Is Ben Powers Poised to Start at Left Guard?

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens have a heated competition for the starting job at left guard.

So far, it appears that Ben Powers is in the driver's seat to win the job.

"Probably Ben has been the most consistent guy there right now, so we’ll kind of keep rolling from there and see what happens," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "We still have two more games; we still have a good week and a half – a good week – of practice left after this game, then a little bit into the next week. So, I would like to think by the third preseason game, after the Commanders game, that we’ll kind of know.”

In addition to Powers, the Ravens have Tyre Phillips and Ben Cleveland battling to start.

Phillips is having a solid training camp and Cleveland is back on track after failing the conditioning test. Phillips also adds depth at tackle if needed.

"He’s a guard more than he is a tackle, but it’s good to have a guy like that, that can get you out of a jam, get you through a game at tackle if you need it," Harbaugh said. "So, I credit him [for] that. But he’s done well. He’s not out of the competition [at left guard] by any stretch.”

Powers was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round (123rd overall) of the 2019 NFL draft. Last year, He appeared in 13 games with 12 starts at left guard and the experience should bode well for him.

“It’s steady improvement," Harbaugh said. "Ben is really steady. He’s stronger, lower-body strength – he’s been working on that – just steady improvement across the board.”