Tavon Young and Dennis Pitta’s injuries spark more OTA debate

Two big injuries to Dennis Pitta and Tavon Young puts OTAs into question

The Baltimore Ravens have had unlucky start to OTAs. Last week, Tavon Young and Dennis Pitta both went down with season ending injuries on back-to-back days. For Pitta, this is the third hip injury in five years and his career is likely over.

Both of these players were set to be key contributors this season. It’s a major blow on both sides of the ball.

Not only does these injuries hurt the Ravens, but they spark even more debate in the argument about OTAs.

Should the NFL even have OTAs?

According to the NFL Collecting Bargaining Agreement, OTAs are part of voluntary nine-week offseason program that’s divided into three phases. They are the third phase of this process and are defined as this:

"Phase Three consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activities, or “OTAs”. No live contact is permitted, but 7-on7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted"

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Note here that the key word is voluntary. Most of the time, we see veterans or proven players choose to sit out of OTAs because they want to avoid any kind of injury. A coach cannot force their players to show up to these workouts.

However, voluntary seems like a loose word. While OTAs are voluntary, players still seem to be expected to show up. Odell Beckham Jr. is the latest player to get a lot of media attention for choosing to skip out on OTAs. Just about every single sports site you know has picked up the story.

There is no live contact involved in these workouts, but that hasn’t stopped major injuries from happening. A lot of the ACL and knee injuries occur in non-contact situations. One wrong move or twist of the knee could be the end of your season.

If I’m Odell, I’m laughing at all these people criticizing me for not showing up to OTAs after seeing these injuries. You really think 10 days of voluntary workouts are going to be the difference for him this season? Of course not. He’s already one of the best wide receivers in the league and OTAs aren’t going to change that.

But here’s the problem, not every player is in Odell’s situation.

The Grey Line

Tavon Young had a great rookie season with the Ravens. As a fourth round pick, people were surprised to see the production so early in his career. But this offseason, the Ravens went heavy on the secondary in free agency and the draft. They added Tony Jefferson, veteran Brandon Carr, brought back Lardarius Webb and drafted Marlon Humphrey.

These additions immediately put pressure on Young. More guys=less chances to get on the field. As a young player, you are still proving yourself in the league. One good season is never enough. In Young’s case, why would he skip OTAs? If he’s not on the field, another guy is and he’s trying to take his spot. He would be ostracized by the media, because he’s only a second year player.

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This is the problem. It only seems to be ok when the veterans are doing it. And I get it, but if we are going to have this grey line about OTAs, it just needs to be gone as a whole.