For 16 snaps Saturday, David Ojabo looked like himself again.
The spin move that posterized Atlanta Falcons right tackle Andrew Stueber in a 13-12 win? That was all over Ojabo’s Michigan highlight tape. The so-called motorcycle lean that the Ravens outside linebacker used to soften the edge for another quarterback pressure? That was part of the athletic promise that made him such a tantalizing prospect two years ago.
After a torn Achilles tendon wiped out most of Ojabo’s rookie year and a torn ACL ended his last season in September, the 2022 second-round pick is still looking for a breakout performance. But Ojabo might be closer than ever, because he’s healthier than he’s been in a while. After Tuesday’s practice, the Ravens’ last open session of training camp in Owings Mills, he pronounced himself 100% healthy.
“It was definitely a slow ramp-up leading up to playing my debut game back” against Atlanta, said Ojabo, who wasn’t medically cleared for the Ravens’ preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. “Every stage of the way, I felt as I was supposed to. … Shoutout to the doctors and the training staff. They got me right.”
Ojabo’s third camp in Baltimore has been his most promising yet. He missed all of the Ravens’ preseason work in 2022, when he was recovering from the Achilles injury that knocked him out of the first round of the draft. Last summer, Ojabo flashed his pass rush ability in organized team activities and early in training camp before being sidelined by a lower-body injury that seemed to sap him of his explosiveness. He recorded just one pressure in three preseason games, according to Pro Football Focus.
Ojabo was cleared for full-team work at the start of camp last month, weeks ahead of schedule, but he hardly stood out. He struggled to beat reserve tight ends as a pass rusher. He couldn’t reliably set the edge as a run defender. The Ravens’ edge rushers, searching for answers from a youthful corps after the departure of outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney (9.5 sacks in 2023), looked worryingly thin after Odafe Oweh and Kyle Van Noy.
Then, almost overnight, Ojabo seemed to find his old gear. He beat the Ravens’ top offensive tackle, Ronnie Stanley, around the edge in one practice last week before forcing a strip-sack against backups the next day. Against the Falcons, Ojabo graded out as the team’s top pass rusher, according to PFF, and more than held his own against the run, a weakness of his at Michigan.
“He’s kept his head on straight and keeps things in perspective,” coach John Harbaugh said Tuesday. “He’s got a really strong family. I don’t know that I really had to say anything other than the fact that conversation is good sometimes, but he’s been in a good place. I think he gets down because he wants to get out there and contribute, and he wants to be a part of it, but he’s excited to get going.”
Added Ojabo: “We all want to feel like we’re special, feel like we’re depended on, and it’s on me to put in the work to make that vision come to life. So it’s a blessing, man. Everybody wants to be wanted, and to know that this team wants me and wants me to be successful, it’s a blessing, man.”
Ojabo’s not the only Raven primed for a potential 2024 breakout. Here are five other camp standouts who could be in line for splashy seasons:
- WR Rashod Bateman: The 2021 first-round pick missed about a week of practice this month with an apparent injury to his midsection, but when healthy, he’s been perhaps the Ravens’ most exciting wide receiver in camp. Bateman is finally earning more targets from quarterback Lamar Jackson — though the connection still needs some work — and he’s shown an ability to attack every area of the field and win contested catches. Zay Flowers will enter the season as the team’s top wideout, but Bateman might have more potential.
- TE Isaiah Likely: Maybe no one in Baltimore has had a better summer. Likely has built on his white-hot finish to last season with a blue-chip performance in camp, where he’s emerged as both a safety blanket and big-play threat for Jackson. Maybe the only thing more impressive than Likely’s one-handed catches has been his Mark Andrews-esque consistency and motor. If coordinator Todd Monken can find a way to weaponize both in two-tight-end sets this season, the Ravens’ passing attack should be hard to stop.
- DL Travis Jones: The 2022 third-round pick has long been one of the Ravens’ strongest players. This camp, he’s finally looked like one of their most complete. Jones led the defense in run stop rate last season, according to PFF — the rate at which players make a tackle that constitutes a “failure” for the offense — and has been a bully as a pass rusher. “He’s a dominant guy in there right now,” Harbaugh said earlier this month. “It’s a superhuman feat, almost, when somebody blocks him in there.”
- OLB Odafe Oweh: The Ravens’ other 2021 first-round pick has been unblockable at times this camp, winning with speed, power and technique. Pass rush coach Chuck Smith said Oweh missed seven to nine sacks last season, when he finished with just five takedowns but ranked among the league’s best pass rushers in pressures. Smith said Oweh is “going to be an A-list rusher,” and the Ravens are banking on it. They exercised his fifth-year option this offseason, extending his contract through 2025. The early returns are promising: Defensive coordinator Zach Orr last week called this camp the best of Oweh’s career.
- ILB Trenton Simpson: The Ravens’ Patrick Queen succession plan is in good shape. Simpson has been one of the defense’s most active linebackers in camp, and he looked ready for contact in the team’s preseason opener, posting a team-high 11 tackles against the Eagles. Simpson’s athletic gifts have stood out as a blitzer and in coverage, impressing not only in man-to-man but in zone as well. Even if his revved-up play style needs to be reined in at times, Simpson will have All-Pro Roquan Smith to lean on.
Stock report
- Ravens rookie outside linebacker Adisa Isaac has been sidelined by a new soft-tissue leg injury, Harbaugh said. The third-round pick, who missed most of the team’s offseason workouts and the start of camp with a nagging hamstring injury, left Saturday’s win over the Falcons with what was initially believed to be cramps. But Harbaugh said Isaac’s injury is unrelated to the hamstring injury and is affecting his other leg. “He just has to keep working through this,” Harbaugh said. “You saw how well he played, right? It’s just a matter of him working into football shape.”
- Offensive linemen Patrick Mekari and Tyler Linderbaum (neck), cornerback Marlon Humphrey and Andrews missed practice Tuesday. Harbaugh said Mekari and Humphrey should be fine, while Andrews is also expected to return soon. Running back Keaton Mitchell (knee) and cornerback Arthur Maulet (knee) remain sidelined. Tight end Scotty Washington was released with an injury settlement Tuesday after hurting his hand against Atlanta.
- Rookie running back Rasheen Ali (stinger), rookie wide receiver Devontez Walker (ribs), defensive lineman Josh Tupou, inside linebacker Josh Ross (concussion) and safety Eddie Jackson returned to practice. Walker, who played only six offensive snaps against Atlanta, had an active session during the Ravens’ less-than-full-speed practice, catching a deep touchdown pass over safety Marcus Williams and making a handful of other receptions.
