May 30, 2024 • 30 mins
Our insiders, Ryan Mink and Garrett Downing, talks about Lamar Jackson, Nate Wiggins' early impression, the safety battle heating up, a strong start for the linebackers, 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
here with Garrett Downing, and we're gonna give you our
takeaways and thoughts after watching the second week of Ravens
organized team activities, and Garrett will start with the two
time MVP did not see him this week at OTA's
Lamar Jackson did not practice Tuesday or Thursday for the media,
(00:27):
and so that obviously kind of throws things off a
little bit from an assessment standpoint. I think the defense
won the day on Thursday, and part of that is
because Lamar's not on the field, you know, Just any
thoughts on that for you?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I mean John Harball was asked about it after practice
and he basically made the point specific to Lamar, but
also broadly speaking, like, look, your coach, you want everybody here.
You know, that's generally how coaches are going to feel.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
That's always That's generally how that's always.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Our coaches are going to feel. And like, I'm not
going to sit here and act like Lamar's the only
one who's not here. A number of veteran players aren't here.
This is voluntary.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Some guys are in and out, and Lamar practiced last
week for one open session at least to the media.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yep, yep. So in terms of the open sessions to
the media, he's been out there for one of the
four open sessions for the media, and so, you know,
I think generally you want all your guys there. But
at the same time, this is a voluntary portion of
the off season program, so it's not mandatory. I think
that a lot of times things get made across the
entire league about who's there, who isn't, what it means,
the implications of all.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
That this conversation happens every single year about some player.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, and it happens, yeah, and there a lot of
teams are probably having these conversations about different players and
whatever their situation is. So like, as John Harbaugh said, yeah,
you want everybody here, but it's voluntary, and that's just
that's just the reality of.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
It, right. I'll say this, I think that it last
year's OTAs for Lamar Jackson, took on a different level
of importance than this year's. Every year is important, in
my opinion, last year's took on a different level of
importance because Todd Mounkin was in his first year's offensive coordinator.
You had a rookie first round wide receiver in Zay
Flowers who was going to be a major part of
(02:10):
this offense, and so I think that that in particular
was very important for Lamar Jackson to be there. And
he did participate in a lot of OTAs we'll see
how much of the third OTA's week he participates in.
And obviously Mintory Mini Camp fully expect him to be there.
So you know, look, Lamar's a two time MVP. He
(02:30):
knows this offense pretty well. At this point. Of course,
I'd love to see him out there on the field,
as I think everybody would love to, but like I'm
not going to sit here and you know, make a
big deal out of this for a guy who's proven
himself in this league.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
The other thing too, that I'll say is Lamar Jackson
has been here throughout the off season program. He was
here on the very first day of offseason workouts back
in April, so it's not like he's been absent this
entire time. You know, he was here for at least
one open practice. He was here for an open practice
last week talk with the media. Then he was here
at the start of the off season program again in April.
So like he's been present in this building over the
(03:07):
course of the last two months. So I don't think
that it's fair to like characterize it as where's Lamar been, right,
He's been present and so yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, all right, moving on Nate Wiggins. Heard from him
today after practice, and I'll tell you the first round
of rookie it has been impressive, you know, and this
was a step up in competition for him. You go
from rookie mini camp obviously, you go from college to
the NFL rookie Minicamp first and now Ota is here
going against the veterans and Zay Flowers and Rasha Bateman
(03:39):
and down the line. And I think that Nate Wiggins
has adjusted pretty darn well in making that leap.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
He looks awesome. I mean, I think he just is.
It's sprang like I think that he just when I
look out there on the field, I watch the way
he moves, I watched how stick he is encouraged. I
just feel like even more conviction that the Rays he
had a great pack with him at thirty. Like, I
just think that he's going to be a really good player.
I don't know if he's you know, he may not
open the season as a starting cornerback, but he's going
(04:08):
to be a starter on the team before too long.
And I just think he has all the makings of
a terrific cover corner.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
He's going to be a guy that's it's just flat
out tough to complete pass against. Yes, And you know,
I think that's high on the list for attributes that matters.
And so I thought it was interesting hearing from him
after practice, and you know, the coaches keep saying, you know,
this guy's fast, the range, the length, the speed, the
(04:35):
just his change direction, his ability to be sticky. But
you know, he's got a lot of things work on.
Like any player, he's got a lot of things to
work on.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
It.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
I keep noticing that they keep saying that, and it's
kind of like, this sounds to me, it's like, keep
this guy humble, like he's got, you know, all the attributes,
but like we got to keep him locked in and whatever.
You know, you have the tools, but you have to
make the most of those tools. And that's important for
Nate too. And it was interest to hear Nate talk
about specifically, with more specificity, what those things are that
(05:04):
he's working on. And he said it's getting his hands
on receivers earlier in routes and not just relying on
his speed to say, all right, whatever, I don't have
to touch you, but I'm going to stay in your
hip pocket the whole way down the route. Yeah, you know. Now,
he was asked to how do you really recover if you,
you know, you give up too much separation. He's like, yeah,
(05:25):
I don't really have that happen, so recover.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
I have to recover. He's recover speed. I don't worry
about that. I just don't let the guys get open.
HI again with exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
It's also a good attribute. Yeah, and so I thought
that was pretty funny. But you know, but being able
to press NFL wide receivers who are bigger and stronger
than Nate Wiggins at this point of his career, you know,
you have to be able to do that some too,
and it's encouraging to see him hold himself in that way.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah. I think the other part that he was asked about,
he talked a little bit about it, just the transition
to the NFL. He said that the time management is
just part of the one of the biggest things he's
had to learn of the course a lot. I mean,
this young guy twenty years old, and so now he's
in a position where this is his entire Chris is
the job, this is your career, this is your profession.
You know, got class to worry about, like you are
(06:17):
an NFL football player, and so like.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
You got Kyle Hoylinson reminded us how young he is.
He can't even crack it when a Mike's hard lemonade.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
That's true. That's true. So I thought it was you know,
that is something he's going to learn. I also, just
like I struck, was struck by this on his very
first day here. What he sat down with us for
the podcast, like super confident, Like he I go back
to the story where he went to his college coach
and said, I want to cover the best wide receiver
(06:45):
every single game. Just let me go follow that guy
around every single week. And he was a sophomore and
they were like, all right, settle down, you got to
earn that opportunity. But like, and I asked him about
his confidence. He played that way in college, and I
see that same level of confidence like in his play
on the field, and he's like, yeah, I just it
with me. That was that there's no issue there, Like
I don't. I don't get the sense at all that
(07:05):
he feels like I'm making this jump to the NFL,
like let's see it. I don't. Some guys are like,
see how it looks to see how I can compete.
And I don't think that he feels that way. I
feel like he's just like, yeah, I got a different
jersey on, I'm still a great player, and I'm just
gonna go out there and like, you know, I'm excited
to show everybody that and play at a high level.
Like I'm just gonna go play. I don't think he's nervous.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I'm that any sense of nervousness from him, you know.
But the Ravens are making him earn it too, you know.
It's been Brandon Stevens, Jaalen armor Davis are getting a
lot of reps out there, right and Jalen armor Davis
is a third year VET and and he's playing well
in practice too. So it's not like I think it's good.
The Ravens aren't just handling it all to Nate Wiggins either,
even with Marlon Humphrey now on the field.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Though, I mean, he's he's gonna have like he he's
I don't know that he's gonna open I don't think
he's going to open the season as a starter, even
in three cornerback sets, Like is he the third or
is that Arthur Malette? Like, I don't know that he's
necessarily gonna be one of the top three to open
the season, but before too long, like he will be
absolutely And he also was asked one thing I thought
(08:07):
was kind of fun is who's the toughest guy you've guarded?
He said Bateman was the toughest guy that he's guarded
so far, and then.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Really fifty and just has a lot of quickness and
speeding his routes.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
The second part was like who's the most fun, which
I was just kind of laughing at, like the we're
going down, Like give me everything about the guys you're
going up against. Who who's the tough and who's the
most fun? He said, Zay was the most fun guy
that he's covered. You know, because they is such a
shifty guy.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Well, he said, because they had the college matchups and
that they've just kind of they know what each does. Yep,
they had the scouting report on each other more than
he and Bateman and so I think they're just having fun,
kind of just sharpening against each other, you know. Yeah,
I think Nate again, just as Zay like laughs down
the field through half his routes, He's just that guy
just has infectious fun playing the game. I think that
(08:53):
maybe that's what Nate's also.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I'm sure there's an element fun. Yeah, I think that
he's I just that he's going to be a really
good player. Like everything that I've seen from him says
to me, like this guy is ready. He's ready. Yeah,
And I think that the Ravens secondary is in good shape.
The other guy we talked to in the secondary is
Brandon Stevens. Is we're talking about the secondary, also talk
with him on Thursday, and it's just kind of crazy,
(09:17):
Like a year ago, we're talking about Brandon Stevens playing safety.
Is he a nickel safety? How do you use him?
And he ends up, of course, getting the starting cornerback job.
And now you're going into the year and you're like,
all right, you look at the cornerbacks. The reason we're
saying that Nate Wigans probably isn't a starter right away
is because you got Brandon Stevens. So you're like, all right,
got Brandon Stevens, Marlin Humphrey's working his way back, and
(09:39):
those are going to be your top two starters. And like,
Brandon Stevens is just lockedloaders of starting cornerback and that
is a massive jump from a year ago. And I
think that he's going to have another big season.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, I mean, we don't really know what Marlin's status
is right now. You know, we've seen him doing work
on the side and seen him doing some of the
kind of positional slash individual drills, but he hasn't done
any eleven on eleven's h during OTAs, and so we're
not really sure what that is. But as of right now,
(10:12):
you know, Brandon Stevens doesn't have to be here right
Like he could be one of those guys who's like,
you know, I proved it last year. I'm in a
contract year. You know, maybe I'm gonna be kind of
hit or miss at OTAs. I'll be in and out
or I'm not gonna be there at all, and I'll
see you at mini camp. But he's here and he's
been practicing every day, and like, I think that speaks
(10:36):
to and we already knew this about Brandon Stevens. Like
the guy's a worker, you know, I mean when you
go kind of have his path to the NFL.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
And uh, friend of the friend of the louch, oh.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Big time friend of the lounge, time loud, you know, Like, yeah,
he had a breakout season last year and proved himself
as one of the top you know, definitely a top
flight receiver or corner in this league. Really and he
was the Ravens most consistent cornerback. Yeah, very solid player
last year. And this year he's dedicated to taking it
(11:11):
to another level. And I asked him, what are what
is the goal this year and he said, this is
dominate it to dominating all those guys obvious to me,
Like that gives you a frame of mind, like it's
not just yeah, I'm gonna be a good corner in
this league. I'm going to be one of the best
corners in this least.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
What he said. That's and and if he if he
proves that, then he's gonna be one of the highest
paid cornerbacks. That's also in this league. He's going into
a contract year. This is the last year of his
rookie contract, and he was asked about that as well.
And now he basically said I'm not worrying about that.
I'm going to let my agent handle.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
That, which you know, non answer answer.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
It's a it's a non answer. But he also didn't
say like we're having conversations. The vibe I got and
I could be wrong here was that Like he and
talk about confident guys, Brandon Stevens is also a very
confident guy. He may just be happy to let this
thing play out.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
And and I don't know, Yeah, I'm not going to
read that into it too much. I'm not going to
read into it the mattabque, you know, I'm playing it out.
And let's see, that's the vibe I got.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
That is the vibe I got. And what he said
where because the question was have you had any conversations
with the Ravens about an extension? And he and he
said no, I'm just letting that be handled by my agent. Now.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yeah, so that could be it could be either way.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I just got the vibe that he's that Again, it's
just a feeling that he may just be comfortable letting
this betting on himself and playing it out and seeing
where that where that falls at. And also we don't know,
you know, if the Ravens have approached him about an extension.
We don't know about any of that stuff behind the scenes.
I'm just saying I don't think that he would be Again,
I think he's a confident guy and he would he
(12:46):
would trust his ability to go out there and play
it out and see where that where that gets him
after the season.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
He certainly could. I hope he signs an extension though
before the end of the season. I hope he signs
it before the end of the trade.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
It would be great. I mean I think, I mean, look,
if you if you can find him and have one
of a starting quarterback like locked in plays, I think
that's great. I think that he I think he's a
very he's a guy that you got to consider, you know,
very seriously a contract extension even before the season. And
so like I'm not ruling it out. I just, you know,
got the vibe that he may maybe he bets on
(13:19):
himself and plays it out and see what happens after
the year.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
You know, we we went into this last season with
Justin Mattobique and Patrick Queen. This year it's really Odafe
Oway and Brandon Stevetz, well the Dafe they picked up
the fifth year option. That doesn't mean that they couldn't
hammer out an extension at some point before he plays
on that option. Maybe they do. I mean kind of
the implication is, like Eric Dekasi even told us on
(13:46):
this very podcast, you know, we think by year's end,
that fifth year option is going to look like a
good deal for Afeways. That imp doesn't imply that, Yeah,
we're like trying to get an extension done before the
end of his fourth year. But those are the next
two guys. Like, if you're talking about who are the
guys in line for extensions, those would be the players.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Well, I know we're now we're just playing things out
over the course of the ext few years. Yeah, I
actually would put somebody else well.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
The list few years.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Third year, he's going into his third year and so
he would be eligible after the season. Brandon of course,
would be a free agent after the season.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
He would be first eligible, be first eligible.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
That would be early. That'd be very early for a
non quarterback. You don't see that very often, but he
would be eligible. And if he keeps playing like this, then.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
He's going to get a contract. He's going to be
a raven Yes, for a long time.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Anyway, moving on staying in the secondary, I do think
that one thing that stood out to me from today's
practice was some of these backup safeties. And that's another
area of competition, a big time competition.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
You know.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Right now, it's not really as John Harble said, it's
not roster competition time he'd like OTAs is not when
you decide like, oh, is this guy gonna be the starter,
who's winning a job? How much playing time? Of course
you're always evaluating everything, but nobody's winning a job during OTAs. Okay.
So but with that said, these safeties know, by the
(15:17):
time he gets to training camp, it's a big time
competition for who's going to make the rosters, the third
and four safeties, who's going to be getting playing time
as a third safety? And I thought multiple guys stood out.
Art Arius Washington had an interception that he made off
a tip ball to kind of weird player over the
middle that went off Tylan Wallace's back Snucy Kane had
an interception off of Devin Leary over on the far field,
(15:39):
and then Trace Swilling Trace Willing, Yeah, I know you
know Tray Swillings entire backstore. You can tell me everything
about Tracey. I was waiting for the opportunity household name. Yes,
soon to be so base. I'm always saw in practice. Yeah,
he's a guy. He's a guy. The Ravens signed to
the practice squad midway through last year in October, and
he's he's been on multiple teams before. Yeah, this is
(16:01):
like his the third or fourth stop, former undrafted guy.
And he had a he had a day. I mean
he broke up back to back practice passes the tight
ends Isaiah Likely and Charlie Cole and Charlie Coller, thank
you very much. And also had one or earlier in
practice where he kind of got the ball off his
day Flowers on a pass over the middle.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
So it felt like deja fee, Like all three of
those passes were over the middle, and all of a sudden,
it's like the balls on the ground, A trace Swilling
is right there in the middle of the middle of
the action, right, You're like, just trace Swill and break
it up. Everything over the middle of the field.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Built just the nah the whole thing, you know, Like,
I mean, here's a form. He's a former college cornerback,
and I think the Ravens are looking at him as
a possible you know, multiple role or whatever giving him
some looks. And so it's interesting. Former Georgia Tech player
who went out drafted in twenty twenty two just pulled
it up his page. He played, spent time with the Titans,
(16:54):
Saints forty nine ers and now Ravens.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Well, look that Raves have an opportunity at safety. As
we know, Ginos Stone is no longer here, and you
know they drafted Snoosy Kane he just mentioned had an interception.
Another guy is Bot Braid, undrafted guy local fans. I know,
we're excited about him. He's missed a lot of time
with an injury that he first came up during working minute.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Sometimes I mean not a lot of time, yea, yeah,
but so early, but it's early Turmar.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
You're defensive. But he was on the field today. So
he's another guy I think, who will he'll be in
the middle of a competition there during training camp. And
then of course you know they've they've flirted with the
veteran safety market, had Jamal Adams and for a visit recently.
Not sure where that's going to go, but there's there's
an opportunity there at safety.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Yeah, I mean safety could be very much in the
evaluation mode. Like we've talked about interior offensive line, right,
Like you want to give some of these young guys
the opportunity to see what they have and and prove themselves.
And if they have a really good OTAs, then it's like, okay,
all right, we don't have to make a move yet.
You know, if if they look terrible at OTAs, then
(17:57):
that speeds up the clock potentially of like do you
sign somebody? And we've all talked about the possibility of
signing a safety or a guard and today was a
good day for those guys who are competing to stave
off a veteran addition.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, I think so too. And it'll just if you
have guys like we've talked about Sonoocy Kane and Bo
Braid in that mix. Now you add Tray Swilling to
the conversation, it's like, oh okay, now like there's even
more competition, which is good.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Yeah, exactly offensive line. We kind of mentioned guard there
one thing that just to kind of point out, you know,
we're not really going to talk about again where guys
are lining up and how much we're playing. I think
Josh Jones has gotten a good look, you know, so
far in oca's and that's a veteran that I think
people maybe are not really haven't talked about enough in
(18:44):
this whole O line competition as much as they should.
And so he's a player to watch as we move forward,
I would say.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
So.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Then I thought Ronnie Stanley, you know, we talked about
a Dafe Oway just having a really big practice on
Tuesday and some of that was working against, you know,
And I thought Ronnie had kind of a bounce back
practice on Thursday. You know, Oways still made some plays,
sniffed out of a screen pass, just had to get
spiked into the turf, had some good rushes, all that stuff.
(19:13):
But I thought Ronnie Stanley had a little bit of
a rebound day today. Yeah, And I think that it's
still it's again noteworthy that he's out been out here
OTAs every practice eppens to the media, Ronnie Stanley's been
out there getting reps in.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yeah, and I think that he's like to me, he's
like not really taking too many reps off, like he's
out there trying to work. And John Harwall talked about,
you know, Ronnie came here at the start of OTA's
he looks good, you know, like some of those guys.
He's really alluding to Oway like he's challenging him, like
you know, they're out they're they're working, and so like, yeah,
Oway guy the better of Stanley. Uh and practice on
(19:48):
Tuesday on a handful of occasions. But like Stanley's out there,
you know, working as well. And I think that I
think that this this could be a This is a
big year for Ronnie. Obviously there's a lot of talk
about him this offseason or this offensive line rebuild, the
reports of course about his restructured contract for this year
where he took a big pay cut. So like it's
(20:09):
a big year for him after all that, And I
think that he is. He is somebody I go back
to when we had Ronnie on the lounge near the
end of the season, and you know, we were talking
about a season and the up and down nature of it,
and you know, he also talked about how he feels
like I can still be that player who I was
pre injury. Like He's like, just to be clear, I
(20:30):
haven't lost that belief that I can be that player
that I was before the injury. Like I still think
I am that guy can be that guy, and so
I think that this is going to be a big
year for him to prove that. And I think that
the way that what I've seen from him and OTAs
is encouraging.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yeah, I completely agree with that. I think that this
is a has been a positive step for Ronnie Stanley
after a tough year last year. Like he's I think,
putting in the work to have a better twenty twenty
four campaign. Yeah, and that's very good news for the
Ravens offense.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Because they Ravens need him. They seen him play a
high level this year.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
They're betting on him again. Yeah, he has to play
it out.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
He's a shoote. I mean, your left tackle is always important.
But like he has to. There's a lot of change
on this offensive line. He's not one of the pieces
that changed. He's the veteran piece of that group. Like
they need him to play at a high level.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
And speaking of the offensive line, we have a podcast
episode with Roger Rosengarten, yes, the rookie second round pick
on for an interview. So that's dropping Monday morning. Make
sure you tune in for that one.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Yeah, we're excited about that. You can watch it on YouTube,
our Apple website, you can also listen to it wherever
you get your podcast. Some good, good insight from Roger.
I thought just really enjoyed that conversation with him. So
we're going to take a quick break. When we come back,
we're going to share some of the players who have
really stood out to us.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
We are three players each that we picked.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Do you have any overlap, we'll find out. You're listening
to the Lounge podcast. We're coming to you from the
Seat Geek Studio, the brand new, fancy Seat Geek Studio.
By the way, make sure you check out all the
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older and physically present in Maryland to play. All right,
So now we want to give you all three guys each.
(22:30):
We did not compare notes, so we'll see if there's
any overlap. Here, go ahead and kick us off. Who
you got?
Speaker 1 (22:37):
All right, I'm going to Aoway off the top. I
thought he just he took over practice on Tuesday and
so another player. That's a really big year for him
to you know, it's tough to say a breakout year for.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Oh no, here we go another. Here we go with
a breakout conversation.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
See we're gonna start this. Oh my gosh, just a mailbag.
Oh my question was who are your breakout players?
Speaker 2 (23:03):
All right?
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Did did Justin Mattabik have a breakout you last year?
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Yes? Yeah, always in the same category. No, you just
you just finish yourself, finish yourself.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
If Justin Mattabik had a was a breakout player last year,
then if Odafe Oway does the same thing Mattabik did
last year, then yes he's a breakout player. Same thing
got you saw a lot of stars, you know, had
pretty good production but not great.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Yes, yes, if he's yeah, I will give you if
o Way comes back and has like a fifteen sax
season like like Madabik had last year.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Where also now it's like which he could, which he
could ten? It's bibbles he had five last year. This
is the classic rumbles that counts. This is the classic
like levels to a breakout? Doesn't that to be fifty
like the level?
Speaker 2 (23:50):
No, I'm just the league.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Well that would be a breakout, a breakout that that
bar is too high.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Yeah, it's Kyle Hamilton gonna have a breakout season this year,
Lamar Lamar is gonna have a breakout season this year,
three time MVP.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
This is why I wrote in Bilbag. I was like,
I was like, it's hard to say what quantified for
a breakout, you know, so I gave the like has
already been a starter breakout and then like the deep cut,
like the the you know, uh, what's the word I mean,
underrated whatever?
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Yeah, you like to put lots of levels onto like
basically trying to say, guys are breakout player.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
You're such a sickler for this one subject with you.
You're such a stickler.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
All right. I had Away on my list as well,
but I I wrote down four names I'll give.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
You wrote down four. I thought we said we were
doing three.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I had a way also, but I want to I
wanted to give a reserve just in case I didn't
want too much over Okay, I agree with you on
on Away having a great week. I also just stick
at outside linebacker. I thought Tavius Robinson with somebody to
me who really has stood out, Like we talked about
him a little bit in the podcast on earlier this week,
but I just think that like this, a second year
(25:00):
player physically looks like he's grown. He's really active, he's
been in the backfield, he's he's got a nose for
the football. I just really like what I've seen from
Tavius Robinson over the course of these first two weeks
of Outa's.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Okay, I'll stick on second year players.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Oh well, I think you might take another one of mine.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Take Trenton Simpson, the inside linebacker. I think that he's
taking a big step forward, and I honestly don't think
that it will take long before people are saying, like, man,
you know, losing Patrick Queen's stinks, But like Trenton Simpsons
filled that whole pretty darn well. Huh and uh yeah,
he's just he's moving fast, he's he's playing downhill. He's
(25:36):
been really good in coverage, had a couple pass breakups
on Tuesday. I thought that Trenton Simpson's had had a
good start to OTAs Trent.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Simpsons on my list too, I agree with you totally.
I think that, like you know, I don't want to
like go too far. You know, there's a lot of
excitement around him. I say, likely talked about him this
week and how he's looked like he's got a better
understanding the defense. He's playing more stinks. Yeah, with his instincts.
He's got great athleticism, but he's even bulked up and
looks even more like an NFL player after a year
(26:05):
in an NFL weight room and all that stuff. So,
like you know, I don't want to put the cart
for the horse a little bit, but I think that
like he is gonna be in a good position. You
got ro kwand Smith next to you that can allow
you to play free. I just think that, like things
are lining up for Trent and Simpson to step into
a starting job and do it at a high level.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Can I just say that there's been a lot of
hand ringing this offseason about the Ravens defense because of
their losses at linebacker, both inside and out. Patrick Queen
Jadeviion Clowney in specific, I thought that this was a
good week for really the past two weeks, but particularly
this one for that group and saying, you know what,
they're gonna be all right, you know. I think Trent
(26:45):
and Simpson like we're gonna be all right. Tavius Robinson
stepping up, I think Adafeoway stepping up, David Ajabo. John
Harwall said that he's expected to be fool go doing
eleven on eleven's at the started training camp.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
We have not seen him of an n any elevens.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
He's been doing positional individual kind of stuff, but he
should be fool go by training camp. That's good news
for the outside linebackers. I think Malik ham looks good. Caam.
I was walking into Capteria and I was like, did
you you look like looking pretty? You know, pretty big
and in a good way, and he was like, yeah,
I've been I've been living in the weight room this offseason.
(27:22):
Like he looks ready.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
I mean he made the team as an undrafted Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
I don't think people should forget about Mileeke cam So
I just think and it's early, it's early, there's a
lot to prove. But I think that that outside linebacker group. Uh,
and that's we haven't even seen a Deece Isaac on
the field. Yeah, you know, the Ravens third round pick.
And so I'm excited about that.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
But he came up with an injury during rookie Minni caamp.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Correct. Just on the surface of what I've seen from
the linebackers, I'm intrigued. Can I si encourage?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Yeah, yeah, I'll stick with the theme of replacement options
who are looking good to me? I had our Darius Washington,
Okay made the list. Yeah, he made my list. You know,
he had an interception in practice. You mentioned also him
coming up with a hit. I think that like he's
you know, there's an opportunity there. As we talked about
with the departure of Geno Stone or, Darius is a
(28:12):
guy who the Ravens have liked. Like his his issue
has been staying healthy. He's got some other than the health.
He's got some Geno Stone into He just seems to
have a little bit of a nose for the football. Yeah,
like there seemed to be in the right place at
the right time.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
It's always like that was always Gino's calling card and
practice and even preseason games and then obviously yeah, transferred
regular season games last year leading the AFC and interceptions.
But like yeah, or Darius has a little bit of that.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yes, he's a Geno was the seventh round pick. Our
Darius was undrafted. But like he's been on the team,
he's dealt with injuries, he went, he's gone on injured reserve,
come back from injury reserve. Like the I think the
Ravens have confidence him and the en they like him.
I agree, and so I've been encouraged by what I've
seen from him.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Yep, I had Nate Wiggins also on my list.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
That's a good one.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
And and here's the deep cut. I kind of like
what I've seen from she Lee a little bit okay,
and uh, he got the rookie fifth round pick, got
on the field this week, and he's got a little
he's got a little Gidey up to him. Dereck Henry
didn't practice on on Thursday, so I thought you got
to see a little bit more of he Shea Lee
(29:15):
and some of that he gets downhill and on a track,
and he looks a lot different from Dereck Henry. Okay,
body type is very different, but like running style, I
don't think is all that different. You know, you get
him on a track and one cut and go like
that guy can break some plays and so I'm intrigued.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Yeah, it's always tough, I think with the running backs
in these unless you're just Derek Hennery and you're like
that guy looks like he's gonna be hard to tackle. Yeah,
with the running backs like in these in these practices,
like you don't necessarily see like the moves and the
tackle breaking ability, Like that's stuff that you really see
over the course of training camp and honestly preseason games.
(29:53):
So but I think he's he's in atriguing player. I mean,
the dude was super productive in college, got a lot
of talent. So those are our our names there.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
So, as Ryan mentioned, we have an episode coming up
on Monday Roger Rosegarten, Raven's second round pick. Think he's
looked good as well in practice. Super athletic guy competing
for that spot right tackle. We talked about all of
that in the conversation with him. That's going to drop
Monday morning. You can watch it on our app, our website,
and our YouTube channel. You can also listen to it
wherever you get your podcasts. Also, head over to the
Ravens Press Past podcast feed. All of our press conferences
(30:24):
live there in their entirety, so subscribe to that feed
as well as this one as well. Thank you so much, yeah,
thank you so much for listening, and we will talk
with you again on Monday
Welcome into the Lounge presented by DraftKings. I'm Ryan mink
here with Garrett Downing, and we're gonna give you our
takeaways and thoughts after watching the second week of Ravens
organized team activities, and Garrett will start with the two
time MVP did not see him this week at OTA's
Lamar Jackson did not practice Tuesday or Thursday for the media,
(00:27):
and so that obviously kind of throws things off a
little bit from an assessment standpoint. I think the defense
won the day on Thursday, and part of that is
because Lamar's not on the field, you know, Just any
thoughts on that for you?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I mean John Harball was asked about it after practice
and he basically made the point specific to Lamar, but
also broadly speaking, like, look, your coach, you want everybody here.
You know, that's generally how coaches are going to feel.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
That's always That's generally how that's always.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Our coaches are going to feel. And like, I'm not
going to sit here and act like Lamar's the only
one who's not here. A number of veteran players aren't here.
This is voluntary.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Some guys are in and out, and Lamar practiced last
week for one open session at least to the media.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yep, yep. So in terms of the open sessions to
the media, he's been out there for one of the
four open sessions for the media, and so, you know,
I think generally you want all your guys there. But
at the same time, this is a voluntary portion of
the off season program, so it's not mandatory. I think
that a lot of times things get made across the
entire league about who's there, who isn't, what it means,
the implications of all.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
That this conversation happens every single year about some player.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, and it happens, yeah, and there a lot of
teams are probably having these conversations about different players and
whatever their situation is. So like, as John Harbaugh said, yeah,
you want everybody here, but it's voluntary, and that's just
that's just the reality of.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
It, right. I'll say this, I think that it last
year's OTAs for Lamar Jackson, took on a different level
of importance than this year's. Every year is important, in
my opinion, last year's took on a different level of
importance because Todd Mounkin was in his first year's offensive coordinator.
You had a rookie first round wide receiver in Zay
Flowers who was going to be a major part of
(02:10):
this offense, and so I think that that in particular
was very important for Lamar Jackson to be there. And
he did participate in a lot of OTAs we'll see
how much of the third OTA's week he participates in.
And obviously Mintory Mini Camp fully expect him to be there.
So you know, look, Lamar's a two time MVP. He
(02:30):
knows this offense pretty well. At this point. Of course,
I'd love to see him out there on the field,
as I think everybody would love to, but like I'm
not going to sit here and you know, make a
big deal out of this for a guy who's proven
himself in this league.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
The other thing too, that I'll say is Lamar Jackson
has been here throughout the off season program. He was
here on the very first day of offseason workouts back
in April, so it's not like he's been absent this
entire time. You know, he was here for at least
one open practice. He was here for an open practice
last week talk with the media. Then he was here
at the start of the off season program again in April.
So like he's been present in this building over the
(03:07):
course of the last two months. So I don't think
that it's fair to like characterize it as where's Lamar been, right,
He's been present and so yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, all right, moving on Nate Wiggins. Heard from him
today after practice, and I'll tell you the first round
of rookie it has been impressive, you know, and this
was a step up in competition for him. You go
from rookie mini camp obviously, you go from college to
the NFL rookie Minicamp first and now Ota is here
going against the veterans and Zay Flowers and Rasha Bateman
(03:39):
and down the line. And I think that Nate Wiggins
has adjusted pretty darn well in making that leap.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
He looks awesome. I mean, I think he just is.
It's sprang like I think that he just when I
look out there on the field, I watch the way
he moves, I watched how stick he is encouraged. I
just feel like even more conviction that the Rays he
had a great pack with him at thirty. Like, I
just think that he's going to be a really good player.
I don't know if he's you know, he may not
open the season as a starting cornerback, but he's going
(04:08):
to be a starter on the team before too long.
And I just think he has all the makings of
a terrific cover corner.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
He's going to be a guy that's it's just flat
out tough to complete pass against. Yes, And you know,
I think that's high on the list for attributes that matters.
And so I thought it was interesting hearing from him
after practice, and you know, the coaches keep saying, you know,
this guy's fast, the range, the length, the speed, the
(04:35):
just his change direction, his ability to be sticky. But
you know, he's got a lot of things work on.
Like any player, he's got a lot of things to
work on.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
It.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
I keep noticing that they keep saying that, and it's
kind of like, this sounds to me, it's like, keep
this guy humble, like he's got, you know, all the attributes,
but like we got to keep him locked in and whatever.
You know, you have the tools, but you have to
make the most of those tools. And that's important for
Nate too. And it was interest to hear Nate talk
about specifically, with more specificity, what those things are that
(05:04):
he's working on. And he said it's getting his hands
on receivers earlier in routes and not just relying on
his speed to say, all right, whatever, I don't have
to touch you, but I'm going to stay in your
hip pocket the whole way down the route. Yeah, you know. Now,
he was asked to how do you really recover if you,
you know, you give up too much separation. He's like, yeah,
(05:25):
I don't really have that happen, so recover.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
I have to recover. He's recover speed. I don't worry
about that. I just don't let the guys get open.
HI again with exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
It's also a good attribute. Yeah, and so I thought
that was pretty funny. But you know, but being able
to press NFL wide receivers who are bigger and stronger
than Nate Wiggins at this point of his career, you know,
you have to be able to do that some too,
and it's encouraging to see him hold himself in that way.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah. I think the other part that he was asked about,
he talked a little bit about it, just the transition
to the NFL. He said that the time management is
just part of the one of the biggest things he's
had to learn of the course a lot. I mean,
this young guy twenty years old, and so now he's
in a position where this is his entire Chris is
the job, this is your career, this is your profession.
You know, got class to worry about, like you are
(06:17):
an NFL football player, and so like.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
You got Kyle Hoylinson reminded us how young he is.
He can't even crack it when a Mike's hard lemonade.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
That's true. That's true. So I thought it was you know,
that is something he's going to learn. I also, just
like I struck, was struck by this on his very
first day here. What he sat down with us for
the podcast, like super confident, Like he I go back
to the story where he went to his college coach
and said, I want to cover the best wide receiver
(06:45):
every single game. Just let me go follow that guy
around every single week. And he was a sophomore and
they were like, all right, settle down, you got to
earn that opportunity. But like, and I asked him about
his confidence. He played that way in college, and I
see that same level of confidence like in his play
on the field, and he's like, yeah, I just it
with me. That was that there's no issue there, Like
I don't. I don't get the sense at all that
(07:05):
he feels like I'm making this jump to the NFL,
like let's see it. I don't. Some guys are like,
see how it looks to see how I can compete.
And I don't think that he feels that way. I
feel like he's just like, yeah, I got a different
jersey on, I'm still a great player, and I'm just
gonna go out there and like, you know, I'm excited
to show everybody that and play at a high level.
Like I'm just gonna go play. I don't think he's nervous.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I'm that any sense of nervousness from him, you know.
But the Ravens are making him earn it too, you know.
It's been Brandon Stevens, Jaalen armor Davis are getting a
lot of reps out there, right and Jalen armor Davis
is a third year VET and and he's playing well
in practice too. So it's not like I think it's good.
The Ravens aren't just handling it all to Nate Wiggins either,
even with Marlon Humphrey now on the field.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Though, I mean, he's he's gonna have like he he's
I don't know that he's gonna open I don't think
he's going to open the season as a starter, even
in three cornerback sets, Like is he the third or
is that Arthur Malette? Like, I don't know that he's
necessarily gonna be one of the top three to open
the season, but before too long, like he will be
absolutely And he also was asked one thing I thought
(08:07):
was kind of fun is who's the toughest guy you've guarded?
He said Bateman was the toughest guy that he's guarded
so far, and then.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Really fifty and just has a lot of quickness and
speeding his routes.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
The second part was like who's the most fun, which
I was just kind of laughing at, like the we're
going down, Like give me everything about the guys you're
going up against. Who who's the tough and who's the
most fun? He said, Zay was the most fun guy
that he's covered. You know, because they is such a
shifty guy.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Well, he said, because they had the college matchups and
that they've just kind of they know what each does. Yep,
they had the scouting report on each other more than
he and Bateman and so I think they're just having fun,
kind of just sharpening against each other, you know. Yeah,
I think Nate again, just as Zay like laughs down
the field through half his routes, He's just that guy
just has infectious fun playing the game. I think that
(08:53):
maybe that's what Nate's also.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I'm sure there's an element fun. Yeah, I think that
he's I just that he's going to be a really
good player. Like everything that I've seen from him says
to me, like this guy is ready. He's ready. Yeah,
And I think that the Ravens secondary is in good shape.
The other guy we talked to in the secondary is
Brandon Stevens. Is we're talking about the secondary, also talk
with him on Thursday, and it's just kind of crazy,
(09:17):
Like a year ago, we're talking about Brandon Stevens playing safety.
Is he a nickel safety? How do you use him?
And he ends up, of course, getting the starting cornerback job.
And now you're going into the year and you're like,
all right, you look at the cornerbacks. The reason we're
saying that Nate Wigans probably isn't a starter right away
is because you got Brandon Stevens. So you're like, all right,
got Brandon Stevens, Marlin Humphrey's working his way back, and
(09:39):
those are going to be your top two starters. And like,
Brandon Stevens is just lockedloaders of starting cornerback and that
is a massive jump from a year ago. And I
think that he's going to have another big season.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, I mean, we don't really know what Marlin's status
is right now. You know, we've seen him doing work
on the side and seen him doing some of the
kind of positional slash individual drills, but he hasn't done
any eleven on eleven's h during OTAs, and so we're
not really sure what that is. But as of right now,
(10:12):
you know, Brandon Stevens doesn't have to be here right
Like he could be one of those guys who's like,
you know, I proved it last year. I'm in a
contract year. You know, maybe I'm gonna be kind of
hit or miss at OTAs. I'll be in and out
or I'm not gonna be there at all, and I'll
see you at mini camp. But he's here and he's
been practicing every day, and like, I think that speaks
(10:36):
to and we already knew this about Brandon Stevens. Like
the guy's a worker, you know, I mean when you
go kind of have his path to the NFL.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
And uh, friend of the friend of the louch, oh.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Big time friend of the lounge, time loud, you know, Like, yeah,
he had a breakout season last year and proved himself
as one of the top you know, definitely a top
flight receiver or corner in this league. Really and he
was the Ravens most consistent cornerback. Yeah, very solid player
last year. And this year he's dedicated to taking it
(11:11):
to another level. And I asked him, what are what
is the goal this year and he said, this is
dominate it to dominating all those guys obvious to me,
Like that gives you a frame of mind, like it's
not just yeah, I'm gonna be a good corner in
this league. I'm going to be one of the best
corners in this least.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
What he said. That's and and if he if he
proves that, then he's gonna be one of the highest
paid cornerbacks. That's also in this league. He's going into
a contract year. This is the last year of his
rookie contract, and he was asked about that as well.
And now he basically said I'm not worrying about that.
I'm going to let my agent handle.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
That, which you know, non answer answer.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
It's a it's a non answer. But he also didn't
say like we're having conversations. The vibe I got and
I could be wrong here was that Like he and
talk about confident guys, Brandon Stevens is also a very
confident guy. He may just be happy to let this
thing play out.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
And and I don't know, Yeah, I'm not going to
read that into it too much. I'm not going to
read into it the mattabque, you know, I'm playing it out.
And let's see, that's the vibe I got.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
That is the vibe I got. And what he said
where because the question was have you had any conversations
with the Ravens about an extension? And he and he
said no, I'm just letting that be handled by my agent. Now.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yeah, so that could be it could be either way.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I just got the vibe that he's that Again, it's
just a feeling that he may just be comfortable letting
this betting on himself and playing it out and seeing
where that where that falls at. And also we don't know,
you know, if the Ravens have approached him about an extension.
We don't know about any of that stuff behind the scenes.
I'm just saying I don't think that he would be Again,
I think he's a confident guy and he would he
(12:46):
would trust his ability to go out there and play
it out and see where that where that gets him
after the season.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
He certainly could. I hope he signs an extension though
before the end of the season. I hope he signs
it before the end of the trade.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
It would be great. I mean I think, I mean, look,
if you if you can find him and have one
of a starting quarterback like locked in plays, I think
that's great. I think that he I think he's a
very he's a guy that you got to consider, you know,
very seriously a contract extension even before the season. And
so like I'm not ruling it out. I just, you know,
got the vibe that he may maybe he bets on
(13:19):
himself and plays it out and see what happens after
the year.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
You know, we we went into this last season with
Justin Mattobique and Patrick Queen. This year it's really Odafe
Oway and Brandon Stevetz, well the Dafe they picked up
the fifth year option. That doesn't mean that they couldn't
hammer out an extension at some point before he plays
on that option. Maybe they do. I mean kind of
the implication is, like Eric Dekasi even told us on
(13:46):
this very podcast, you know, we think by year's end,
that fifth year option is going to look like a
good deal for Afeways. That imp doesn't imply that, Yeah,
we're like trying to get an extension done before the
end of his fourth year. But those are the next
two guys. Like, if you're talking about who are the
guys in line for extensions, those would be the players.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Well, I know we're now we're just playing things out
over the course of the ext few years. Yeah, I
actually would put somebody else well.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
The list few years.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Third year, he's going into his third year and so
he would be eligible after the season. Brandon of course,
would be a free agent after the season.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
He would be first eligible, be first eligible.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
That would be early. That'd be very early for a
non quarterback. You don't see that very often, but he
would be eligible. And if he keeps playing like this, then.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
He's going to get a contract. He's going to be
a raven Yes, for a long time.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Anyway, moving on staying in the secondary, I do think
that one thing that stood out to me from today's
practice was some of these backup safeties. And that's another
area of competition, a big time competition.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
You know.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Right now, it's not really as John Harble said, it's
not roster competition time he'd like OTAs is not when
you decide like, oh, is this guy gonna be the starter,
who's winning a job? How much playing time? Of course
you're always evaluating everything, but nobody's winning a job during OTAs. Okay.
So but with that said, these safeties know, by the
(15:17):
time he gets to training camp, it's a big time
competition for who's going to make the rosters, the third
and four safeties, who's going to be getting playing time
as a third safety? And I thought multiple guys stood out.
Art Arius Washington had an interception that he made off
a tip ball to kind of weird player over the
middle that went off Tylan Wallace's back Snucy Kane had
an interception off of Devin Leary over on the far field,
(15:39):
and then Trace Swilling Trace Willing, Yeah, I know you
know Tray Swillings entire backstore. You can tell me everything
about Tracey. I was waiting for the opportunity household name. Yes,
soon to be so base. I'm always saw in practice. Yeah,
he's a guy. He's a guy. The Ravens signed to
the practice squad midway through last year in October, and
he's he's been on multiple teams before. Yeah, this is
(16:01):
like his the third or fourth stop, former undrafted guy.
And he had a he had a day. I mean
he broke up back to back practice passes the tight
ends Isaiah Likely and Charlie Cole and Charlie Coller, thank
you very much. And also had one or earlier in
practice where he kind of got the ball off his
day Flowers on a pass over the middle.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
So it felt like deja fee, Like all three of
those passes were over the middle, and all of a sudden,
it's like the balls on the ground, A trace Swilling
is right there in the middle of the middle of
the action, right, You're like, just trace Swill and break
it up. Everything over the middle of the field.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Built just the nah the whole thing, you know, Like,
I mean, here's a form. He's a former college cornerback,
and I think the Ravens are looking at him as
a possible you know, multiple role or whatever giving him
some looks. And so it's interesting. Former Georgia Tech player
who went out drafted in twenty twenty two just pulled
it up his page. He played, spent time with the Titans,
(16:54):
Saints forty nine ers and now Ravens.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Well, look that Raves have an opportunity at safety. As
we know, Ginos Stone is no longer here, and you
know they drafted Snoosy Kane he just mentioned had an interception.
Another guy is Bot Braid, undrafted guy local fans. I know,
we're excited about him. He's missed a lot of time
with an injury that he first came up during working minute.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Sometimes I mean not a lot of time, yea, yeah,
but so early, but it's early Turmar.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
You're defensive. But he was on the field today. So
he's another guy I think, who will he'll be in
the middle of a competition there during training camp. And
then of course you know they've they've flirted with the
veteran safety market, had Jamal Adams and for a visit recently.
Not sure where that's going to go, but there's there's
an opportunity there at safety.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Yeah, I mean safety could be very much in the
evaluation mode. Like we've talked about interior offensive line, right,
Like you want to give some of these young guys
the opportunity to see what they have and and prove themselves.
And if they have a really good OTAs, then it's like, okay,
all right, we don't have to make a move yet.
You know, if if they look terrible at OTAs, then
(17:57):
that speeds up the clock potentially of like do you
sign somebody? And we've all talked about the possibility of
signing a safety or a guard and today was a
good day for those guys who are competing to stave
off a veteran addition.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, I think so too. And it'll just if you
have guys like we've talked about Sonoocy Kane and Bo
Braid in that mix. Now you add Tray Swilling to
the conversation, it's like, oh okay, now like there's even
more competition, which is good.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Yeah, exactly offensive line. We kind of mentioned guard there
one thing that just to kind of point out, you know,
we're not really going to talk about again where guys
are lining up and how much we're playing. I think
Josh Jones has gotten a good look, you know, so
far in oca's and that's a veteran that I think
people maybe are not really haven't talked about enough in
(18:44):
this whole O line competition as much as they should.
And so he's a player to watch as we move forward,
I would say.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
So.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Then I thought Ronnie Stanley, you know, we talked about
a Dafe Oway just having a really big practice on
Tuesday and some of that was working against, you know,
And I thought Ronnie had kind of a bounce back
practice on Thursday. You know, Oways still made some plays,
sniffed out of a screen pass, just had to get
spiked into the turf, had some good rushes, all that stuff.
(19:13):
But I thought Ronnie Stanley had a little bit of
a rebound day today. Yeah, And I think that it's
still it's again noteworthy that he's out been out here
OTAs every practice eppens to the media, Ronnie Stanley's been
out there getting reps in.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yeah, and I think that he's like to me, he's
like not really taking too many reps off, like he's
out there trying to work. And John Harwall talked about,
you know, Ronnie came here at the start of OTA's
he looks good, you know, like some of those guys.
He's really alluding to Oway like he's challenging him, like
you know, they're out they're they're working, and so like, yeah,
Oway guy the better of Stanley. Uh and practice on
(19:48):
Tuesday on a handful of occasions. But like Stanley's out there,
you know, working as well. And I think that I
think that this this could be a This is a
big year for Ronnie. Obviously there's a lot of talk
about him this offseason or this offensive line rebuild, the
reports of course about his restructured contract for this year
where he took a big pay cut. So like it's
(20:09):
a big year for him after all that, And I
think that he is. He is somebody I go back
to when we had Ronnie on the lounge near the
end of the season, and you know, we were talking
about a season and the up and down nature of it,
and you know, he also talked about how he feels
like I can still be that player who I was
pre injury. Like He's like, just to be clear, I
(20:30):
haven't lost that belief that I can be that player
that I was before the injury. Like I still think
I am that guy can be that guy, and so
I think that this is going to be a big
year for him to prove that. And I think that
the way that what I've seen from him and OTAs
is encouraging.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yeah, I completely agree with that. I think that this
is a has been a positive step for Ronnie Stanley
after a tough year last year. Like he's I think,
putting in the work to have a better twenty twenty
four campaign. Yeah, and that's very good news for the
Ravens offense.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Because they Ravens need him. They seen him play a
high level this year.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
They're betting on him again. Yeah, he has to play
it out.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
He's a shoote. I mean, your left tackle is always important.
But like he has to. There's a lot of change
on this offensive line. He's not one of the pieces
that changed. He's the veteran piece of that group. Like
they need him to play at a high level.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
And speaking of the offensive line, we have a podcast
episode with Roger Rosengarten, yes, the rookie second round pick
on for an interview. So that's dropping Monday morning. Make
sure you tune in for that one.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Yeah, we're excited about that. You can watch it on YouTube,
our Apple website, you can also listen to it wherever
you get your podcast. Some good, good insight from Roger.
I thought just really enjoyed that conversation with him. So
we're going to take a quick break. When we come back,
we're going to share some of the players who have
really stood out to us.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
We are three players each that we picked.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Do you have any overlap, we'll find out. You're listening
to the Lounge podcast. We're coming to you from the
Seat Geek Studio, the brand new, fancy Seat Geek Studio.
By the way, make sure you check out all the
video episodes of a Lounge. Also, we're going to give
shout out to our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook. They are
an official sports betting partner of the Baltimore Ravens. They've
got a limit of time offer running that you don't
want to miss. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app today. Use
(22:09):
a promo code flock. If you are a new user,
you can get a deposit bonus up to one thousand dollars. Again,
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visit Empty Gambling heelp dot org or call one eight
hundred Gambler you need to be twenty one years or
older and physically present in Maryland to play. All right,
So now we want to give you all three guys each.
(22:30):
We did not compare notes, so we'll see if there's
any overlap. Here, go ahead and kick us off. Who
you got?
Speaker 1 (22:37):
All right, I'm going to Aoway off the top. I
thought he just he took over practice on Tuesday and
so another player. That's a really big year for him
to you know, it's tough to say a breakout year for.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Oh no, here we go another. Here we go with
a breakout conversation.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
See we're gonna start this. Oh my gosh, just a mailbag.
Oh my question was who are your breakout players?
Speaker 2 (23:03):
All right?
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Did did Justin Mattabik have a breakout you last year?
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Yes? Yeah, always in the same category. No, you just
you just finish yourself, finish yourself.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
If Justin Mattabik had a was a breakout player last year,
then if Odafe Oway does the same thing Mattabik did
last year, then yes he's a breakout player. Same thing
got you saw a lot of stars, you know, had
pretty good production but not great.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Yes, yes, if he's yeah, I will give you if
o Way comes back and has like a fifteen sax
season like like Madabik had last year.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Where also now it's like which he could, which he
could ten? It's bibbles he had five last year. This
is the classic rumbles that counts. This is the classic
like levels to a breakout? Doesn't that to be fifty
like the level?
Speaker 2 (23:50):
No, I'm just the league.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Well that would be a breakout, a breakout that that
bar is too high.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Yeah, it's Kyle Hamilton gonna have a breakout season this year,
Lamar Lamar is gonna have a breakout season this year,
three time MVP.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
This is why I wrote in Bilbag. I was like,
I was like, it's hard to say what quantified for
a breakout, you know, so I gave the like has
already been a starter breakout and then like the deep cut,
like the the you know, uh, what's the word I mean,
underrated whatever?
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Yeah, you like to put lots of levels onto like
basically trying to say, guys are breakout player.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
You're such a sickler for this one subject with you.
You're such a stickler.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
All right. I had Away on my list as well,
but I I wrote down four names I'll give.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
You wrote down four. I thought we said we were
doing three.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I had a way also, but I want to I
wanted to give a reserve just in case I didn't
want too much over Okay, I agree with you on
on Away having a great week. I also just stick
at outside linebacker. I thought Tavius Robinson with somebody to
me who really has stood out, Like we talked about
him a little bit in the podcast on earlier this week,
but I just think that like this, a second year
(25:00):
player physically looks like he's grown. He's really active, he's
been in the backfield, he's he's got a nose for
the football. I just really like what I've seen from
Tavius Robinson over the course of these first two weeks
of Outa's.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Okay, I'll stick on second year players.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Oh well, I think you might take another one of mine.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Take Trenton Simpson, the inside linebacker. I think that he's
taking a big step forward, and I honestly don't think
that it will take long before people are saying, like, man,
you know, losing Patrick Queen's stinks, But like Trenton Simpsons
filled that whole pretty darn well. Huh and uh yeah,
he's just he's moving fast, he's he's playing downhill. He's
(25:36):
been really good in coverage, had a couple pass breakups
on Tuesday. I thought that Trenton Simpson's had had a
good start to OTAs Trent.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Simpsons on my list too, I agree with you totally.
I think that, like you know, I don't want to
like go too far. You know, there's a lot of
excitement around him. I say, likely talked about him this
week and how he's looked like he's got a better
understanding the defense. He's playing more stinks. Yeah, with his instincts.
He's got great athleticism, but he's even bulked up and
looks even more like an NFL player after a year
(26:05):
in an NFL weight room and all that stuff. So,
like you know, I don't want to put the cart
for the horse a little bit, but I think that
like he is gonna be in a good position. You
got ro kwand Smith next to you that can allow
you to play free. I just think that, like things
are lining up for Trent and Simpson to step into
a starting job and do it at a high level.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Can I just say that there's been a lot of
hand ringing this offseason about the Ravens defense because of
their losses at linebacker, both inside and out. Patrick Queen
Jadeviion Clowney in specific, I thought that this was a
good week for really the past two weeks, but particularly
this one for that group and saying, you know what,
they're gonna be all right, you know. I think Trent
(26:45):
and Simpson like we're gonna be all right. Tavius Robinson
stepping up, I think Adafeoway stepping up, David Ajabo. John
Harwall said that he's expected to be fool go doing
eleven on eleven's at the started training camp.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
We have not seen him of an n any elevens.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
He's been doing positional individual kind of stuff, but he
should be fool go by training camp. That's good news
for the outside linebackers. I think Malik ham looks good. Caam.
I was walking into Capteria and I was like, did
you you look like looking pretty? You know, pretty big
and in a good way, and he was like, yeah,
I've been I've been living in the weight room this offseason.
(27:22):
Like he looks ready.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
I mean he made the team as an undrafted Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
I don't think people should forget about Mileeke cam So
I just think and it's early, it's early, there's a
lot to prove. But I think that that outside linebacker group. Uh,
and that's we haven't even seen a Deece Isaac on
the field. Yeah, you know, the Ravens third round pick.
And so I'm excited about that.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
But he came up with an injury during rookie Minni caamp.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Correct. Just on the surface of what I've seen from
the linebackers, I'm intrigued. Can I si encourage?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Yeah, yeah, I'll stick with the theme of replacement options
who are looking good to me? I had our Darius Washington,
Okay made the list. Yeah, he made my list. You know,
he had an interception in practice. You mentioned also him
coming up with a hit. I think that like he's
you know, there's an opportunity there. As we talked about
with the departure of Geno Stone or, Darius is a
(28:12):
guy who the Ravens have liked. Like his his issue
has been staying healthy. He's got some other than the health.
He's got some Geno Stone into He just seems to
have a little bit of a nose for the football. Yeah,
like there seemed to be in the right place at
the right time.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
It's always like that was always Gino's calling card and
practice and even preseason games and then obviously yeah, transferred
regular season games last year leading the AFC and interceptions.
But like yeah, or Darius has a little bit of that.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yes, he's a Geno was the seventh round pick. Our
Darius was undrafted. But like he's been on the team,
he's dealt with injuries, he went, he's gone on injured reserve,
come back from injury reserve. Like the I think the
Ravens have confidence him and the en they like him.
I agree, and so I've been encouraged by what I've
seen from him.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Yep, I had Nate Wiggins also on my list.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
That's a good one.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
And and here's the deep cut. I kind of like
what I've seen from she Lee a little bit okay,
and uh, he got the rookie fifth round pick, got
on the field this week, and he's got a little
he's got a little Gidey up to him. Dereck Henry
didn't practice on on Thursday, so I thought you got
to see a little bit more of he Shea Lee
(29:15):
and some of that he gets downhill and on a track,
and he looks a lot different from Dereck Henry. Okay,
body type is very different, but like running style, I
don't think is all that different. You know, you get
him on a track and one cut and go like
that guy can break some plays and so I'm intrigued.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Yeah, it's always tough, I think with the running backs
in these unless you're just Derek Hennery and you're like
that guy looks like he's gonna be hard to tackle. Yeah,
with the running backs like in these in these practices,
like you don't necessarily see like the moves and the
tackle breaking ability, Like that's stuff that you really see
over the course of training camp and honestly preseason games.
(29:53):
So but I think he's he's in atriguing player. I mean,
the dude was super productive in college, got a lot
of talent. So those are our our names there.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
So, as Ryan mentioned, we have an episode coming up
on Monday Roger Rosegarten, Raven's second round pick. Think he's
looked good as well in practice. Super athletic guy competing
for that spot right tackle. We talked about all of
that in the conversation with him. That's going to drop
Monday morning. You can watch it on our app, our website,
and our YouTube channel. You can also listen to it
wherever you get your podcasts. Also, head over to the
Ravens Press Past podcast feed. All of our press conferences
(30:24):
live there in their entirety, so subscribe to that feed
as well as this one as well. Thank you so much, yeah,
thank you so much for listening, and we will talk
with you again on Monday
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