Interior D-Line

**ravensintennessee** · 05-18-2020, 10:09 AM

We have a nice thread going on the interior O-line, which made me think about the interior D-line. Not as much re: who will start (that's pretty clear) but rather who will make the roster. Something folks might forget about, especially given the beef that we ended the season with, is that the 53-man roster coming out of camp last year included only 5 d-lineman including Ricard (and Mack was inactive most of the year). I remember Harbs getting questions on whether that was enough and he pointed to the evolving nature of offenses requiring less big boys up front. Assuming (1) good health, and (2) we denote Ward as an OLB while acknowledging he'll kick inside plenty, who does everybody think will make the team?

My prediction is that we keep the following 6 guys:
NT: Williams, Mack
DT: Wolfe, Madubuike
DE: Campbell, Ricard

NT: Toss up between Mack or Ellis for me -- let's say Mack optimistically takes a step and proves worthy of a roster spot.
DT: I envision Wolfe getting plenty of looks at DE too; Washington is one of our least talked about draft picks for some reason -- I'm hoping he plays well in camp/pre-season, but given a bit of a roster crunch I think he's one of the most likely guys to come down with a mysterious injury and get stashed. Also, some people think he's a NT, but Hortiz made a point to say they see him more as a 3T.
DE: I wouldn't be surprised if Ricard is more devoted to offense this season, but I'll still add him here. With no full-time devoted backup to Campbell it's not that I want him playing endless snaps, just that I think a rotation between Ricard, Wolfe kicking out, and Ward kicking in will make it work (also McPhee and others work inside plenty).

Interested to see what people think / want.

**Jesse Stovall** · 05-18-2020, 11:20 AM

Good post.
I think Ricard will transition to being a full time FB/HB/TE on offense. He will also play some special teams and be an emergency DL if injuries mid game require him to play some snaps on D.
I think Madubuike and our 3 presumed starters are the only players assured of roster spots. After those 4, the question becomes...Do we need a second DT for goalline/short yardage situations? If the answer is yes then Washington, Mack, Ellis and UDFA Aaron Crawford will battle with the for the 5th spot. If no one really stands out, 3 of those 4 would be practice squad eligible. And I agree with the OP that Washington could end up on IR with a hamstring.
I think Ellis is not very likely to make the team, as he is not on a rookie deal where we can control his rights for 2 or 3 more years. He is who he is at this point. The other guys definitely have room to grow.
Hopefully 1 of those guys makes some big plays and stands out in camp, particularly against the run.

**edromeo** · 05-18-2020, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by ravensintennessee

We have a nice thread going on the interior O-line, which made me think about the interior D-line. Not as much re: who will start (that's pretty clear) but rather who will make the roster. Something folks might forget about, especially given the beef that we ended the season with, is that the 53-man roster coming out of camp last year included only 5 d-lineman including Ricard (and Mack was inactive most of the year). I remember Harbs getting questions on whether that was enough and he pointed to the evolving nature of offenses requiring less big boys up front. Assuming (1) good health, and (2) we denote Ward as an OLB while acknowledging he'll kick inside plenty, who does everybody think will make the team?

My prediction is that we keep the following 6 guys:
NT: Williams, Mack
DT: Wolfe, Madubuike
DE: Campbell, Ricard

NT: Toss up between Mack or Ellis for me -- let's say Mack optimistically takes a step and proves worthy of a roster spot.
DT: I envision Wolfe getting plenty of looks at DE too; Washington is one of our least talked about draft picks for some reason -- I'm hoping he plays well in camp/pre-season, but given a bit of a roster crunch I think he's one of the most likely guys to come down with a mysterious injury and get stashed. Also, some people think he's a NT, but Hortiz made a point to say they see him more as a 3T.
DE: I wouldn't be surprised if Ricard is more devoted to offense this season, but I'll still add him here. With no full-time devoted backup to Campbell it's not that I want him playing endless snaps, just that I think a rotation between Ricard, Wolfe kicking out, and Ward kicking in will make it work (also McPhee and others work inside plenty).

Interested to see what people think / want.

They only ones I feel confident about are: Campbell, Wolfe, Williams, Madubuike
I figure Ricard is a lock but I don't know if he'll count DL or RB

Mack will likely compete w/ Ellis at NT but how many NT do you need anyway?

Then you got rookie Broderick Washington who's a do everything DL that could likely "redshirt" or be used as part of rotation that keep Campbell and Wolfe fresh

I guess 6:
Campbell - Madubuike
Wolfe - Washington
Williams - Mack

**QtR Nevermore** · 05-18-2020, 06:50 PM

It's really hard to speculate what will happen with Mack, Washington and Ellis because we've seen so little of them.

We know Ellis can play in the league but we know his upside isn't that high. He's a failsafe who'll probably only make the roster if one of the drafted players disappoints. Otherwise, I haven't a clue.

**edromeo** · 05-19-2020, 09:41 AM

There is going to be a lot of flexibility in how Wink uses this group of DL compared to last year.

Campbell and Wolfe are both huge upgrades over the pass rush the previous combination of Pierce, Williams, Wormley and Ellis.

I'm really excited about Madubuike too, he's a plus level athlete for a DL and he has a history of high level pass rush production in college.

Just 1 example of possible combination: a 4-man line that consists of Campbell as an Edge with Wolfe+Madubuike on the inside w/ Judon on the other edge