3 Baltimore Ravens Whose Jobs Could Be On the Line in OTAs

Phase 3 of the NFL’s voluntary offseason program -- a.k.a. ‘OTAs’ -- has arrived, with teams going through up to 10 sessions over a four week period. During this time, live hitting and tackling is prohibited, but teams can do 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills,

As the Baltimore Ravens’ Organized Team Activities are underway, it’s time to take a look at which players could lose some significant ground to newcomers, even during this stage of the offseason with final roster cutdowns still months away.

Durham Smythe, tight end

A free agent signing back in March worth 3 million for one year, the Ravens added Smythe just as they were losing Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar on the open market. Finding a safety net to complement Mark Andrews was important at the moment.

Fast forward to mid-May, and Smythe’s job could be in jeopardy without playing a down for Baltimore.

The Ravens added two tight ends via the draft. Matthew Hibner was selected in the fourth round out of SMU, where he came on strong over the last two years after four seasons in incognito mode at Michigan, while Josh Cuevas was added in the fifth after showing glimpses at Alabama last year, after also playing for Cal-Poly and Washington.

Hibner and Cuevas bring different things to the table. Hibner looks like the more explosive of the two, bringing prototypical size and a wide catch radius to the team. Cuevas seems to be a little more versatile and could end up lining up as an H-back or out wide, and looks like a better blocker downfield.

Smythe is renowned for his blocking more than his catching, and has also been known to line up in the backfield. If the combination of Hibner and Cuevas end up overlapping too much with Smythe, and they can absorb the Ravens’ playbook quickly, they could end up combining as Andrews’ complement and leave Smythe as the odd man out.

Skylar Thompson, quarterback

Thompson was a curious signing a couple of weeks ago, presumably to help lighten the offseason load for Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley, projected QB1 and a very distant QB2 on the Ravens depth chart.

But, the team’s two undrafted free agent signings at the position could make him expendable during the summer. One one hand, Diego Pavia out of Vanderbilt is a Heisman Trophy finalist with big playmaking ability despite height concerns. On the other hand, Joe Fagnano is a prototypical pro-style passer that could end up translating his high football IQ into a lengthy NFL career as a serviceable backup. Both were expected to get drafted at some point, before landing in Owings Mills as UDFAs.

Thompson should hold the advantage over both during the summer as a veteran who knows what NFL teams expect at each phase of the offseason, training camp and preseason. But he might have maxed out his potential already, whereas we still don’t know what could become of Pavia and Fagnano.

If any one of the undrafted rookies finds some nice rhythm over the summer, Thompson will have a hard time latching on to the final roster.

Corey Bullock, center

Bullock is the only player on the Ravens roster at the center position with previous playing experience for the team. However, according to PFFs numbers, that experience encompasses all of 13 offensive snaps, 12 of them on running plays. Of those plays,m seven were at center, one at right tackle, and five as a blocking tight end. The former Maryland tackle spent all of 2024 on the Ravens’ practice squad after signing on as a UDFA, while making the shift to center.

Though he should be considered the frontrunner to start for Baltimore, his hold on the spot should be considered tenuous, at best. The team signed sixth-year veteran Danny Pinter as a free agent from Indianapolis, coming off a season where he played 17 games, started one, and logged 136 snaps at center.

The wildcard here could be UDFA Nick Dawkins out of Penn State. A two-time team captain for the Nittany Lions, he’s already got plenty of experience playing alongside Ravens’ first-round draftee Olaivavgea Ione, who’ll most likely start at left guard.

The Ravens have taken their time developing Bullock at center, but Pinter or Dawkins -- who happens to be a cousin of Brian Dawkins and Dion Dawkins -- could very well end up anchoring the O-Line when all is said and done.

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