The Baltimore Ravens have put together their initial 53-man roster as well as the practice squad before the start of the season. Plenty of changes can come in the following days, and the roster may look different than it did just a few days ago.
However, like always there were some initial surprises when the roster was released. What were the biggest notes on the 53-man roster that had fans ears perk up?
3. Baltimore Ravens must keep shuffling the secondary
The Baltimore Ravens' secondary situation is fascinating. As they stand right now, they have eight cornerbacks and three safeties. That is quite interesting. More than that, they plan to re-sign Kevon Seymour to the active roster, giving them a ninth cornerback.
Of course, both Brandon Stephens and Ar'Darius Washington have played safety before, so they could flip over if needed. Still, Washington is technically the starting slot cornerback.
Injuries are what pushed Washington into the slot, and injuries are why the Ravens have eight cornerbacks. Expect things to change here soon. Both Arthur Maulet and Pepe Williams have been sidelined with injuries, although Maulet appears to be ready to hit the field, while Williams is a candidate for the IR.
Beyond that, the team has to decide how many games Marlon Humphrey will miss because he is another candidate for the IR. If the team pushes Stephens back to safety, and placed Humphrey and Williams to the IR they are back down to six, including Seymour coming back. The Ravens will always be deep tat cornerback because of the questions. Right now it is deeper than ever, but it will alwyas be a position with depth.
2. Did Daryl Worley earn a spot with the Baltimore Ravens?
One surprise from the Baltimore Ravens keeping all of those cornerbacks is that they did despite not keeping Daryl Worley. Worley did just about everything that you can ask your player to do when he is on the verge of making the roster.
First, he thought his name would be in the cornerback mix, but the Baltimore Ravens asked him to move to safety. He did without an issue, and took it over quickly. Worley startd and played every snap on defense in the preseason opener. He even played special teams, showing how much work he got.
Changing positions and dominating evey snap while playing special teams should have been enough for the Ravens to trust him on the roster. However, numbers got in the way. Worley signed back to the practice squad, but he did wait and assess his options.
Due to the depth at safety, he has to feel as though he will get called up soon enough. At the same time, he has to be annoyed that he did everything that was asked of him and it still was not enough.
Was there anyway that Worley would have made the Ravens roster, or was it true that the injuries and the numbers forced the team to do something they would rather not.
1. Do the Baltimore Ravens have enough defensive line depth?
The thing about the 53-man roster is that it will not be moving off of that number 53. So, if you have depth in one spot, it likely means youa re taking away from another. The Ravens have a surprising amount of depth in their cornerback room.
At the same time, they also have no depth on the defensive line. Along the interior they have four players. Justin Madubuike and Brodercik Washington are the defensive ends, while Travis Jones and Michael Pierce are the nose tackles. Something tells me they need some depth along the ends.
Jones can slide into that role when needed, but the thought was that the Ravens would keep five, and maybe six defensive lineman. That dream ended when Angelo Blackson not only got cut, he found his way to a new practice squad. So, he is out of the long term plans. However, Brent Urban is still in the long term plans.
He was cut, but as a vested veteran he did not need to clear waivers. So, he is hanging out and waiting for the Ravens to make a move so that he can come back as the fifth defensive lineman. Who is the correlating move? Do they clear out some cornerback depth to get Brent Urban back? Should the Ravens worked harder to keep Angelo Blackson, and will they need that defensive line depth? We will find out soon enough.