June 16, 2025 • 29 mins
Team insiders Ryan Mink and Garrett Downing discuss the biggest storylines in Ravens minicamp, including the return of Lamar Jackson, position groups and players under the microscope, 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 at Garrett Downing and we are on the precipice
good Word of Ravens Mini Camp. So this is the
next step in the off season. OTAs are done and
now it's Mandatory Mini Camp Garrett. So we're going to
talk about the biggest storylines heading into this and kind
(00:25):
of what we'll be watching during this week of Mini Camp.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Well, the biggest storyline of Mandatory Mini Camp is what's
happening today, and that is Media Day.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
There's what happens on the football field.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
But for those of us in the content realm, Media
Day is really one of the biggest days on the
entire calendar. In all honesty, it is a major production.
Like this entire building gets kind of taken over by
both internal and external media. The field house like where
they typically practice in the field house, that just becomes
essentially like a Hollywood set. There's photoshoot, photo shoot stations,
(00:59):
video shoot stations. External media is here. We have a
big set down there. It's it's really like all the
content that we get that we use over the course
of the entire year of the season. The video boards
and stadium, across social media, the intros that you watch
on Sunday Night football, you know, Lamar Jackson, Louisville, like
all that stuff. All that happens on this day, and
it's it's really fun to see it all, see it
(01:21):
all take place.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Well, you're mister media guy. I you know me, I'm
a Gruden grinder. I'm looking forward to what takes place
on the field, Garrett. Okay, your media day, guys.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
So I note, you can no longer call yourself a
Gruden grinder. You miss the interview, you miss, like if
you don't even show up to work on the day
that you do the John Gruden interview, you have to
remove Gruden grinder from your vocabulary the rest of the year.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Like you're done. You're done. You can no longer call
yourself that.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
I'm legitally bummed about that, very bummed man.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
That was a tough one. But I was on a mountain.
There's nothing I could do. He surprised me. He didn't
get on my calendar.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Yeah, okay, all I know is that Bryson and I,
Bryson and I Cliff, we're here.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
We're grinding.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Didn't even come to pree.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
We're day out.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
John Gruden is here, We're ready to go where you're
over there, You're out of the mix, so, uh, you
are no longer a Green grinder. But what happens on
the field is going to be interesting. That is going
to be fun, fun to see. And I think, uh,
the main thing that the people will be excited to
see for this week of mandatory MIDI camp, of course,
(02:32):
is Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
This is the one week of the off season program
that becomes mandatory. Everything up to this point is voluntary.
So I think everyone's excited to see Lamar and how
this offense operates with him running the show.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Yeah, he was there at the beginning of OTAs for
one practice looked really sharp and then uh, you know
we saw a lot of Cooper rush after that. And
so anytime Lamar is on the field, there's a different energy.
You know. His teammates said that Isaiah likely it was
like when Lamar's out here, it's just different. And so
it's year three of the top monk in offense. I
(03:04):
think that it's another you know, the Ravens have to
figure out how does this offense get even better after
being the number one offense? In the league last year.
That's a tough assignment, and that really takes place when
you have your MVP leader on the field, and so
you know, there's some some new wrinkles in this offense
for sure, and a new weapon in DeAndre Hopkins, and
(03:28):
all of that really will start to kind of gel
and come together here during mini camp.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, when when the well Lamar was on the field
for that day of OTA's early in the process, the
offense looked great. Like we said, we came in from
that practice and we were both like, this looked like
an October practice where it was really efficient. The offense
was operating at a high level. There seemed to be
like an intensity that you don't often see for a
(03:53):
May practice.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
It just everything.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
About it felt like energy wise, efficiency wise, it seemed
to be top notch. And I would expect the same
thing at mini camp. And I think that there is
a difference when Lamar's on the field, and like if
he's not out there, you just don't like, how's it
gonna look, you know, is he is he gonna be
rusty at all? Is it gonna take any amount of
time to get things up to speed? That was not
(04:18):
at all the case during the OTA that we saw
while he was out there, and I think that he'll
pick right up where he left off and made it
to work camp. Like That's the way I feel. I
just think he's gonna get out there and we're gonna
be like, man, Lamarro looks great. I think we're gonna
come in from that practice and be like, Lamar looks great.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Look.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
It's been another OTAs of media personalities talking about, you know,
Lamar's absence from OTAs and what that means and the
significance of that.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
And you know, this isn't the first year that we've
had that.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
In the past couple of years, Lamar has not participed
to participated much during OTAs and I think he had
two pretty durn good years, and so of course you
always want, you know, as coaches and players, you want
him out there.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
But Lamar's Lamar. Yeah, and he's.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
A special guy, special athlete, special player, all everything special
about Lamar.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
And so.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
But I think, you know, once he steps back on
the field, it is a boost to this offense and
that work is valuable to a degree, and so I'm
really excited to see that one thing that.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
He's that I've took away from the past couple of years,
is like when he's when he kind of flips the
switch into like season mode, like he kind of he
said it in past years, like vacation's over, it's go time,
like it's time to work, yep. And he really goes
into that mindset and he lives in that world for
the rest of the year. And I just think that,
(05:43):
Like I go back to you mentioned the Isaiah Likely comment,
like they saw that on that one day where he
I thought that was kind of a tone setting day
when he was out there of saying like all right,
let's make sure that everything is is efficient, like I'm here,
I'm ready to go.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Let's let's go.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
And so what I'll be looking for from him is
how is the passing game operating, especially with the new
weapon in DeAndre Hopkins. Like the one day that we
saw Lamar and DeAndre Hopkins in the field together, I
came away super impressed.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
I was.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I felt like Hopkins clearly has plenty left in the tank.
I even more than that, felt like he's going to
add an element to this offense.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
That the Ravens have have.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
You know, a lot of teams have wanted but he's
going to add this outside the outside the numbers, back
shoulder element to this offense that's so desired, and I
think that's going to help elevate Lamar's game, Like where
can Lamar grow? I think that's an area with DeAndre Hopkins,
and so I'll be really excited to see those two
guys in the chemistry and where things are with them
(06:45):
at this point.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Honestly, I'm also interested in what happens off the field
for Lamar Jackson during Mini camp. Is there a chance
that the Ravens and he could reach a contract extension
next week when he's.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
In the building. I wouldn't rule that out.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
I think that that's a possibility at any time this
offseason is for those two sides to come to an agreement.
And you know, according to over thecap dot com, you know,
Lamar has a forty three and a half million dollar
salary cap hit in twenty twenty five and then twenty
twenty six and twenty seven that jumps to seventy four
point five million dollars, so widely speculated that a contract
(07:22):
extension is going to happen between the Ravens and Lamar Jackson.
And when he's in the building, I think that that's
a good time when he and Eric DeCosta can have
those conversations. As we all know, Lamar represents himself, so
that's the you know, there's no talking to an agent,
it's face to face and working it out between those
two guys. And so I think that's another thing to
(07:43):
monitor during mandatory mini camp. And you know, if the
Ravens are able to reach a contracts extension with Lamar Jackson,
which of course we all hope that they do and
I certainly inicipate they will at some point, then you
know what cap savings does that offer them, maybe immediately,
and what else does that enable them to do.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
There's a lot of buzz out there about.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
The possibility of signing a cornerback, a Pro Bowl cornerback,
and you know, or trading from one or whatnot. So
I think that's another piece of the puzzle. There's still
a lot of pieces with the Ravens from a contract
extension standpoint, a lot of guys out there that are
kind of waiting for their turn. Yeah, and so that's
(08:22):
obviously the biggest piece of the puzzle, and Minikamp you
could see progress potentially on that during minikamp.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Well, Eric Ticosta said recently in an interview that the
two sides have at least started the dialogue yep, around that,
and so whenever the dialogue begins, then it's only a
matter of time, especially when you have two sides that
you feel really good that they want to be together.
It's just working out the specifics of that. And it's
on the contract front. Like it's been a busy offseason
for the Ravens. You go back to they resigned Ronnie
(08:52):
Stanley right before a free agency open that was a
massive move. They extended Derrick Henry, they extended Rashad Bateman, Like,
you have key pieces of this team. Those are all
offensive guys. Now we're talking about a Lamar Jackson extension.
You have others that are in the mix there as well.
Hamilton bomb are both eligible. All the tight ends are
going into so like they could be they could the
(09:15):
work could continue on that front, they're not going to work.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Kind of gotten a head start on some of which
is really good because next offseason was going to be
like WHOA a long to do list for next offseason.
So I think it's been prudent for the Ravens to
get ahead of some of this, so.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I don't necessarily think they're done because they're always working
on that stuff. Of course, you're not going to get
all those guys. He's another one who's last year. He's
playing in the fifth year option. So there's a handful
of guys that they could they could consider and that's
part of the part of the process as well. So yeah,
so I like the contract stuff, and then also what
(09:54):
what's what we see from Lamar in this offense is
going to be fun to watch this passing game. Lamar
had his best season as passer last year, and I
just think that this group. I really like the depth
and the top end talent of this group. Save Flowers
last year had a Pro Bowl season. For Sad Bateman
just signed the contract extension, so he's in a good place.
(10:15):
It's like, you have this and then we already mentioned
DeAndre Hopkins. You have this passing group, this receiving corps
that I think is really talented, and I think that
they all kind of have a clear understanding of what
their roles are going to be. And I think that
this week of mini camp is kind of an indication
to all of us watching what those roles are going
(10:37):
to look like and it's an early indication of how
exactly these guys will be used.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Yeah, I agree with that.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
All right, let's take a break and when we come back,
we'll talk about some other storylines from Mini Camp, some
non Lamar Jackson storylines that we're looking forward to.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
You're listening to the launch podcast. We are coming to
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betting partner of the Baltimore Ravens Draft Kings Sportsbook. The
Crown is yours. So another guy who we're excited to
see who has not really been here for much of
the off season program is Kyle van Noy, veteran outside linebacker.
I'd put him, you know, right near the top of
(11:11):
the list of guys who know how to get themselves
ready for a season. You know, this is a guy
who came off the couch a couple of years ago
and was balling off the couch, and so I'm sure
he will be in great shape and ready to go
for these offseason for this week in Mini Camp. But
I think what excites me about Van Noy being out
there on the practice field, is that you can just
(11:32):
get a sense of what this whole pass rush outside
linebacker group will look like. And I think it's a
really good group. You have him, you have a Dafe
Oway who we mentioned just a little bit ago. You
have Tavis Robinson, you have the rookie and Mike Green.
You have a second year linebacker in a Desa Isaac
who we really didn't see, who was kind of a
(11:52):
red shirt injury season for him as a rookie. And
then you have David Ajabo, former second round pick who's
battled injuries to start his NFL but has enormous talent.
That's a good group and we'll get to see him
all together.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
I honestly think that the buzz out there that the
Ravens are in the veteran free agent marketer or should
sign a veteran free agent pass rusher. I don't really
understand that, because A, you obviously have your two kind
of primary starters in a da f Aoa and Kyle
(12:26):
van Noy, two players coming off double digit SAX seasons,
and then beyond that you have a lot of depth.
I mean, Tavius Robinson plays a lot of snaps. I
would only anticipate, you know, I mean, Chuck Smith just
called him a centerpiece in the defense. I would only
anticipate that Tavius, as he continues to improve as a
pass rusher, could only see the same or more snaps
(12:51):
going forward. And then you have this super talented second
round pick in Mike Green that I want to see play.
I want to see him play. I also want to
see a dece. I like, here's a third round pick.
I'm not sitting there writing off at dece Isaac because
he had an injury marred rookie season. Talented big dude
(13:11):
like that. I really like his potential and he's flashed
at times. So when he's been on the field, I
thought he looked good at OTAs. And then David Ajabo,
here's the second round pick. Sky is sky high talent,
and he's never gonna get there. You know, everybody wants
to see David Ajabo get there and have the breakout
season and become the player that we all envisioned when
the Ravens drafted him. It's not gonna happen if you
(13:33):
don't give him snaps. Now, he's got to earn those.
But I think he can, and I think he is
this offseason with the way he's working and practicing all
those things. So like, I just don't get what the
outside noise about. Oh, the Ravens that.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
You know, got to add a veteran pass rusher.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
They're not thin an outside linebacker by any stretch in
my imagine, in my opinion, And if you sign a
veteran like maybe a depth beast, but that guy's going
to take snaps away from these players that I want
to see on the field.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Well, the veteran that a lot of fans have asked
about is to Davion Clowney because the guys who have
been here, it's like I know that familiar face here,
and Clowney obviously was the guy the Ravens signed late
in the process a couple of years ago who had
a really good season in his one year in Baltimore.
And so those have been like the most common names.
Matthew Judon another guy that's formerly been here.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Ye, seriously out there the guys another way around the Ravens,
Locerno mcfees available.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
We're going back, yeah, go way back, Sizzle. But uh yeah,
I agree with you. I don't think that like the
Ravens are in this like emergency situation where they need
to go out and get somebody. What they had the
second most sacks in the league last year, and so
like they had a productive group of two guys who
had double digit sacks last season, and and then they
(14:52):
added Mike Green to the mix and they got a.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Decent didn't lose anybody.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Right, Like you basically add Mike Green and a desa
Isaac because Isaac really was not an option because a rookie,
and so I want Mike Green on the field, like
you want to see these guys play, and Isaac was
a guy the Ravens were thrilled to get in the
third round last year. I think, honestly, what what it
comes down to, and like if the Ravens were to
(15:15):
add somebody at outside linebacker, The way I see it
right now is like if they were to get into
training camp and one of those guys is still out
there and they feel like, hey, we have more of
a need here, like whatever, it is, like we either
these guys aren't totally ready to take on a bigger
workload or somebody gets hurt. Of course, like if they
(15:35):
felt like, hey, we need some veteran help here because
the young guys have some room to improve. That would
be I think the time that you do it. But
for right now, like on paper, I really like this
outside linebacker group. I think that they I think that
they have top end talent. I think that they have
like you think, Odafe always going to be motivated this year.
(15:57):
These guys are going to go out there and have
any twenty pounds muscle. Yeah, contract year and like Zach
Orr talked about that recently, like he didn't shy away
from it. He's like, we know what this is. It's
a contract year for him, we know what that that entails.
And so these coaches and players are aware of like
what's at stake for Away and then you can make
(16:17):
the same argument for like most of the guys in
that room. And so I feel pretty good about the
outside linebacker group.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
I'm also interested to see Kyle van Noy fresh off
his seventy two hour water fast.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Yeah, I was one.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
I want to ask him about that. Yeah, that's an
interesting move. He tweeted this week about doing the seventy
two hour water fast. I don't know if this is
something he's done like many times, if this is a
new thing.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
So it's a wait, it's a weight loss thing.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
I'm not I'm not super familiar with the seventy two
hour wait water fast.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
I want to deal with it.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
I want to know what like his motivation is of it,
and it like is he he's doing it early enough.
It's not like he's coming into mini camp like in
the middle of the seventy two hours like that pretty
be pretty uh? I don't know, Like you have parched
parch parch No, no, no, no, you're not parts. You're
drinking water. All you're all you're having is water.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
You're not.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Oh oh, I was like, you're going seventy two hours
without water?
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Okay, can you drink coffee the opposite?
Speaker 3 (17:18):
All you have in seventy two all you have is
well you have.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
You can tell I'm not on the diet, you're not
when I even dyet and yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Ever.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Okay, I mean now I'm hungry, so I'm not thirsty,
but I'm definitely hungry if I'm doing this right.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yes, you're hungry, You're not thirsty, Okay, so educated, yeah, yeah,
I'll help you out there.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
But I don't know. I'd be curious to see.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
A couple of years ago, if you remember, Lamar talked
about doing a fast. Yeah, I think either at training
camp or a mini camp. So we'll see what Kyle
has to say about what he what he how he
feels after this water fast.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
I'm watching him.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
You know. He posted a video our forty of the
seventy two hour waterfast walking through the grocery store, I mean,
walking past the goldfish.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
He's walking past.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Like, yeah, tinting yourself.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Oh that's tough. That's willpower right there.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
That's like that they say, don't go to the grocery
store when you're hungry, exactly. I don't know how you
get much something more hungry than the hour forty of
the seventy two hour water fast.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
I know he's walking right past the King's Hawaiian rolls.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
I'll be tearing into those before to check out.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
I'd be taking a.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Half bare he's got more.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
It's just a whole bunch of open bags as you
go through checkout line.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
So so I'm gonna yeah, the willpower alone, I'm impressed.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Yeah, uh all right, all right, enough of that.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Yeah, the other the other group that I'm interested to see,
and when we're having a conversation about moves that still
could be made potentially is the cornerbacks group.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
For me, and you know I've mentioned this before.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
I'm with you and seeing all those players on the field,
especially now that you have the full arsenal of offensive
pass catchers right now, You've got d Hop out there,
You've got Zay Bait, the tight ends. You know, they
they're gonna have a tough assignment these corners, so they're
gonna get a good test.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
And I think that that's a group. I really like
that group.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Obviously, Nate Wiggins, you know, in the step that we
expect him to take in year two. Marlin we know
who and what Marlin is, but really it's that third
corner and who's who is.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
That gonna be?
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Chida bay Oozia is dealing with a minor ankle injury,
so now it's you know, maybe he'll be back on
the field. We don't know how minor exactly that is.
Hopefully he's back on the field for mini camp, but
if he's not, that's really an opportunity now for somebody
to kind of plant their flag at that other outside
cornerback spot, whether that be a Jalen Armor Davis, TJ Tampa.
(19:46):
Those would be the leading contenders, and that even the
sixth round rookies. So we'll get some good reps in
there against these Ravens wide receivers. So that to me,
especially as we frame this in the context of all
the banter about the possibility of adding a premier corner
to this roster, which John Harball didn't roll rule out.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
Or asked about that this past week.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
You know, he said to me, it's not a or situation,
it's an and a situation. Can you add You have
all these young players that I already mentioned that you
really like, and maybe you can add a veteran. You know,
the Ravens feel like they can't have enough or too
much depth at corner and so this week at mini camp,
I think, especially that number three cornerback spot, it's going
(20:30):
to give the Raves an indication.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
Of whether they need to go out and make a move.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Well, when we talked at the start of the off
season program, you and I had the conversation of adding
a corner and I said I felt like that was
the position that that would be most likely if the
Ravens were to add there. The other one is safety.
The third safety spot, and they're connected.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Well when we kind of talked about adding a nickel
corner slat corner, and you know, especially now with the
ar Darius injury, whether that impacts that, I don't know necessarily,
If that's.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
I'm not gonna I'm going to be so rigid and like, yeah,
I agree corner vers outside corner. I think a corner
is the one. And especially like my thing was always,
this is an opportunity for a Jalen armor Davis, It's
an opportunity for TJ. Tampa.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
It's an opportunity for the two rookies. Now there's six round.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Picks, so it would be a tall order for either
of them to like be thrust into a significant role.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
As a rookie.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
But this is the opportunity for them, but also for
for Cheeto, Like he came in and the Ravens really
like him, but he hasn't been out there consistently during
these open oh TA practices and he's now dealing with
this ankle injury. Do they feel like we need to
get more depth at that spot.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
And Cheeta is a guy who's you know, dealt with
some injuries in recent years and so you know, seeing
him kind of nicked up here at the beginning. You know,
it happened during practice. It's really no fault of his own,
but it's kind of leads you to the all right,
how can much can we count? You know, can we
count on Cheeto playing seventeen? You know? Or do we
feel like we need to bolster that? And then on
(21:59):
top of that, you know, I like, you know how
I feel about jelln Harbor Davis. I don't need to
say it for the hundred time. I think the guy's talented,
but again another case of cann how healthy can he stay?
Speaker 4 (22:09):
And then and.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
He's also working in at safety a little bit too, which.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Is exactly development for him, right and uh and then
TJ Tampa. You know, John Harvel talked about you seem flashes,
but it's kind of consistency, which is always the case
of the second year player, especially one that missed a
lot of his action as rookie year. So I think
it's a big week for the cornerback group.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Yeah, I feel like it would not surprise me at
the Ravens end up adding a corner and and who
that ends up being, of course, we're getting on.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
I think it could be as big as Jaii Alexander,
who was released by the Packers last week.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
We always get, you know, questions about whenever a big
name guy just chalk it up, hits the market. It
comes up all the time. U jaire Alexander is a guy.
We actually got a question from John Stremmel who emailed
us at the lounge at Ravens dot NFL dot net,
and he asked us about the possibility of adding Jaii
Alexand I'm sure there's plenty of suitors who are interested
(23:02):
in him.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I mean, the truth is, like, what's the price tag,
how much wiggle room do the Ravens have with the
salary cap? Where does he where does he want to play?
Like a veteran player, Pro Bowl caliber player like that
is going to have lots of preferences on what the
defense looks like and here where he wants to play.
So there's a lot of factors in the mix there
(23:27):
that I just I don't know the answers to.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
I honestly think that it makes a lot of sense
on paper, I really do. I think that connection, I mean,
that's a component doesn't hurt, you know. I think that
that he's so close with Lamar certainly doesn't hurt. The
Ravens have brought in guys that Lamar wanted and so
(23:50):
I think also obviously a super talented guy. To me,
the Ravens are in win now mode. It's it's it's
twenty twenty five. You have a stacked roster, and if
you think that this guy can put you over the
top and really cement you know, the Cornerback Group as
an elite group, you know it's worth taking a shot.
(24:11):
And I think from a contract perspective, it's it's going
to be a shorter deal. I think that the Ravens
they have so many moving parts contractually as we already
got done talking about, including with Lamar, and they have
some salary cap boga room as it stands now, Like,
I think that you could you could make a deal
work financially. You know, jay R Alexander's gonna want to
(24:33):
play on a team, a winning team, all those things.
Like there's just a you can check a lot of
boxes where this makes this makes sense?
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Hm, Well, the Ravens have gone done that with Like
it's it's a different situation, not the exact same situation,
but like last year they went and they traded for
Tredevius White, who was a Pro Bowl player in Buffalo,
and then he was out in LA and hadn't really
been able to crack the lineup and and so he
was available like on the cheap for considering the resume
that he had.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
I think he would be cheaper than what it would
cost to bring in Jay.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
It's a different situation.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
But like my point is, just like just a few
months ago, they went and they got a former Pro
Bowl player to add to this defense, and he ended
up playing snaps important snaps in a playoff game, and
that was like the Ravens then lost Brandon Stevens, who
was a starter so well.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
And by the way, there was rumors that the Ravens
were interested in Ji r Xander last year's trade deadline.
So there's been a little smoke on this front before,
which there was smoke on Derrick Henry front two years ago.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Yeah, there's been examples to that.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
So, I mean the other one, the other one who's
who's on the market is Jalen Ramsey in Miami. Now
that's a trade situation unless the Dolphins were ultimately just
to release him. But they've been they've been pretty vocal
and honest about the fact that they're looking for a
trade partner. But now it's been the case really all offseason.
Hasn't happened yet. But he's the other big name Pro
Bowl corner. I mean, you have two former Pro Bowl
(25:57):
corners who are on the market. One is actually a
free agent and the ones on the trade market. That
doesn't always happen, but two big name guys who are
available if you wanted to, you know, to go fishing
in those waters.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
I believe Jeff Zubeck of The Athletic Reporter that he
hasn't really heard anything between the Ravens and Ramsey in
terms of trade dialogue working on that kind of deal.
So to me, Alexander being that he's been released, is
the more likely of the two.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
If if if either likely.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yeah, so that's another factor too, if it does happen.
That's July fourth, two pm.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Oh on burgers on the grill. Yep, just the cell phone.
I don't need the cell phone right now.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
We're good.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
We're flitting burgers right when I'm er. It's cannonball into
the pool. That's it.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
The cell phone's over in the bag, you know, on
the pic the table I'm vowerady to do the cannonball.
That's oh yeah, blow it up.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
You're swimming in the pool.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
The Gruden grinders out there, We're gonna be ready. We'll
be ready if that move happens.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
Well, so we'll see about your buddy.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Yeah right, you're just as likely to be guilty of.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Of taking it.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
So the last thing that I'm interested in watching at
uh at mini camp here is the kicker battle. I mean,
it's the next stage of the kicking battle between rookies
Tyler Loop and John Hoyle. And then you know, we
saw it during OTAs and there are ups and downs
kind of for both guys. You know, both times, both
guys had really good days and then there are some misses.
I think generally speaking, it's been good. You know, I thought,
(27:29):
I think both players have kind of shown, Hey, you
don't need to be in a rush to bring in
a veteran if if you need one at all. Right,
and uh, but now with with all the veterans on
the field and Lamar Jackson watching and and everybody there,
uh and you know, just mandatory mini camp, the temperature
rate rises a little bit.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Now it's the next stage for these guys.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
In that competition, and what is is the most important competition.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
We can talk about left guard all we want, but.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Let's be honest, the most important competition right now at
Ravens practices is at kicker.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Yeah, yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
And that's the other one we talk about adding veterans.
It's like, these guys have the opportunity to show John Harbaugh,
Eric DaCosta the organization going into this break before training camp,
you don't need to go out and get a veteran.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
You've got.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Both of them are out to prove that they can
win the job and that the answer is here in
house already with these two young kickers. So it is
it is a really important position. It's the first time
we've been having these conversations and in more than a decade.
And so these guys, you know, they've they've got a
big opportunity here and I think both of them are
going to be eager to show that they're up to
the challenge and and the Ravens are taking a hard
(28:43):
look there. It's it's critical, it's you know, so.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
It decides a lot of games.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Yes, we've seen that, of course, here we've seen how
the kicking game can decide can decide outcomes, and these
young kickers have the opportunity to show that they're ready
for that, that they're ready for that challenge and the
Ravens need him to be.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
And if you haven't done so already, go back and
read our feature story on Tyler Loop written by.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
Matt Ryan eslaware former editorial intern.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
So a really good read there that'll kind of introduce
you to Tyler and how he ticks, what makes him tick,
and so go check that out. It was published on
the website and app on Thursday, So a really good
read that I highly recommend.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Yeah, So, as always, there's lots to talk about. You
can email us your questions and thoughts at the lounge
at Ravens dot NFL dot net. Will continue breaking down
everything we see out there on the practice field this
week and also plan to catch up with some guys
for interviews before the break here. So a lot going on.
I appreciate you listening and we will talk with you
again soon
Welcome into the Lounge presented by DraftKings. I'm Ryan Mink
here at Garrett Downing and we are on the precipice
good Word of Ravens Mini Camp. So this is the
next step in the off season. OTAs are done and
now it's Mandatory Mini Camp Garrett. So we're going to
talk about the biggest storylines heading into this and kind
(00:25):
of what we'll be watching during this week of Mini Camp.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Well, the biggest storyline of Mandatory Mini Camp is what's
happening today, and that is Media Day.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
There's what happens on the football field.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
But for those of us in the content realm, Media
Day is really one of the biggest days on the
entire calendar. In all honesty, it is a major production.
Like this entire building gets kind of taken over by
both internal and external media. The field house like where
they typically practice in the field house, that just becomes
essentially like a Hollywood set. There's photoshoot, photo shoot stations,
(00:59):
video shoot stations. External media is here. We have a
big set down there. It's it's really like all the
content that we get that we use over the course
of the entire year of the season. The video boards
and stadium, across social media, the intros that you watch
on Sunday Night football, you know, Lamar Jackson, Louisville, like
all that stuff. All that happens on this day, and
it's it's really fun to see it all, see it
(01:21):
all take place.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Well, you're mister media guy. I you know me, I'm
a Gruden grinder. I'm looking forward to what takes place
on the field, Garrett. Okay, your media day, guys.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
So I note, you can no longer call yourself a
Gruden grinder. You miss the interview, you miss, like if
you don't even show up to work on the day
that you do the John Gruden interview, you have to
remove Gruden grinder from your vocabulary the rest of the year.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Like you're done. You're done. You can no longer call
yourself that.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
I'm legitally bummed about that, very bummed man.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
That was a tough one. But I was on a mountain.
There's nothing I could do. He surprised me. He didn't
get on my calendar.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Yeah, okay, all I know is that Bryson and I,
Bryson and I Cliff, we're here.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
We're grinding.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Didn't even come to pree.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
We're day out.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
John Gruden is here, We're ready to go where you're
over there, You're out of the mix, so, uh, you
are no longer a Green grinder. But what happens on
the field is going to be interesting. That is going
to be fun, fun to see. And I think, uh,
the main thing that the people will be excited to
see for this week of mandatory MIDI camp, of course,
(02:32):
is Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
This is the one week of the off season program
that becomes mandatory. Everything up to this point is voluntary.
So I think everyone's excited to see Lamar and how
this offense operates with him running the show.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Yeah, he was there at the beginning of OTAs for
one practice looked really sharp and then uh, you know
we saw a lot of Cooper rush after that. And
so anytime Lamar is on the field, there's a different energy.
You know. His teammates said that Isaiah likely it was
like when Lamar's out here, it's just different. And so
it's year three of the top monk in offense. I
(03:04):
think that it's another you know, the Ravens have to
figure out how does this offense get even better after
being the number one offense? In the league last year.
That's a tough assignment, and that really takes place when
you have your MVP leader on the field, and so
you know, there's some some new wrinkles in this offense
for sure, and a new weapon in DeAndre Hopkins, and
(03:28):
all of that really will start to kind of gel
and come together here during mini camp.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, when when the well Lamar was on the field
for that day of OTA's early in the process, the
offense looked great. Like we said, we came in from
that practice and we were both like, this looked like
an October practice where it was really efficient. The offense
was operating at a high level. There seemed to be
like an intensity that you don't often see for a
(03:53):
May practice.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
It just everything.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
About it felt like energy wise, efficiency wise, it seemed
to be top notch. And I would expect the same
thing at mini camp. And I think that there is
a difference when Lamar's on the field, and like if
he's not out there, you just don't like, how's it
gonna look, you know, is he is he gonna be
rusty at all? Is it gonna take any amount of
time to get things up to speed? That was not
(04:18):
at all the case during the OTA that we saw
while he was out there, and I think that he'll
pick right up where he left off and made it
to work camp. Like That's the way I feel. I
just think he's gonna get out there and we're gonna
be like, man, Lamarro looks great. I think we're gonna
come in from that practice and be like, Lamar looks great.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Look.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
It's been another OTAs of media personalities talking about, you know,
Lamar's absence from OTAs and what that means and the
significance of that.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
And you know, this isn't the first year that we've
had that.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
In the past couple of years, Lamar has not participed
to participated much during OTAs and I think he had
two pretty durn good years, and so of course you
always want, you know, as coaches and players, you want
him out there.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
But Lamar's Lamar. Yeah, and he's.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
A special guy, special athlete, special player, all everything special
about Lamar.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
And so.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
But I think, you know, once he steps back on
the field, it is a boost to this offense and
that work is valuable to a degree, and so I'm
really excited to see that one thing that.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
He's that I've took away from the past couple of years,
is like when he's when he kind of flips the
switch into like season mode, like he kind of he
said it in past years, like vacation's over, it's go time,
like it's time to work, yep. And he really goes
into that mindset and he lives in that world for
the rest of the year. And I just think that,
(05:43):
Like I go back to you mentioned the Isaiah Likely comment,
like they saw that on that one day where he
I thought that was kind of a tone setting day
when he was out there of saying like all right,
let's make sure that everything is is efficient, like I'm here,
I'm ready to go.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Let's let's go.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
And so what I'll be looking for from him is
how is the passing game operating, especially with the new
weapon in DeAndre Hopkins. Like the one day that we
saw Lamar and DeAndre Hopkins in the field together, I
came away super impressed.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
I was.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I felt like Hopkins clearly has plenty left in the tank.
I even more than that, felt like he's going to
add an element to this offense.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
That the Ravens have have.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
You know, a lot of teams have wanted but he's
going to add this outside the outside the numbers, back
shoulder element to this offense that's so desired, and I
think that's going to help elevate Lamar's game, Like where
can Lamar grow? I think that's an area with DeAndre Hopkins,
and so I'll be really excited to see those two
guys in the chemistry and where things are with them
(06:45):
at this point.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Honestly, I'm also interested in what happens off the field
for Lamar Jackson during Mini camp. Is there a chance
that the Ravens and he could reach a contract extension
next week when he's.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
In the building. I wouldn't rule that out.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
I think that that's a possibility at any time this
offseason is for those two sides to come to an agreement.
And you know, according to over thecap dot com, you know,
Lamar has a forty three and a half million dollar
salary cap hit in twenty twenty five and then twenty
twenty six and twenty seven that jumps to seventy four
point five million dollars, so widely speculated that a contract
(07:22):
extension is going to happen between the Ravens and Lamar Jackson.
And when he's in the building, I think that that's
a good time when he and Eric DeCosta can have
those conversations. As we all know, Lamar represents himself, so
that's the you know, there's no talking to an agent,
it's face to face and working it out between those
two guys. And so I think that's another thing to
(07:43):
monitor during mandatory mini camp. And you know, if the
Ravens are able to reach a contracts extension with Lamar Jackson,
which of course we all hope that they do and
I certainly inicipate they will at some point, then you
know what cap savings does that offer them, maybe immediately,
and what else does that enable them to do.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
There's a lot of buzz out there about.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
The possibility of signing a cornerback, a Pro Bowl cornerback,
and you know, or trading from one or whatnot. So
I think that's another piece of the puzzle. There's still
a lot of pieces with the Ravens from a contract
extension standpoint, a lot of guys out there that are
kind of waiting for their turn. Yeah, and so that's
(08:22):
obviously the biggest piece of the puzzle, and Minikamp you
could see progress potentially on that during minikamp.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Well, Eric Ticosta said recently in an interview that the
two sides have at least started the dialogue yep, around that,
and so whenever the dialogue begins, then it's only a
matter of time, especially when you have two sides that
you feel really good that they want to be together.
It's just working out the specifics of that. And it's
on the contract front. Like it's been a busy offseason
for the Ravens. You go back to they resigned Ronnie
(08:52):
Stanley right before a free agency open that was a
massive move. They extended Derrick Henry, they extended Rashad Bateman, Like,
you have key pieces of this team. Those are all
offensive guys. Now we're talking about a Lamar Jackson extension.
You have others that are in the mix there as well.
Hamilton bomb are both eligible. All the tight ends are
going into so like they could be they could the
(09:15):
work could continue on that front, they're not going to work.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Kind of gotten a head start on some of which
is really good because next offseason was going to be
like WHOA a long to do list for next offseason.
So I think it's been prudent for the Ravens to
get ahead of some of this, so.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I don't necessarily think they're done because they're always working
on that stuff. Of course, you're not going to get
all those guys. He's another one who's last year. He's
playing in the fifth year option. So there's a handful
of guys that they could they could consider and that's
part of the part of the process as well. So yeah,
so I like the contract stuff, and then also what
(09:54):
what's what we see from Lamar in this offense is
going to be fun to watch this passing game. Lamar
had his best season as passer last year, and I
just think that this group. I really like the depth
and the top end talent of this group. Save Flowers
last year had a Pro Bowl season. For Sad Bateman
just signed the contract extension, so he's in a good place.
(10:15):
It's like, you have this and then we already mentioned
DeAndre Hopkins. You have this passing group, this receiving corps
that I think is really talented, and I think that
they all kind of have a clear understanding of what
their roles are going to be. And I think that
this week of mini camp is kind of an indication
to all of us watching what those roles are going
(10:37):
to look like and it's an early indication of how
exactly these guys will be used.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Yeah, I agree with that.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
All right, let's take a break and when we come back,
we'll talk about some other storylines from Mini Camp, some
non Lamar Jackson storylines that we're looking forward to.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
You're listening to the launch podcast. We are coming to
you from the Siki Studio. We also want to mention
our partners at DraftKings Sportsbook. They are an official sports
betting partner of the Baltimore Ravens Draft Kings Sportsbook. The
Crown is yours. So another guy who we're excited to
see who has not really been here for much of
the off season program is Kyle van Noy, veteran outside linebacker.
I'd put him, you know, right near the top of
(11:11):
the list of guys who know how to get themselves
ready for a season. You know, this is a guy
who came off the couch a couple of years ago
and was balling off the couch, and so I'm sure
he will be in great shape and ready to go
for these offseason for this week in Mini Camp. But
I think what excites me about Van Noy being out
there on the practice field, is that you can just
(11:32):
get a sense of what this whole pass rush outside
linebacker group will look like. And I think it's a
really good group. You have him, you have a Dafe
Oway who we mentioned just a little bit ago. You
have Tavis Robinson, you have the rookie and Mike Green.
You have a second year linebacker in a Desa Isaac
who we really didn't see, who was kind of a
(11:52):
red shirt injury season for him as a rookie. And
then you have David Ajabo, former second round pick who's
battled injuries to start his NFL but has enormous talent.
That's a good group and we'll get to see him
all together.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
I honestly think that the buzz out there that the
Ravens are in the veteran free agent marketer or should
sign a veteran free agent pass rusher. I don't really
understand that, because A, you obviously have your two kind
of primary starters in a da f Aoa and Kyle
(12:26):
van Noy, two players coming off double digit SAX seasons,
and then beyond that you have a lot of depth.
I mean, Tavius Robinson plays a lot of snaps. I
would only anticipate, you know, I mean, Chuck Smith just
called him a centerpiece in the defense. I would only
anticipate that Tavius, as he continues to improve as a
pass rusher, could only see the same or more snaps
(12:51):
going forward. And then you have this super talented second
round pick in Mike Green that I want to see play.
I want to see him play. I also want to
see a dece. I like, here's a third round pick.
I'm not sitting there writing off at dece Isaac because
he had an injury marred rookie season. Talented big dude
(13:11):
like that. I really like his potential and he's flashed
at times. So when he's been on the field, I
thought he looked good at OTAs. And then David Ajabo,
here's the second round pick. Sky is sky high talent,
and he's never gonna get there. You know, everybody wants
to see David Ajabo get there and have the breakout
season and become the player that we all envisioned when
the Ravens drafted him. It's not gonna happen if you
(13:33):
don't give him snaps. Now, he's got to earn those.
But I think he can, and I think he is
this offseason with the way he's working and practicing all
those things. So like, I just don't get what the
outside noise about. Oh, the Ravens that.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
You know, got to add a veteran pass rusher.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
They're not thin an outside linebacker by any stretch in
my imagine, in my opinion, And if you sign a
veteran like maybe a depth beast, but that guy's going
to take snaps away from these players that I want
to see on the field.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Well, the veteran that a lot of fans have asked
about is to Davion Clowney because the guys who have
been here, it's like I know that familiar face here,
and Clowney obviously was the guy the Ravens signed late
in the process a couple of years ago who had
a really good season in his one year in Baltimore.
And so those have been like the most common names.
Matthew Judon another guy that's formerly been here.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Ye, seriously out there the guys another way around the Ravens,
Locerno mcfees available.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
We're going back, yeah, go way back, Sizzle. But uh yeah,
I agree with you. I don't think that like the
Ravens are in this like emergency situation where they need
to go out and get somebody. What they had the
second most sacks in the league last year, and so
like they had a productive group of two guys who
had double digit sacks last season, and and then they
(14:52):
added Mike Green to the mix and they got a.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Decent didn't lose anybody.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Right, Like you basically add Mike Green and a desa
Isaac because Isaac really was not an option because a rookie,
and so I want Mike Green on the field, like
you want to see these guys play, and Isaac was
a guy the Ravens were thrilled to get in the
third round last year. I think, honestly, what what it
comes down to, and like if the Ravens were to
(15:15):
add somebody at outside linebacker, The way I see it
right now is like if they were to get into
training camp and one of those guys is still out
there and they feel like, hey, we have more of
a need here, like whatever, it is, like we either
these guys aren't totally ready to take on a bigger
workload or somebody gets hurt. Of course, like if they
(15:35):
felt like, hey, we need some veteran help here because
the young guys have some room to improve. That would
be I think the time that you do it. But
for right now, like on paper, I really like this
outside linebacker group. I think that they I think that
they have top end talent. I think that they have
like you think, Odafe always going to be motivated this year.
(15:57):
These guys are going to go out there and have
any twenty pounds muscle. Yeah, contract year and like Zach
Orr talked about that recently, like he didn't shy away
from it. He's like, we know what this is. It's
a contract year for him, we know what that that entails.
And so these coaches and players are aware of like
what's at stake for Away and then you can make
(16:17):
the same argument for like most of the guys in
that room. And so I feel pretty good about the
outside linebacker group.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
I'm also interested to see Kyle van Noy fresh off
his seventy two hour water fast.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Yeah, I was one.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
I want to ask him about that. Yeah, that's an
interesting move. He tweeted this week about doing the seventy
two hour water fast. I don't know if this is
something he's done like many times, if this is a
new thing.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
So it's a wait, it's a weight loss thing.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
I'm not I'm not super familiar with the seventy two
hour wait water fast.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
I want to deal with it.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
I want to know what like his motivation is of it,
and it like is he he's doing it early enough.
It's not like he's coming into mini camp like in
the middle of the seventy two hours like that pretty
be pretty uh? I don't know, Like you have parched
parch parch No, no, no, no, you're not parts. You're
drinking water. All you're all you're having is water.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
You're not.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Oh oh, I was like, you're going seventy two hours
without water?
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Okay, can you drink coffee the opposite?
Speaker 3 (17:18):
All you have in seventy two all you have is
well you have.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
You can tell I'm not on the diet, you're not
when I even dyet and yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Ever.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Okay, I mean now I'm hungry, so I'm not thirsty,
but I'm definitely hungry if I'm doing this right.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yes, you're hungry, You're not thirsty, Okay, so educated, yeah, yeah,
I'll help you out there.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
But I don't know. I'd be curious to see.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
A couple of years ago, if you remember, Lamar talked
about doing a fast. Yeah, I think either at training
camp or a mini camp. So we'll see what Kyle
has to say about what he what he how he
feels after this water fast.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
I'm watching him.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
You know. He posted a video our forty of the
seventy two hour waterfast walking through the grocery store, I mean,
walking past the goldfish.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
He's walking past.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Like, yeah, tinting yourself.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Oh that's tough. That's willpower right there.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
That's like that they say, don't go to the grocery
store when you're hungry, exactly. I don't know how you
get much something more hungry than the hour forty of
the seventy two hour water fast.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
I know he's walking right past the King's Hawaiian rolls.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
I'll be tearing into those before to check out.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
I'd be taking a.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Half bare he's got more.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
It's just a whole bunch of open bags as you
go through checkout line.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
So so I'm gonna yeah, the willpower alone, I'm impressed.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Yeah, uh all right, all right, enough of that.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Yeah, the other the other group that I'm interested to see,
and when we're having a conversation about moves that still
could be made potentially is the cornerbacks group.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
For me, and you know I've mentioned this before.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
I'm with you and seeing all those players on the field,
especially now that you have the full arsenal of offensive
pass catchers right now, You've got d Hop out there,
You've got Zay Bait, the tight ends. You know, they
they're gonna have a tough assignment these corners, so they're
gonna get a good test.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
And I think that that's a group. I really like
that group.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Obviously, Nate Wiggins, you know, in the step that we
expect him to take in year two. Marlin we know
who and what Marlin is, but really it's that third
corner and who's who is.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
That gonna be?
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Chida bay Oozia is dealing with a minor ankle injury,
so now it's you know, maybe he'll be back on
the field. We don't know how minor exactly that is.
Hopefully he's back on the field for mini camp, but
if he's not, that's really an opportunity now for somebody
to kind of plant their flag at that other outside
cornerback spot, whether that be a Jalen Armor Davis, TJ Tampa.
(19:46):
Those would be the leading contenders, and that even the
sixth round rookies. So we'll get some good reps in
there against these Ravens wide receivers. So that to me,
especially as we frame this in the context of all
the banter about the possibility of adding a premier corner
to this roster, which John Harball didn't roll rule out.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
Or asked about that this past week.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
You know, he said to me, it's not a or situation,
it's an and a situation. Can you add You have
all these young players that I already mentioned that you
really like, and maybe you can add a veteran. You know,
the Ravens feel like they can't have enough or too
much depth at corner and so this week at mini camp,
I think, especially that number three cornerback spot, it's going
(20:30):
to give the Raves an indication.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
Of whether they need to go out and make a move.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Well, when we talked at the start of the off
season program, you and I had the conversation of adding
a corner and I said I felt like that was
the position that that would be most likely if the
Ravens were to add there. The other one is safety.
The third safety spot, and they're connected.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Well when we kind of talked about adding a nickel
corner slat corner, and you know, especially now with the
ar Darius injury, whether that impacts that, I don't know necessarily,
If that's.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
I'm not gonna I'm going to be so rigid and like, yeah,
I agree corner vers outside corner. I think a corner
is the one. And especially like my thing was always,
this is an opportunity for a Jalen armor Davis, It's
an opportunity for TJ. Tampa.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
It's an opportunity for the two rookies. Now there's six round.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Picks, so it would be a tall order for either
of them to like be thrust into a significant role.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
As a rookie.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
But this is the opportunity for them, but also for
for Cheeto, Like he came in and the Ravens really
like him, but he hasn't been out there consistently during
these open oh TA practices and he's now dealing with
this ankle injury. Do they feel like we need to
get more depth at that spot.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
And Cheeta is a guy who's you know, dealt with
some injuries in recent years and so you know, seeing
him kind of nicked up here at the beginning. You know,
it happened during practice. It's really no fault of his own,
but it's kind of leads you to the all right,
how can much can we count? You know, can we
count on Cheeto playing seventeen? You know? Or do we
feel like we need to bolster that? And then on
(21:59):
top of that, you know, I like, you know how
I feel about jelln Harbor Davis. I don't need to
say it for the hundred time. I think the guy's talented,
but again another case of cann how healthy can he stay?
Speaker 4 (22:09):
And then and.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
He's also working in at safety a little bit too, which.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Is exactly development for him, right and uh and then
TJ Tampa. You know, John Harvel talked about you seem flashes,
but it's kind of consistency, which is always the case
of the second year player, especially one that missed a
lot of his action as rookie year. So I think
it's a big week for the cornerback group.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Yeah, I feel like it would not surprise me at
the Ravens end up adding a corner and and who
that ends up being, of course, we're getting on.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
I think it could be as big as Jaii Alexander,
who was released by the Packers last week.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
We always get, you know, questions about whenever a big
name guy just chalk it up, hits the market. It
comes up all the time. U jaire Alexander is a guy.
We actually got a question from John Stremmel who emailed
us at the lounge at Ravens dot NFL dot net,
and he asked us about the possibility of adding Jaii
Alexand I'm sure there's plenty of suitors who are interested
(23:02):
in him.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I mean, the truth is, like, what's the price tag,
how much wiggle room do the Ravens have with the
salary cap? Where does he where does he want to play?
Like a veteran player, Pro Bowl caliber player like that
is going to have lots of preferences on what the
defense looks like and here where he wants to play.
So there's a lot of factors in the mix there
(23:27):
that I just I don't know the answers to.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
I honestly think that it makes a lot of sense
on paper, I really do. I think that connection, I mean,
that's a component doesn't hurt, you know. I think that
that he's so close with Lamar certainly doesn't hurt. The
Ravens have brought in guys that Lamar wanted and so
(23:50):
I think also obviously a super talented guy. To me,
the Ravens are in win now mode. It's it's it's
twenty twenty five. You have a stacked roster, and if
you think that this guy can put you over the
top and really cement you know, the Cornerback Group as
an elite group, you know it's worth taking a shot.
(24:11):
And I think from a contract perspective, it's it's going
to be a shorter deal. I think that the Ravens
they have so many moving parts contractually as we already
got done talking about, including with Lamar, and they have
some salary cap boga room as it stands now, Like,
I think that you could you could make a deal
work financially. You know, jay R Alexander's gonna want to
(24:33):
play on a team, a winning team, all those things.
Like there's just a you can check a lot of
boxes where this makes this makes sense?
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Hm, Well, the Ravens have gone done that with Like
it's it's a different situation, not the exact same situation,
but like last year they went and they traded for
Tredevius White, who was a Pro Bowl player in Buffalo,
and then he was out in LA and hadn't really
been able to crack the lineup and and so he
was available like on the cheap for considering the resume
that he had.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
I think he would be cheaper than what it would
cost to bring in Jay.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
It's a different situation.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
But like my point is, just like just a few
months ago, they went and they got a former Pro
Bowl player to add to this defense, and he ended
up playing snaps important snaps in a playoff game, and
that was like the Ravens then lost Brandon Stevens, who
was a starter so well.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
And by the way, there was rumors that the Ravens
were interested in Ji r Xander last year's trade deadline.
So there's been a little smoke on this front before,
which there was smoke on Derrick Henry front two years ago.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Yeah, there's been examples to that.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
So, I mean the other one, the other one who's
who's on the market is Jalen Ramsey in Miami. Now
that's a trade situation unless the Dolphins were ultimately just
to release him. But they've been they've been pretty vocal
and honest about the fact that they're looking for a
trade partner. But now it's been the case really all offseason.
Hasn't happened yet. But he's the other big name Pro
Bowl corner. I mean, you have two former Pro Bowl
(25:57):
corners who are on the market. One is actually a
free agent and the ones on the trade market. That
doesn't always happen, but two big name guys who are
available if you wanted to, you know, to go fishing
in those waters.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
I believe Jeff Zubeck of The Athletic Reporter that he
hasn't really heard anything between the Ravens and Ramsey in
terms of trade dialogue working on that kind of deal.
So to me, Alexander being that he's been released, is
the more likely of the two.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
If if if either likely.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yeah, so that's another factor too, if it does happen.
That's July fourth, two pm.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Oh on burgers on the grill. Yep, just the cell phone.
I don't need the cell phone right now.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
We're good.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
We're flitting burgers right when I'm er. It's cannonball into
the pool. That's it.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
The cell phone's over in the bag, you know, on
the pic the table I'm vowerady to do the cannonball.
That's oh yeah, blow it up.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
You're swimming in the pool.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
The Gruden grinders out there, We're gonna be ready. We'll
be ready if that move happens.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
Well, so we'll see about your buddy.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Yeah right, you're just as likely to be guilty of.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Of taking it.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
So the last thing that I'm interested in watching at
uh at mini camp here is the kicker battle. I mean,
it's the next stage of the kicking battle between rookies
Tyler Loop and John Hoyle. And then you know, we
saw it during OTAs and there are ups and downs
kind of for both guys. You know, both times, both
guys had really good days and then there are some misses.
I think generally speaking, it's been good. You know, I thought,
(27:29):
I think both players have kind of shown, Hey, you
don't need to be in a rush to bring in
a veteran if if you need one at all. Right,
and uh, but now with with all the veterans on
the field and Lamar Jackson watching and and everybody there,
uh and you know, just mandatory mini camp, the temperature
rate rises a little bit.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Now it's the next stage for these guys.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
In that competition, and what is is the most important competition.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
We can talk about left guard all we want, but.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Let's be honest, the most important competition right now at
Ravens practices is at kicker.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Yeah, yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
And that's the other one we talk about adding veterans.
It's like, these guys have the opportunity to show John Harbaugh,
Eric DaCosta the organization going into this break before training camp,
you don't need to go out and get a veteran.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
You've got.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Both of them are out to prove that they can
win the job and that the answer is here in
house already with these two young kickers. So it is
it is a really important position. It's the first time
we've been having these conversations and in more than a decade.
And so these guys, you know, they've they've got a
big opportunity here and I think both of them are
going to be eager to show that they're up to
the challenge and and the Ravens are taking a hard
(28:43):
look there. It's it's critical, it's you know, so.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
It decides a lot of games.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Yes, we've seen that, of course, here we've seen how
the kicking game can decide can decide outcomes, and these
young kickers have the opportunity to show that they're ready
for that, that they're ready for that challenge and the
Ravens need him to be.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
And if you haven't done so already, go back and
read our feature story on Tyler Loop written by.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
Matt Ryan eslaware former editorial intern.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
So a really good read there that'll kind of introduce
you to Tyler and how he ticks, what makes him tick,
and so go check that out. It was published on
the website and app on Thursday, So a really good
read that I highly recommend.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Yeah, So, as always, there's lots to talk about. You
can email us your questions and thoughts at the lounge
at Ravens dot NFL dot net. Will continue breaking down
everything we see out there on the practice field this
week and also plan to catch up with some guys
for interviews before the break here. So a lot going on.
I appreciate you listening and we will talk with you
again soon
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