Ravens HC John Harbaugh expresses confidence in Baltimore’s OT depth
The Baltimore Ravens have built up a plethora of depth at a lot of different positions during the 2022 offseason, rounding out their roster with players that can be quality contributors in the event of any type of injury that occurs. Baltimore dealt with a myriad of heath issues over the course of 2021, and they’ve prepared well over the past few months to make sure that they are better equipped to combat that problem if it arises in 2022.
One of the positions that the Ravens made sure to address in a big way was offensive tackle. All-Pro Ronnie Stanley has been trying to work his way back from an ankle injury that he suffered in the middle of the 2020 season, and has only played in one game since. When Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh was asked about how some of the offensive tackles have looked, he expressed confidence in the position.
“That’s exactly the silver lining. We’ve got two veteran guys; we have a young guy in Daniel [Faalele], who has looked good. He’s a young kid, he’s a big man. I saw some of the stuff about you guys talking about [him] getting in shape, and yes, he’s working his way into kind of NFL-type-conditioning as a tackle. But that’s … Man, he’s almost … What is he? … I don’t know. I do know, but he’s up there, and it’s good weight. So, he’s going to learn how to play at this level, at this speed – I’m certain of it. And then Jaryd Jones-Smith is doing a really nice job. So, we’ve got five good tackles, I feel like, there, and with Ronnie [Stanley] in there.
The Ravens added Morgan Moses on a three-year $15 million deal and also brought in Daniel Faalele with their first of six fourth-round selections in the 2022 NFL draft. They also have Ja’Wuan James coming back from a torn achilles he suffered in 2021, Patrick Mekari as a versatile option who can step in at tackle if needed, and Jaryd Jones-Smith as a quality rotational piece.
Baltimore has clearly built up their depth around Stanley, and are in much better position to be able to get through any time that the former Notre Dame star might miss in 2022. It remains to be seen if Stanley will be ready for Week 1, but if not the team has plenty of options to fill in for him.
