The Baltimore Ravens are doing the smart thing by making Lamar Jackson inactive against the Pittsburgh Steelers in week 18. They have nothing to play for in terms of seeding, and an injury at this point would derail the season for something that is not important.
Since the Ravens have shown their hand that they will be conservative this week, which players are the locks to join Jackson on the sideline?
3. The Baltimore Ravens must bench Roquan Smith as well
Neither Roquan Smith nor Lamar Jackson have an injury concerns as of right now. They may enjoy the healing time, but they do not need it as much as some players who are limping to the end of the season. With that said, if one player had to join Jackson as a for sure inactive, it should be Roquan Smith.
Smith is the quarterback of the defense, the Lamar Jackson of his side of the ball. When the Baltimore Ravens traded for him, the entire unit changed, and they became a different team. Now, the defense is peaking at the right time. The last thing they need to do is see Roquan Smith suffer any sort of injury that would put the following four weeks in jeopardy. That is when the team needs him.
The Ravens could bump up Patrick Queen and see how he looks, holding the responsibility that is usually given to Smith. However, one starter who will not see the field is Roquan Smith.
2. Kyle Hamilton will return to the Baltimore Ravens healthy
This one is a pretty easy call as well. First, Kyle Hamilton is the second most valuable player on the defense, behind Roquan Smith. You could argue that he is the third most valuable player on the roster behind Smith and Jackson. If the Ravens are going to make sure their top players make it to their first playoff game, they are not playing Kyle Hamilton any snaps.
Still, this is a really easy decision because the Ravens sat Hamilton last week with a knee injury. The Ravens dominated the Miami Dolphins without him, but he was missed in the game. Still, the Ravens decided that even though the chance to clinch the number one seed was on the line, they would bench Hamilton. Now that the number one seed is locked up, it is clear that Hamilton will not play, even if he was so close to playing last week and is nearly healthy in all ways now.
The Ravens can give Hamilton last week, this week, and then a bye week next week. An injury that may have been a week or two at most gets three weeks to fully heal before their next playoff game. This is too obvious.
Marlon Humphrey will likely join Hamilton as an inactive in the secondary. One question is whether or not Marcus Williams would join these two as an inactive.
1. Can the Baltimore Ravens use this week to get Ronnie Stanley healthy?
This has not been the season that Ronnie Stanley envisioned by any stretch. He has struggled to stay healthy, and when he has been able to get on the field, he has looked like a much weaker version of his old self.
After the Ravens bye week, he has yet to complete a full game in an effort to keep him fresh, healthy, and playing his best football. He played 80.6% against the Rams, 68.6% against the Jaguars, 85.3% against the 49ers, and 70.2% against the Dolphins.
Still, this means now is the perfect time to sit him and potentially get him to play 100% of the snaps when the playoffs come. He has been pushing through a knee injury. Just like Kyle Hamilton, he can now sit out this week and next week. For Stanley, that gives him a two-week grace period.
It also means that the last time he played over 60 snaps in a game would have been November 26th, nearly two months before he may be asked to play 60 snaps for three games in four weeks. Considering Morgan Moses has been on the same pitch count, he is likely to miss this game as well.