The Baltimore Ravens officially concluded their 10th and final day of OTAs on Friday. And with that, the final portion of voluntary offseason workouts has come to an end.
Rookie minicamp has come and passed. OTAs are no more. The next stage will be mandatory minicamp which will run from June 15-17 next week.
After that? It’s full speed ahead to training camp.
The absence of OTAs and a true offseason workout schedule last season makes this year’s workouts all the more important — both for returning veterans and young rookies.
And as is always the case, a number of players managed to make a strong impression on the team. Whether they were practicing with the organization for the first time or not, these players made quite the impact over the last two or so weeks.
As such, they managed to improve their stock.
The Ravens have a number of key roster battles to keep an eye on this spring and summer. While most starting spots are already determined, the competition for depth roles is as fierce as ever.
OTAs offered the first real opportunity to see those position battles unfold. And a few players certainly helped their cases.
Let’s take a look at five players who improved their stock with strong showings at OTAs.
5. Tyler Huntley, QB, Baltimore Ravens
One of the more intriguing position battles this summer will be the competition for the backup quarterback job.
Following the departure of Robert Griffin III in the offseason, the Ravens opted to stick with their internal options and not sign a veteran. That left the likes of Trace McSorley and Tyler Huntley competing for the No. 2 QB role.
And while it’s still very early, Huntley probably has the slight edge following OTAs.
Both quarterbacks had their moments and each of them played well, but when all was said and done, Huntley was the more consistent of the two.
Perhaps the highlight of his spring was a deep ball down the sideline to rookie wide receiver Tylan Wallace who caught the pass in stride between fellow rookies Brandon Stephens and Ar’Darius Washington.
This came during a practice last week and Huntley could not have thrown a better ball.
He later connected with wideout Jaylon Moore for a long touchdown that same practice and continued his strong spring in the final practice of OTAs open to the media on Tuesday.
Huntley found newly-signed wide receiver Devin Gray streaking down the far sideline, only for the ball to bounce off his hands and into the waiting arms of safety Nigel Warrior. But the throw itself couldn’t have been better.
It’s still early, but Huntley has the edge on McSorley following voluntary workouts.
4. Rashod Bateman, WR, Baltimore Ravens
Rashod Bateman wasted little time getting himself acquainted with his new teammates and coaching staff during rookie minicamp as he was easily the team’s most impressive rookie.
And despite dealing with some muscle soreness for portions of OTAs, he still managed to make an impact.
Simply put, he doesn’t look like a rookie.
He’s a polished, smooth route-runner with excellent hands, and the way he carries himself would make you believe he’s a 10-year veteran as opposed to a first-year player who has yet to take the field for an NFL snap.
Head coach John Harbaugh put it best when he said that Bateman has been “as advertised” to this point. The tape hasn’t lied — Bateman looks every part of the star wide receiver the Ravens hope he will become.
The only reason he isn’t even higher on this list is due to the fact that the team already had high expectations for him in 2021.
His impressive performance certainly doesn’t hurt matters, but he was already likely to receive plenty of snaps on offense.
Now, the Ravens are just that much more confident in his ability to produce early in his career.
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.
2. Daelin Hayes, OLB, Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens are hoping for at least one or two players to stand out amongst their new-look pass-rush corps this summer.
And during OTAs, no player at the position was more impressive than fifth-round rookie Daelin Hayes.
First-round pick Odafe Oweh had his moments. Jaylon Ferguson turned some heads after showing up in the best shape of his career. But Hayes was easily the most consistent and disruptive outside linebacker at OTAs.
During practice last Wednesday, Hayes beat blocking tight end Eric Tomlinson with a nice spin move before doing the same to undrafted rookie tackle Foster Sarell a few plays later, only this time he did so by beating him around the edge with a speed rush.
And in this past Tuesday’s practice, he once again made his presence felt first intercepting a pass deflected by veteran defensive lineman Justin Ellis at the line of scrimmage and taking it into the end zone.
Later in the day, he badly beat guard Ben Powers prompting the third-year pro to grab a hold of Hayes around the waist for what would have been a holding penalty.
Hayes has been active in both the pass and run game making an impact whenever he’s been on the field.
Don’t be surprised to see Hayes receive plenty of playing time on defense this season.
1. J.K. Dobbins, RB, Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens already had high expectations for J.K. Dobbins going into this spring. But perhaps no player did more to solidify their role with the team than Dobbins did.
The 2020 second-rounder began last season as a backup before working his way into the rotation and becoming Baltimore’s lead back by the end of the year.
He finished his rookie campaign with 805 yards and a team rookie record nine touchdowns on a highly efficient 6.0 yards per carry.
The Ravens have big plans for Dobbins in 2021 and those plans include getting the former Ohio State star more involved in the passing game.
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Given what we’ve seen from him during OTAs, the team must feel pretty optimistic about those plans.
Perhaps the highlight of the entire spring so far was a leaping catch that Dobbins made when he skied over linebacker Malik Harrison for a 40-yard touchdown.
It was one of three receiving scores that Dobbins recorded in that practice alone.
The Ravens believe that Dobbins has All-Pro upside and despite not being used as much of a receiving back in high school or college, he’s proving that he’s more than up to the task in the NFL.
Dobbins finished with 18 catches in 2020 which was nearly half of all receptions by Ravens running backs (38). That figure was the lowest in the NFL and the team will be turning to Dobbins to help them improve in 2021.
Dobbins showed during OTAs that he’s ready to take on a much larger role this season. 2021 could be the year of J.K. Dobbins.