Earlier in the week, we looked at the roster locks for the Baltimore Ravens 53-man roster. We came up with 45 players, meaning eight spots were on the line. From the rest of the 45 players on the 90-man roster, we identified 19 players who are most likely to fill those eight spots. Who are they, why are they on the bubble, and why could they make the roster?
19. Will Dontay Demus have a shot to make the Baltimore Ravens roster?
Dontay Demus is a UDFA from Maryland. His local connection has many Ravens fans in his corner, but the reality is that it will be hard for him to make the roster as a rookie. First, he fell to a UDFA for a reason. He has not been nearly as productive in recent years, and injuries have taken away a lot of his abilities.
Speaking of abilities, he needs to refine them in key areas to make the roster. He does not have special teams experience and was not a return man, either. So, all of the competition on the roster enters training camp with a leg up on him. As a sixth wide receiver, you have to be a special team asset, and he has not shown that. We need to see that this summer.
18. Can Anthony Brown still make the Baltimore Ravens roster?
Anthony Brown was a rookie last season but wound up making a couple of starts due to the injuries in the quarterback room. He did not fare well, but he is still here. The team had to have reasonable expectations for Brown, and they had to be looking for a step forward. That is the case for him to make the roster because he has a better arm than Tyler Huntley physically.
The case for Anthony Brown on the roster is pretty simple. If the Ravens want a third quarterback, he has to beat out Josh Johnson. Johnson has the experience; Brown has the youth and potential. More than that, the team could keep Johnson as the backup, then it opens the chance for Brown to stay as the number three because the Ravens would move on from Tyler Huntley. He needs things to break his way in the coming weeks.
17. Ben Mason is close to the edge of the Baltimore Ravens roster?
Ben Mason may have the cleanest path of anyone on this list. At the same time, we have him so low on this list because he is unlikely to make the Ravens roster. Mason is the direct backup to Patrick Ricard. The team drafted him in that role a couple of seasons ago, and has failed to take the job for two straight years. He even bounced around and came back and still has not been able to win the job.
The case for Mason is simple, though. He is cheaper than Ricard, and the team could save a little cap space. While the Ravens do not need to make a move like that, it would not hurt and would help in the future. The reality is that Ricard is probably going to get released after this season because his salary goes up, and the ability to get rid of him gets easier. So, do they decide to do it now? Mason has a shot to push him, but we do not see him as one of the eight players most likely to stick on the 53-man roster.
16. Could Del'Shawn Phillips stick with the Baltimore Ravens?
Last season, Del'Shawn Phillips made the Baltimore Ravens roster, but now we see him as number 16 on our roster bubble list. What happened? Well, the Ravens added some big names at linebacker. The trade and extension of Roquan Smith not only took away a spot that was available at this time last year, but it also took away the need to fill the room with depth because there was a big name at the top.
Then, the Ravens drafted Trenton Simpson. Even Malik Harrison was splitting time between the edge and linebacker, but that is going to happen as much this year, assuming Tys Bowser gets healthy soon.
Phillips is a linebacker, but his role on the roster is simple. He has 162 snaps on defense in his career, and just one of them came while he was with the Ravens. Phillips has 659 snaps on special teams in his career, and 273 of them came last season. He is a special team asset.
The fifth linebacker spot is still open, and the fifth linebacker will be the top special teams player. We will see if that can be Phillips.
15. What chances does Daryl Worley have to make the Baltimore Ravens roster
The Baltimore Ravens signed Daryl Worley last year, and while he spent most of the 2022 season on the practice squad, he was able to get onto the field by the end of the season. He handled his own, although it was a limited sample late in the year.
Still, it was enough for the Ravens to bring him back. However, it was not enough for the Ravens to leave the position alone. The Ravens signed Trayvon Mullen, and Rock Ya-Sin, and drafted Kyu Blu Kelly. Mullen was released with an injury already, which helps Worley but still does not push him off of the roster bubble.
He still has Ya-Sin, Marlon Humphrey, and some depth guys such as Kyu Blu Kelly and Jalyn Armour-Davis to beat before he can get onto the roster. When he is arguably the fifth outside cornerback, and there will be a slot corner or two to make the roster, it is hard to say he is a lock. However, he is in the mix.
14. Laquon Treadwell is on the Baltimore Ravens roster bubble?
Laquon Treadwell has not lived to his first-round draft status, and no one can argue that. However, he has been able to extend his career from 2016 through this year, and he has been able to stick on NFL rosters the entire time. So, there is a good chance that he can make the Ravens, but this may be one of his tougher tasks.
First, he has the locks ahead of him. We identified five, assuming Rashod Bateman is healthy and assuming Nelson Agholor and Devin Duvernay are locks. With that in mind, he only has one spot to slip into.
There are also a few guys around him that could beat him for that one spot. James Proche and Tylan Wallace have been here longer than Treadwell, and Dontay Demus is a rookie with more potential to be explored. So, Treadwell could find himself beating all of those options, but at the same time, he is nothing close to a lock where he stands right now.
13. James Proche could still make the Baltimore Ravens roster
This may be the end of the run for James Proche as well. He has been on the bubble before and still ended up on the roster, but this time, it is starting to feel different. The Ravens gave Proche a shot in 2022, and he did not step up to the plate. He got injured when he had a chance to start, and now the Ravens are done giving him those chances.
They went out of their way to add so much depth at wide receiver. The Ravens have five locks on their roster as we sit here today. The competition for the sixth wide receiver will not be easy for Proche. He has the experience with the team, and he has special teams ability.
However, Tylan Wallace has both. Beyond that, guys like Laquon Treadwell and Dontay Demus were added because it is hard to trust Proche. He is firmly in the bubble, and this summer will make or break his future in Baltimore.
12. Could the Baltimore Ravens keep Kristian Welch?
The Baltimore Ravens will hope that a few UDFAs turn out to be as quality of a signing as Kristian Welch even if he sits here firmly on the roster bubble, he has already paid off the value of his signing. He was a low-risk move, and he gave the Baltimore Ravens three seasons of play.
However, most of it is tied to special teams value. He has just 46 career defensive snaps, and four of them came last year. On the flip side, he has 935 snaps on special teams, and 355 of them came last year. If he is going to make the roster, it is clearly going to be special teams.
However, the linebacker room is much deeper than it was last year. There are four locks who are ahead of him because they will impact the defense. Then, there is Welch in a three-man competition with Del'Shawn Phillips and Josh Ross. You can probably make the case for your favorite of the three, but we do not know which way the Ravens are leaning are on these three. That puts Welch firmly on the bubble.
11. Should the Baltimore Ravens keep Keaton Mitchell?
Keaton Mitchell was on of the most exciting free agent signings from the UDFA class this offseason. That is because he produced enough to get an invite to the NFL, and then he blazed a 40-yard dash in the 4.3 range. The combination of production and athletic upside almost never makes it way to the UDFA ranks.
However, Mitchell does have his flaws. He is smaller and is not the best between the tackles. Mitchell also was limited in the passing game and does not have any special teams value. The lack of passing game and special teams is what is going to hold him back from beating out Justice Hill, who brings value in both areas.
However, the issue now is that the team also signed Melvin Gordon. Gordon is not a lock at this age, but the signing speaks to the idea that they do not trust Mitchell to handle real work if an injury occurred to the top two. That is why Mitchell will stay at this point of the bubble.
10. Ar'Darius Washington is on the Baltimore Ravens bubble
The Baltimore Ravens added Ar'Darius Washington as a UDFA a few years ago as he now enters his third season with the team. Just like the first two, he is going to be very close to the roster and may be on the practice squad or getting called up during the season.
Also, just like the first two, he may be shuffling around the secondary. Washington is a slot but has also played free safety. It depends on where the team needs him. Because they signed Marcus Williams, and Geno Stone can play the free safety role, as we saw last year, the team is more comfortable moving Washington into the slot.
That is why Washington is right here on the edge of the top eight, which would be players who should make the roster. The Ravens' slot options are Washington, Arthur Maulet, and Pepe Williams. Maulet signed a few days ago, and Williams is on the PUP. If neither gets up to speed in time, Washington will slide up. Still, both of those two have more experience, and Williams beat out Washington last year. For now, Washington sits firmly on the bubble.
9. Tylan Wallace is on the Baltimore Ravens bubble
Tylan Wallace is another wide receiver who had a chance to make the roster with his past play on the field, and he did not live up to expectations. Mainly, he was unable to stay healthy. Last year the team was rail thin at receiver, and they still could not get Wallace on the field or to produce consistently. It speaks to why the team went out of their way to upgrade over him.
Now, the question is, what is his path to the roster? As the sixth wide receiver, he has a shot to beat out Treadwell, Proche, and Demus. That is because he has more experience than Demus and more team control than Treadwell and Proche. He also is as proven, if not more proven than any of them on special teams, and that is where they will mostly make the roster.
The Ravens also may not even keep a sixth wideout, which is why he cannot get too high, but he is right in the middle of the bubble.
8. Will Jalyn Armour-Davis make the Baltimore Ravens roster in year two?
The Baltimore Ravens cornerback situation is going to be interesting to watch this summer. We noted in the locks segment that there were only players we felt good enough giving a lock to. That means that three or four bubble players will make it, and we have about six names on the bubble. So, the odds can be high for Jalyn Armour-Davis to make it, and he could still find a way to slip through the cracks.
JAD was awful as a rookie. He was benched, and he could not stay healthy to prove himself later in the season. That led to a disappointing year. As we have noted, the Ravens made sure the depth chart was full and that Armour-Davis would be competing for everything this summer.
The pros are that he is in year two of his rookie deal. He is on a nice salary and team control. The con is that they added so many names to ensure he was not a lock. That is what keeps him at this point on the bubble.
7. Josh Ross could make the Baltimore Ravens roster
The Baltimore Ravens added Josh Ross a UDFA last year, and he made a lot of noise in training camp. Mike MacDonald is from Michigan and so was Ross, so Ross was actually more familiar with the Ravens defense than anybody else at this point last year. At this time the rest of the NFL players have caught up, and MacDonald have enough wrinkles in there that it is not an advantage anymore.
Still, the Ravens were clearly high on Josh Ross. They were going to move him up the depth chart through the season but a season ending injury during week two ended his rookie campaign early. Now, he heads into training camp in a serious battle for his roster life. The Ravens added Roquan Smith and Trenton Simpson since his injury.
Also, Del'Shawn Phillips and Kristian Welch are on the roster. Ross is younger, cheaper, and has more team control, so he gets the advantage, but even the fifth linebacker spot is not a guarantee this year. That puts him firmly on the roster bubble.
6. Kyu Blu Kelly is not a lock for the Baltimore Ravens as a rookie
Even despite drafting Kyu Blu Kelly this year, he is not a lock for the roster. To be fair, he was a fifth-round pick, even though the Ravens say they had him graded much higher. Kelly is not a lock mainly because the cornerback room has so much to be sorted out. We only named two cornerbacks on the roster locks in the whole group, so Kelly should not feel that bad.
The question with him is whether he will be one of the top two outside backups. It will be Kelly, Armour-Davis, and Daryl Worley in the outside battle, with Arthur Maulet, Ar'Darius Washington, and Pepe Williams in the slot. Of those six games, the Baltimore Ravens will keep three or four of them, so half of the group is going to be disappointed.
All of them have a reason to make the roster but all of them have their questions as well. Kelly is right in the middle of this group, and he is firmly in the mix to compete.
5. Arthur Maulet has a good chance to make the Baltimore Ravens roster
The Baltimore Ravens just signed Arthur Maulet about a week ago. Still, as we have it, he is firmly on the bubble but on the inside of the bubble, looking out at the players who are not in the top eight. Maulet is a classic slot cornerback who started for the Pittsburgh Steelers last season.
The fact that he started last year has him expected to make the team, but the Steelers did cut him after the draft, so it is not like they loved his services. He also waited this long to sign. Still, he may have been scoping out the situation and saw that this was a good fit, right before training camp.
It makes sense, especially if Pepe Williams is on the PUP. He currently is, and if that holds, Maulet can start in the slot this year. If Williams comes back, the backup slot could still make the roster. Ar'Darius Washington is just outside the roster nipping at both of them, but for now, you have to give the edge to the NFL experience.
4. Will the Baltimore Ravens keep Josh Johnson?
The Baltimore Ravens could very easily keep Josh Johnson. He has two paths to the roster, which is why he is high on this list. The first is the third quarterback. Johnson could make the roster as the third quarterback by beating out Anthony Brown. It is pretty possible when you consider the lack of experience that Brown has compared to the quality play of Johnson as a backup over the years.
Speaking of a backup, if the Ravens feel really good, they could bump Johnson up to backup. It would allow them to save some money and move on from Tyler Huntley. Also, it would allow them to keep Anthony Brown, who is more of a project anyway.
Of course, Huntley has been the backup, and while he is not a big game-winner, he holds things down like any backup should be expected to. As we noted, Brown and his role make sense as the number three. So, should the Ravens have Johnson to push both and then have him go on his way? He is not a roster lock.
3. Is Melvin Gordon a lock for the Baltimore Ravens roster?
The Baltimore Ravens signed Melvin Gordon right before free agency. Considering his status in the NFL and the timing in which he signed, most would call him a lock for the roster. However, he stayed on the Chiefs practice squad last season, so nothing says that the Ravens cannot have similar intentions with Gordon.
Beyond that, we know that the Ravens will run through veteran running backs like dirty laundry. It can come and go quickly. So, Gordon is known but not a lock. His main two questions are J.K. Dobbins and Keaton Mitchell.
Above him, Dobbins is on the PUP. If Dobbins is not healthy, the Ravens need Gordon, and that is half the reason he is here. Still, if Dobbins is healthy, does Gordon get cut? That brings in Keaton Mitchell. The team would keep another back with Dobbins and Gus Edwards, but would it be Keaton Mitchell or Melvin Gordon?
Gordon has the experience, but Mitchell is more intrigued with the youth. So, Gordon has multiple paths to making it, which has him on the bubble but not a lock.
2. Should the Baltimore Ravens keep Angelo Blackson?
Angelo Blackson is less about battling players at his position and more about battling the numbers of the roster. The Baltimore Ravens typically keep six defensive linemen, and if you count out the top six, it is clear Angelo Blackson belongs. The two names competing for that spot would be Rayshad Nichols and Trey Botts, but neither has any experience with Blackson.
However, the debate is still on because the Ravens may just keep five linemen this year. They have needs for depth elsewhere, and if they have to scrap one spot, this is an easy one to look to. If that is the case, then Blackson is going to be on the outside. So, the depth corners, receivers, linemen, and linebackers will all be watching Blackson as much as they watch their own position battles.
Blackson also could find himself on the roster by simply beating Brent Urban. As we sit right now that is hard to see, but a few months of practice may change our mind, and Urban is the least strong of all the locks, if that makes sense. Blackson has multiple paths to the roster and may be more of a lock than we realize. That is why he is on the bubble, but we still have to keep him on the bubble.
1. Will Pepe Williams get healthy in time to make the Baltimore Ravens roster?
Pepe Williams really has one question when it comes to his 53-man roster staus. Can he get healthy in time? Williams is only entering his second season, and considering he was getting chances to start as a rookie, it is hard to see the Ravens give up this soon. However, Williams lost his job last year due to an injury, and if he cannot stay healthy for a second straight season the Ravens have to start making tough calls.
More than that, the team may keep him on PUP, meaning he would not take an initial roster spot. Still, if he is healthy, they need him. They have a lot of depth at cornerback, but only so many who can also play the slot. Williams is slot only, but at this point, the Ravens need that.
They signed Maulet, and he may end up being competition as much as he is insurance, but both of those things keep Williams on the bubble. This summer it will be up to him to earn a spot. He has the cleanest path of anyone.