The Ravens’ first preseason game is in the books, a 16-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in which Eagles kicker Jake Elliott hit a game-winning 49-yard field goal just seconds after missing from 50 yards. Most Ravens starters sat out the game, but several players competing for starting roles or for spots on the 53-man roster had a good chance to make a case for themselves.
“The great thing about a first game is you get an opportunity to see where you’re at,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. “You get to see some good stuff, and you get to see [where] you’re exposed and what you need to work on. Sometimes it’s hard to see that in practice.”
The next chance to do that will be this coming Saturday, Aug. 17, when the Ravens host the Atlanta Falcons in a rare noon kickoff at M&T Bank Stadium. (The early start is because the Orioles play at Camden Yards at 7:05 p.m. that night and the stadiums share parking lots.)
Here are three players trending in the right direction after the Eagles game, and three who might be trending the other way:
STOCK UP
OLB JOE EVANS
As an undrafted rookie, Evans faces long odds to make the team. But he is a healthy edge rusher, which at this point guarantees him a good look.
Five Ravens edge rushers sat out the Eagles game, including three for health reasons. Starters Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh rested, David Ojabo has not yet been cleared by doctors for game action, Adisa Isaac is ramping up after spending the first two weeks of camp on the Non-Football Injury list with a persistent hamstring injury, and Quincy Roche has been sidelined for the past week for an undisclosed injury.
With all of those players out, Evans played 68 defensive snaps, the most of anybody on either team, plus six on special teams. He finished with six tackles. A former walk-on at Iowa, Evans spent six years with the Hawkeyes. His size (6-foot-1, 252 pounds) and older rookie age of 25 might have dissuaded teams, and he wasn’t invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. But the Ravens have had success with Iowa players, and Evans is exactly the type of under-the-radar grinder they admire.
If the injuries to Ojabo and Isaac linger, the Ravens are almost certainly going to have to look outside the organization for additional linebacker depth. But for now, Evans is in prime position to make a case for a spot on the 53-man roster.
CB PEPE WILLIAMS
Late in the second quarter, Williams started creeping toward the line of scrimmage from his slot corner position. Once the ball was snapped, he fired untouched through a gap and buried Eagles cornerback Kenny Pickett for a sack, one of Williams’ three tackles in the game.
Williams also lined up as the top punt returner, averaging 9.0 yards on three returns. He had one 18-yard return and a slip cost him on another return.
The Ravens learned this week that slot cornerback Arthur Maulet is likely to be sidelined into the regular season because of arthroscopic knee surgery, and Kyle Hamilton, another of their top slot options, left practice Aug. 11 with a leg injury. That is going to open up more slot reps for the other slot defenders, including Williams.
Against the Eagles, Williams showed that he can be an impact slot blitzer and also that he is being considered for a significant role on special teams.
RB OWEN WRIGHT
On the Ravens’ first offensive snap, Wright shot through a hole up the middle and picked up 12 yards. On the next play, he caught a pass for 17 yards, and those 29 yards proved to be the Ravens’ offense on their opening scoring drive against the Eagles.
Wright finished the game with seven carries for 33 yards, and his average of 4.7 yards a run was the best of the Ravens’ three running backs in the game. That is fitting, because Wright, the undrafted second-year back who played collegiately at William & Mary and Monmouth, has been the Ravens’ best running back in training camp not named Derrick Henry or Justice Hill.
With Henry on board, and with Hill a good option in passing situations, the role of the Ravens’ No. 3 back will be primarily confined to special teams, but there’s a job to be won there with Keaton Mitchell sidelined until probably at least midseason while he rehabs his torn ACL. Wright, who spent all of last season on the practice squad, has put himself in position to win it.
STOCK DOWN
RB RASHEEN ALI
The Ravens drafted Ali out of Marshall in the fifth round as the presumptive No. 3 back until Keaton Mitchell returns. Yet throughout camp, Owen Wright has looked like the strongest of those RB3 candidates, and he earned the starting assignment against the Eagles.
Ali finished the game with 26 yards on 10 carries, and notably, he couldn’t get into the end zone on three straight carries from inside the Eagles’ 5-yard line. Ali had issues with ball security at Marshall, and he coughed up a kick return against the Eagles, though he was ruled down before the ball came loose. To his credit, Ali gained 31 yards on that return, the longest of the game for either team.
The Ravens don’t like to give up on draft picks, though they did waive fifth-round cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly a year ago in the final cutdown. Ali still has time to win the No. 3 running back job, but Owen Wright was ahead of him on the depth chart going into the Eagles game, and nothing in that game appeared to change that.
WR-KR DEONTE HARTY
One reason Ali was back returning kicks was because Deonte Harty still isn’t doing it. The Ravens signed Harty to a one-year, roughly $1.2 million fully guaranteed deal, but he has hardly been on the field. Harty has missed most of training camp dealing with a soft-tissue injury, and the past few practices he has done some light special teams work at the beginning of practice before heading inside. (Harty had also been excused from some spring workouts because his newborn daughter was in the hospital.)
The Ravens signed Harty to be their return specialist after losing Devin Duvernay to free agency. Harty was a first-team All-Pro as a rookie in 2019 with New Orleans when he led the league in punt return yardage (338), including a 53-yard touchdown. He had a 96-yard punt return touchdown last year and has averaged 25.2 yards on 76 career kickoff returns.
That experience gives Harty an edge over others, but each day Harty misses, especially in preseason games, gives others such as Rasheen Ali, Pepe Williams, Tylan Wallace and Dayton Wade a chance to make their case for that job.
QB JOSH JOHNSON
The Ravens continue to publicly support veteran Josh Johnson, who was re-signed this spring to be Lamar Jackson’s top backup. With Jackson sidelined for the first week of training camp because of illness, the offense struggled to find much rhythm under Johnson, and that was the case against the Eagles as well.
With Jackson watching from the sideline, Johnson played the first half against the Eagles and went 4-for-12 for 62 yards.
In fairness to Johnson, he was playing without any of the top skill position players. Wide receivers Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman, tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely and running backs Derrick Henry and Justice Hill all sat out. That will put a crimp into any offensive system. But when he had time, Johnson sometimes was off the mark, and the Ravens went 0-for-5 on third-down conversions in his half of action.
The Ravens are in deep trouble if Jackson suffers a serious injury. The hope, as with any team, is that if Jackson goes down with a short-term injury, the backup can come in and lead the Ravens to a win or two. A backup’s performance need not be splashy, but it needs to be effective. Johnson, 38, was not that against the Eagles, and, for that matter, neither was rookie Devin Leary. The Ravens might need to reassess whether their backup quarterback is on the roster right now.
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