The 2023 NFL season will kick off tomorrow on TNF and we're just four days away from watching the Baltimore Ravens take the field at the M&T Bank Stadium to host the Houston Texans for both teams' opening game of the year.
With so little time left before the ball gets rolling, the Ravens put out their first "unofficial" depth chart for Week 1 on Tuesday evening, one that Baltimore's public relations staff put together without help from the coaches.
Although this piece of information is not definitive and news might emerge through the next few days (mostly connected to Mark Andrews and Marlon Humphrey's injury updates) it's worth taking a closer look at the first organization of the offensive and defensive units of the flocks now that we have a first idea of what might happen on Sunday.
Here are some observations based on the first unofficial depth chart released by the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday, Sept. 5, ahead of the team's season opener matchup against the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon.
1. Nobody knows who will be Lamar Jackson's backup for now
Exactly one week before releasing their first depth chart for Week 1, the Baltimore Ravens decided to cut veteran Josh Johnson and keep Tyler Huntley in their 53-man roster while signing younger Anthony Brown (although he was cut earlier this week) to the initial 15-man practice squad.
That was a weird decision at first sight because Huntley 1) was nursing a weeks-long hamstring injury, 2) was a doubt to recover in time for Week 1 (he still is), 3) was outperformed by Johnson in the first game of the preseason, and 4) didn't play in any of the last two preseason games while Johnson excelled in them.
The Ravens ended up re-signing vested veteran Johnson adding him to their active roster for the full regular season and carrying three quarterbacks into Week 1.
Now, mere days before kick-off, the Ravens are playing it safe and will keep Houston guessing about who will be Lamar's backup on Sunday (and most probably going forward).
It's not a crucial position/role as long as Jackson stays healthy, but Baltimore should eventually name a backup and stick with him instead of playing this silly game.
2. J.K. Dobbins is ready to go and in possession of the RB1 role
When the first unofficial depth chart was released by the Ravens more than a month ago, on the second week of August, J.K. Dobbins was still in the middle of his hold-in and refusing to train with the rest of his teammates.
Then, with just a few days of training camp left, Dobbins decided to put an end to his personal circus and came back to practice. The aftermath has now been revealed and it was the expected one: Dobbins will play RB1 ahead of the pairing of Gus Edwards and Justice Hill completing the running back rotation.
Edwards was briefly the RB1 of the team in preseason games but that was always going to change the minute Dobbins came to his senses and returned to the team.
This is not a Dobbins vs. Edwards battle anymore, but rather an Edwards vs. Hill for the rights of earning the most opportunities and getting the most touches among the crumbles left by Dobbins as the clear-cut RB1 of the Flock.
There is nothing new in staying the Ravens' new offense will (we have to assume, at least) look very different under the guidance of new Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken than the last time we watched it under former OC Greg Roman.
That has been highlighted everywhere by the most detail-geared analysts, and Baltimore is expected to use 11 and 12 personnel (which means RB+TE+3WR and RB+2TE+2WR respectively) more than ever ditching the two-man backfield oft-used by Roman.
Will that be the case, though? Perhaps not so much judging by the naming of Patrick Ricard as a fully established fullback in the Ravens' depth chart.
Baltimore could have listed Ricard as their fourth-string rusher or just labeled him a tight end, but by handing him the FB position and role the team might be saying that Ricard is going to play a prime role in the offense and be used in favor of another tight end or, more worryingly, wide receiver.
Will we watch Dobbins and Ricard share the field on most plays along with Mark Andrews and only two of the three first-string wideouts? That'd upset most fans out there, but we'll have to wait to know more.
4. Odell Beckham Jr., Zay Flowers, and Rashod Bateman lead the wide receivers unit
Although there are no surprises when it comes to the first three receivers named in the first depth chart, it's interesting to see how Odell Beckham overtook Rashod Bateman for the WR1 role.
Bateman has suffered plenty of injury woes throughout his brief career after entering the league in 2021, but it's not that Beckham comes with a clean bill of health either.
That said, OBJ has looked great all through training camp while Bateman has missed most of it recovering from an injury that didn't allow him to do a lot of training through the summer.
Labeled the "Most Impressive Rookie" Zay Flowers is seemingly the WR3 of the team and the man expected to take most snaps starting on the slot from the LOS. The rookie can cook corners outside of the numbers but he's better suited to man the slot with OBJ and Bateman available and better when kissing the touchline.
5. Devin Duvernay falls behind Tylan Wallace, Nelson Agholor gets WR4 role
Something is brewing in the wideout room and it's not looking good for richman Devin Duvernay.
According to the depth chart released by the Ravens, Tylan Wallace is above Duvernay in the wide receiver pecking order as the former is listed above the latter in the first DC published ahead of Week 1.
The first five wideouts of the Ravens Flock were never in doubt entering roster-cuts day a week ago, and indeed Duvernay made the list easily as was always the expectation.
Wallace, on the other hand, had to fight (fight literally, at times) a hellacious battle for the right to make it all the way to the final 53-man roster. He beat James Proche, Laquon Treadwell, Sean Ryan, Donte Demus, and other receivers and even then it wasn't clear if the Ravens would carry six receivers into the regular season.
Now, though, things are looking great for Wallace as the new WR5 of the team above Duvernay, who is better known for his special-team chops and his hefty salary above $4 million per year.
GM Eric DeCosta said a few days ago that this offseason marked the first time Baltimore received calls from other franchises asking about the availability of their receivers in a trade. Are the Ravens signaling that Duvernay is indeed available?
Trading Duvernay would make a lot of sense if the return serves the purpose of bolstering units in need of reinforcements such as the edge rusher room or the cornerbacks unit.
All of the above leaves veteran Nelson Agholor as the next-in-line receiver to enter games and take snaps on relief duty when OBJ, Flowers, and Bateman need a breather here or there.
6. Ben Cleveland moves to the right, Patrick Mekari gets backup-center duties
Veteran offensive lineman Ben Cleveland entered the offseason in the leading position to get the nod as the starting left guard of the Ravens Flock. Not even one game into the preseason he was already fighting for his life.
Things didn't improve for Cleveland through the summer, but at the end of the day, his experience and his versatility guaranteed him a spot in the final 53-man roster. That, though, came with the caveat of finding him to the right of the center instead of the left side of the line.
In the first depth chart ahead of Week 1 that was confirmed, as Cleveland is listed as the main RG backup to Kevin Zeitler's starting role.
Also across the offensive line, Patrick Mekari makes not one but two cameos in backup roles at both the center and the left tackle positions.
Baltimore decided to cut their lone backup center Sam Mustipher a week ago, later re-signing him to their practice squad and betting on Mekari's versatility to handle backup duties across the line instead of carrying Mustipher's limited skill set.
7. David Ojabo gets a morale boost starting over Jadeveon Clowney
You can look at this from two entirely different perspectives: morale boost and/or pressure bullet.
A few days ago, when GM Eric DeCosta spoke to the media, he said that he still trusts the process when it comes to David Ojabo's development. DeCosta thinks that "eventually when he gets in games, NFL regular season games, I think he is going to have very, very good seasons for us."
We can only wait and see what happens, but Ojabo is getting (for now) the starting EDGE role he wanted but never really proved to be capable of handling through a preseason full of mighty struggles.
So much so, that the Ravens might entertain the idea of trading Ojabo away to bolster their pass rush ahead of the trade deadline if they're in a legitimate position to contend for the Super Bowl this year.
The question about the EDGE positions and roles was answered in the depth chart as Jadeveon Clowney was relegated to a backup/rotational role that could hurt his pockets considering the incentive-laden deal he signed with the Ravens midway through training camp.
This could also put Ojabo under an enormous amount of pressure for what still is a virtual rookie in the league (he only appeared briefly in two games last season).
If he starts a couple of matchups and keeps struggling, odds are Ojabo could end up on the bench and not seeing the field that much, let alone with Clowney around, the upcoming return of Tyus Bowser, and the ground-level, ugly floor showcased by Ojabo through the summer.
8. Marlon Humphrey has not been ruled out for Sunday
This is both true and unknown at the same time. The Ravens will release their first medical update and injury report on Wednesday, and we'll probably know more about Marlon Humphrey's status then after Harbaugh didn't provide many clues about it on Monday.
For now, though, it is very real that Humphrey is listed as the CB1 of the Ravens entering Week 1 in their first depth chart released on Tuesday.
The initial reports about Humphrey's injury, surgery, and recovery timeline spoke about a "month-long" absence. Then, Humphrey debuted his own personal podcast and he revealed that, if it was up to him, he would be already out there on the field practicing and training and definitely ready to play come Week 1.
It's early to say when Humphrey will be back, but if you want to remain hopeful about a quick and earlier-than-expected return, then this depth chart definitely was a good start.
9. Is it Rock Ya-Sin OR Ronald Darby... or maybe Rock Ya-Sin AND Ronald Darby?
In a similar way to how the Ravens tackled the quarterback room in their first depth chart, naming both Tyler Huntley and Josh Johnson as the QB2 for Sunday, they did the same with the opposite cornerback position.
The Ravens listed both free-agent signings Rock Ya-Sin and Ronald Darby as their first-string CB2 opposite Humphrey. That, of course, cannot happen if Humphrey is available, but if he is not quite there yet, then we might already know who will occupy the CB1 and CB2 roles on the outside.
It was widely assumed that Ronald Darby was brought only to cover for Humphrey's injury, but there is a serious chance Darby ends up snatching a starting role opposite Humphrey when the full CB room is healthy.
Expect Ya-Sin and Darby to start on Sunday (barring a miracle recovery by Humphrey), one opposite the other on the outside corner positions. The nickel corner and who will be there, though, is an entirely different question... with a particular player expected to start over there but no clear-cut starter.
10. Final tally: 25 on offense, 25 on defense, 3 on special teams
There you have it.
The Ravens named their initial 53-man roster on Tuesday, endured a hard-to-stomach waiver wire deadline in which they lost a fifth-round rookie to the Seattle Seahawks, re-singed 15 players, and added a behemoth on Thursday to make it 16 PS players.
After some maneuvering regarding Injured Reserve placements and some final teaks and signings, this is your squad for Week 1 of the 2023 NFL regular season. And it is keeping Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans "up at night" as the debutant coach is hella scared about it.
Our beloved GOAT kicker wraps it all add along free-agent-signee and number-flipper Tyler Ott and second-year man Jordan Stout.
Devin Duvernay retained his role as the leading kick/punt returner above RB Justice Hill and WR Zay Flowers, although it'll be interesting to see if the rookie ends up getting a couple of chances to showcase his returning talents.
It's time to get excited, folks, as we're just a few days away from watching it all unfold on the actual gridiron. Can't wait!