The Ravens, enjoying with out quarterback Lamar Jackson and different key starters, prolonged their preseason profitable streak to 22, led by one other sterling efficiency from backup quarterback Tyler Huntley and a outstanding first half from rookie tight finish Isaiah Likely. Here are 5 issues we discovered from Sunday night time’s 24-17 victory:
Good luck quieting the Isaiah Likely hype practice after that efficiency.
This Likely factor is getting out of hand. In three months, the rookie tight finish has ascended from a fourth-round decide elevating eyebrows in OTAs to the third most essential cross catcher on the workforce behind Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman. That would possibly sound like hyperbole, however has any Raven made extra thrilling performs this summer time?
On the Ravens’ first drive, Tyler Huntley was flushed from the pocket and rolling to his left when he discovered Likely shifting ahead to assist him. Likely not solely made a contested catch however he spun away from his defender and turned the play right into a 20-yard acquire. He did it once more within the second quarter, catching a 5-yard cross, breaking a sort out and turning the play right into a 31-yard acquire.
“I think that’s what sticks out the most, what he can do after the catch,” Huntley stated.
Six of Likely’s eight catches went for a primary down or landing, a sign of the rookie’s really feel for locating open areas and attending to the suitable yard marker. He simply seems like a pure receiver with each transfer he makes.
Fox analyst Greg Olsen, a former standout tight finish in his personal proper, in contrast him to a “young Darren Waller.”
We’re on the level the place different groups must be asking how Likely, who has 12 catches on 12 targets for 144 yards in two preseason video games, fell to the 139th total decide. He wasn’t even the primary tight finish the Ravens drafted, although neither was Andrews in 2018.
As Ravens followers questioned why the workforce steered away from huge receivers after buying and selling Marquise Brown, a few of us wrote that Likely would possibly find yourself being the very best reply to the query. It’s an concept that’s wanting higher and higher each time he takes the sector.
It was laborious to discover a Ravens rookie who didn’t make a optimistic play.
Likely was the headliner, and we’ll speak about defensive sort out Travis Jones in one other merchandise, however this was an evening crammed with optimistic contributions from the workforce’s 11-man draft class.
You like particular groups? Punter Jordan Stout pinned the Cardinals inside their 5-yard line on every of his first two punts, bombed his third 58 yards and made an additional level with Justin Tucker holding.
You like kind tackling? Cornerback Damarion “Pepe” Williams made an ideal stick on Cardinals huge receiver Greg Dortch to pressure Arizona to fourth down on its second drive. Veteran Kyle Fuller adopted with an interception on the following play. Williams added his personal decide later within the recreation.
You like rangy playmaking? Safety Kyle Hamilton learn a run-pass choice completely and used his uncommon size to bat down a cross within the crimson zone late within the second quarter.
You like laborious, slashing runs? Sixth-round decide Tyler Badie was the workforce’s best ball provider, including a third-quarter landing catch for good measure.
“I feel like we got the best rookie class in all 32,” Likely stated.
And after all, first-round decide Tyler Linderbaum, second-round decide David Ojabo and fourth-round decide Charlie Kolar weren’t on the sector due to accidents.
Defensive line depth is shaping up as a power.
We didn’t see the Ravens’ most dependable inside defender, Calais Campbell, or their powerhouse nostril sort out, Michael Pierce. Justin Madubuike didn’t play a lot.
The excellent news for the Ravens was that they didn’t want any of their high three defensive linemen to provide some wonderful work within the trenches.
The pleasure begins with third-round decide Jones, who merely overwhelms single blockers. Twice within the second quarter, we noticed him explode up the center to destroy Trace McSorley’s pocket. Jones drew a nonsensical roughing penalty when he shoved McSorley to the bottom in the long run zone, however the Ravens must be thrilled with the dynamism the rookie brings to their inside cross rush. Pierce and Campbell have marveled at his mixture of mass and agility.
The Ravens obtained a scare when Jones left the sector with a knee harm, however coach John Harbaugh stated it was a hyperextension that can maintain him out the remainder of preseason however possible not jeopardize a big chunk of his common season.
Jones wasn’t the one younger defensive sort out to flash.
Isaiah Mack, who spent the tip of final season on the workforce’s follow squad, beat the left guard to get in McSorley’s face and pressure an incompletion that halted Arizona’s first drive. It was the primary of a number of standout rushes from Mack, who additionally completed with three tackles.
Aaron Crawford, who spent final 12 months on injured reserve, generated constant push, making two tackles and clearing area for others to function.
“Those guys really stepped up,” Harbaugh stated.
The Ravens received’t have the ability to maintain all of those defensive tackles on their 53-man roster, however all of them appear to be NFL gamers and have all through camp.
Tyler Huntley was wonderful once more, however let’s cease with the speak about him as an alternative choice to Lamar Jackson.
Huntley couldn’t have been so much higher in opposition to the Cardinals, finishing 13 of 14 passes for 129 yards and a landing in a efficiency Harbaugh known as “masterful.” He dealt with stress effectively, discovered receivers in rhythm and led two scoring drives of 10 performs or extra.
Fox commentators and social media posters used his excellence as an excuse to select up a drained story, the concept Huntley’s presence someway provides the Ravens leverage of their extension negotiations with Jackson.
Yes, Huntley has given the Ravens ample cause to really feel snug with him as their backup. But let’s not overlook that they misplaced 5 video games in a row and fell out of playoff rivalry after Jackson damage his ankle in Cleveland final 12 months. Though Huntley did a good job getting the ball out rapidly and precisely, their offense lacked the improvisational brilliance, the big-play upside No. 8 brings.
The Ravens are engaged in a posh negotiation with their franchise participant, one that would carry into subsequent offseason or past. This would be the backdrop to each dialog we hear about Jackson within the nationwide media, regardless of how the workforce performs. But there isn’t any Plan B.
Again, that’s no knock on Huntley. As Harbaugh stated, his “timing and precision continue to go on the trajectory you want to see.” It’s simply that there’s a cause why the highest 10 quarterbacks on this planet are among the many most valuable athletes in all of sports activities.
Say what you’ll in regards to the preseason profitable streak, but it surely provides juice to the tip of those video games.
On many ranges, it felt absurd to care whether or not Cardinals third-string quarterback Jarrett Guarantano may end off an unbelievable comeback in opposition to a bunch of Ravens defenders who more than likely won’t see the sector in the course of the common season.
But that’s the bizarre spell forged by a bizarre file: the Ravens’ preseason profitable streak, now at 22 video games after they held on in Arizona.
Safety Ar’Darius Washington thrust his arms to the sky in triumph after he knocked away Guarantano’s remaining try, partly as a result of it was a standout second for him as he tries to earn a job in a crowded secondary but additionally as a result of he secured one other “meaningless” win for the best preseason juggernaut in NFL historical past.
There will all the time be skeptics who argue that Harbaugh invitations accidents by deploying related gamers in the hunt for idiot’s gold. But there’s not a lot proof of that in his utilization patterns this preseason. The file is greatest considered as an oddity, a testomony to the Ravens’ roster depth and a welcome dose of leisure in video games that might in any other case maintain little attract for informal followers.
“It’s not the thing we’re thinking about the most by any stretch,” Harbaugh stated, however he added that the streak exhibits “a lot of guys have found a lot of ways to come through.”
Huntley stated the gamers do care: “It means a lot to us just to show that every time you step on the field with the Ravens, you’ve got to be ready to play.”
Preseason, Week 3
COMMANDERS@RAVENS
Saturday, 7 p.m.
TV: Ch. 11
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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Source: www.bostonherald.com