Offensive Line Will be a Work in Progress for Now

The kickoff to Ravens Minicamp didn’t disappoint. We got to see the squad at (close to) full strength, and that meant seeing the position groups lock horns, as well as getting our first look at how the coaches view the personnel combinations. Let’s recap.

— With turnover along the offensive line, there are growing pains to be expected. The coaches shuffled personnel around today, even featuring Roger Rosengarten and Sala at right guard, Daniel Faalele at right tackle, etc. I expect that you’ll see a lot of different combinations between now and preseason, but the defensive line got the upper hand today. There were a multitude of false starts (the consensus count among the media folks was six), and pressure moved the pocket with the first team defense in there. Silver linings: Lamar Jackson and Josh Johnson both got the ball out quickly, and Andrew Vorhees (from what I could see) looked really polished at left guard.

— Once the O-line and D-line stepped out for the receivers to face off against the DBs, the offense looked much cleaner, which makes sense when you don’t have pressure in your face. The trio of Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and Nelson Agholor were together pretty much all practice, and featured as the top trio. Notably, though, Tez Walker had a really good day. I don’t want to overreact, given that we’ll need to see it consistently, but his first steps as he cut into his routes were noticeably smooth, and he looked more polished even than what his pre-Draft film showed. Walker consistently won his routes practicing with the second-team defense, and I’m hoping we’ll continue to see him stand out.

— Roquan Smith was his usual vocal self. In particular, Ro was hyping up Trenton Simpson after the latter picked up the checkdown options a few times, and he wasn’t shy about telling the offense who the better personnel unit was today. I got the chance to ask Roquan about how that defensive unit maintains the level of success they had last year, and he quickly remarked that, “last year doesn’t matter.” He also talked about the mentality that the defense uses to stay effective: “It’s just about staying hungry. We hunt as a pack.”

— Arthur Maulet had a strong day defensively with a red zone pick, as well as a punchout on Zay Flowers. The competition within the DB room has a lot of names involved, but Maulet has consistently shown why this coaching staff trusts him. Sanoussi Kane also had an impressive play with a batdown of a Josh Johnson pass as he brought pressure. The receivers may have reeled in some impressive catches today, but this Zach Orr defensive scheme keeps offenses honest, and those DBs are going to be a big part of that.

— In the spirit of looking at how the coaches are planning to mix things up going into this season, I asked Coach Harbaugh how he felt the team was adjusting to the changes within the coaching staff throughout the offseason.

“Coaching’s been great. Our guys have come in here and done a great job… I look at the product and I also look at the process, and the process has been amazing. We’ve had some great coaches, and sometimes it’s good to mix it up a little bit.”

-In terms of miscellaneous news and notes:

— Keaton Mitchell was over on the sideline in workout clothes as he continues his rehab process. With the alumni in attendance, he got to come over and greet his dad, former Raven Anthony Mitchell, who was enjoying the event.

— Receiver Deonte Harty was absent from Minicamp, and Coach Harbaugh noted that Harty was monitoring the health of his five-week-old daughter, who is in the hospital.

— In discussing when we can expect to see the O-line unit start to solidify, Coach Harbaugh indicated that the target timeline would be around the second week of Training Camp.

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