Ravens Ramping Up Ethan Pocic's Role With Starting Center Job Likely His

The Ravens may never have a true center competition.

They also may not have truly planned to have one, either, once they signed veteran Ethan Pocic. With versatile interior offensive lineman Danny Pinter carted off the field in Minnesota during a joint practice with the Vikings, right as Pocic was taking his recovery from Achilles surgery to the next level, this might just be as close as we got to something resembling an outright battle for a starting job on a team that has almost none of that going on.

This roster is pretty set, even the 53-man roster doesn’t feel like it’s clouded in too much intrigue, and Pocic was the last addition to it of any significant means. He was a fairly coveted late free agent as the best interior offensive lineman still on the market when he got cleared to begin practicing, and the Ravens maneuvered quicky to sign him despite having all spring to evaluate Pinter and the rest of a group of centers who they talked up quite a bit but had no conviction in anointed any of them even temporarily.

He’s been a quality starting center for much of his career and he remains a serviceable center and he has, if nothing else, the experience and proven aptitude and snapping ability that the job requires. Pinter being the backup across multiple positions always seemed like the more likely outcome – head coach Jesse Minter offered no real update on him after Wednesday’s practice as he awaited more testing – and hopefully he doesn’t miss much time.

He was, however, more verbose about Pocic and his recovery and the fact he was able to start taking snaps in the preseason opener, was telling.

“I felt like we kind of targeted this second week of the preseason of kind of ramping up into more of the action anyway,” Minter said of Pocic. “It is why you sign guys like that — is to, one, put them in the competition, two, to make sure you have enough in that situation. You do not ever want to see anybody go down, but certainly feel good about the way 'Jo' [Jovaughn Gwyn] played in the game and obviously about Ethan in the way that he has played throughout his whole career."

Gwyn Making His Case

Gwyn has only snapped more than twice in a game on one occasion in his career and was someone the Falcons never gave much of a look at in games, but he did forge a bond with Ravens run game coordinator Dwayne Ledford in Atlanta and he continues to earn praise in Baltimore’s camp.

“Really powerful and athletic,” Minter said of him. “I would say that he has been really well-trained, because our offensive line coach has coached him for the last few years. So, he really understands how we want to play, which is great.

“He has been in a similar system, some of the wide-zone stuff that the Falcons ran, and a lot of familiarity with Coach Ledford and how he operates. So, he is definitely great to have."

Still, it’s difficult to see someone who hasn’t been asked to captain an offensive line before in this job. It's hard to picture Lamar Jackson going from Tyler Linderbaum, who left for a record contract in Las Vegas, to someone with no experience when Pocic is already here.

If healthy, Pocic was going to lose the chance to snap Week 1 to someone who has never played regularly let alone started for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, and one that is implementing a new offense with a rookie coordinator and trying to meet the standards of a two-time MVP quarterback?

Gwyn has played 11 offensive snaps in his entire NFL career; Pocic has played 5967. Gwyn has never played more than six offensive snaps in a game, primarily a special-teams contributor.

That’s a lot for any of the reserve centers on this roster to overcome and that’s what it was always way more likely the Ravens signing someone who has done the job. Doyle’s mentor, Sean Payton, made a strong case for needing a veteran center in implementing his system, and the less Doyle has to worry about what his center can and can’t do in games that matter, the better.

Subscribe To "The Daily Flock" On YouTube For The Most Informed Ravens Coverage:

Add us as a preferred source on Google