Many 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.
A very powerful criterion for the lineman-needy Ravens, group officers stated this week in Indianapolis, is much less complicated. And maybe far tougher to search out.
“I simply actually need guys that may kick ass,” common supervisor Eric DeCosta instructed reporters Wednesday. “If the man’s only a dominant participant, he can transfer individuals off the ball, he can bend his knees, he can pass-protect, he can do all these various things, and he’s sturdy, then we’ll most likely take the man.”
“I need offensive linemen that block individuals, that impression the protection, that minimize any person out of the protection,” coach John Harbaugh instructed the group web site. “Easy, proper?”
Virtually nothing in regards to the Ravens’ offensive line image is. Kevin Zeitler is anticipated to start out 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? The place may the group 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. Conferences with participant brokers and draft prospects ought to paint a clearer image of who may be leaving, who may be coming and who may be price drafting.
Given the Ravens’ wage cap constraints, rookies are extra doubtless options up entrance than veterans. Beneath DeCosta, the Ravens have dedicated to constructing a “pipeline” for younger, low-cost offensive linemen by the draft. “No. 1, they get damage, and No. 2, you want a bunch of them, and No. 3, you'll be able to’t hold all people,” he stated in 2020.
His method, closely reliant on middle-round picks, has had blended outcomes. In 2019, the Ravens took guard Ben Powers within the fourth spherical. A yr later, they received sort out Tyre Phillips within the third and guard Ben Bredeson within the fourth. Final yr, they took guard Ben Cleveland within the third. Bredeson was traded after a yr. The three others will enter coaching camp preventing for one, perhaps two, beginning jobs.
After a disappointing 2021, the road can be a precedence this offseason. Harbaugh stated at his season-ending information convention in January that the Ravens “must have a powerful, commanding offensive line that may management individuals on the level of assault.” The group struggled at instances to clear holes for quarterback Lamar Jackson and the group’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 general decide in April’s draft, they may 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 known as a “very, very robust” 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 nicely. So does a era of bullied defensive linemen: eight-time Professional Bowl guard Marshal Yanda.
“Marshal being an Iowa Hawkeye, the issues he was capable of do within the NFL, it’s superior,” Linderbaum stated Thursday. “You realize, Marshal was a man that all the time got here again and labored out at Iowa. So once we have been in there within the winter and the spring, he was the man that might all the time come again. And simply form of seeing his work ethic and the way he operated, there’s a purpose why he was within the league for thus lengthy and why he was an All-Professional.”
The Ravens took Yanda within the third spherical of the 2007 draft, No. 86 general. If they need Linderbaum, the consensus prime heart of this class, they most likely 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 substitute for Bozeman.
Nonetheless, his match stays a query. Linderbaum, who received’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 school, 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’ might be bumpy.
“I believe I can compete in any system,” he stated. “You realize, no matter system I get in, I believe I can assist a group out. I don’t assume I’m restricted to what I can do. I’m assured in my efficiency and what I can do for groups, and no matter group thinks that I can assist them out, I’m positive going to offer it my all and compete my butt off.”
Northern Iowa OT Trevor Penning
To grasp how Penning desires to play, begin together with his night-before-the-game ritual.
One Halloween evening in school, Penning was getting ready for a sport at Illinois State. He wished to observe a scary film. He’d by no means seen “Noticed,” the 2004 horror basic during which one character is burned alive by candle and one other has his head blown off by shotguns, so he discovered it on Netflix. “Sort of a enjoyable film to observe,” he stated Thursday.
The subsequent day, earlier than Soccer Championship Subdivision college Northern Iowa’s five-hour bus experience, Penning downloaded “Noticed II” and “Noticed III.” He handed the time watching extra grisly killings. “What's mistaken with you?” requested a teammate watching over Penning’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s a superb film,” Penning recalled telling him.
And so a convention was born. Even Penning’s mom watched the film sequence with him. If he wished to play with an edge, why not follow a style the place characters brandish sharpened weapons?
“Off the sphere, I’m simply attempting to be a pleasant man,” stated the 6-6, 330-pound Penning, a possible first-round decide. However his on-field persona? “Bodily. Nasty. A prick.”
Which may work out simply high-quality in Baltimore. NFL Community analyst Daniel Jeremiah stated in a convention name final week that he wouldn’t anticipate Penning to make it previous the Ravens at No. 14 general. “Whenever you watch him, this man is only a Raven,” he stated.
“Groups that need that form of nasty edge, I imply, that’s an incredible group to be part of,” Penning stated when requested in regards to the Ravens. “Groups that basically just like the physicality up entrance are undoubtedly an incredible group.”
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 ultimate two school seasons, in response to Professional Soccer 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 — enjoying by the whistle, shoving defensive linemen to the bottom, retaining his imply streak intact — stated greater than any scary film ever may.
“You need to make the defender throughout from you are feeling it, actually,” he stated. “You need him on the finish of the day to be exhausted and he desires to go residence and get on that flight and get the hell out of there, just about.”
Minnesota OT Daniel Faalele
The most important offensive sort out within the draft was loads larger a couple of years in the past. The 6-8 Faalele, a possible first-round decide, stated he weighed 426 kilos when he enrolled at Minnesota in 2018. Today, he’s right down to 385.
“I wouldn’t thoughts seeing how 375 would really feel by the point I get to my group,” Faalele stated Thursday.
Along with his dimension, there aren’t a number of 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 previous Ravens starter, a three-time Professional Bowl choice whom the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs are ready to make one of many NFL’s highest-paid tackles, was just below 6-8 and 345 kilos when he weighed in on the 2018 mix.
“I like watching Orlando Brown and the way he makes use of his power to his benefit and the way he makes use of his size and performs huge,” Faalele stated. “He’s additionally good, and [I’m] seeing how he takes good angles.”
It was robust to get previous Faalele final season. He allowed only one strain over the ultimate eight video games of his Golden Gophers profession, in response to PFF. However with NFL-level pace rushers more likely to problem him within the NFL, and stronger edge defenders not as vulnerable to pancake blocks, Faalele stated he’s targeted on bettering his pad stage and increasing his vary of cross units.
“I really feel like I undoubtedly have loads to point out and I've room to develop,” he stated. “I really feel like that’s the thrilling factor about me. I've much more potential to succeed in.”
Boston School 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 actually have a group,” Johnson, a possible late-first-round decide, stated Thursday. “I've some household from the realm, and as a child, I keep in mind seeing these ‘bumblebee’ jerseys. And I’m, like, 7, 8 years previous. I’m pondering, ‘That’s cool. That’s sick.’ So I grew to become a Steelers fan and simply saved watching them simply all through the years.”
Johnson grew up idolizing Steelers star heart Maurkice Pouncey, however his personal NFL profession didn’t appear attainable till a couple of years in the past. Rising up, he was a aggressive golfer. He wished to go to Harvard. As a senior at Riverdale Baptist, he weighed about 225 kilos.
As an alternative, the 6-2 Johnson landed at FCS college Davidson, the place he bulked up and began 19 video games over his first two years. He transferred to Boston School, 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 enjoying weight is as much as about 315 or 320 kilos. His inventory has by no means been larger, both.
“I all the time say that when you don’t love soccer, you’re not going to go very far, as a result of while you get in these laborious moments, while you’re drained, one thing’s not feeling proper, it's important to fall again on one thing,” Johnson stated. “And if it’s superficial, you’re not going to have the ability to maintain that.”
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