August 26, 2025 • 29 mins
Team insiders Ryan Mink and Garrett Downing discuss their takeaways from the Ravens' roster cuts, including the three undrafted rookies who made it, the potential reason behind a surprise cut at cornerback, the feel-good story of the summer, a positive sign for Isaiah Likely, and more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome into the Lounge, presented by DraftKings. I'm Ryan Mink
and I'm finally joined by Garrett Downing, fresh office paternity leave,
and Garrett very thrilled to have you back.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I am. I'm excited. It's good to have a new
edition in the Downing family. Little boy and welcome to
the family. So it was really nice to have time
at home with him and as a family, but also
excited to get the twenty twenty five season off and
running here. And the big thing really is the biggest
thing I'm disappointed about is that I missed a fifty
three man roster prediction pod.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
That's one of my favorite pause that saved you for
having egging on your face.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I went fifty three for fifty three. It was perfect
for me this year.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I didn't we here we go podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Privately, I went fifty three for fifty three years. You
once again did not never have, never will. But it's
good to be back. And and today's you know, it's
it's both a disappointing day for some guys that could
and an exciting day for others who kind of have
their dreams come true. So we're gonna break it all
down here and like I said, I'm excited to get
(01:06):
this season off and running. Yep.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
All right, So let's start with players who were considered
on the roster bubble who made the team. That list
is running back Russien Ali, guard center Corey Bullock, inside
linebacker Jay Higgins, the fourth safety Ruben Lowry, and cornerback
Kean Martin. So those are the five guys, Like, congrats
(01:29):
to all five of those guys, as well as you
know the other forty eight players who made the team.
But those guys were I think not not necessarily considered
a lock.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
And then players who were on the bubble who did
not make the team, I would point to center Nick Semak,
offensive lineman Garrett Dellinger, cornerback Jellen armor Davis, and to
some degree, defensive lineman Brent Urban. And so Garrett, let's
let's break it all down. And first of all, we'll
say the Ravens came into training camp, why Lee regarded
(02:01):
as having arguably the most loaded roster in the NFL. Yeah,
and the best, you know, top to bottom.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
They also had eleven.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Draft picks competing to make this roster. So a lot
of people, ourselves included said at the beginning of training.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Camplake.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Of all years, like, I don't I don't see this
being the year that undrafted rookie makes the fifty three.
Like it's gonna be tough, and the Ravens have a
long history of at least one making the team, but
like this was going to be a particularly difficult year
to accomplish that.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Yeah, and then three made the fifty three man roster.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yeah, as we said, Reuben Lowry, Jay Higgins and then
Kem Martin.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, I was really surprised by that, And especially if
you would have said that, like back in April, coming
out of the draft, when the Ravens had those eleven picks,
and like even going back further than that, I remember
asking Eric Tacosta at the pre draft press conference, like
you have eleven picks, Like do you want.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
To keep all of ye? How can all even even
make the fifty He.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Said that he was like, it's unlikely that all eleven
of those guys, we probably don't have spots for eleven rookies. Well,
all eleven draft picks aren't on the fifty three men roster,
but there ends up being ten rookies who end up
making the team. Soda Costa, as he said, not necessarily
the space for eleven. But look, we were all I'm surprised,
Like I'm surprised.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Let me just say by making the team, Like two
of those guys Bka and then Robert Longerbeam are on
injured reserve. Emery Jones, the third round pick, is in NFI. Yes,
he hasn't practiced all offseason, so he will be on
the team, he's just currently not part of the fifty three.
And then the one that did not make the team
(03:45):
is Garrett Dellinger, their final seventh round pick.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, so you lose three basically the injury for the
initial fifty three, right one gets cut. You add in
three who are undrafted rookies, and so look, I think
it's a credit to them. Like we actually did the
Undrafted Rookies podcast earlier in the spring talking about guys
who have potential, and like we threw out all of
these disclaimers saying that, like it's probably unlikely that any
(04:08):
of them end up making the team. But I think
both of us did circle Jay Higgins as a candidate,
and he's someone that jumped out to me. He just
was I think he just proved to be too good
to cut like. He was a guy that was a
tackling machine in his Iowa career. He was the top
graded rookie.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
He was All American, Yeah, he was.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
He was the top graded rookie in the entire league
in the preseason. Uh a linebacker. So that's pretty courting
the football focus, Yeah, pro football focus. He had sack, interception,
two passes, defense, a bunch of tackles like, he was
all over the place. And so you play like that
and you're gonna get noticed. And so we'll talk about
each of them individually, but he was a guy that
(04:45):
did stand out to me. And and the Ravens have
I'm not sure if you knew this, but they've had
some undrafted linebackers make the team in the past.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Well ones call in the defensive place, yes.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Zach's look, there's a long history Danell, llerb Bart Scott
A McClain. It like, it's a long list of guys
who have done it and played at a high level
and carved out really nice careers for themselves. So credit
to Jay Higgens for being the next in line.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Well, I think beyond Jay Higgins when you look at
the three, to me, it comes down to who may plays,
and especially in preseason games. Right, Kem Martin had a
safety in Dallas and a pick six in the preseason finale.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Dude made plays, okay, and.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Then Robert Ruben Lowry had an interception in Dallas on
a absolute bomb and made a nice play in the
end zone and and has made arguably, I mean, he's
been one of the Ravens top playmakers in practice as well.
And so like, you make plays in practice and games,
(05:47):
you make the team. That's kind of it kind of
is as simple as that. And I think there's a
lot of nuance within all those decisions. There's additional reasons,
but like when you really boil it down, you make plays,
you make the team.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, I totally agree. And like Ruin Lovery was somebody
we started talking about an OTAs being like, look, there's
a long way to go. He's got to prove it
when the pass come on training camps a different beast, preseason,
a different beast. But like he was consistently coming up
and felt like with an interception every other day in
practice when we were watching it, and You're just like,
this guy just keeps coming up with picks. I've used
this analogy before, but like it reminded me of Geno Stone.
(06:21):
Now Gino was a seventh round pick. But you're like
man Gino Stone just making plays. He's coming up to.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Round the ball a lot, even if he's not like
making an interception. I read like he's just around the
ball the ball.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah, And so like he continued that and then like
every stage, training camp, preseason game, he continued it, and
so lotvery with someone like he kind of jumped on
the radar a little bit early and then never fell off.
That's the thing that you see a lot of times,
like a guy will have a hot spring, then they
get into training camp and they fade away. That didn't
happen with him or any of those three undrafted rookies.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah, just to add a little bit more nuanced in
depth to the conversation, I think that with Higgins specifically,
you look at inside lineback and obviously you have Roquon.
The spot next to Roquon, in my view, is kind
of I wouldn't say wide open, but it's kidn.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Be anyone's game.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Like you could see any of those other four guys
getting time there, right, I mean, in addition to special teams,
but like Trenton Simpson is the projected starter next to
Roquon But Trenton Simpson was the only starter playing in
the preseason finale on the team, and like played a
good amount in that preseason game. I think the Ravens
(07:31):
really like what they see from Teddy Buchanan, the fourth
round pick. He's gonna, I think see defensive action for
this team in a fair amount of it. You know,
obviously Jake Hummel, who they signed, he's more of a
special teams guy. But like, to me, in part, also
keeping Jay Higgins is kind of potentially a nod to like,
(07:51):
hey man, this guy, like maybe we use him as
a linebacker defensively, like and obviously if injuries aside or whatnot,
But like he it goes to me, to me, that's
not necessarily just a oh you're fifth inside linebackers.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
That's a special team's decision.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Yeah, right, because like there's bigger, faster guys that didn't
make this team than Jay Higgins at six foot two thirty, right,
Like there's guys with now. Jay Higgins played special teams
at Iowa, so he has experience. But like if that
was solely a special team's decision, like I could have
seen it going a different way. To me, it's like,
this dude's a pretty darn good inside linebacker, and if
(08:29):
it comes down to it, maybe he plays you know
what I mean.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
As I said in college, I mean he had three
hundred and forty one tackles like you just like as
a tackling machine.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
And that's what zach Orr talked about. He was like,
this dude just like instinctually he is. I thought it
was an interesting point from zach Orr when he said
a lot of linebackers now in college, like they played
other positions and then they got moved to linemacker late
in college, or they're like this hybrid role safety.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
They're like an athlete, right.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
He's like Jay Higgins has just played linebacker's whole life.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
He's the old school kind of got.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
So try and true linebacker.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Like, and and that counts for something when it comes
to reading plays instincts, knowing what you're seeing in front
of you, like, and those guys end up making a
lot of tackles. And so I think that was a
check mark in his in his uh column.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Well, if you go.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Back to last year, the Ravens next to Roque. At
the end of the season, it was Malie Harrison and
Chris board who playing the snaps there. Both of them
left in free agency. Chris Barden undrafted exactly, who's had
a really nice career. He's gone a few different places,
but had a really pretty established career in the NFL's
an undrafted player, undrafted linebacker, so.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Was also on team another undrafted linebacker. Yeah, but we
could keep going up with Christian Welch, just like Jay Higgins. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
So anyway, I think that he is a guy that
intrigued me from the time he arrived here and he
never disappointed. So credit to him. And it really is
like I think the Ravens organization deserves a lot of credit,
like picture wise, from their for their ability to draft
and develop, not draft, undraft, find develop, uh, these players
(10:08):
who the rest of the league oftentimes can look past.
So it's like it's multi layered. It's the personnel department
for finding these guys and assessing them and saying.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
That markdo there's a lot of credit in that. Like
he I think he deserves the shout out by name,
you know, I mean, he's kind of like spearheaded that
undrafted rookie scouring process and scouting process for years now.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Yeah he deserves it.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah, Mark does a great job with that. And obviously
all the scouts are involved in that process.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
So and the coaches are involved in that, like coaches
are making phone calls too. It's yeah, it's it's like
it's a collaborative team effort. If if you want to
go back and see that we've done behind the scenes videos,
uh during draft weekend, go back and watch some of
the Wired episodes and uh, it's interesting to see how
like everybody gets involved in that process.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
The undrafted rookie recruiting process is something that Ravens take
very seriously, I think speak for themselves. So it's it's
the ability to find these guys, is the ability to
develop them from a coaching standpoint once they arrive. And
then I think the third and this is like one
of one of the harder pieces too, is like having
the guts to pull the trigger on some of these
guys where you say, like, you know what, we feel
(11:17):
good about giving Zach Orr a shot coming out of
what school Northern Texas. You know, like giving a guy
an opportunity and seeing what they can do, and like
the players deserve the credit, of course for doing it,
but like it's it's not the easiest thing to give
some of these undrafted rookies an opportunity in practice in
preseason games and then to go with them at roster
(11:38):
cut downpoint. But the Ravens have shown time and time
again that they, hey, the best man wins the competition.
And I think that's part of the reason that undrafted
rookies look at the opportunity here in Baltimore and say, like,
let me go there, because they've proven if I play
well as an undrafted rookie, I can make the team.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
You're gonna have a legitimate shot. I've got shot.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
And it's not just the players, the agents. The agents
know the Ravens a legitimate shot, and they coach him
up and they have a chance. And yeah, I agree
with all that, and I also will say, well, I
guess let's move on. So one of the more surprising
roster decisions I thought and cuts was Jallen Armor Davis
(12:18):
fourth round corner, who I think a lot of us,
yourself included if you're being honest, you're being honest with
the listeners. Fifty three for fifty three for yeah, if
you're being honest, you had Jalen armor Davis on and
and so the thing with Jayllen Armor Davis has always
been health. This was perhaps his healthiest training camp he's
had in his career. And you know, he was a
(12:40):
player I thought that stood out for good reasons in
OTAs and was one of the kind of early summer standouts.
And now he did have some injuries over the summer,
but didn't miss much time, came back and like you know,
he's an experienced player entering his fourth year. Like especially
(13:00):
after the Ravens had season ending injuries to bil Cone
and Robert Longer, Meimei, I thought, all right, now his
spot is even more of a sure thing.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Honestly, even more than the injuries to the rookies. To me,
it was more of the injuries that both Chiato Wuzier
and Jaira Alexander have been dealing with as of late.
Now John Harbaugh has said that those are training camp
type things and expects everybody to be good to go
for the start of the regular season.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
But when Cheeto was back on the practice field today,
he was he was.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
But like Jaia Alexander has missed time here over the
past couple of weeks since Chido has been on and
off the field at times since signing here this offseason,
so those guys have dealt with injuries, and so I
felt like, oh, okay, it's probably likely that you keep Jalen
armor Davis because.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
He's playing NFL games. You know he can step in
there and play.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
He's experienced it as long as he's healthy, and so
I agree with you. I thought so, But you know,
when you think about it, more, okay, TJ Tampa just
beat him out for a spot, know I mean, you
talk about guys.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
CJ.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Tampa might have made the most interceptions in training camp
period or like over let's say, beyond training camp the
whole summer. Probably Ruben Lowry might be number two. But
TJ Tampa, especially in the past week or two, has
bad multiple interceptions, and coaches have talked about how he's alright.
He's starting to play more to a size and be
a little bit more aggressive, and I think they see
(14:24):
his trajectory really going up. And this is a fourth
round pick a year ago, who I think the Ravens
and a lot of people felt like, hey, this is
a potential steal. So I think he's really kind of,
you know, an ascending player. Jalen Armor Davis has more
of an established track record, but is he on the
same trajectory Let's say at CG.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Tampa.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I don't know, Well, I really thought it was I'd
never At one point it seemed like it might be
either or I thought I.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Thought yeah, but I thought it was going to be both.
I thought both were going.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
To be At the end of the day, it seemed
like it could likely be both. But then Keon Martin
comes on strong exactly.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
And the thing I think the advantage. I think TJ.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Tampa has the advantage over Jalen Arma Daves because he
just made more plays. He just had a better training camp,
I think. And then, in my opinion, Keon Martin's advantage
over Jaalen Armor Davis's versatility, Like Keon Martin is more
of a nickel corner. That's that's what he's been playing
in the race. He's really the Ravens only kind of
true nickel corner. Now, Marlon Humphrey plays nickel at a
(15:28):
very very high level, but like Marlon also plays outside.
But you know, the Ravens without Kem Martin, the Ravens
have a bunch of guys who can double as a
nickel corner Marlin, Kyle Hamilton, Malecki, Starks, maybe Ruben Lowry,
like he's been learning a lot of spots. I don't
know if Nichol's really at the top of that. I
(15:49):
don't it's not at the top of that, But like Ken,
he play there.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
All of the Keon Martin though, Like so a bunch
of player is kind of minor in nickel cornerback. Nickel
cornerback is ke On Martin's major, you know, And so
I think that it provides more just kind of overall
versatility and depth in your secondary overall, Whereas like Jaalen
Armor Davis, he's a boundary, He's an outside corner. You
(16:15):
already have a bunch of this, you know. I mean,
Jay yr is an outside corner corner. Wiggins is an
outside corner, Cheetah is an outside corner.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
TJ. Tampa is an outside corner.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Yeah, right, So, like I think that that may have
helped Keon Martin's case.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Also, it's a little similar like last year the Ravens
had Arthur Maulett. He dealt with Andrewes from much of
the year. But like he was, I'm a nickel corner,
Like I'm a slot corner. That's my that's my position,
and and so it's a little bit similar. You like
to have those guys in the mix too when you're
looking at your overall you know mix there in the secondary.
So yeah, I'm with you though, Like I think Jalen
(16:53):
Arber Davis was the name that a lot of people
saw and they said, whoa that one. That one is surprising.
I think the other And.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
I'll just add to Ruben Lowry like his versatility, very
very smart guy has learned multiple positions, Like when you're
talking about the versatility that he offers versus what Jalen
armor Davis offers. Like Jalen Armor Davis kind of played
in the safety waters early in training camp, they were
kind of cross training him and then that kind of ended,
(17:22):
whereas Ruben Lowry just kept adding more and more and
more to his plate. So I just think in part
you can say that the Ravens valued playmaking and versatility
when they were making these decisions, particularly in the secondary.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Now, the other area that I think we all were
trying to kind of figure out was the offensive line.
That was like what is this group gonna look like.
I'll just run through the group for you real quick.
Here it's Ronnie Stanley, Andrew Voris, Tyler Linderbaum, Daniel fau Leile,
Roger rosen Garden, Joseph Noteboom, Carson Vincent, Ben Cleveland who
(17:56):
was on the bubble, and then the other one who
made it is Corey Bulloch backup center. And so those
are your offensive lineman. The guys who did not make
it Garrett Dellinger rookie seventh round pick and Nick Saymac
late round pick from last year, both kind of guard
center options there for the Ravens, similar players, and so
(18:19):
the Ravens went with Bullock over those over those guys
and then Cleveland as well as an experienced player who
could step in really at either guard spot and competed
this summer for a starting guard job as well.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
To me, the takeaway here is it's a good story
for Corey Bullock, like, and I think it's a good
story to other players out there that all right, here's
Corey Bullock who was an undrafted rookie who spent all
of last season on the practice squad, and like, oftentimes
you see that and you think Okay, he's just gonna
be a practice squad guy, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
And like, Bullock.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Went to work this past offseason, rented a place out
in Arizona, trained at one of the top offensive line
gyms in the cun Tree, if not the best, and
like just I mean, he told me he took like
a week or two off after the practice senate and
then it's been full time like training out there and
obviously here the entire offseason, Like has just worked his
(19:12):
butt off. Yeah, and he's a college tackle from the
University of Maryland. I don't know why I did that,
but I.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Just wanted to.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
It's sound great, it felt it felt even better. But
so he converged from college tackle to center, like works
his butt off even last year during practice squad and
then especially this season to like learn.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
How to play center. And it's just he's just won
the job.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
And like it's kind of a testament to like, you
start on practice squad, that doesn't mean it's your ultimate destination.
You can you can work your way onto the fifty
three man roster. And hey, he beat out he beat
out two guys that were draft picks.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Credit to him.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
I think it's a good I think it's a good
story and it like and it speaks to what we
said just a little bit ago, made the best man win,
Like the Ravens allow these practices and preseason games to
determine who ends up making their way out of the team,
and like he did, he earned a spot, and so
credit credit to him.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Also local stories from Prince Georger's County in Maryland here,
so mary Maryland kid, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
It's always nice.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
So you have like a Maryland story of yeah, that
makes it like there's been plenty of players over the
years of who have either you know, grown up Ravens
fans or in the area and like to see them
make the team, like it means something to them, and
it's always encouraging to see that. One of the guys
actually who did get released, who was kind of the
one of the feel good local stories from last year
as we're talking about that who was on the bubble
(20:36):
and disappointed to see him get released is Bo Braid.
As we talked about the secondary, probably should have mentioned
Bo in that mix to basically Ruben Lowry gets the
nod over him, and you know and snoozy Kane Sanoosey
Kane makes the team. Bo Braid and Sanoozy Kane kind
of came in competing for a spot there, and then
Ruben Lowry just came on strong all spring and Summer
ends up pushing bow Braid out as he ends as
(20:58):
Lowry gets the nod there.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Again, I'll just point to versatility, you know, I think
that Ruben Lowry has more versatility than Bo Braid does
to play multiple spots in your secondary and and you know,
RUBM Lowry just like made more plays, you know, in
practice and whatnot. I thought I had Bo on my
fifty three because I thought for special teams reasons that
like he not that I had Ruben Lowry also on
(21:22):
my fifty three. But I thought that Bo Braid was
competing against Kean Martin for a spot, and it turns out,
you know, Keon got that spot too. So yeah, I
just think, you know, I hope that Bo like sticks around.
I think Bo's a good player who can run and hit,
and hope he sticks around.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yeah, And sometimes you see guys like they make it
and they go to the practice squad and then they
come back and end up making the active roster.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Like it's not this is not the final. Yes, this
is the initial.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
The initial roster. So I think that that's a good point.
So let's take a quick break and then when we
come back, we'll share our final thoughts on the fifth
and then also talk about what could happen from here.
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is yours. So a couple other notes for me in
(22:16):
terms of guys that these roster moves. Brent Urban is
one who who got released. Now, the Ravens picked him
up in training camp, and Brent has been here and
not here, you know, about a dozen times over the
course of his career. But one thing I feel pretty
confident about is that Brent Urban's gonna end up playing
snaps for this team at some point this season. Like
he could come back as a veteran sign to the
(22:38):
practice squad and get called up activated three times and
then end up on the fifty three manter roster. Like
that's the Ravens have done that with him in the past.
My guess is that that Brent is not even clearing
out the locker like I would not stock be at
all if he is back in the building.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Sin.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Yeah, I won't be surprised in the slightest if Brent
Urban is playing in a Ravens uniform and certainly expect that.
Let me point to another position room that I thought
was interesting, and we talked about him being on the bubble,
But that's Raushine Ali the Ravens. I think a lot
of the offseason we were saying, three running backs, Man,
how do you you know? You got Derrick Henry, Justice
(23:17):
Hill and Keith Mitchell. Looks awesome. How do you get
these three guys the ball? It's going to be you know,
there's no need for a fourth running back when you
have those three guys.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Well, lo and behold.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The room was just too good to cut anybody. Yeah,
and so Rashine Ali makes the fifty three, which isn't
It's not like a huge surprise. The Ravens have often
carried four running backs.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Less of a surprise, and Harbor was based like, guys,
he's on the team.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
He made it clear there at the end exactly you
asked me about him.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
He's on the team.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Yeah, but I think beyond you know, A, I think
that he played well in the preseason games and like
flashed and any flashed in practice too, And I just
think he's like as sending player, he's getting better and better.
And B I think that special teams wise, like this
is a special teams spot in some ways.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
You know, he could be one of.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
The Ravens' top two kick returners, he and Keaton Mitchell.
And while we all think that Keaton can be an
awesome kick returner, and he joined the Lounge to talk
about that how he's really excited about that role. He
also told us on this very podcast that he hadn't
done it at all in college, so he's like kind
of new with the position. Rashin a Lee was the
most productive returner in the preseason. You know, he broke
(24:30):
one against the Colts in the preseason opener, So like, yeah,
cause he's very much in that picture.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
He could be the guy.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
You know, Keaton kind of struggled with his injury after
that first preseason game, so like keeping another extra body
in there for special teams and for offense reasons is
probably a good thing, and John Harwell said that rashina
a Lee plays multiple special teams spots.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
It's not just as a returner.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
He's on coverage units and all that stuff too, So
I think that he earned a spot for being multi dimensional.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Agree with all that. I think credit to him for
earning his earn his spot on this team. A couple
of notes from an injury standpoint one that I think
is significant. Ye, it's not a transaction, but the fact
that it's not a transaction is big. Isaiah likely there
a speculation could he go on injured reserve designated to return,
which would knock him out the first four games. He
did not, he's just on the active roster. Will he
(25:22):
be ready for week one? We'll see that. You know,
we'll get a sense of that next week if he's
back at practice. But what this says is that the
Ravens he's available to play in any of the first
four games, and so they didn't They didn't want to
make a move that would just sideline him for those
first four. So that's a good sign I think in
his development and recovery.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Yep, Yeah, definitely he's going to be back sooner than later. So,
you know, John Harball has kind of said that the
timeline hasn't changed from the initial reports that Isaiah likely
is in play a possibility for week one, but we
know that the Ravens expect him to be back before
week five, right, And when you have the Bills, Browns, Lions,
(26:02):
and Chiefs as the first four teams you're gonna face.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Want to back as soon as I want him back there, Like, yeah,
I'm glad that they expect them to be back for
at least one of those games. Yeah, And also like,
not only did they not put him on IR, they
also didn't like go heavy there and keep an extra
person there, Like they could have kept an extra tight
end there if they felt like, we'll see you know, Yeah,
I mean, yeah, they have obviously they have Mark Andrew
(26:26):
Charlie Koler, and then Patrick Carr is kind of a
tight end. He's hybrid full back tight end.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
And they could they could elevate game toy, elevate somebody
from the practice squad if they felt like they needed
another tight end.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
But that I think that's good. And then the other
two notes on injuries. Emery Jones, he has not been
on the field yet, dealing with the shoulder injury going
that dates back to college. He starts the season on NFI.
I mean, he's going to be out for the first
four games, and then when he does come back, obviously
he's gonna have a ramp up period to get back
on the field. He hasn't even taken a snap in
practice yet. The other one is the Desa Isaac who
(27:00):
went down with an injury in the preseason game Dallas game,
elbow injury, and so he goes on injury reserve with
the designation to return. So he also is out for
the first four games.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Well, yeah, and John Harwall said it's probably gonna be
mid season, you know, at least until he's ready to
come back. That was a pretty pretty serious injury. And
so you know he's he's part of the maybe down
the stretch plans, but for now, you know, David Ajabo
is a player that a lot of people talked about
on the bubble their surprise, you know, he made the team,
(27:32):
and so yeah, I think that those guys, you know,
it's tough to see Emery Jones, he kept nine offensive lineman, Like,
how much of an impact can he make his rookie
when he hasn't practiced yet. We'll see, but those guys
couldn't make an impact down the stretch.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
The one other thing I should mention too are Darius Washington. Obviously,
he's not been on the field at all because he's
dealing with the torn achilles. He's opens on the physically
unable to perform list, still an outside chance and he
comes back late in the season, as the Ravens have said.
But he's technically on the pup list, which is where
he was to open up training camp, and so that
keeps the door open still for him to return at
(28:08):
some point, depending on how his recovery goes.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
Yep, absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
As we said, this is the initial fifty three man
roster injuries. There will be many more transactions to come.
John Harball did say on Monday that he does not
anticipate that the Ravens will be basically very aggressive on
the waiver wire and trying to bring in players that
other teams cut. But you never know, you know, the
scouting department will turn over every stone and they'll I'm
(28:34):
sure be watching film and evaluating, looking pouring over the
transactions lists to see who all gets cut around the league.
So who knows, you know that this could change tomorrow.
The Ravens will also set their practice squad, which that
is also.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Making the team. It's making not making the fifty.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Three, but like you're still with us, and so a
lot of guys kind of know that that's what they're
fighting for, and the Ravens will be crossing their fingers
some of these guys that they cut make it through
waivers and are resigned to their practice squad.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
YEP, totally agree, So I congrats to the guys who
end up making this team. And now it's all eyes
forwards week one and can't wait to get things started
in Buffalo and we're gonna be looking forward to all
that breaking everything down. So as always, we love to
hear from you, so send us those emails at the
lounge at Ravens dot NFL dot net. Thank you so
much for listening, and we will be back with you
again soon
Welcome into the Lounge, presented by DraftKings. I'm Ryan Mink
and I'm finally joined by Garrett Downing, fresh office paternity leave,
and Garrett very thrilled to have you back.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I am. I'm excited. It's good to have a new
edition in the Downing family. Little boy and welcome to
the family. So it was really nice to have time
at home with him and as a family, but also
excited to get the twenty twenty five season off and
running here. And the big thing really is the biggest
thing I'm disappointed about is that I missed a fifty
three man roster prediction pod.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
That's one of my favorite pause that saved you for
having egging on your face.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I went fifty three for fifty three. It was perfect
for me this year.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I didn't we here we go podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Privately, I went fifty three for fifty three years. You
once again did not never have, never will. But it's
good to be back. And and today's you know, it's
it's both a disappointing day for some guys that could
and an exciting day for others who kind of have
their dreams come true. So we're gonna break it all
down here and like I said, I'm excited to get
(01:06):
this season off and running. Yep.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
All right, So let's start with players who were considered
on the roster bubble who made the team. That list
is running back Russien Ali, guard center Corey Bullock, inside
linebacker Jay Higgins, the fourth safety Ruben Lowry, and cornerback
Kean Martin. So those are the five guys, Like, congrats
(01:29):
to all five of those guys, as well as you
know the other forty eight players who made the team.
But those guys were I think not not necessarily considered
a lock.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
And then players who were on the bubble who did
not make the team, I would point to center Nick Semak,
offensive lineman Garrett Dellinger, cornerback Jellen armor Davis, and to
some degree, defensive lineman Brent Urban. And so Garrett, let's
let's break it all down. And first of all, we'll
say the Ravens came into training camp, why Lee regarded
(02:01):
as having arguably the most loaded roster in the NFL. Yeah,
and the best, you know, top to bottom.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
They also had eleven.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Draft picks competing to make this roster. So a lot
of people, ourselves included said at the beginning of training.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Camplake.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Of all years, like, I don't I don't see this
being the year that undrafted rookie makes the fifty three.
Like it's gonna be tough, and the Ravens have a
long history of at least one making the team, but
like this was going to be a particularly difficult year
to accomplish that.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Yeah, and then three made the fifty three man roster.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yeah, as we said, Reuben Lowry, Jay Higgins and then
Kem Martin.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, I was really surprised by that, And especially if
you would have said that, like back in April, coming
out of the draft, when the Ravens had those eleven picks,
and like even going back further than that, I remember
asking Eric Tacosta at the pre draft press conference, like
you have eleven picks, Like do you want.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
To keep all of ye? How can all even even
make the fifty He.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Said that he was like, it's unlikely that all eleven
of those guys, we probably don't have spots for eleven rookies. Well,
all eleven draft picks aren't on the fifty three men roster,
but there ends up being ten rookies who end up
making the team. Soda Costa, as he said, not necessarily
the space for eleven. But look, we were all I'm surprised,
Like I'm surprised.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Let me just say by making the team, Like two
of those guys Bka and then Robert Longerbeam are on
injured reserve. Emery Jones, the third round pick, is in NFI. Yes,
he hasn't practiced all offseason, so he will be on
the team, he's just currently not part of the fifty three.
And then the one that did not make the team
(03:45):
is Garrett Dellinger, their final seventh round pick.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, so you lose three basically the injury for the
initial fifty three, right one gets cut. You add in
three who are undrafted rookies, and so look, I think
it's a credit to them. Like we actually did the
Undrafted Rookies podcast earlier in the spring talking about guys
who have potential, and like we threw out all of
these disclaimers saying that, like it's probably unlikely that any
(04:08):
of them end up making the team. But I think
both of us did circle Jay Higgins as a candidate,
and he's someone that jumped out to me. He just
was I think he just proved to be too good
to cut like. He was a guy that was a
tackling machine in his Iowa career. He was the top
graded rookie.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
He was All American, Yeah, he was.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
He was the top graded rookie in the entire league
in the preseason. Uh a linebacker. So that's pretty courting
the football focus, Yeah, pro football focus. He had sack, interception,
two passes, defense, a bunch of tackles like, he was
all over the place. And so you play like that
and you're gonna get noticed. And so we'll talk about
each of them individually, but he was a guy that
(04:45):
did stand out to me. And and the Ravens have
I'm not sure if you knew this, but they've had
some undrafted linebackers make the team in the past.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Well ones call in the defensive place, yes.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Zach's look, there's a long history Danell, llerb Bart Scott
A McClain. It like, it's a long list of guys
who have done it and played at a high level
and carved out really nice careers for themselves. So credit
to Jay Higgens for being the next in line.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Well, I think beyond Jay Higgins when you look at
the three, to me, it comes down to who may plays,
and especially in preseason games. Right, Kem Martin had a
safety in Dallas and a pick six in the preseason finale.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Dude made plays, okay, and.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Then Robert Ruben Lowry had an interception in Dallas on
a absolute bomb and made a nice play in the
end zone and and has made arguably, I mean, he's
been one of the Ravens top playmakers in practice as well.
And so like, you make plays in practice and games,
(05:47):
you make the team. That's kind of it kind of
is as simple as that. And I think there's a
lot of nuance within all those decisions. There's additional reasons,
but like when you really boil it down, you make plays,
you make the team.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, I totally agree. And like Ruin Lovery was somebody
we started talking about an OTAs being like, look, there's
a long way to go. He's got to prove it
when the pass come on training camps a different beast, preseason,
a different beast. But like he was consistently coming up
and felt like with an interception every other day in
practice when we were watching it, and You're just like,
this guy just keeps coming up with picks. I've used
this analogy before, but like it reminded me of Geno Stone.
(06:21):
Now Gino was a seventh round pick. But you're like
man Gino Stone just making plays. He's coming up to.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Round the ball a lot, even if he's not like
making an interception. I read like he's just around the
ball the ball.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah, And so like he continued that and then like
every stage, training camp, preseason game, he continued it, and
so lotvery with someone like he kind of jumped on
the radar a little bit early and then never fell off.
That's the thing that you see a lot of times,
like a guy will have a hot spring, then they
get into training camp and they fade away. That didn't
happen with him or any of those three undrafted rookies.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah, just to add a little bit more nuanced in
depth to the conversation, I think that with Higgins specifically,
you look at inside lineback and obviously you have Roquon.
The spot next to Roquon, in my view, is kind
of I wouldn't say wide open, but it's kidn.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Be anyone's game.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Like you could see any of those other four guys
getting time there, right, I mean, in addition to special teams,
but like Trenton Simpson is the projected starter next to
Roquon But Trenton Simpson was the only starter playing in
the preseason finale on the team, and like played a
good amount in that preseason game. I think the Ravens
(07:31):
really like what they see from Teddy Buchanan, the fourth
round pick. He's gonna, I think see defensive action for
this team in a fair amount of it. You know,
obviously Jake Hummel, who they signed, he's more of a
special teams guy. But like, to me, in part, also
keeping Jay Higgins is kind of potentially a nod to like,
(07:51):
hey man, this guy, like maybe we use him as
a linebacker defensively, like and obviously if injuries aside or whatnot,
But like he it goes to me, to me, that's
not necessarily just a oh you're fifth inside linebackers.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
That's a special team's decision.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Yeah, right, because like there's bigger, faster guys that didn't
make this team than Jay Higgins at six foot two thirty, right,
Like there's guys with now. Jay Higgins played special teams
at Iowa, so he has experience. But like if that
was solely a special team's decision, like I could have
seen it going a different way. To me, it's like,
this dude's a pretty darn good inside linebacker, and if
(08:29):
it comes down to it, maybe he plays you know
what I mean.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
As I said in college, I mean he had three
hundred and forty one tackles like you just like as
a tackling machine.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
And that's what zach Orr talked about. He was like,
this dude just like instinctually he is. I thought it
was an interesting point from zach Orr when he said
a lot of linebackers now in college, like they played
other positions and then they got moved to linemacker late
in college, or they're like this hybrid role safety.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
They're like an athlete, right.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
He's like Jay Higgins has just played linebacker's whole life.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
He's the old school kind of got.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
So try and true linebacker.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Like, and and that counts for something when it comes
to reading plays instincts, knowing what you're seeing in front
of you, like, and those guys end up making a
lot of tackles. And so I think that was a
check mark in his in his uh column.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Well, if you go.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Back to last year, the Ravens next to Roque. At
the end of the season, it was Malie Harrison and
Chris board who playing the snaps there. Both of them
left in free agency. Chris Barden undrafted exactly, who's had
a really nice career. He's gone a few different places,
but had a really pretty established career in the NFL's
an undrafted player, undrafted linebacker, so.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Was also on team another undrafted linebacker. Yeah, but we
could keep going up with Christian Welch, just like Jay Higgins. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
So anyway, I think that he is a guy that
intrigued me from the time he arrived here and he
never disappointed. So credit to him. And it really is
like I think the Ravens organization deserves a lot of credit,
like picture wise, from their for their ability to draft
and develop, not draft, undraft, find develop, uh, these players
(10:08):
who the rest of the league oftentimes can look past.
So it's like it's multi layered. It's the personnel department
for finding these guys and assessing them and saying.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
That markdo there's a lot of credit in that. Like
he I think he deserves the shout out by name,
you know, I mean, he's kind of like spearheaded that
undrafted rookie scouring process and scouting process for years now.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Yeah he deserves it.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah, Mark does a great job with that. And obviously
all the scouts are involved in that process.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
So and the coaches are involved in that, like coaches
are making phone calls too. It's yeah, it's it's like
it's a collaborative team effort. If if you want to
go back and see that we've done behind the scenes videos,
uh during draft weekend, go back and watch some of
the Wired episodes and uh, it's interesting to see how
like everybody gets involved in that process.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
The undrafted rookie recruiting process is something that Ravens take
very seriously, I think speak for themselves. So it's it's
the ability to find these guys, is the ability to
develop them from a coaching standpoint once they arrive. And
then I think the third and this is like one
of one of the harder pieces too, is like having
the guts to pull the trigger on some of these
guys where you say, like, you know what, we feel
(11:17):
good about giving Zach Orr a shot coming out of
what school Northern Texas. You know, like giving a guy
an opportunity and seeing what they can do, and like
the players deserve the credit, of course for doing it,
but like it's it's not the easiest thing to give
some of these undrafted rookies an opportunity in practice in
preseason games and then to go with them at roster
(11:38):
cut downpoint. But the Ravens have shown time and time
again that they, hey, the best man wins the competition.
And I think that's part of the reason that undrafted
rookies look at the opportunity here in Baltimore and say, like,
let me go there, because they've proven if I play
well as an undrafted rookie, I can make the team.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
You're gonna have a legitimate shot. I've got shot.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
And it's not just the players, the agents. The agents
know the Ravens a legitimate shot, and they coach him
up and they have a chance. And yeah, I agree
with all that, and I also will say, well, I
guess let's move on. So one of the more surprising
roster decisions I thought and cuts was Jallen Armor Davis
(12:18):
fourth round corner, who I think a lot of us,
yourself included if you're being honest, you're being honest with
the listeners. Fifty three for fifty three for yeah, if
you're being honest, you had Jalen armor Davis on and
and so the thing with Jayllen Armor Davis has always
been health. This was perhaps his healthiest training camp he's
had in his career. And you know, he was a
(12:40):
player I thought that stood out for good reasons in
OTAs and was one of the kind of early summer standouts.
And now he did have some injuries over the summer,
but didn't miss much time, came back and like you know,
he's an experienced player entering his fourth year. Like especially
(13:00):
after the Ravens had season ending injuries to bil Cone
and Robert Longer, Meimei, I thought, all right, now his
spot is even more of a sure thing.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Honestly, even more than the injuries to the rookies. To me,
it was more of the injuries that both Chiato Wuzier
and Jaira Alexander have been dealing with as of late.
Now John Harbaugh has said that those are training camp
type things and expects everybody to be good to go
for the start of the regular season.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
But when Cheeto was back on the practice field today,
he was he was.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
But like Jaia Alexander has missed time here over the
past couple of weeks since Chido has been on and
off the field at times since signing here this offseason,
so those guys have dealt with injuries, and so I
felt like, oh, okay, it's probably likely that you keep Jalen
armor Davis because.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
He's playing NFL games. You know he can step in
there and play.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
He's experienced it as long as he's healthy, and so
I agree with you. I thought so, But you know,
when you think about it, more, okay, TJ Tampa just
beat him out for a spot, know I mean, you
talk about guys.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
CJ.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Tampa might have made the most interceptions in training camp
period or like over let's say, beyond training camp the
whole summer. Probably Ruben Lowry might be number two. But
TJ Tampa, especially in the past week or two, has
bad multiple interceptions, and coaches have talked about how he's alright.
He's starting to play more to a size and be
a little bit more aggressive, and I think they see
(14:24):
his trajectory really going up. And this is a fourth
round pick a year ago, who I think the Ravens
and a lot of people felt like, hey, this is
a potential steal. So I think he's really kind of,
you know, an ascending player. Jalen Armor Davis has more
of an established track record, but is he on the
same trajectory Let's say at CG.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Tampa.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I don't know, Well, I really thought it was I'd
never At one point it seemed like it might be
either or I thought I.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Thought yeah, but I thought it was going to be both.
I thought both were going.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
To be At the end of the day, it seemed
like it could likely be both. But then Keon Martin
comes on strong exactly.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
And the thing I think the advantage. I think TJ.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Tampa has the advantage over Jalen Arma Daves because he
just made more plays. He just had a better training camp,
I think. And then, in my opinion, Keon Martin's advantage
over Jaalen Armor Davis's versatility, Like Keon Martin is more
of a nickel corner. That's that's what he's been playing
in the race. He's really the Ravens only kind of
true nickel corner. Now, Marlon Humphrey plays nickel at a
(15:28):
very very high level, but like Marlon also plays outside.
But you know, the Ravens without Kem Martin, the Ravens
have a bunch of guys who can double as a
nickel corner Marlin, Kyle Hamilton, Malecki, Starks, maybe Ruben Lowry,
like he's been learning a lot of spots. I don't
know if Nichol's really at the top of that. I
(15:49):
don't it's not at the top of that, But like Ken,
he play there.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
All of the Keon Martin though, Like so a bunch
of player is kind of minor in nickel cornerback. Nickel
cornerback is ke On Martin's major, you know, And so
I think that it provides more just kind of overall
versatility and depth in your secondary overall, Whereas like Jaalen
Armor Davis, he's a boundary, He's an outside corner. You
(16:15):
already have a bunch of this, you know. I mean,
Jay yr is an outside corner corner. Wiggins is an
outside corner, Cheetah is an outside corner.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
TJ. Tampa is an outside corner.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Yeah, right, So, like I think that that may have
helped Keon Martin's case.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Also, it's a little similar like last year the Ravens
had Arthur Maulett. He dealt with Andrewes from much of
the year. But like he was, I'm a nickel corner,
Like I'm a slot corner. That's my that's my position,
and and so it's a little bit similar. You like
to have those guys in the mix too when you're
looking at your overall you know mix there in the secondary.
So yeah, I'm with you though, Like I think Jalen
(16:53):
Arber Davis was the name that a lot of people
saw and they said, whoa that one. That one is surprising.
I think the other And.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
I'll just add to Ruben Lowry like his versatility, very
very smart guy has learned multiple positions, Like when you're
talking about the versatility that he offers versus what Jalen
armor Davis offers. Like Jalen Armor Davis kind of played
in the safety waters early in training camp, they were
kind of cross training him and then that kind of ended,
(17:22):
whereas Ruben Lowry just kept adding more and more and
more to his plate. So I just think in part
you can say that the Ravens valued playmaking and versatility
when they were making these decisions, particularly in the secondary.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Now, the other area that I think we all were
trying to kind of figure out was the offensive line.
That was like what is this group gonna look like.
I'll just run through the group for you real quick.
Here it's Ronnie Stanley, Andrew Voris, Tyler Linderbaum, Daniel fau Leile,
Roger rosen Garden, Joseph Noteboom, Carson Vincent, Ben Cleveland who
(17:56):
was on the bubble, and then the other one who
made it is Corey Bulloch backup center. And so those
are your offensive lineman. The guys who did not make
it Garrett Dellinger rookie seventh round pick and Nick Saymac
late round pick from last year, both kind of guard
center options there for the Ravens, similar players, and so
(18:19):
the Ravens went with Bullock over those over those guys
and then Cleveland as well as an experienced player who
could step in really at either guard spot and competed
this summer for a starting guard job as well.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
To me, the takeaway here is it's a good story
for Corey Bullock, like, and I think it's a good
story to other players out there that all right, here's
Corey Bullock who was an undrafted rookie who spent all
of last season on the practice squad, and like, oftentimes
you see that and you think Okay, he's just gonna
be a practice squad guy, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
And like, Bullock.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Went to work this past offseason, rented a place out
in Arizona, trained at one of the top offensive line
gyms in the cun Tree, if not the best, and
like just I mean, he told me he took like
a week or two off after the practice senate and
then it's been full time like training out there and
obviously here the entire offseason, Like has just worked his
(19:12):
butt off. Yeah, and he's a college tackle from the
University of Maryland. I don't know why I did that,
but I.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Just wanted to.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
It's sound great, it felt it felt even better. But
so he converged from college tackle to center, like works
his butt off even last year during practice squad and
then especially this season to like learn.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
How to play center. And it's just he's just won
the job.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
And like it's kind of a testament to like, you
start on practice squad, that doesn't mean it's your ultimate destination.
You can you can work your way onto the fifty
three man roster. And hey, he beat out he beat
out two guys that were draft picks.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Credit to him.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
I think it's a good I think it's a good
story and it like and it speaks to what we
said just a little bit ago, made the best man win,
Like the Ravens allow these practices and preseason games to
determine who ends up making their way out of the team,
and like he did, he earned a spot, and so
credit credit to him.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Also local stories from Prince Georger's County in Maryland here,
so mary Maryland kid, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
It's always nice.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
So you have like a Maryland story of yeah, that
makes it like there's been plenty of players over the
years of who have either you know, grown up Ravens
fans or in the area and like to see them
make the team, like it means something to them, and
it's always encouraging to see that. One of the guys
actually who did get released, who was kind of the
one of the feel good local stories from last year
as we're talking about that who was on the bubble
(20:36):
and disappointed to see him get released is Bo Braid.
As we talked about the secondary, probably should have mentioned
Bo in that mix to basically Ruben Lowry gets the
nod over him, and you know and snoozy Kane Sanoosey
Kane makes the team. Bo Braid and Sanoozy Kane kind
of came in competing for a spot there, and then
Ruben Lowry just came on strong all spring and Summer
ends up pushing bow Braid out as he ends as
(20:58):
Lowry gets the nod there.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Again, I'll just point to versatility, you know, I think
that Ruben Lowry has more versatility than Bo Braid does
to play multiple spots in your secondary and and you know,
RUBM Lowry just like made more plays, you know, in
practice and whatnot. I thought I had Bo on my
fifty three because I thought for special teams reasons that
like he not that I had Ruben Lowry also on
(21:22):
my fifty three. But I thought that Bo Braid was
competing against Kean Martin for a spot, and it turns out,
you know, Keon got that spot too. So yeah, I
just think, you know, I hope that Bo like sticks around.
I think Bo's a good player who can run and hit,
and hope he sticks around.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yeah, And sometimes you see guys like they make it
and they go to the practice squad and then they
come back and end up making the active roster.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Like it's not this is not the final. Yes, this
is the initial.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
The initial roster. So I think that that's a good point.
So let's take a quick break and then when we
come back, we'll share our final thoughts on the fifth
and then also talk about what could happen from here.
You're listening to the Lounge podcast. We're coming to you
from the Seakeek studio. We want to mention our partners
with Trafficking Sports Book. They are an official sports betting
partner of the Baltimore Ravens Trafficking Sports Book. The Crown
is yours. So a couple other notes for me in
(22:16):
terms of guys that these roster moves. Brent Urban is
one who who got released. Now, the Ravens picked him
up in training camp, and Brent has been here and
not here, you know, about a dozen times over the
course of his career. But one thing I feel pretty
confident about is that Brent Urban's gonna end up playing
snaps for this team at some point this season. Like
he could come back as a veteran sign to the
(22:38):
practice squad and get called up activated three times and
then end up on the fifty three manter roster. Like
that's the Ravens have done that with him in the past.
My guess is that that Brent is not even clearing
out the locker like I would not stock be at
all if he is back in the building.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Sin.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Yeah, I won't be surprised in the slightest if Brent
Urban is playing in a Ravens uniform and certainly expect that.
Let me point to another position room that I thought
was interesting, and we talked about him being on the bubble,
But that's Raushine Ali the Ravens. I think a lot
of the offseason we were saying, three running backs, Man,
how do you you know? You got Derrick Henry, Justice
(23:17):
Hill and Keith Mitchell. Looks awesome. How do you get
these three guys the ball? It's going to be you know,
there's no need for a fourth running back when you
have those three guys.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Well, lo and behold.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The room was just too good to cut anybody. Yeah,
and so Rashine Ali makes the fifty three, which isn't
It's not like a huge surprise. The Ravens have often
carried four running backs.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Less of a surprise, and Harbor was based like, guys,
he's on the team.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
He made it clear there at the end exactly you
asked me about him.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
He's on the team.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Yeah, but I think beyond you know, A, I think
that he played well in the preseason games and like
flashed and any flashed in practice too, And I just
think he's like as sending player, he's getting better and better.
And B I think that special teams wise, like this
is a special teams spot in some ways.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
You know, he could be one of.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
The Ravens' top two kick returners, he and Keaton Mitchell.
And while we all think that Keaton can be an
awesome kick returner, and he joined the Lounge to talk
about that how he's really excited about that role. He
also told us on this very podcast that he hadn't
done it at all in college, so he's like kind
of new with the position. Rashin a Lee was the
most productive returner in the preseason. You know, he broke
(24:30):
one against the Colts in the preseason opener, So like, yeah,
cause he's very much in that picture.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
He could be the guy.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
You know, Keaton kind of struggled with his injury after
that first preseason game, so like keeping another extra body
in there for special teams and for offense reasons is
probably a good thing, and John Harwell said that rashina
a Lee plays multiple special teams spots.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
It's not just as a returner.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
He's on coverage units and all that stuff too, So
I think that he earned a spot for being multi dimensional.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Agree with all that. I think credit to him for
earning his earn his spot on this team. A couple
of notes from an injury standpoint one that I think
is significant. Ye, it's not a transaction, but the fact
that it's not a transaction is big. Isaiah likely there
a speculation could he go on injured reserve designated to return,
which would knock him out the first four games. He
did not, he's just on the active roster. Will he
(25:22):
be ready for week one? We'll see that. You know,
we'll get a sense of that next week if he's
back at practice. But what this says is that the
Ravens he's available to play in any of the first
four games, and so they didn't They didn't want to
make a move that would just sideline him for those
first four. So that's a good sign I think in
his development and recovery.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Yep, Yeah, definitely he's going to be back sooner than later. So,
you know, John Harball has kind of said that the
timeline hasn't changed from the initial reports that Isaiah likely
is in play a possibility for week one, but we
know that the Ravens expect him to be back before
week five, right, And when you have the Bills, Browns, Lions,
(26:02):
and Chiefs as the first four teams you're gonna face.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Want to back as soon as I want him back there, Like, yeah,
I'm glad that they expect them to be back for
at least one of those games. Yeah, And also like,
not only did they not put him on IR, they
also didn't like go heavy there and keep an extra
person there, Like they could have kept an extra tight
end there if they felt like, we'll see you know, Yeah,
I mean, yeah, they have obviously they have Mark Andrew
(26:26):
Charlie Koler, and then Patrick Carr is kind of a
tight end. He's hybrid full back tight end.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
And they could they could elevate game toy, elevate somebody
from the practice squad if they felt like they needed
another tight end.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
But that I think that's good. And then the other
two notes on injuries. Emery Jones, he has not been
on the field yet, dealing with the shoulder injury going
that dates back to college. He starts the season on NFI.
I mean, he's going to be out for the first
four games, and then when he does come back, obviously
he's gonna have a ramp up period to get back
on the field. He hasn't even taken a snap in
practice yet. The other one is the Desa Isaac who
(27:00):
went down with an injury in the preseason game Dallas game,
elbow injury, and so he goes on injury reserve with
the designation to return. So he also is out for
the first four games.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Well, yeah, and John Harwall said it's probably gonna be
mid season, you know, at least until he's ready to
come back. That was a pretty pretty serious injury. And
so you know he's he's part of the maybe down
the stretch plans, but for now, you know, David Ajabo
is a player that a lot of people talked about
on the bubble their surprise, you know, he made the team,
(27:32):
and so yeah, I think that those guys, you know,
it's tough to see Emery Jones, he kept nine offensive lineman, Like,
how much of an impact can he make his rookie
when he hasn't practiced yet. We'll see, but those guys
couldn't make an impact down the stretch.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
The one other thing I should mention too are Darius Washington. Obviously,
he's not been on the field at all because he's
dealing with the torn achilles. He's opens on the physically
unable to perform list, still an outside chance and he
comes back late in the season, as the Ravens have said.
But he's technically on the pup list, which is where
he was to open up training camp, and so that
keeps the door open still for him to return at
(28:08):
some point, depending on how his recovery goes.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
Yep, absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
As we said, this is the initial fifty three man
roster injuries. There will be many more transactions to come.
John Harball did say on Monday that he does not
anticipate that the Ravens will be basically very aggressive on
the waiver wire and trying to bring in players that
other teams cut. But you never know, you know, the
scouting department will turn over every stone and they'll I'm
(28:34):
sure be watching film and evaluating, looking pouring over the
transactions lists to see who all gets cut around the league.
So who knows, you know that this could change tomorrow.
The Ravens will also set their practice squad, which that
is also.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Making the team. It's making not making the fifty.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Three, but like you're still with us, and so a
lot of guys kind of know that that's what they're
fighting for, and the Ravens will be crossing their fingers
some of these guys that they cut make it through
waivers and are resigned to their practice squad.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
YEP, totally agree, So I congrats to the guys who
end up making this team. And now it's all eyes
forwards week one and can't wait to get things started
in Buffalo and we're gonna be looking forward to all
that breaking everything down. So as always, we love to
hear from you, so send us those emails at the
lounge at Ravens dot NFL dot net. Thank you so
much for listening, and we will be back with you
again soon
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