Building A Perfect Ravens Practice Squad

NFL practice squads continue to grow, and yet the game-day active roster stays the same.

Hmm. What’s up with that?

Anyway, the Baltimore Ravens will be trying to formulate the best roster and practice squad they can muster over the weekend. The 53-man roster decisions, honestly, are not very brutal. They have avoided major injuries and grown healthier all summer and it is what it is there. And with 16 spots on a practice squad, that’s more than enough real estate, too, to secure the players with the best chance of providing cover this year and with future upside.

There are five priorities on both sides of the ball. There’s always the chance, of course, that another team comes along with a scenario the player prefers. But there are going to be so many veterans on the street that the more likely scenario is there is great competition for those seasoned and experienced players – who can generally also be added to practice squads with this no longer the domain of the very young.

Offense

Joe Fagnano: Legendary NFL exec Ron Wolf was always drafting QBs and always prioritizing trying to identify developmental QBs. I’m also not a Snoop Huntley guy. This kid had a helluva summer.

Corey Bullock: Had health issues throughout the offseason, but the season-ending injury to Danny Pinter puts them thin at center. Hell, for all the hype there are 11 snaps of back-up center Jovaughn Gwyn snapping in a regular season game. Need to keep coaching him up across the interior offensive line.

Gerard Lichtenhan: Has played almost every snap of the preseason so far. They see some right tackle upside in this kid, who is 6-foot-8. I don’t love the swing tackle situation and would prefer a veteran there, so depth across the board at tackle is vital.

Lucas Scott: The Ravens let All Pro fullback Patrick Ricard walk, along with a great many other veterans, this offseason. Rookie offensive coordinator Declan Doyle’s new scheme isn’t nearly as fullback reliant, but having one matters. Maybe not on the game-day actives every week, depending on opponent. Rookie “Joker” Adam Randall missing preseason time isn’t great and ditto with Rasheen Ali and the rookie tight ends can’t block.

Jonathan Ward: Running behind an offensive line that was getting swallowed up on Saturday didn’t help his cause. But given what’s been up with Randall and Ali, depth is a big deal. If they prefer a youngster, okay, but they certainly gave him a run last week right after signing him.

Defense

Amani Oruwariye: The Ravens have so much corner depth he might prefer to go someplace where he can move up the depth chart. But this is a very corner-friendly defense and a great scheme and injuries will invariably occur. Love his length and levers and he has played in the league.

Kaimon Rucker: Is there a designated pass rusher in this smaller frame who could eventually blossom here?

Adisa Isaac: Bottom line is he hasn’t done enough to crack a very stout defensive roster. I don’t care where he was drafted. Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said he has a three-tec vision for him, but that’s going to take a lot of work.

Ethan Burke: The undrafted linebacker out of Texas could crack this 53-man roster. If not, he has the body to anchor and is the kind of prospect the Ravens have had success molding in the past.

Dominic DeLuca: I expect the Ravens to be adding a veteran WILL linebacker before next Tuesday but either way, this kid has shown some verve as a former walk-on at Penn State and is picking up their defense pretty quickly it seems.

Subscribe To "The Daily Flock" For Elite Ravens Coverage And Discussions

Add us as a preferred source on Google