The Ravens’ secondary continues to be below building this offseason, however the items — possibly the final of them — are at the least in place.
With cornerback Kyle Fuller agreeing to a one-year deal, Ravens coach John Harbaugh stated Wednesday that he feels “really good about that group back there — I mean, really good about the secondary, personnel-wise.”
Not everybody within the Ravens’ revamped backfield was available for Wednesday’s first open follow of organized crew actions, however there have been sufficient huge names to see the potential.
Cornerback Marlon Humphrey, again from a season-ending pectoral harm, didn’t quit a lot to prime large receiver Rashod Bateman in protection. Safety Kyle Hamilton, the crew’s prime draft decide, simply received his two repetitions in one-on-ones in opposition to rookie tight ends Charlie Kolar and Isaiah Likely. Safety Chuck Clark, displaying up for voluntary exercises regardless of hypothesis about his future in Baltimore, was on the entrance of the road for positional drills and the voice of the protection in crew drills. Defensive again Brandon Stephens lined up all over the place. Even reserve cornerback Kevon Seymour practically had two interceptions in a three-play span.
And there’s extra assistance on the way in which, too. Humphrey stated security Marcus Williams, the crew’s prime offseason signing, will take part in subsequent week’s OTAs. Fuller, a Baltimore native whom Harbaugh referred to as a “proven corner,” may be a part of him. Cornerback Marcus Peters, in the meantime, is “coming along really well,” Harbaugh stated, in his restoration from a torn ACL.
“I think that’s enough smarts where I can just play ball,” Humphrey stated. “So I’m really excited about some of the guys that are here, or the young guys [rookie cornerbacks Damarion “Pepe” Williams and Jalyn Armour-Davis], and among the guys that might be right here subsequent week, working with us.”
After final season, the Ravens know there’s room for enchancment. Injuries strained the crew’s depth from Week 1 to Week 18, and breakdowns in protection proved expensive. The Ravens completed final within the NFL in go protection (278.9 yards allowed per recreation) and third worst in go protection effectivity, based on Football Outsiders.
Now the Ravens are lower than 4 months from the beginning of one other season the place — on paper, anyway — they’ll have one of many NFL’s most gifted secondaries. Could or not it’s one of the best?
“I would love to prove it,” Humphrey stated. “That’s the biggest thing for me. I would love to make that statement be true. I know there’s a lot of work to go into it, with me being coming back from injury, Marcus coming back from injury, a rookie Kyle Hamilton, a vet Chuck that’s really led our defense the past couple of years. I know we have all the pieces, so I think it’s all really down to the players to just go out there, communicate, be fundamentally sound and prove it. I think we’re in a position that I can’t recall we’ve been in before with just who we have. And I think it’ll all just come down to us.”
Oweh desires to ‘dominate’
Outside linebacker Odafe Oweh’s expectations for his second yr in Baltimore are easy.
“Just dominate more,” he stated. “Finish. Be there more for my team in terms of making the plays in situations that we need. Being more aware in terms of things going around me.”
A more healthy shoulder ought to assist. Oweh underwent surgical procedure in late January to handle a lingering subject, and he wore a harness at follow. He was a restricted participant Wednesday, however he stated he’s hoping to construct up his shoulder’s power “day by day, and I’ll be out there soon.”
“It kind of bothered me a little bit” final season, Oweh stated. “But coming from Penn State, growing up where I’ve grown up, you learn to play through stuff like that and not even think about it until the end. But it definitely got a little bit more kind of hectic toward the end of the season. But I’m good now. We’re straight.”
Despite lacking the ultimate two video games of the season with a foot harm, Oweh completed his rookie season with 5 sacks and 15 quarterback hits. After studying “things I didn’t even know I didn’t even know,” the previous first-round decide enters Year 2 able to make a leap.
“Even though I had the shoulder thing, I feel like everything else, I’m farther ahead than where I was [in] rookie camp,” he stated. “So I just feel better as an athlete. And then obviously, being a good outside linebacker, I feel good as well.”
Extra factors
- Quarterback Lamar Jackson, Peters, Fuller and Williams weren’t the one Ravens veteran lacking at Wednesday’s voluntary follow. Also absent have been offensive tackles Ronnie Stanley, Ja’Wuan James and Morgan Moses; operating backs J.Ok. Dobbins and Gus Edwards; tight finish Nick Boyle; defensive linemen Michael Pierce, Calais Campbell and Derek Wolfe; exterior linebackers Tyus Bowser, Jaylon Ferguson and David Ojabo; cornerback Iman Marshall; and security Ar’Darius Washington.
- Less than 9 months since tearing his Achilles tendon in follow, operating again Justice Hill was again on the sphere. Armour-Davis, who missed the ultimate half-hour of the Ravens’ open rookie minicamp session, was additionally practising.
- Harbaugh stated it was “not surprising at all” to see Clark take part in voluntary exercises. “He didn’t want to miss OTAs. That was something that was important to him. And he came in here on Tuesday, ready to go, in great shape, and picked up right where he left off. Just walked in the building, and he was Chuck Clark, and running the defense. So it’s not surprising at all.”
- Tight finish Mark Andrews, who noticed Boyle in the course of the offseason in Arizona, stated he “looks like a different person, man.” Boyle, who’s been restricted to 14 video games over the previous two seasons, is “hungry” and “ready to go,” Andrews stated.
- Harbaugh joked that with retired punter Sam Koch now teaching rookie Jordan Stout, “punt practice seemed a little quieter and calmer out there.” But the fourth-round decide from Penn State has impressed up to now. “He’s got a big leg, I can tell you that,” Harbaugh stated. “And even when he misses, it still goes pretty far, which is kind of cool. That’s good; he’s got good misses, I guess you can say.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com