The Ravens have had 10 OTA sessions, three days of minicamp, a month of training camp practices and two preseason games to evaluate their players. Can one more game make a difference?
The team plays its preseason finale against Washington at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m., and head coach John Harbaugh has said that several starters will not play. That will give those on the bubble one last chance to make a case for a spot on the 53-man roster. The team must cut the roster from 80 to 53 players by Tuesday, Aug. 30.
To be sure, nearly every roster spot is spoken for, and the Ravens’ biggest goal against Washington is to leave the stadium as healthy as they enter it. But it’s possible a job can be won. Former defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale said that defensive lineman Michael Pierce made the team as an undrafted rookie based on his performance in the final preseason game in 2016.
Here are five players who will try to do the same Saturday night against Washington:
WR SHEMAR BRIDGES, WR MAKAI POLK
The route to the 53-man roster for undrafted rookies Bridges and Polk got significantly tougher this week with the team’s addition of six-year veteran receiver Demarcus Robinson. With a contract featuring nearly $900,000 in guaranteed money signed a week ago, Robinson seems a sure thing to make the team.
Robinson joins Rashod Bateman, Devin Duvernay, James Proche and Tylan Wallace as the top five receivers. Wallace and Proche have been sidelined extensively in training camp, and that could open the door ever so slightly. The emergence of rookie tight end Isaiah Likely as a top receiving target, though, reduces the need for another receiver.
Bridges and Polk have both had their moments this summer. Polk has the better college pedigree, with a record-setting 105 catches for 1,046 yards at Mississippi State last year. He has seven catches for 62 yards in the preseason. But the 6-foot-4 Bridges, who played at Division II Fort Valley State, has length that others can’t match, and he used all of that on a pair of contested catches, including a touchdown, in the preseason opener. He has five catches for 70 yards.
DL ISAIAH MACK
The injury to Travis Jones could create the chance for one more defensive lineman to make the team initially, and Mack has looked the part in a defensive line group that has probably been the most impressive of training camp.
Mack has bounced around to five NFL organizations in three years since originally signing with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted rookie in 2019. He was signed to the Ravens’ practice squad last year and played in two late-season games, with three tackles and a sack. He can be disruptive up the middle, as he showed at Arizona last week when he pressured Trace McSorley into an incompletion. Mack ranks second on the team this preseason with seven tackles and has three quarterback hits. That shows up on tape and might lead to Mack getting claimed should he be waived next week.
If the Ravens are worried about losing Mack via waivers, they could cut veteran Brent Urban, keep Mack on the initial 53-man roster, then re-sign Urban — a vested veteran not exposed to waivers — a couple of days later when players move to short-term injured reserve.
ILB JOSH ROSS
Ross has outlasted Navy’s Diego Fagot, released earlier this week, and appears to be ahead of Auburn’s Zakoby McClain in the contest to become the latest undrafted inside linebacker to make the Ravens. Ross played at Michigan last year under new Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, which helps his chances. The Ravens already have four inside linebackers in Patrick Queen, Josh Bynes, Malik Harrison and Kristian Welch, and it’s unlikely they will keep five.
Welch — also an undrafted linebacker who worked his way onto the roster — has been a core special teams player for two years, but if Ross makes a big impact on special teams and on defense against Washington, he has a chance to win a final roster spot.
Pro Football Focus has Ross graded No. 1 among all rookies through the first two preseason games.
CB KEVON SEYMOUR
The Ravens figure to be six deep at cornerback with Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters, Kyle Fuller, Brandon Stephens and rookies Damarion “Pepe” Williams and Jalyn Armour-Davis. Is there a room for a seventh? There could be, considering Peters is slowly ramping back up to full practice coming off a torn ACL, and Williams and Armour-Davis both have missed practice time this week.
Seymour, signed by the Ravens last September after being released by the Philadelphia Eagles, appeared in nine games for the Ravens in 2021, with 23 tackles, one pass defensed and one sack — the last of Ben Roethlisberger’s career. Head coach John Harbaugh has praised Seymour’s special teams play, and that often goes a long way in determining the final few spots on the 53-man roster.
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