The Ravens have wrapped up the spring portion of their offseason with a two-day mandatory minicamp following their voluntary OTA workouts. The players now scatter for a month-long layoff before returning for the grind of training camp, when the 2025 preparation begins in earnest.
Ravens rookies are scheduled to report back to Owings Mills July 15, with veterans returning July 22.
While some veterans, including quarterback Lamar Jackson, sat out most or all of the OTA workouts, the optional practices gave players a chance to state their case for a larger role on the 2025 team. Here are three players who probably raised their stock during the spring practice period:
S SANOUSSI KANE
Safety Ar’Darius Washington suffered a torn Achilles in the biggest injury news this spring, but that opened the door for someone else to step into the safety rotation, and Kane looked the part. The Ravens’ starting safety duo is firmly set with Kyle Hamilton and 2025 top draft pick Malaki Starks, but defensive coordinator Zach Orr likes to use three-safety looks, freeing up Hamilton or Starks to float all over the defense.
Washington was expected to be that third safety, but with him out of the picture for most or all of the season, Kane could be ready to take his place. A seventh-round pick out of Purdue last year, Kane appeared in 15 games as a rookie but played just a handful of defensive snaps. This spring, he has looked confident patrolling the back end in full-team periods, and Orr and the Ravens increasingly appear to trust him.
The Ravens still might look to add a veteran safety, but the signing of cornerback Jaire Alexander could affect how they go about fortifying the rest of their roster. The Ravens have also looked at cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis at safety this spring, and second-year safety Beau Brade is in the mix as well.
After one OTA workout, coach John Harbaugh said Kane is “showing up where he’s supposed to show up. I think he’s taken a big step this year. It’s starting to look like he could be that guy, maybe play that role as a third safety, perhaps. [He’s] got a long way to go still, but he’s looking like he’s got a shot.”
RB KEATON MITCHELL
Mitchell acknowledged that he was still a touch tentative when he returned to the field last fall after his 2023 ACL injury. This spring, though, Mitchell has showed the burst that allowed him to make the Ravens as an undrafted rookie in 2023, and he noted that the team’s tracking software clocked him at 22.4 miles per hour — faster than the season-best 20.99 mph that the NFL’s NextGen Stats measured him on a 40-yard run in 2023.
It’s hard to gauge certain things during noncontact OTA periods, but it’s not hard to see how quickly Mitchell can put a foot in the ground and burst through a hole in the line or race to the edge.
Mitchell has his eye on the kick return job this fall, and he said that returning kicks with the NFL’s “dynamic kickoff” format “is like is an outside zone play for a running back, so it is kind of natural.”
Mitchell also predicted that with the NFL’s modifications to the kickoff play — touchbacks are now spotted at the 35-yard line instead of the 30 — touchbacks will be less common.
Mitchell, Tylan Wallace and Rasheen Ali are among those expected to compete for the kick return job, but Harbaugh noted that “running backs, with the new setup, have really kind of thrived.”
Mitchell will battle with Ali for the No. 3 running back spot behind Derrick Henry and Justice Hill, but if his burst is back, and it looks as if it is, Mitchell is an appealing option in the backfield and on kick returns.
G ANDREW VORHEES
Once the Ravens lost Patrick Mekari to free agency, the left guard job opened up, and Vorhees became the immediate favorite to win it. A couple of other things are working in Vorhees’ favor after the spring practice period. First, the team’s one outside free-agent offensive line signing was swing tackle Joseph Noteboom, an indication that those already on the roster will have the chance to win the left guard job.
Vorhees presumably entered the spring with Ben Cleveland as his top competitor for the starting job, and that’s probably still the case. Rookie third-round pick Emery Jones, a tackle at LSU who was a possible candidate at left guard, was sidelined all spring by a shoulder injury, and Harbaugh said as minicamp ended that Jones is unlikely to be ready to practice at the start of training camp. That probably closes the door on him as a Week 1 option.
Cleveland was re-signed by the team to a one-year deal in March, but he could be hit with an NFL suspension related to his February arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence. Cleveland has pleaded not guilty, per court records, and he has a mid-July trial date.
Vorhees started the first three games last season before being sidelined by an ankle injury. When he was healthy enough to return after a couple of games, Mekari had taken his place and started the rest of the season. That wasn’t how Vorhees envisioned last season playing out after he missed his entire rookie year recovering from a knee injury. But speaking after one OTA workout, Vorhees said that he felt he improved last season even while limited mainly to practice time and that he enters 2025 in a good space physically and mentally.
Offensive line coach George Warhop has said he wants to settle on an established starter, and Vorhees said, “It’s just an open position out there for grabs, and it’s up to somebody. So, why not me?”
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