Ravens Use Last Elevation on Former First-Round Pick

The Baltimore Ravens announced just one practice squad elevation for their interconference road showdown with the Minnesota Vikings in Week 10. It will mark the third and final for eighth-year veteran defensive lineman Taven Bryan, who will need to be signed to the 53-man roster in order to make any appearances moving forward beyond this game.

We have activated DT Taven Bryan from the practice squad as a standard elevation for tomorrow’s game.
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 8, 2025

In his first two appearances for the Ravens over the past couple of weeks, Bryan has played 48 defensive snaps and failed to record a sack, a pressure, a quarterback hit, or even an assisted tackle. Some fans, analysts and pundits have pondered why the team has insisted on playing the former first-rounder pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018 over sixth-round rookie Aeneas 'Fub' Peebles over the past two games. Defensive coordinator Zach Orr revealed the reason behind those decisions and what will likely be a third during his most recent press conference.

"Right now, for where we're at as a defense, he's just behind some other guys right now. We need some bigger bodies in there," Orr said. "Fub will get his opportunity, and he'll make the most of it. You ask any of our offensive guys and guys in practice who's one of the toughest guys that they go against in practice, who brings it every day with their work ethic and their mindset? It's 'Fub.' So, right now, just that's what we have to do from a defensive standpoint; he's just behind a couple guys. I don't think it's a knock on him; it's just what we have to do right now."

While both players weigh within five pounds of each other as sup-300-pound interior defensive linemen, Bryan measures in at 6'4" and has more ideal size and length, whereas Peebles is undersized at 6'0". A lack of prototypical measurables didn't stop Peebles from making a name for himself as a highly disruptive interior presence for two different ACC programs during his collegiate career.

Veteran pass rusher's debut will have to wait again

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Carl Lawson (55) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Dec 29, 2024. — Dec 29, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Dallas Cowboys defensive end Carl Lawson (55) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The elevation of Bryan shouldn't come as a surprise, but the real shocker lies in the Ravens' decision not to promote outside linebacker Carl Lawson from the practice squad as well. Since being signed on Oct. 23 ahead of the team's Week 8 matchup with the Chicago Bears, coming off their bye, he has yet to get called up to play in a game despite there being a desperate need for reinforcements on the edge of their defense after trading away Odafe Oweh and losing Tavius Robinson to a broken foot.

After head coach John Harbaugh told reporters earlier in the week that the 30-year-old looked "ready to go", it was widely assumed that he was slated to play in his first game with the team against the Vikings, but that clearly won't be the case.

Unlike ninth-year veteran edge defender Dre'Mont Jones, who was traded for a day before the deadline and has played the past two seasons and a half in a Ravens-style system, Lawson is not only more accustomed to playing in a 4-3 and hasn't been on a team since last season, when he recorded 5 sacks in 15 games with the Dallas Cowboys.

I think he is close," Orr said of Lawson. "He's looking good. We've been throwing him out there. He's picking up the playbook. This is kind of a totally different system for him. He's kind of been more in the four-three up-the-field-type defenses recently. We're a little bit different, but he definitely still has juice left. We are just continuing to ramp him up, and his opportunities are coming soon as well."

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