Ravens news: 5 players whose stock is on the rise following OTAs
By Justin Fried
3. Josh Oliver, TE, Baltimore Ravens
It’s no secret that the Ravens love their tight ends.
This is why it didn’t come as too much of a surprise that, despite a pretty stacked tight end depth chart, the team sent a conditional 2022 seventh-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for Josh Oliver back in March.
The 2019 third-rounder was a flop in Jacksonville as he battled numerous injuries that kept him sidelined for all but four games during his brief tenure with the organization.
But now healthy with the Ravens, he’s quickly reminding everyone why he was a third-round pick in the first place.
In Tuesday’s practice, Oliver showed off his excellent hands going low to haul in a tough pass from Tyler Huntley in traffic. The play resulted in a touchdown.
In the play just before it, Eli Wolf, one of his primary competitors for the No. 3 tight end job, had a chance to come down with a nice leaping touchdown grab in the back of the end zone.
Instead, the pass deflected off his hands and fell incomplete.
Oliver has looked the part as an athlete and showed impressive concentration at the catch point. He’s a good athlete with good hands and should push for a roster spot this summer.
It remains to be seen how he will hold up as a blocker, but Oliver likely has the edge for the No. 3 tight end job based solely on his receiving skills at OTAs.