5 biggest takeaways from Baltimore Ravens preseason finale
-A backup job was won
-Two absences are noteworthy
-One roster spot may have been won the field
2. John Simpson locked down the Baltimore Ravens starting left guard job
One of the only spots on the Baltimore Ravens starting lineup where we had questions about who would start was the left guard job. At first, we thought Ben Cleveland was in the mix, but that was quickly erased when it came down to Sala Aumavae-Laulu and John Simpson.
Aumavae-Laulu performed well in OTAs, and he was the first one to get work with the starting unit in training camp. However, after about a week, John Simpson took over and did not look back. The Ravens likely saw what Aumavae-Laulu did and then saw how much better things looked with Simpson.
It was easy to see through two preseason games. Simpson was playing against better competition and was a much better player. Aumavae-Laulu was struggling against the backups to the players that Simpson handled well.
So, Aumavae-Laulu played the entire game in the preseason finale. The team sat Simpson as he won the job and now heads into the regular season with full health.