free agency, Clark’s once undisputed role in defending the Ravens is set to shrink. If Clarke is traded this off-season, Hamilton will have to take some slack.
p jordan stout
Bad weather forced Stout to practice solo rookie minicamp, open to journalists, where he worked mainly on his holding. But with only a small chance of rain in Wednesday’s forecast, Stout may be back to do what he couldn’t do earlier this month: crushing punts.
Following the retirement of Sam Koch last week, Stout finds himself in the limelight unusual for a punter. At least he seems like the type to make a good first impression. Earlier this month, Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz told executive vice president Ozzy Newsom, recalling him before a senior bowl practice, as he saw Stout “just banging balls”, that he was “on the field”. Be the best player I can be.” Some scouts told Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy that Stout’s pregame performances last season had mesmerized him.
The fourth-round pick at Penn State averaged 46.5 yards per punt, booted 12 touchbacks and, According to Pro Football Focus, led the country in average hang time (4.36 seconds per punt) last year. Stout will enter his first season in Baltimore with help — the coach has signed on as a special team consultant — and high expectations.
Coach John Harbaugh
What will the OTAs look like under Harbaugh after one of the most injury-prone seasons in recent NFL history? definitely different. Harbaugh said in March that the Ravens had “turned every stone” since last year in search of a safer approach. Ravens players didn’t find that their first week of the off-season workout schedule was significantly different from previous years, but the practice may have been.
“We’ve changed a lot in what we’re doing,” Harbaugh said at NFL owners’ meetings. “We are going to approach OTAs differently. In terms of the way we ramp up and the way we time practice, how long we have been on the field and what we are doing on the field We’re going to training camp, some of the big-picture schedules are different. How we pace the rhythm of the exercises—and even within exercises, what we do early and how we speed up the tempo of our exercises We think we have some really cool ideas and I’m excited about it.”
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