John Urschel Retirement: 3 big things
2. Retirement is frustratingly unfair for the Ravens:
I want to say this before I get into my next argument. John Urschel has the right to retire from football. What Urschel did isn’t wrong, but it leaves the Ravens hanging. Whether or not Urschel would have been the starting center for the purple and black, he was surely part of the team’s plans. The Ravens already talked to Nick Mangold earlier in the offseason. They didn’t bring him on board. If the Ravens knew that Urschel was going to retire, the Ravens may have been more eager to get Mangold under contract. If the Ravens saw this coming, they may have drafted a center or made other moves.
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Urschel may not have won the job at center in the first place but the Ravens offensive line just lost a player. There is one less option for the Ravens up front. Depth is a very important thing. Urschel may have been a little undersized, but he could play guard and center. Baltimore has a lot to figure out up front. Removing a name from the mix may make things more cut and dry, but taking away a viable option is never a good idea.
Think about this like it was any job. There was no warning that he was going to quit. There wasn’t a two week notice. He just out of the blue, retired. Urschel didn’t retire in February or March. He waited until he had to report to camp and he retired. Urschel didn’t do anything wrong, but this is not something the team has to be happy about. Retiring was his right, but the timing was awful.