5 major takeaways from Baltimore Ravens week two preseason game
-Two starting jobs were won
-Two roles on the depth chart were settled
2. John Simpson will start at left guard for the Baltimore Ravens week one
Ar'Darius Washington locked down the starting slot job, while John Simpson appears to be the starter at left guard when week one rolls around. Simpson started at left guard for the second straight week. This time, Sala Auamavae-Laulu took over for a bit, and Simpson jumped over to right guard, but after time, he jumped back to left guard.
We saw a lot of Simpson in this game, and probably enough for the Baltimore Ravens to feel good about his standing heading into the regular season. It felt like they played him so much in the second half to give him that experience that Sala Auamavae-Laulu was not earning.
Some of the reason for Simpson winning the job is his performance, but Auamavae-Laulu struggled once the lights came on. He was beat clean on a pressure that led to Josh Johnson throwing a short pass and James Proche dropping it for an interception. The debate will be Proche or Johnson at fault, but you can argue that Auamavae-Laulu was the real culprit on this play.
That is why the Ravens quickly shifted back to Simpson. Auamavae-Laulu was a nice story, but he is a sixth-round rookie afterall. It was asking a lot of him to start week one, and that appears to have been too optimistic.