When the Baltimore Ravens take on the Pittsburgh Steelers, they will not be looking to start all of their best players. The Ravens have little to gain with a win, and health is the more important factor. The team will put their best foot forward, but with any big names that may have any minor injury, they will lean towards sitting them.
What will the Baltimore Ravens lineup look like this weekend?
Quarterback
The Ravens have already declared Lamar Jackson out, which will leave Tyler Huntley to start and Josh Johnson to play as the backup. Malik Cunningham will be active as the emergency third quarterback for the first time.
Running Back
The Ravens will have Gus Edwards active, but expect him to be the least active member of the backfield. Justice Hill has been playing well and has to grow into the role that Keaton Mitchell was taking. He may get some work. More than that, it will be a heavy dose of Melvin Gordon, perhaps with some Dalvin Cook sprinkled in.
Wide Receiver
The Baltimore Ravens will sit Odell Beckham this week, and Zay Flowers is listed as doubtful. He will not play. Rashod Bateman needs the reps, and the Ravens can only sit so many guys, so he will be the number one for Huntley. Nelson Agholor will be the number two and also slide into the slot.
Tylan Wallace has an injury as well and may not play. If he does suit up, he could get a lot of work. If not, the three wide receiver sets will feature Bateman, Agholor, and Laquon Treadwell. The Ravens may have to call up Tarik Black from the practice squad if Tylan Wallace is not healthy enough to play.
Tight End
Isaiah Likely is young and has hardly had enough time to fill in for Mark Andrews. The team can only sit so many players, so expect Likely to get a normal workload with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. Maybe Charlie Kolar cuts into things a bit in the second half, but he should get a lot of work in heavy sets as well, as he may be a better pass catcher than Treadwell, Wallace and Black.
Offensive Line
Ronnie Stanley needs this week off as much as anyone. Do not be surprised if neither Stanley nor Morgan Moses suits up for this one. Kevin Zeitler is already deemed out, and there is no need to risk Tyler Linderbaum, considering how valuable he is to the Ravens' success.
With that in mind, we should see full games from Patrick Mekari and Daniel Faalel at tackle. Both have been working rotationally in recent weeks. Stanley and Moses may end up being active due to the injuries around them, but Mekari and Faalele deserve looks with full snaploads.
At guard, John Simpson has been up and down, and of the five starters, he is the one that should play this week. At center, it will be Sam Mustipher, and Ben Cleveland will play right guard, where he started last week. Sala Amumave-Laulu should be active this week and may sub in for Simpson late into the game, depending on the situation.
Defensive Line
Both Justin Madubuike and Michael Pierce are playing more snaps than ever. They may both be active, but both should swap roles with Travis Jones and Broderick Washington. Those two will start and get the major work, and they will hope to hardly play their two starters. Brent Urban can eat into that work as well, but this is a great chance for Washington and Jones to get valuable experience.
Edge Rusher
Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy may suit up, but neither will play much given their veteran status and injury histories. The team may play Odafe Oweh, only in a part-time role, and mainly because they have to give snaps to someone.
The Ravens should call up Jeremiah Moon and have him play across from Tavius Robinson for most of the game. At the least, it will be Oweh, Moon, and Robinson rather than Oweh, Clowney, and Van Noy.
Inside Linebacker
There is a good chance Patrick Queen plays this week. With Malik Harrison out, the Ravens lack depth at linebacker, and they have to keep some players active. So, they may slot Trenton Simpson into the role that Malik Harrison usually would play. Then, Del’Shawn Phillips would play the role that Patrick Queen plays, and Queen would move up to the Roquan Smith role.
Cornerback
Marlon Humphrey is out, and Brandon Stephens is highly unlikely to play. This will leave Ronald Darby and Rock Ya-Sin with Arthur Maulet in the slot. Darby and Maulet are on the injury report, so we may see the debut of Pepe Williams subbing in for either of them.
Safety
Kyle Hamilton is highly unlikely to play, and so is Marcus Williams. However, the Ravens declared Daryl Worley out with an injury as well. They have Ar’Darius Washington practicing on the IR, and he may return. This would give them Washington and Geno Stone starting at safety with Marcus Williams active as the third safety.