Ravens Guard Hit With Three-Game Suspension

The hits keep on coming for the Baltimore Ravens, who are not having a great last two weeks since their remarkable turnaround from the 1-5 start to the season.

Just one day after losing their second straight game in Week 14 against the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-22, the NFL announced that they would be suspending Ravens backup guard Ben Cleveland for three games without pay after violating the league's substance abuse policy. Cleveland was just a healthy scratch for the Ravens in the Steelers' loss.

This past offseason, Cleveland was arrested and was given DUI charges. He recently came to a plea bargain and received probation for his actions.

Throughout the year, Cleveland has appeared in 10 games. He took three snaps on offense and 47 on special teams.

Cleveland's Suspension Causing Offensive Line Depth Issues

The Ravens are now faced with a situation where they have lost some depth to the offensive line heading into the most pivotal part of the season. Baltimore has had multiple issues with the offensive line, which is making depth even more of a problem.

Baltimore Ravens guard Patrick Mekari and guard Ben Cleveland and center Tyler Linderbaum | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

While the tackle positions and center are good spots for Baltimore, the guard position has taken a ton of heat. That included Daniel Faalele, who had a bad enough game that quarterback Lamar Jackson got into a war of words with him on the sidelines and avoided the media afterward.

This leaves the Ravens with an interesting situation at guard, as the only other guards they have besides Faalele and Andrew Vorhees are rookie Emory Jones Jr. Baltimore might have to elevate another offensive lineman from the practice squad to the active roster, or at least look to free agency to sign another guard to fill in.

Baltimore is losing a guard with plenty of NFL experience, as Cleveland has played in 64 career games and made seven starts. Jones only recently started playing games after recovering from an injury.

While many were calling for Jones to start over Faalele after the Steelers game, that might change some minds about what the Ravens want to do at guard. It might be the safer choice to keep the experienced player on the field, with depth being a concern at the moment.

The Ravens are stuck in a crummy situation as they now have to go through the next three games without Cleveland and find ways to survive the most challenging part of their schedule.

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