Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta is excited about what the offensive line will look like a year from now.
But heading into next Thursday’s season opener against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, he knows there could be growing pains early in the season.
“We may have a couple of hiccups along the way,” DeCosta said when he addressed the media Thursday.
This is not a surprise. DeCosta knew this was coming before free agency took away two of the team’s starters, left guard John Simpson and right guard Kevin Zeitler. He knew it well before he traded right tackle Morgan Moses.
As soon as he decided to make quarterback Lamar Jackson the highest-paid player in the league at the time of his contract extension in April 2023, DeCosta knew cuts were coming to other parts of the roster. Jackson’s deal came after he gave Roquan Smith the biggest contract for a linebacker and was followed by a four-year pact with defensive tackle Justin Madubuike this year.
“Unfortunately, in a salary cap league, you can’t build a team with veterans at every position,” DeCosta said. “[...] But there is a salary cap and there is free agency, and so you have to pay players. But you also understand you’ve got to draft and you’ve got to develop young players.”
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And so the offensive line was where the Ravens decided to rebuild with younger talent.
Coming into this season, they return just two starters: left tackle Ronnie Stanley and center Tyler Linderbaum.
Stanley, when healthy, was an All-Pro and Pro Bowl tackle in 2019. He protects Jackson’s blind side and is the only one on the offensive line who has been with Jackson through his entire Ravens career. After reworking his contract to free $9 million in salary cap space, Stanley is set to become a free agent after this season.
Linderbaum is coming off a Pro Bowl season, his second in the NFL. He plays a position that is important on any team, but the Ravens are placing more emphasis on it this season by giving him more responsibilities.
Neither played in the preseason, and Linderbaum didn’t practice for most of training camp due to a soft-tissue injury in his neck. He returned to practice Monday.
“I think there’s a little bit of an unknown just because we haven’t played as a unit in games,” DeCosta said. “We’ve seen it in practice. Tyler getting hurt early on in camp probably wasn’t ideal. We’re very excited to get him back. But, you know, not having a Pro Bowl center out there, that’s kind of the guy that drives the car in a lot of ways on the offensive line. He’s the guy that typically will adjust the line and works hand in hand with the quarterback on things like protections. It’s a very important position.”
The preseason offensive line featured three potential starters in left guard Andrew Vorhees, right guard Daniel Faalele and right tackle Roger Rosengarten. Veteran Patrick Mekari rotated in at backup center and right tackle. Playing three potential starters and two backups, the offensive line struggled to run the ball and to protect the passer against opponents’ backups.
Despite the poor showing, including a final preseason loss to the Green Bay Packers that he referred to as a “joke,” DeCosta is not worried about where things stand with the unit. It was the team’s decision to “build from the bottom up,” and he trusts his staff, from the scouts’ ability to identify talented players to the coaches’ ability to develop them.
“Excited about Roger,” DeCosta said. “Excited about Andrew. Excited about the future. ... We’ve had a lot of success developing offensive lines in the past. I can give you a bunch of players that we took in the draft or even got off the streets, and they became good players for us.”
‘Stayed strong’ in the secondary
The Ravens had to reach far into their secondary depth chart last season, and they still held strong. After going through that, the front office spent the offseason bulking up the defensive backfield. They drafted three players (two cornerbacks and a safety), extended slot cornerback Arthur Maulet and signed several undrafted rookies, including safety Beau Brade, who made the initial 53-man roster.
Brade, from Clarksville and the University of Maryland, missed organized team activities and minicamp due to injury but rebounded with a strong training camp and preseason. DeCosta said he was one of the bright spots during the Packers game.
When the time came to cut the roster to 53 players Tuesday, DeCosta said, the secondary was the hardest area to trim.
“We’re strong in the secondary, and we stayed strong,” DeCosta said. “We kept some additional guys we really like in our safety group. And it would have been more challenging, really honestly, had Trayvon Mullen stayed healthy and Arthur Maulet, two really good players who got hurt.”
Their players were good enough that other teams were calling to inquire about trades. DeCosta, remembering how injuries ate into their depth last season and in previous years, kept what he had.
High hopes for Andrews and Likely
Following Isaiah Likely’s breakout season, DeCosta is excited about the duo the Ravens have at tight end. His expectations are high.
“I just feel like he and Mark Andrews will be the best tandem at their position in the league and really create a lot of problems for opposing defensive coordinators,” DeCosta said.
Likely shined while Andrews was injured last season, so the Ravens haven’t had much opportunity to hit defenses with both at the same time.
They haven’t shown much of what it could look like. Neither tight end played in the preseason. While there were occasional plays during training camp that featured both, they didn’t often put two-tight-end sets featuring both Andrews and Likely on display. Andrews also has not dressed for practice since he was in a car crash Aug. 14.
Offensive coordinator Todd Monken may be holding his cards close, but coaches and players haven’t been shy in talking about how exciting it could be for Jackson to have two starting-quality tight ends to throw to.
