February 25, 2025 • 29 mins
General Manager Eric DeCosta and Head Coach John Harbaugh talked about the chances of re-signing Ronnie Stanley, the free agency plan, pass rusher draft needs, and much more at the NFL Scouting Combine.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome into the lounge presented by DraftKings. I'm Ryan Ink
here with Garrett Downing and we're going to give you
our biggest takeaways from the Combine press conferences held today
by Ericdcosta and John Harball. So, Garrett a lot to
come out of the Combine, a variety of different subjects. Garrett,
by the way, is in Indianapolis right now, and let's
(00:27):
start here, Garrett. Ronnie Stanley certainly at the top of
the Ravens free agency list, one of the top free
agents in the NFL. The Ravens don't have a lot
of salary cap space, only about ten million dollars less
than of effective cap space. But a big takeaway from
today was the optimism that Eric DeCosta and John Harball
both had about retaining Ronnie Stanley.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, it certainly sounds like Ronnie's time in Baltimore could continue.
Eric to Costa used that word. He said he's optimistic
about getting a deal done, and John Harbough indicated the
same thing that the Ravens they want to get, they
want to keep Ronnie. He's coming off a Pro Bowl season.
This is a guy who has been in Baltimore his
entire career was a six overall pick, has played at
(01:13):
a really high level. Then he dealt with injuries and
was on and off the field and really struggled for
a period of years there. But then last year he
came back and he was healthy all season long, didn't
miss a practice, didn't miss a game, and returned to
Pro Bowl form, and he played at a level that
says like, this is what he's capable of, And I
think he could even he can probably even Like the
health was a huge thing, and once he's on the field,
(01:37):
he was great, and so I think he could even
probably take it up even another notch a little bit
and just continue doing that. And so I thought it
was a great year from Ronnie. And I think that
there's certainly a possibility that the Ravens work out an
extension with him. Like what does that look like? Yeah, sorry,
it's not an extension. He's he's going to be a
free agent in March if the Ravens don't work out
(01:59):
a new deal with him. Yeah, And so it did.
And sometimes, like I will say, if you go back
and you look at past press conferences, there's times where
the Ravens will say things at this time of the year, like, hey,
we're going to see him go out there and test
free agency. Eric Costa said that about Brandon Stevens previously.
He said he could go out there and test the
(02:19):
free agent market and we'll see what the market holes
for him, and then we'll go from there. But so
they can kind of be My point is they can
kind of be truthful when it comes to these conversations
at this time of the year, and so to indicate
that they're optimistic about bringing back Ronnie, I think is
an indication that that could actually happen.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Well, John Harbaugh went beyond that. He said, I think
that we will probably keep Ronnie. You know, it was
like a prediction, you know, and then he added that
I'm hopeful that we will. But yeah, it was pretty
strong about Ronnie. And part of it is because, like
you mentioned, this goes this relationship goes all the way
back to twenty sixteen, and Eric to Costa talked about
(02:59):
how he has a very good relationship with Ronnie and
even Ronnie's agent. Eric Costa said that he's meeting with
Ronnie's agent at the Combine.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
YEP, so they're gonna they're gonna start working on this.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Already, and I think that that relationship, it's just it's
just works for both sides.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
The Ronnie's played at a high level, The Ravens rewarded
him with a really lucrative contract, he suffered an injury,
the Ravens stayed with him, you know, and he kind
of came back. The Ravens, uh, you know, reportedly reworked
his deal last year so that they could keep this going,
and Ronnie rewarded them with really good play. And so
it's just kind of there's a there's a relationship there,
(03:40):
and I think that that's part of the reason why
they're optimistic.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
That doesn't mean it definitely will happen.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
You know, these left tackles, especially when you're the top
at your position going into the free agency, like you
get paid and like we said, the Ravens don't have
a lot of salary cap space. Ronnie Stanley's gonna get
a lot of money one way or the other. So
it's one of those situations like how much is another
team willing to give Ronnie and does he find that,
(04:07):
you know, is it is it a lot more than
the Ravens can give him, or is it a little
bit more right, you know, so we don't know what
it's gonna hold, but on on to kind of roll
it forward if they don't resign Ronnie Stanley, Well just
just just real quick.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Before we talk about if they don't resign him. I
did talk to Tom Pellisero here at the Combine from
the NFL network's really plugged in to what's happening and
these types of conversations, and he made the point with
Ronnie that like he's got to get paid big time.
He's he's definitely gonna He's one of the premier free
agents on the market this year. And so it's not
just like.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
In a market that's like considered particularly thin, like the
free agent market is not great.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
That's those are the reports out there.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
So then that when team's got to have money to spend,
if there's not a lot of options to spend it on,
you get even some bigger you know, some bigger deals done.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Yeah, and so it could be an uphill battle in
that sense. I think that if you were to ask
just like take the money out of the equation and
ask both Ronnie and the Ravens, like do you want
this thing to continue? I think the answer for both
of them is an emphatic yes, and like that's a
good starting point. Now, of course, the money is no
small piece of the equation, but I think that both
(05:19):
of them would like to see this relationship continue. And
so like that question becomes, what does the contract look like?
Are you talking like a two year, forty million dollar contract.
Are we talking about a deal similar to what he
got back in twenty twenty where he signed a five year,
one hundred and twenty million dollar contract exactly If it's
If it's that, well, then that might be a little
bit more challenging. But if you're talking about a short ish,
(05:41):
short to medium term deal that's in that two to
three year range for around twenty million, then maybe the
Ravens can find a way to make that work. Right.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
I think that's a good point.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
And the Ravens are a team that, no, they've obviously
been through it with Ronnie and his injuries and whatnot.
And are they willing at this point to commit to
another five year deal. I don't know, whereas maybe another
team says, who hasn't been through that? It says, yeah,
you know, this guy was at the top of the
game of the game last year. We're willing to commit long,
(06:11):
long term, So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yeah, And as you started down this road, but if
he were to leave, so what are the Ravens' options? Well,
John Harbaugh, while saying that he thinks they'll keep Ronnie,
he also made the point that he's got total confidence
to Roger Roseenguard's ability to go play the left side.
Basically before the reporter even finished asking the question like,
do you think Roger could do that, Harbaugh almost got
him off, was like, oh yeah, like absolutely absolutely, he
(06:36):
could do that. And we've talked about this before a
number of times that I think that he is somebody
who I think that he has that flexibility and he
also has the confidence that he can move from the
right side to the left side. And I think he
showed a lot of people just how good he is
as a rookie. So he's the most Like, if the
Ravens don't keep Stanley, then the most likely candidate, in
(06:57):
my mind, is that it's Roger. He just slides over
to the left side, and the Rams are looking for
a right tackle, either in free agency or the draft.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah, And I think it's beyond confidence. He has a
work ethic, he has a talent to play left tackle
like he can do it. Eric cousin John Harball both
field that way. So I think they feel good about
what happens about the future at left tackle.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Regardless.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
They'd like to keep Ronnie, that's the aim, but they
know that it's not a slam dunk. You can't say
for one hundred percent sure that he's going to stay,
and if he doesn't, then they feel good about where
they stand there.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yep, totally. The other big topic of conversation during the
press conferences for both Eric Cossa and John Harball was
justin Tucker. This was the first time that they've talked
in a press conference setting since those allegations came out
this offseason, and they addressed that, and Tacosta said that
the NFL is investigating it. He has talked with investigators
(07:52):
from the NFL. No timetable on when that conversation, when
that investigation is going to be done, but the Ravens
are The quote from DaCosta on the league investigation is
I think we're fortunate the league is doing an investigation,
will wait as patiently as we can for as much
information as we can, will make our decisions based on
that Takasa also said that the allegations are serious, concerning
(08:15):
and the out of allegations are serious and concerning. So
this again, this is the first time that they have
been asked about it, and they are letting the investigation
play out from the NFL and then once that's concluded
and they have all that information, they will make their
decisions from there on what to do.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Ravens also said that they are going to be evaluating
kickers in this year's draft, and they're fortunate enough to
have Randy Brown. He's one of the best in the
business at evaluating specialists. And John Harwell said, I always
expected Tucker to keep going forever, but nobody goes forever,
so just like every position, they will be doing their
due diligence and kicker is among them.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
So then beyond the Tucker front, there was lots of
conversations just about free agency in general and when it
comes to whether the Ravens are active in that market.
Eric Tacosta talked about he went back through the Ravens
history and made the point that they're not typically a
team that spends massive money in free agency. They're tight
(09:14):
against a salary cap this year, as they always are
when we have these conversations at the combine, we talk
about how the team is pressed tight against a salary cap.
It's just the way that they tend to operate. When
you have good players, you pay otherose good players, you
pay an MVP level quarterback, you're tight against the salary cap.
That's just the world that you live in. And so
you talked about trying to shake out the couch coaches
to find any spare change in there that the Ravens
(09:36):
can use a free agency, but did not indicate that
the Ravens are going to be in a position to
make any kind of big splash in free agency. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I mean, I feel like we go through this every
single offseason. There's the names that come out of free
agents that are available, or players you could trade for,
and the Miles Garretts of the world that everybody's talking about.
And the reality of the situation is the Ravens draft
too many good players.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
You know, it's a real problem around here. You just
you nail it in the draft.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
You got a big problem because then you got to
pay those guys eventually if you want to keep them.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
And and that's what the Ravens have done.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
You know, they paid Lamar Jackson, they've paid Nomni Madebik,
they paid Marlon Humphrey. You know, they've they acquired Roquan
Smith and paid him. And you know, when you when
you pay your Odafe Oway, you know, the list goes on,
you know, and so when you pay your own guys,
and then oh, by the way, you have more coming
down the road here in Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Linderbaum, after
(10:31):
say Flowers, you know eventually, and so when you have
so many good players already in house that you want
to pay, it just doesn't leave much to go out
there and get guys. So the Ravens end up, you know,
looking for good value free agents. They they nailed it
last year with Derrick Henry, right like high return on
investment with Derrick Henry, and beyond that, you know there's
(10:54):
been players that signed even you know, cheaper deals than
Derrick Henry that really pick kyleve Noy really paid off.
You know, you can go on and on and on
on that list. And so that's where the Ravens are
again this year. Like Eric Cossi even said, you know,
we'll be pursuing venom veteran minimum contracts like that's what
we're exploring, and where can we find value on some
(11:16):
of these less expensive deals in free agency to kind
of you know, you can find really impactful players. I
mean the Justice Hill extension right, like that was not
a big time deal, but look at the impact that
Justice Hill had on this team last year.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
The interesting thing about it is like I get that
the Ravens aren't going to probably sign anybody to one
hundred million dollar contract and free agency from another team,
but they have made splashes. That's kind of the irony.
Like Dereck Henry again, I know he was he was
in that second tier somehow of running backs, ca Saquon
got the big contract and so he went after he
(11:49):
went after Saquon and Josh Shacobs even but like he
was a pretty big splash. This is a Hall of
Fame running back and coming off a big season who
then obviously had a monster year Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Well, it's not usually like guys that are getting their
second contract.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
It's not, for example, it's not typically, but they have
done that.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Marks Williams was that.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Williams falls into that category. And you know that was
before Tamar Jackson's contract was done. So like a little
bit of a different time, So I don't expect that
type of a deal, But like the Ravens have made
really shrewd signings of course, and I think that I
think that they'll continue to look for the sweet spot
(12:28):
of finding players like van Ney or Clowning from the
year before, Ronald Darby from the year before, like the
players who can come in at lower contracts and be
really productive, high quality players, Like they've got a good
track record or really good track record of doing that.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
And that's the world that they're shopping in. Yes, this offseason,
that's what's clear. Especially, I mean, if you resigned Ronnie Stanley,
that nearly ten million dollars of salary cap space that
you have right now gets gone up mighty quick. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
So you know, we talked about how optimistic they feel
about that. If they can get that done, then there's
(13:04):
really not much Then you're really looking at veteran minimum
deals and you might need to really turn over that couch.
You might need to turn that thing upside down to
get all the change out of it.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
So you know, like I just think that.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
That's that's the world, that's the sandbox that they're playing in.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
This year.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yeah, And on Derrick Henry, I did ask Eric about
because Derek recently made the point that he wants to
retire raven and so there's been talk of whether they
could add another year or something onto his contract. He
signed a two year deal with the Ravens last year,
so he's going into another Uh, he's going into the
last year of his contract. And Eric made the point, Well,
I got a Derek Henry picture on my wall that's
(13:42):
going up right now in my office, So that gives
just some kind of an indication of what we think
about Derek and the possibility of having him here for
a while. So I think that the kind of, like
I said with Ronnie, these two so it's a different situation.
Ronnie's gonna be free agent, Derek on a contract for
the so it's different in that sense. But I think
(14:02):
that it certainly could be a relationship that extends me
on this year. And Derek, as he approved this year,
still has plenty of gas left in the tank.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Well, and that's one way to potentially save a little
bit money of money on this year's salary cap. You know,
if you extend Derek, then you can kind of flatten
that number a little bit more and find out, you know,
as they said, they're looking for every bit that they
can get set. That would be one potential way.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, all right, so let's take a quick break and
then when we come back, we'll dive into some of
the other big notes and takeaways from today's presser. You're
listening to the launch podcast. We're coming to you from
the Sea Geek Studio. We also want to mention our
partners at Draft King Sportsbook. They are an official sports
betting partner of the Baltimore Ravens Draft King Sportsbook. The
Crown is yours. So another topic in Eric the Costa's
(14:49):
press conference was Mark Andrews. Tacosta was asked about him
and he's going into the last year of his contract.
All three of the Ravens tight ends, Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely,
and Charlie Kohler are all going into the final year
of their contracts, and specifically, as it relates to Andrews,
he was asked about basically if they planned how they
(15:11):
plan to handle that. He's got a big cap hit
this year and would you extend him. That's like, we're
just the four.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
He has the fourth highest salary cap pit on the
team this year. Just to be clear about about it,
he has the fourth highest salary cap hit on the
team and it's about sixteen point nine million dollars according
to the spot track.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
And so.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
You just like the conversation we were having with Derek Kennery,
you could flatten that cap by extending Mark Andrews and
rolling that out over the course of the next couple
of years. That's one way to do that. Of course,
you could just let it play out, and he played
this year under the salary cap. And when talking about it,
Da Costa made the point that over the next few weeks,
(15:53):
we'll look at all the different different roster machinations, machinations.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I mean, you're to get that to screw it up.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
We'll look at all of that and figure out how
they want to approach that and how they want to
handle it With Andrews.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Yeah, I think I think there's you know, there's definitely
a huge amount of respect there.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Eric Ticostis said, you know, one day, this guy's going
to go in the Ravens Ring of Honor, and the
Ravens feel like he's going to have an awesome twenty
twenty five season. And so you know the player, the
person that Mark Andrews is like, there's Erictastas said to himself,
there's no bigger fan of Mark Andrews than me. So
the Ravens respect for Mark Andrews is is very clear.
(16:36):
But he has this huge salary cap hitting. You know,
we'll see whether they feel like something needs to be done.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
There, right and then as we continue look into the
offensive line, we talked a lot about it in relation
to Ronnie Stanley. Pat McCarey is also a free agent,
and you know he's so he's poised to hit the
market starting left guard and also basically backup of every
spot along the offensive line. I did talk to John
Harbaugh and he said he hopes that the Ravens were
able to keep both Ronnie and Pat. Now, that would
(17:05):
be tough to figure that out from a salary cap standpoint,
but he indicated that there's hope that the Ravens could
find a way to keep both those guys. He'd be
very happy if that were the case. But if McCarry
were to leave, then that opens up the left guard spot.
Andrew Vorhees actually won that job out of training camp
last year because mcarry opened the season as a starting
(17:25):
right tackle. So then Forhes got hurt and then mcarry
slip switched from right tackle to left guard as Rose
Garden stepped in at right tackle and the Ravens just
rode that offensive line the rest of the year. But
the Ravens have confidence before he is, and John Harbaugh
really spoke pretty highly about him and his ability what
he showed in practice, like, the Ravens are confident in
(17:45):
vorehees if he needs to step back into the starting
lineup this year.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah, it felt like he got better. You know as
the season went on. We didn't see a lot of
them because of that early injury and then being replaced
by McCarry, But in practice, John Harwall said he was
playing really well and he had some spot duty late
in the year and they just felt like, you know,
he continued to develop. And so this is the player
that I think they've really had high hopes for all along.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Big dude.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
You look at him physically, you're like, yes, I mean, gosh,
you flash back to two years ago at the combine
and the dude put up the most bench press reps
despite having a torn ACL, a freshly torn ACL, and.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
You know, the work ethic the player.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
They really feel like they got a steal I think
in the seventh round a couple years ago when they
drafted him after he tore that ACL and so, like
you said, they were impressed with the work that he
put in last offseason, so impressed that they made him
the Week one starter.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
And I feel like he's just going to continue to develop.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
He's still young in his career because of that really
red shirt rookie season, and so he'll have a shot,
you know, if Pat doesn't return to win that starting
left guard job again. But John Harbalaso said, there'll be
other guys in the mix, and you know, potential.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Draft solutions there too.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Eric Takasa said there are a number of guards interior
offensive linemen in the first couple of rounds to the Ravens.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Feel like are just plug and play guys.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Yeah, could start Week one, and so they'll have a
lot of options at guard.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yeah, which if you're drafting a guard, especially in the
first round, you probably expect them to be a plug
and play guy.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
I mean one thing that just this is a bit
of a tangent, but like I just Daniel file Alele
is the starting right guard going into next season. For me, like,
I I think that like fans that are still still
now still talking about how they need to find a
solution at right guard, like the Ravens just that they
(19:45):
gave Daniel file A Lele had his kind of crash
course season as the starter, right, where like it was
a big transition going from tackle to guard, right, and
you got through some of the growing pains. Now it's
time to enjoy the rewards, you know, but I mean,
you know, just just abandoned ship now, Like the guy
got better as the season went along.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Was a Pro Bowl reserve, yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Right, alternate and like had a pretty darn had had
a pretty good year, right, Like, yes, there are some
growing pains, but like he's getting better.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
I just don't.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
I like keep seeing this out there and I'm just
like God, like everybody, he's fo Lili's gonna be the
right guard.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Yeah, yeah, that's totally my expectation too, I think the Ravens,
especially if in a world in which it's possible that
the Ravens lose Stanley and mcarry.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Right exactly, so like now you're replacing three guys again, Yeah,
like that.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Was how many times do we hit we recite the
phrase of the Ravens replaced three starters along the offensive
line this year. They just did that, and so keeping
some continuity there I think goes a long way and
helping the offensive line. So I'm with you at right guard,
but left guard could be open. And if it ends
up being where he's they they do have a lot
of confidence in him, in his ability. It's interesting. I
(21:04):
think that, like I do, a common talking point at
the combine this week has been the conversation of basically
old school football, building the trenches. Everyone saw what the
Eagles did in the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs,
and the Eagles completely controlled the line of scrim is
at a dominant defensive front and the Chiefs couldn't do
anything offensively because the Eagles defense just controlled the line
(21:28):
of scrimmage. They won in the trenches. And so what's
the impact of that? And that's a lot of coaches
and gms are getting asked that question. And I talked
with John Harball a little bit about that today and
he made the point like that could have an impact
on how teams evaluate some of these players. Now. He
also said, and this is definitely true, that like the
Ravens have always been a team that values the work
(21:49):
in the trenches, like they have been a team that's
invested on both sides of the ball in the trenches.
And so that's not necessarily a change for them. But
you see what happened with the Eagles. They've invested a
ton of draft capital, in particular on that defensive front,
and and they they read the rewards of it, and
they that had a big impact in that game.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
So they also invested a lot of draft capital in
their secondary.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
They took cornerbacks with their first two draft packs.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
They did this year. They went with the secondary. Past
years it was more that defensive front. Just like give
me the Georgia guy on defensive front.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Right, And I can I just interrupt you for a
second to say I totally understand the sentiment, and like, yeah,
those de tackles for the Eagles are really good and
the pass rushers and all that, but all right, so
like we want to invest a lot in that.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
We don't feel like we need good cornerbacks anymore.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Yeah, of course, right right, Like I agree, you want
to and the Ravens Eric Scots said, you want to
build up the spine, you know, the middle of your
offense and defense.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
You want that to be strong. You also want the
outside to be strong. Have you need to have the outside.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Wide receivers, and you need to have the outside corners,
and you need to have the say, the safeties, Like
none of it is not important.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, it's all. It all matters.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
It all is.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
But I do think like when you look at this
draft and you talk to people that it sounds like
the defensive front is really good. Pass rusher, defensive tackle,
like it's.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
A good in the draft class.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
And so you can get some impact players there at
both spots like defensive tackle and edge rusher in the
first couple of rounds. And so is it do teams
alter their strategy at all to try to go after
those guys and replicate what the Eagles were able to do?
And does that have any bearing on the approach of
the Ravens take. Eric Ocoso was asked a John Harba
(23:34):
basically about pass rusher and adding a pass rusher and
do you need to go get a pass rusher? Now?
You and I are both of the belief like the
Ravens had a pretty good pass rusher last year. A Dafayola,
Kyle Vannoy both career high and sacks both double digits,
so like the Ravens.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Had second sacks in the league.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Pretty good. But they were both asked about the possibility
of going and getting a pass rusher. And while I
think that the Ravens will add a pass for sure
at some point, neither of them seem to indicate from
to me that the Ravens are really pressed on needing
to get a pass rusher early. They like the pieces
that they have in place already, and they like the
(24:13):
defensive scheme and the way that they can use the
guys to have.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Yeah, I think they feel pretty good about their positioning
that they're not really they don't have to draft one
specific position.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
At number twenty seven, you know.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
I think that their options are open because they have
all these outside linebackers returning. They already have a good
defensive line right And so to me, obviously Ronnie stanley
situation is the biggest domino in that if Ronnie doesn't resign,
then offensive tackle becomes a higher priority. I wouldn't be
(24:48):
surprised if Ronnie doesn't re sign, or even if he does,
if the Ravens pursue a tackle, whether that's retaining one
of their own or bringing in somebody else, you know,
a veteran offensive tackle before the draft comes around. But
if Ronny doesn't stay, I think it's a pretty high
likelihood they're gonna draft an offensive tackle early in the draft,
(25:08):
one of the first two days. But other than that
at number twenty seven, I mean, it could be cornerback,
it could be safety, it could be pass rusher, it
could be defensive linemen. You know, any of those I
think are the top contenders at least. And and so
I don't I don't think that the Ravens are hard pressed.
(25:29):
They're not hard up saying we gotta we gotta get
outside linebacker, knew, we need a difference making kind of
pass rusher, like That's what I'm hearing a lot kind
of from fans. But I don't think the Ravens feel
that way, in part because their defensive scheme isn't necessarily
built just like the Eagles. Like they they want to
(25:49):
get pressure. It's not about just having that edge rusher
that or that four man front you know that gets
after people. It's like simulated pressures, safety zone blitzes, all
these different things. Like the Ravens are a defense where
they want to keep people guessing where's that pressure coming from.
And they're not necessarily one of these teams that says
we're going to spend a lot of either draft capital
(26:10):
or salary cap space and get these like Premiere you know,
top end just edge rushers, and we're just gonna pin
our ears back and go at people with four rushers.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
That's just not who they are.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
I know that we're talking a lot about the Eagles,
as a lot of teams probably are, but like, also
when you look at the Eagles, it's not like they
just like they didn't have the sack leader on their
on their team, like they get it from a lot
of different places. Even in the Super Bowl, it wasn't
all coming from one person or one.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Direction lineman right out outside linebackers. It was everybody inside linebackers.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Yeah, And so like I.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Don't, I don't.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
And also like when you're picking at twenty seven, you're
generally it's generally difficult to get like the best pass
rushers in the draft, they're top ten picks most of
the time, and of course there's some that slip through
the cracks and fall to the later round or whatever.
But I think that if when you're talking about like
the true like the dominant top of the line pass rushers,
(27:07):
those guys are often going in the first five ten picks, and.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
So Dravens aren't getting am dual Carter.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Right, he's gone see you like overall pick, most likely
those guys go early. And so that's that's part of
the equation you need to take into consideration.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
What the Ravens.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
You know, what we'll hear is if if the Ravens
draft the defensive tackle or d end it's like, all right,
this guy you know him and Nandi uh and Travis
they're gonna get after people and really push that that pocket.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
And then that's gonna help the outside linebackers.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
And then if they drafted outside linebacker, oh man, we
got another burner off the edge, and that's gonna really
you know, make it a tight pocket and you get
the push up front and you just collapse that pocket
from all angles. And then if you get a safety,
uh oh man. Now you know we can use Kyle Hamilton.
He's he's a great blitzer. Marlin Humphrey, he's a great blitter.
This new safety he's a great blitzer. Whatever it is,
(28:04):
like all of them can factor into the past rush
in different ways, and they all help everybody else, is
the point I'm making here.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Yeah. Yeah, it's not like in order for this defense
to be successful and to bring pressure, it's not predicated
on getting one guy that can get fifteen sacks. It
can come from all the different angles and that's a
lot of different positions. So and I think that that's that,
and that puts the Ravens in a good spot draft
wise because they can sit, they can sit and pick,
they can take the best player available they can. That
(28:32):
fits the way that they like to approach the draft,
which gives them flexibility when they get to that point.
So it's it's a busy week here in Indianapolis. In
addition to hearing from both Eric and John today, also
catching up with some media folks here, we're gonna be
bringing those interviews to you. So we're gonna be back
with another podcast coming up tomorrow, and in that we
(28:53):
are going to play some of the conversations that I
have with some of the media folks here and share
our reaction to what they're talking about with the Ravens.
So stay tuned for that. I hope you really enjoyed
it so thank you so much for listening, and we
will be back with you again tomorrow
Welcome into the lounge presented by DraftKings. I'm Ryan Ink
here with Garrett Downing and we're going to give you
our biggest takeaways from the Combine press conferences held today
by Ericdcosta and John Harball. So, Garrett a lot to
come out of the Combine, a variety of different subjects. Garrett,
by the way, is in Indianapolis right now, and let's
(00:27):
start here, Garrett. Ronnie Stanley certainly at the top of
the Ravens free agency list, one of the top free
agents in the NFL. The Ravens don't have a lot
of salary cap space, only about ten million dollars less
than of effective cap space. But a big takeaway from
today was the optimism that Eric DeCosta and John Harball
both had about retaining Ronnie Stanley.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, it certainly sounds like Ronnie's time in Baltimore could continue.
Eric to Costa used that word. He said he's optimistic
about getting a deal done, and John Harbough indicated the
same thing that the Ravens they want to get, they
want to keep Ronnie. He's coming off a Pro Bowl season.
This is a guy who has been in Baltimore his
entire career was a six overall pick, has played at
(01:13):
a really high level. Then he dealt with injuries and
was on and off the field and really struggled for
a period of years there. But then last year he
came back and he was healthy all season long, didn't
miss a practice, didn't miss a game, and returned to
Pro Bowl form, and he played at a level that
says like, this is what he's capable of, And I
think he could even he can probably even Like the
health was a huge thing, and once he's on the field,
(01:37):
he was great, and so I think he could even
probably take it up even another notch a little bit
and just continue doing that. And so I thought it
was a great year from Ronnie. And I think that
there's certainly a possibility that the Ravens work out an
extension with him. Like what does that look like? Yeah, sorry,
it's not an extension. He's he's going to be a
free agent in March if the Ravens don't work out
(01:59):
a new deal with him. Yeah, And so it did.
And sometimes, like I will say, if you go back
and you look at past press conferences, there's times where
the Ravens will say things at this time of the year, like, hey,
we're going to see him go out there and test
free agency. Eric Costa said that about Brandon Stevens previously.
He said he could go out there and test the
(02:19):
free agent market and we'll see what the market holes
for him, and then we'll go from there. But so
they can kind of be My point is they can
kind of be truthful when it comes to these conversations
at this time of the year, and so to indicate
that they're optimistic about bringing back Ronnie, I think is
an indication that that could actually happen.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Well, John Harbaugh went beyond that. He said, I think
that we will probably keep Ronnie. You know, it was
like a prediction, you know, and then he added that
I'm hopeful that we will. But yeah, it was pretty
strong about Ronnie. And part of it is because, like
you mentioned, this goes this relationship goes all the way
back to twenty sixteen, and Eric to Costa talked about
(02:59):
how he has a very good relationship with Ronnie and
even Ronnie's agent. Eric Costa said that he's meeting with
Ronnie's agent at the Combine.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
YEP, so they're gonna they're gonna start working on this.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Already, and I think that that relationship, it's just it's
just works for both sides.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
The Ronnie's played at a high level, The Ravens rewarded
him with a really lucrative contract, he suffered an injury,
the Ravens stayed with him, you know, and he kind
of came back. The Ravens, uh, you know, reportedly reworked
his deal last year so that they could keep this going,
and Ronnie rewarded them with really good play. And so
it's just kind of there's a there's a relationship there,
(03:40):
and I think that that's part of the reason why
they're optimistic.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
That doesn't mean it definitely will happen.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
You know, these left tackles, especially when you're the top
at your position going into the free agency, like you
get paid and like we said, the Ravens don't have
a lot of salary cap space. Ronnie Stanley's gonna get
a lot of money one way or the other. So
it's one of those situations like how much is another
team willing to give Ronnie and does he find that,
(04:07):
you know, is it is it a lot more than
the Ravens can give him, or is it a little
bit more right, you know, so we don't know what
it's gonna hold, but on on to kind of roll
it forward if they don't resign Ronnie Stanley, Well just
just just real quick.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Before we talk about if they don't resign him. I
did talk to Tom Pellisero here at the Combine from
the NFL network's really plugged in to what's happening and
these types of conversations, and he made the point with
Ronnie that like he's got to get paid big time.
He's he's definitely gonna He's one of the premier free
agents on the market this year. And so it's not
just like.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
In a market that's like considered particularly thin, like the
free agent market is not great.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
That's those are the reports out there.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
So then that when team's got to have money to spend,
if there's not a lot of options to spend it on,
you get even some bigger you know, some bigger deals done.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Yeah, and so it could be an uphill battle in
that sense. I think that if you were to ask
just like take the money out of the equation and
ask both Ronnie and the Ravens, like do you want
this thing to continue? I think the answer for both
of them is an emphatic yes, and like that's a
good starting point. Now, of course, the money is no
small piece of the equation, but I think that both
(05:19):
of them would like to see this relationship continue. And
so like that question becomes, what does the contract look like?
Are you talking like a two year, forty million dollar contract.
Are we talking about a deal similar to what he
got back in twenty twenty where he signed a five year,
one hundred and twenty million dollar contract exactly If it's
If it's that, well, then that might be a little
bit more challenging. But if you're talking about a short ish,
(05:41):
short to medium term deal that's in that two to
three year range for around twenty million, then maybe the
Ravens can find a way to make that work. Right.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
I think that's a good point.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
And the Ravens are a team that, no, they've obviously
been through it with Ronnie and his injuries and whatnot.
And are they willing at this point to commit to
another five year deal. I don't know, whereas maybe another
team says, who hasn't been through that? It says, yeah,
you know, this guy was at the top of the
game of the game last year. We're willing to commit long,
(06:11):
long term, So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yeah, And as you started down this road, but if
he were to leave, so what are the Ravens' options? Well,
John Harbaugh, while saying that he thinks they'll keep Ronnie,
he also made the point that he's got total confidence
to Roger Roseenguard's ability to go play the left side.
Basically before the reporter even finished asking the question like,
do you think Roger could do that, Harbaugh almost got
him off, was like, oh yeah, like absolutely absolutely, he
(06:36):
could do that. And we've talked about this before a
number of times that I think that he is somebody
who I think that he has that flexibility and he
also has the confidence that he can move from the
right side to the left side. And I think he
showed a lot of people just how good he is
as a rookie. So he's the most Like, if the
Ravens don't keep Stanley, then the most likely candidate, in
(06:57):
my mind, is that it's Roger. He just slides over
to the left side, and the Rams are looking for
a right tackle, either in free agency or the draft.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah, And I think it's beyond confidence. He has a
work ethic, he has a talent to play left tackle
like he can do it. Eric cousin John Harball both
field that way. So I think they feel good about
what happens about the future at left tackle.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Regardless.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
They'd like to keep Ronnie, that's the aim, but they
know that it's not a slam dunk. You can't say
for one hundred percent sure that he's going to stay,
and if he doesn't, then they feel good about where
they stand there.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yep, totally. The other big topic of conversation during the
press conferences for both Eric Cossa and John Harball was
justin Tucker. This was the first time that they've talked
in a press conference setting since those allegations came out
this offseason, and they addressed that, and Tacosta said that
the NFL is investigating it. He has talked with investigators
(07:52):
from the NFL. No timetable on when that conversation, when
that investigation is going to be done, but the Ravens
are The quote from DaCosta on the league investigation is
I think we're fortunate the league is doing an investigation,
will wait as patiently as we can for as much
information as we can, will make our decisions based on
that Takasa also said that the allegations are serious, concerning
(08:15):
and the out of allegations are serious and concerning. So
this again, this is the first time that they have
been asked about it, and they are letting the investigation
play out from the NFL and then once that's concluded
and they have all that information, they will make their
decisions from there on what to do.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Ravens also said that they are going to be evaluating
kickers in this year's draft, and they're fortunate enough to
have Randy Brown. He's one of the best in the
business at evaluating specialists. And John Harwell said, I always
expected Tucker to keep going forever, but nobody goes forever,
so just like every position, they will be doing their
due diligence and kicker is among them.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
So then beyond the Tucker front, there was lots of
conversations just about free agency in general and when it
comes to whether the Ravens are active in that market.
Eric Tacosta talked about he went back through the Ravens
history and made the point that they're not typically a
team that spends massive money in free agency. They're tight
(09:14):
against a salary cap this year, as they always are
when we have these conversations at the combine, we talk
about how the team is pressed tight against a salary cap.
It's just the way that they tend to operate. When
you have good players, you pay otherose good players, you
pay an MVP level quarterback, you're tight against the salary cap.
That's just the world that you live in. And so
you talked about trying to shake out the couch coaches
to find any spare change in there that the Ravens
(09:36):
can use a free agency, but did not indicate that
the Ravens are going to be in a position to
make any kind of big splash in free agency. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I mean, I feel like we go through this every
single offseason. There's the names that come out of free
agents that are available, or players you could trade for,
and the Miles Garretts of the world that everybody's talking about.
And the reality of the situation is the Ravens draft
too many good players.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
You know, it's a real problem around here. You just
you nail it in the draft.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
You got a big problem because then you got to
pay those guys eventually if you want to keep them.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
And and that's what the Ravens have done.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
You know, they paid Lamar Jackson, they've paid Nomni Madebik,
they paid Marlon Humphrey. You know, they've they acquired Roquan
Smith and paid him. And you know, when you when
you pay your Odafe Oway, you know, the list goes on,
you know, and so when you pay your own guys,
and then oh, by the way, you have more coming
down the road here in Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Linderbaum, after
(10:31):
say Flowers, you know eventually, and so when you have
so many good players already in house that you want
to pay, it just doesn't leave much to go out
there and get guys. So the Ravens end up, you know,
looking for good value free agents. They they nailed it
last year with Derrick Henry, right like high return on
investment with Derrick Henry, and beyond that, you know there's
(10:54):
been players that signed even you know, cheaper deals than
Derrick Henry that really pick kyleve Noy really paid off.
You know, you can go on and on and on
on that list. And so that's where the Ravens are
again this year. Like Eric Cossi even said, you know,
we'll be pursuing venom veteran minimum contracts like that's what
we're exploring, and where can we find value on some
(11:16):
of these less expensive deals in free agency to kind
of you know, you can find really impactful players. I
mean the Justice Hill extension right, like that was not
a big time deal, but look at the impact that
Justice Hill had on this team last year.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
The interesting thing about it is like I get that
the Ravens aren't going to probably sign anybody to one
hundred million dollar contract and free agency from another team,
but they have made splashes. That's kind of the irony.
Like Dereck Henry again, I know he was he was
in that second tier somehow of running backs, ca Saquon
got the big contract and so he went after he
(11:49):
went after Saquon and Josh Shacobs even but like he
was a pretty big splash. This is a Hall of
Fame running back and coming off a big season who
then obviously had a monster year Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Well, it's not usually like guys that are getting their
second contract.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
It's not, for example, it's not typically, but they have
done that.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Marks Williams was that.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Williams falls into that category. And you know that was
before Tamar Jackson's contract was done. So like a little
bit of a different time, So I don't expect that
type of a deal, But like the Ravens have made
really shrewd signings of course, and I think that I
think that they'll continue to look for the sweet spot
(12:28):
of finding players like van Ney or Clowning from the
year before, Ronald Darby from the year before, like the
players who can come in at lower contracts and be
really productive, high quality players, Like they've got a good
track record or really good track record of doing that.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
And that's the world that they're shopping in. Yes, this offseason,
that's what's clear. Especially, I mean, if you resigned Ronnie Stanley,
that nearly ten million dollars of salary cap space that
you have right now gets gone up mighty quick. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
So you know, we talked about how optimistic they feel
about that. If they can get that done, then there's
(13:04):
really not much Then you're really looking at veteran minimum
deals and you might need to really turn over that couch.
You might need to turn that thing upside down to
get all the change out of it.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
So you know, like I just think that.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
That's that's the world, that's the sandbox that they're playing in.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
This year.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yeah, And on Derrick Henry, I did ask Eric about
because Derek recently made the point that he wants to
retire raven and so there's been talk of whether they
could add another year or something onto his contract. He
signed a two year deal with the Ravens last year,
so he's going into another Uh, he's going into the
last year of his contract. And Eric made the point, Well,
I got a Derek Henry picture on my wall that's
(13:42):
going up right now in my office, So that gives
just some kind of an indication of what we think
about Derek and the possibility of having him here for
a while. So I think that the kind of, like
I said with Ronnie, these two so it's a different situation.
Ronnie's gonna be free agent, Derek on a contract for
the so it's different in that sense. But I think
(14:02):
that it certainly could be a relationship that extends me
on this year. And Derek, as he approved this year,
still has plenty of gas left in the tank.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Well, and that's one way to potentially save a little
bit money of money on this year's salary cap. You know,
if you extend Derek, then you can kind of flatten
that number a little bit more and find out, you know,
as they said, they're looking for every bit that they
can get set. That would be one potential way.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, all right, so let's take a quick break and
then when we come back, we'll dive into some of
the other big notes and takeaways from today's presser. You're
listening to the launch podcast. We're coming to you from
the Sea Geek Studio. We also want to mention our
partners at Draft King Sportsbook. They are an official sports
betting partner of the Baltimore Ravens Draft King Sportsbook. The
Crown is yours. So another topic in Eric the Costa's
(14:49):
press conference was Mark Andrews. Tacosta was asked about him
and he's going into the last year of his contract.
All three of the Ravens tight ends, Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely,
and Charlie Kohler are all going into the final year
of their contracts, and specifically, as it relates to Andrews,
he was asked about basically if they planned how they
(15:11):
plan to handle that. He's got a big cap hit
this year and would you extend him. That's like, we're
just the four.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
He has the fourth highest salary cap pit on the
team this year. Just to be clear about about it,
he has the fourth highest salary cap hit on the
team and it's about sixteen point nine million dollars according
to the spot track.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
And so.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
You just like the conversation we were having with Derek Kennery,
you could flatten that cap by extending Mark Andrews and
rolling that out over the course of the next couple
of years. That's one way to do that. Of course,
you could just let it play out, and he played
this year under the salary cap. And when talking about it,
Da Costa made the point that over the next few weeks,
(15:53):
we'll look at all the different different roster machinations, machinations.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I mean, you're to get that to screw it up.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
We'll look at all of that and figure out how
they want to approach that and how they want to
handle it With Andrews.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Yeah, I think I think there's you know, there's definitely
a huge amount of respect there.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Eric Ticostis said, you know, one day, this guy's going
to go in the Ravens Ring of Honor, and the
Ravens feel like he's going to have an awesome twenty
twenty five season. And so you know the player, the
person that Mark Andrews is like, there's Erictastas said to himself,
there's no bigger fan of Mark Andrews than me. So
the Ravens respect for Mark Andrews is is very clear.
(16:36):
But he has this huge salary cap hitting. You know,
we'll see whether they feel like something needs to be done.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
There, right and then as we continue look into the
offensive line, we talked a lot about it in relation
to Ronnie Stanley. Pat McCarey is also a free agent,
and you know he's so he's poised to hit the
market starting left guard and also basically backup of every
spot along the offensive line. I did talk to John
Harbaugh and he said he hopes that the Ravens were
able to keep both Ronnie and Pat. Now, that would
(17:05):
be tough to figure that out from a salary cap standpoint,
but he indicated that there's hope that the Ravens could
find a way to keep both those guys. He'd be
very happy if that were the case. But if McCarry
were to leave, then that opens up the left guard spot.
Andrew Vorhees actually won that job out of training camp
last year because mcarry opened the season as a starting
(17:25):
right tackle. So then Forhes got hurt and then mcarry
slip switched from right tackle to left guard as Rose
Garden stepped in at right tackle and the Ravens just
rode that offensive line the rest of the year. But
the Ravens have confidence before he is, and John Harbaugh
really spoke pretty highly about him and his ability what
he showed in practice, like, the Ravens are confident in
(17:45):
vorehees if he needs to step back into the starting
lineup this year.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah, it felt like he got better. You know as
the season went on. We didn't see a lot of
them because of that early injury and then being replaced
by McCarry, But in practice, John Harwall said he was
playing really well and he had some spot duty late
in the year and they just felt like, you know,
he continued to develop. And so this is the player
that I think they've really had high hopes for all along.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Big dude.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
You look at him physically, you're like, yes, I mean, gosh,
you flash back to two years ago at the combine
and the dude put up the most bench press reps
despite having a torn ACL, a freshly torn ACL, and.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
You know, the work ethic the player.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
They really feel like they got a steal I think
in the seventh round a couple years ago when they
drafted him after he tore that ACL and so, like
you said, they were impressed with the work that he
put in last offseason, so impressed that they made him
the Week one starter.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
And I feel like he's just going to continue to develop.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
He's still young in his career because of that really
red shirt rookie season, and so he'll have a shot,
you know, if Pat doesn't return to win that starting
left guard job again. But John Harbalaso said, there'll be
other guys in the mix, and you know, potential.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Draft solutions there too.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Eric Takasa said there are a number of guards interior
offensive linemen in the first couple of rounds to the Ravens.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Feel like are just plug and play guys.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Yeah, could start Week one, and so they'll have a
lot of options at guard.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yeah, which if you're drafting a guard, especially in the
first round, you probably expect them to be a plug
and play guy.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
I mean one thing that just this is a bit
of a tangent, but like I just Daniel file Alele
is the starting right guard going into next season. For me, like,
I I think that like fans that are still still
now still talking about how they need to find a
solution at right guard, like the Ravens just that they
(19:45):
gave Daniel file A Lele had his kind of crash
course season as the starter, right, where like it was
a big transition going from tackle to guard, right, and
you got through some of the growing pains. Now it's
time to enjoy the rewards, you know, but I mean,
you know, just just abandoned ship now, Like the guy
got better as the season went along.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Was a Pro Bowl reserve, yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Right, alternate and like had a pretty darn had had
a pretty good year, right, Like, yes, there are some
growing pains, but like he's getting better.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
I just don't.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
I like keep seeing this out there and I'm just
like God, like everybody, he's fo Lili's gonna be the
right guard.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Yeah, yeah, that's totally my expectation too, I think the Ravens,
especially if in a world in which it's possible that
the Ravens lose Stanley and mcarry.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Right exactly, so like now you're replacing three guys again, Yeah,
like that.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Was how many times do we hit we recite the
phrase of the Ravens replaced three starters along the offensive
line this year. They just did that, and so keeping
some continuity there I think goes a long way and
helping the offensive line. So I'm with you at right guard,
but left guard could be open. And if it ends
up being where he's they they do have a lot
of confidence in him, in his ability. It's interesting. I
(21:04):
think that, like I do, a common talking point at
the combine this week has been the conversation of basically
old school football, building the trenches. Everyone saw what the
Eagles did in the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs,
and the Eagles completely controlled the line of scrim is
at a dominant defensive front and the Chiefs couldn't do
anything offensively because the Eagles defense just controlled the line
(21:28):
of scrimmage. They won in the trenches. And so what's
the impact of that? And that's a lot of coaches
and gms are getting asked that question. And I talked
with John Harball a little bit about that today and
he made the point like that could have an impact
on how teams evaluate some of these players. Now. He
also said, and this is definitely true, that like the
Ravens have always been a team that values the work
(21:49):
in the trenches, like they have been a team that's
invested on both sides of the ball in the trenches.
And so that's not necessarily a change for them. But
you see what happened with the Eagles. They've invested a
ton of draft capital, in particular on that defensive front,
and and they they read the rewards of it, and
they that had a big impact in that game.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
So they also invested a lot of draft capital in
their secondary.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
They took cornerbacks with their first two draft packs.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
They did this year. They went with the secondary. Past
years it was more that defensive front. Just like give
me the Georgia guy on defensive front.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Right, And I can I just interrupt you for a
second to say I totally understand the sentiment, and like, yeah,
those de tackles for the Eagles are really good and
the pass rushers and all that, but all right, so
like we want to invest a lot in that.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
We don't feel like we need good cornerbacks anymore.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Yeah, of course, right right, Like I agree, you want
to and the Ravens Eric Scots said, you want to
build up the spine, you know, the middle of your
offense and defense.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
You want that to be strong. You also want the
outside to be strong. Have you need to have the outside.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Wide receivers, and you need to have the outside corners,
and you need to have the say, the safeties, Like
none of it is not important.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, it's all. It all matters.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
It all is.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
But I do think like when you look at this
draft and you talk to people that it sounds like
the defensive front is really good. Pass rusher, defensive tackle,
like it's.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
A good in the draft class.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
And so you can get some impact players there at
both spots like defensive tackle and edge rusher in the
first couple of rounds. And so is it do teams
alter their strategy at all to try to go after
those guys and replicate what the Eagles were able to do?
And does that have any bearing on the approach of
the Ravens take. Eric Ocoso was asked a John Harba
(23:34):
basically about pass rusher and adding a pass rusher and
do you need to go get a pass rusher? Now?
You and I are both of the belief like the
Ravens had a pretty good pass rusher last year. A Dafayola,
Kyle Vannoy both career high and sacks both double digits,
so like the Ravens.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Had second sacks in the league.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Pretty good. But they were both asked about the possibility
of going and getting a pass rusher. And while I
think that the Ravens will add a pass for sure
at some point, neither of them seem to indicate from
to me that the Ravens are really pressed on needing
to get a pass rusher early. They like the pieces
that they have in place already, and they like the
(24:13):
defensive scheme and the way that they can use the
guys to have.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Yeah, I think they feel pretty good about their positioning
that they're not really they don't have to draft one
specific position.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
At number twenty seven, you know.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
I think that their options are open because they have
all these outside linebackers returning. They already have a good
defensive line right And so to me, obviously Ronnie stanley
situation is the biggest domino in that if Ronnie doesn't resign,
then offensive tackle becomes a higher priority. I wouldn't be
(24:48):
surprised if Ronnie doesn't re sign, or even if he does,
if the Ravens pursue a tackle, whether that's retaining one
of their own or bringing in somebody else, you know,
a veteran offensive tackle before the draft comes around. But
if Ronny doesn't stay, I think it's a pretty high
likelihood they're gonna draft an offensive tackle early in the draft,
(25:08):
one of the first two days. But other than that
at number twenty seven, I mean, it could be cornerback,
it could be safety, it could be pass rusher, it
could be defensive linemen. You know, any of those I
think are the top contenders at least. And and so
I don't I don't think that the Ravens are hard pressed.
(25:29):
They're not hard up saying we gotta we gotta get
outside linebacker, knew, we need a difference making kind of
pass rusher, like That's what I'm hearing a lot kind
of from fans. But I don't think the Ravens feel
that way, in part because their defensive scheme isn't necessarily
built just like the Eagles. Like they they want to
(25:49):
get pressure. It's not about just having that edge rusher
that or that four man front you know that gets
after people. It's like simulated pressures, safety zone blitzes, all
these different things. Like the Ravens are a defense where
they want to keep people guessing where's that pressure coming from.
And they're not necessarily one of these teams that says
we're going to spend a lot of either draft capital
(26:10):
or salary cap space and get these like Premiere you know,
top end just edge rushers, and we're just gonna pin
our ears back and go at people with four rushers.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
That's just not who they are.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
I know that we're talking a lot about the Eagles,
as a lot of teams probably are, but like, also
when you look at the Eagles, it's not like they
just like they didn't have the sack leader on their
on their team, like they get it from a lot
of different places. Even in the Super Bowl, it wasn't
all coming from one person or one.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Direction lineman right out outside linebackers. It was everybody inside linebackers.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Yeah, And so like I.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Don't, I don't.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
And also like when you're picking at twenty seven, you're
generally it's generally difficult to get like the best pass
rushers in the draft, they're top ten picks most of
the time, and of course there's some that slip through
the cracks and fall to the later round or whatever.
But I think that if when you're talking about like
the true like the dominant top of the line pass rushers,
(27:07):
those guys are often going in the first five ten picks, and.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
So Dravens aren't getting am dual Carter.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Right, he's gone see you like overall pick, most likely
those guys go early. And so that's that's part of
the equation you need to take into consideration.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
What the Ravens.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
You know, what we'll hear is if if the Ravens
draft the defensive tackle or d end it's like, all right,
this guy you know him and Nandi uh and Travis
they're gonna get after people and really push that that pocket.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
And then that's gonna help the outside linebackers.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
And then if they drafted outside linebacker, oh man, we
got another burner off the edge, and that's gonna really
you know, make it a tight pocket and you get
the push up front and you just collapse that pocket
from all angles. And then if you get a safety,
uh oh man. Now you know we can use Kyle Hamilton.
He's he's a great blitzer. Marlin Humphrey, he's a great blitter.
This new safety he's a great blitzer. Whatever it is,
(28:04):
like all of them can factor into the past rush
in different ways, and they all help everybody else, is
the point I'm making here.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Yeah. Yeah, it's not like in order for this defense
to be successful and to bring pressure, it's not predicated
on getting one guy that can get fifteen sacks. It
can come from all the different angles and that's a
lot of different positions. So and I think that that's that,
and that puts the Ravens in a good spot draft
wise because they can sit, they can sit and pick,
they can take the best player available they can. That
(28:32):
fits the way that they like to approach the draft,
which gives them flexibility when they get to that point.
So it's it's a busy week here in Indianapolis. In
addition to hearing from both Eric and John today, also
catching up with some media folks here, we're gonna be
bringing those interviews to you. So we're gonna be back
with another podcast coming up tomorrow, and in that we
(28:53):
are going to play some of the conversations that I
have with some of the media folks here and share
our reaction to what they're talking about with the Ravens.
So stay tuned for that. I hope you really enjoyed
it so thank you so much for listening, and we
will be back with you again tomorrow
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