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07-31-2021, 12:46 PM #1
Handicapping the 53-man roster: August 1 edition
With the Justin Houston signing, the Ravens appear to have locked in their last roster spot. Things depend on coach Harbaugh's love of ST-only players as to whether the team has a 25/25 split on offense and defense, but to me the roster looks even.
OFFENSE (25)
QB (3) - Huntley, Jackson, McSorley
Out - Bahar
WR (6) - Bateman, Brown, Duvernay, Proche, Wallace, Watkins
Out - Boykin, Cain, Gray, Moore, Victor
TE (3) - Andrews, Boyle, Oliver
Out - Breeland, Poljan, Tomlinson, Wolf
RB/FB (4) - Dobbins, Edwards, Hill, Ricard
Out - Mason, McCrary, Williams
OT (3) - Schofield, Stanley, Villanueva
Out - Ealy, James, Sarell, Smith
IOL (6) - Bozeman, Cleveland, Mekari, Phillips, Powers, Zeitler
Out - Bredeson, Colon-Castillo, Mancz
DEFENSE (25)
DL (5) - Campbell, Ellis, Madubuike, Williams, Wolfe
Out - Crawford, Kelly, Swann, Washington
EDGE (6) - Bowser, Ferguson, Hayes, Houston, McPhee, Oweh
Out - Adeoye, Rivers, Smith
LB (4) - Board, Fort, Harrison, Queen
Out - Alaka, Wade, Welch
CB (6) - Averett, Humphrey, Peters, Smith, Wade, Young
Out - Dorsey, Harris, Marshall, Westry
S (4) - Clark, Elliott, Levine, Stephens
Out - Richards, Stone, Warrior, Washington
IR StashLast edited by WNCRavensFan; 07-31-2021 at 01:21 PM.
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07-31-2021, 12:46 PM #2
Re: Handicapping the 53-man roster: August 1 edition
NOTES
My first question is, since the IR rules have carried over from last season, do the PS rules also carry over? If so, any player that doesn't make the 53-man, veteran or not, could sign on the Practice Squad.
Moving to the roster itself
How many QBs? - the recent situation with Jackson (which remember, can no longer be discussed) has me reconsidering whether the Ravens keep three QBs again. Ideally, you'd want two, and for my money Huntley is the guy, but we do know the team likes McSorley and both QBs will be getting a lot of snaps.
Best case scenario, both backup QBs perform well in the pre-season, EDC finds a trade partner for one of them and Jackson plays all 17 games anyway.
That roster spot that QB3 takes up could then go to a 4th TE or OT. Or a 26th defender. But because of Nick Boyle's health, I'd really rather that spot go to either a TE, OT or Ben Mason. Mason?
The Ben Mason problem - there's simply no spot for him right now. I don't see him making the team as things stand today. You tell me who you trim to make room for him. Something will have to open up somewhere, and it very well could.
PUPers - Boyle, along with Ronnie Stanley, Otaro Alaka and Iman Marshall, are on pre season PUP. This won't mean they have to miss games unless they start the season on PUP. There is a non-zero chance that Boyle does just that. In that event, rather than giving a spot to Mason, I would hand it to Tomlinson or Poljan, who are both actual TEs.
The Achilles Heel - Stanley being on PUP brings us to the biggest issue on the team right now, which is OT depth. The Ravens need him back and healthy very, very badly. They brought in Villanueva which is nice, and Schofield who I'd pencil in as 3rd OT right now. They also have some developmental OTs. But if there's any one spot where I'd be looking to upgrade it's backup OT.
Tyre Phillips is still listed at G. If he can somehow show himself to be a capable OT in year two, it would be a boon... but I'm not counting on it.
Can anybody snap the ball? - Bozeman had the yips on day 1 of camp and that's the last thing we needed to hear. He should, however, not be an issue. If he is... well, there's nowhere to go but in house. We haven't seen Ben Bredeson much at C yet and I wonder if he can snap the ball? If EDC finds a way to trade Powers, the IOL backup gets unclogged a bit.
Thin on thick dudes - Well, maybe not thin, but old. It looks to me like the Ravens will enter the season with 5 DL. In today's game, and in Wink's defense, that's okay. Wink will be bringing plenty of second level defenders to the LOS and some of them should have their hand down anyway (McPhee, Ferguson). But we saw the effect last season of losing Campbell and Williams for a few games. It wasn't pretty, and the names are all the same. Madubuike's second year jump will be huge for this team.
Pressure is no problem - The Ravens lost three pass rushers in the offseason and... I'm not concerned. Especially with the Houston signing, pass rush from the EDGE and LB units are still a strength, not a weakness. It's just that results are going to be spread around thanks to Wink's defensive scheme. This isn't the team's biggest problem, it hasn't been the team's biggest problem... and it sure as hell isn't now with Houston in the fold.
The CB room is ridiculous - Averett could start for half the league. No I'm not kidding. I'm not saying he'd be a world beater, but he could start games. On the Ravens he's CB5. And they finally have a plug-and-play replacement for Young in Wade... albeit as a rookie. I'd like to see Humphrey more on the outside, but he'll be All Pro material wherever he is. It's even more stacked than it was last season, and it's the most stacked CB room I can ever remember.
Safety concerns - I'm on board the hype train for Stephens in that he could develop into a really good FS... but I can't believe he's immediately there. So, we have two similar hybrid safety types in Clark and Elliott, and while they're very good at what they do, there's still a lack of a true CF and there's not much behind him. Levine offers very little on defense anymore. It's not as bad as OT, but a rash of injuries would leave a gaping hole on the roster.
I really would like to find a spot for Stone, Warrior or Washington, but that brings us all the way back to the first topic and 3 QBs. You have to take away from one positional group to feed another.Last edited by WNCRavensFan; 07-31-2021 at 01:19 PM.
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07-31-2021, 01:10 PM #3Veteran Poster
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Re: Handicapping the 53-man roster: August 1 edition
It's only July 31. You're a day ahead.
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07-31-2021, 01:20 PM #4
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07-31-2021, 01:28 PM #5
Re: Handicapping the 53-man roster: August 1 edition
I hope they hang onto an extra DB or even Boykin instead of carrying three quarterbacks
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07-31-2021, 01:32 PM #6Pro Bowl Poster
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07-31-2021, 01:35 PM #7
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07-31-2021, 01:57 PM #8Pro Bowl Poster
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07-31-2021, 02:07 PM #9
Re: Handicapping the 53-man roster: August 1 edition
"Flacco is driving the ball in that wind....."
(AFCCG, January 2013)
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08-03-2021, 05:45 PM #11Legendary RSR Poster
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Re: Handicapping the 53-man roster: August 1 edition
Great job, WNCR!
"DL (5) - Campbell, Ellis, Madubuike, Williams, Wolfe
Out - Crawford, Kelly, Swann, Washington"
I've a sneaking suspicion that Washington will make the roster. He is P.S. eligible though... Bc
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08-03-2021, 07:47 PM #12Pro Bowl Poster
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