Most of the 58 offensive linemen right here on the NFL scouting mix may have their wingspan measured, their blood work examined, their play recall questioned and their 40-yard-dash timed.
The most essential criterion for the lineman-needy Ravens, staff officers stated this week in Indianapolis, is much easier. And maybe far more durable to search out.
“I just really want guys that can kick ass,” common supervisor Eric DeCosta instructed reporters Wednesday. “If the guy’s just a dominant player, he can move people off the ball, he can bend his knees, he can pass-protect, he can do all those different things, and he’s durable, then we’ll probably take the guy.”
“I want offensive linemen that block people, that impact the defense, that cut somebody out of the defense,” coach John Harbaugh told the team website. “Simple, right?”
Almost nothing in regards to the Ravens’ offensive line image is. Kevin Zeitler is predicted to begin at proper guard. To his left and proper, uncertainty reigns.
Will Ronnie Stanley, coming off his second straight season-ending ankle harm, be wholesome sufficient for a 17-game season at left sort out? If Alejandro Villanueva, as anticipated, doesn’t return, who’d step in at proper sort out? Where would possibly the staff flip if heart Bradley Bozeman leaves in free company? Will Tyre Phillips, Ben Cleveland or Ben Powers emerge because the clear-cut starter at left guard? And the place does Patrick Mekari have essentially the most worth?
With the beginning of free company lower than two weeks away, the Ravens’ journey to Indianapolis will provide some readability. Meetings with participant brokers and draft prospects ought to paint a clearer image of who could be leaving, who could be coming and who could be price drafting.
Given the Ravens’ wage cap constraints, rookies are extra possible options up entrance than veterans. Under DeCosta, the Ravens have dedicated to constructing a “pipeline” for younger, low cost offensive linemen via the draft. “No. 1, they get hurt, and No. 2, you need a bunch of them, and No. 3, you can’t keep everybody,” he stated in 2020.
His strategy, closely reliant on middle-round picks, has had combined outcomes. In 2019, the Ravens took guard Ben Powers within the fourth spherical. A 12 months later, they bought sort out Tyre Phillips within the third and guard Ben Bredeson within the fourth. Last 12 months, they took guard Ben Cleveland within the third. Bredeson was traded after a 12 months. The three others will enter coaching camp preventing for one, possibly two, beginning jobs.
After a disappointing 2021, the road might be a precedence this offseason. Harbaugh stated at his season-ending information convention in January that the Ravens “have to have a strong, commanding offensive line that can control people at the point of attack.” The group struggled at occasions to clear holes for quarterback Lamar Jackson and the staff’s depleted operating again room final season, and the Ravens completed No. 29 within the NFL in sacks allowed per cross try.
There are urgent wants throughout the roster, however with the No. 14 total choose in April’s draft, they might discover a premium prospect at sort out, guard or heart. They might additionally commerce down, purchase extra draft capital and seize a lower-tier prospect. In what DeCosta referred to as a “very, very strong” offensive line class, there’s no scarcity of contenders.
Iowa C Tyler Linderbaum
The Ravens have drafted just one Iowa offensive lineman of their franchise historical past. Linderbaum is aware of him properly. So does a technology of bullied defensive linemen: eight-time Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda.
“Marshal being an Iowa Hawkeye, the things he was able to do in the NFL, it’s awesome,” Linderbaum stated Thursday. “You know, Marshal was a guy that always came back and worked out at Iowa. So when we were in there in the winter and the spring, he was the guy that would always come back. And just kind of seeing his work ethic and how he operated, there’s a reason why he was in the league for so long and why he was an All-Pro.”
The Ravens took Yanda within the third spherical of the 2007 draft, No. 86 total. If they need Linderbaum, the consensus high heart of this class, they in all probability can’t wait till Day 2. He’s been a well-liked first-round goal of the Ravens in mock drafts, a possible plug-and-play alternative for Bozeman.
Still, his match stays a query. Linderbaum, who gained’t take part within the mix testing due to a mid-foot sprain he suffered in Iowa’s bowl sport, acknowledged that he’s “undersized” for the place. (In faculty, he was listed at 6 toes 3 and 290 kilos.) His mobility could be an asset in a zone-blocking scheme, however his transition to a power-heavy system just like the Ravens’ could possibly be bumpy.
“I think I can compete in any system,” he stated. “You know, whatever system I get in, I think I can help a team out. I don’t think I’m limited to what I can do. I’m confident in my performance and what I can do for teams, and whatever team thinks that I can help them out, I’m sure going to give it my all and compete my butt off.”
Northern Iowa OT Trevor Penning
To perceive how Penning desires to play, begin together with his night-before-the-game ritual.
One Halloween night time in faculty, Penning was making ready for a sport at Illinois State. He wished to observe a scary film. He’d by no means seen “Saw,” the 2004 horror traditional wherein one character is burned alive by candle and one other has his head blown off by shotguns, so he discovered it on Netflix. “Kind of a fun movie to watch,” he stated Thursday.
The subsequent day, earlier than Football Championship Subdivision faculty Northern Iowa’s five-hour bus trip, Penning downloaded “Saw II” and “Saw III.” He handed the time watching extra grisly killings. “What is wrong with you?” requested a teammate watching over Penning’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s a good movie,” Penning recalled telling him.
And so a convention was born. Even Penning’s mom watched the film collection with him. If he wished to play with an edge, why not stick with a style the place characters brandish sharpened weapons?
“Off the field, I’m just trying to be a nice guy,” stated the 6-6, 330-pound Penning, a possible first-round choose. But his on-field persona? “Physical. Nasty. A prick.”
Which might work out simply positive in Baltimore. NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah stated in a convention name final week that he wouldn’t count on Penning to make it previous the Ravens at No. 14 total. “When you watch him, this guy is just a Raven,” he stated.
“Teams that want that kind of nasty edge, I mean, that’s a great team to be a part of,” Penning stated when requested in regards to the Ravens. “Teams that really like the physicality up front are definitely a great team.”
Penalties have been an issue for Penning, a three-year starter at left sort out, however he allowed simply two sacks and 6 quarterback hits over his remaining two faculty seasons, based on Pro Football Focus. At Northern Iowa, he stood out as a run blocker within the Panthers’ downhill operating sport.
The polarizing highlights he produced at Senior Bowl practices — taking part in via the whistle, shoving defensive linemen to the bottom, holding his imply streak intact — stated greater than any scary film ever might.
“You want to make the defender across from you feel it, really,” he stated. “You want him at the end of the day to be exhausted and he wants to go home and get on that flight and get the hell out of there, pretty much.”
Minnesota OT Daniel Faalele
The largest offensive sort out within the draft was rather a lot larger a number of years in the past. The 6-8 Faalele, a possible first-round choose, stated he weighed 426 kilos when he enrolled at Minnesota in 2018. These days, he’s right down to 385.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing how 375 would feel by the time I get to my team,” Faalele stated Thursday.
With his dimension, there aren’t numerous gamers to look as much as. Philadelphia Eagles standout Jordan Mailata, a fellow Australian and former rugby participant who, like Faalele, fell into soccer in his teenagers, is one.
Orlando Brown Jr. is one other. The former Ravens starter, a three-time Pro Bowl choice whom the Kansas City Chiefs are ready to make one of many NFL’s highest-paid tackles, was slightly below 6-8 and 345 kilos when he weighed in on the 2018 mix.
“I like watching Orlando Brown and how he uses his strength to his advantage and how he uses his length and plays big,” Faalele stated. “He’s also smart, and [I’m] seeing how he takes good angles.”
It was robust to get previous Faalele final season. He allowed only one stress over the ultimate eight video games of his Golden Gophers profession, based on PFF. But with NFL-level pace rushers prone to problem him within the NFL, and stronger edge defenders not as vulnerable to pancake blocks, Faalele stated he’s centered on enhancing his pad stage and increasing his vary of cross units.
“I feel like I definitely have a lot to show and I have room to grow,” he stated. “I feel like that’s the exciting thing about me. I have a lot more potential to reach.”
Boston College G Zion Johnson
Johnson, a Bowie native, grew up in an NFC East family, together with his dad and mom splitting their loyalties between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders.
So, naturally, he grew to become a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.
“I didn’t really have a team,” Johnson, a possible late-first-round choose, stated Thursday. “I have some family from the area, and as a kid, I remember seeing those ‘bumblebee’ jerseys. And I’m, like, 7, 8 years old. I’m thinking, ‘That’s cool. That’s sick.’ So I became a Steelers fan and just kept watching them just throughout the years.”
Johnson grew up idolizing Steelers star heart Maurkice Pouncey, however his personal NFL profession didn’t appear doable till a number of years in the past. Growing up, he was a aggressive golfer. He wished to go to Harvard. As a senior at Riverdale Baptist, he weighed about 225 kilos.
Instead, the 6-2 Johnson landed at FCS faculty Davidson, the place he bulked up and began 19 video games over his first two years. He transferred to Boston College, stood out at each sort out and guard over three seasons, and earned an invite to the Senior Bowl. He dominated there, too. Now Johnson’s taking part in weight is as much as about 315 or 320 kilos. His inventory has by no means been increased, both.
“I always say that if you don’t love football, you’re not going to go very far, because when you get in those hard moments, when you’re tired, something’s not feeling right, you have to fall back on something,” Johnson stated. “And if it’s superficial, you’re not going to be able to sustain that.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com