After losing both of 2023’s starting guards, Kevin Zeitler and John Simpson, to free agency, the Ravens have been tasked with replacing both starters on either side of center Tyler Linderbaum. Though Baltimore had thoughts to address those holes in the 2024 NFL Draft, The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec reports that a third-round run on guards led the team’s draft room to shy away from the position.
Starting with the seventh pick of the third round, the Ravens watched Isaiah Adams, Cooper Beebe, Christian Haynes, Zak Zinter, and Dominick Puni all come off the board. Similarly, in the fourth round, a run that included running backs Jaylen Wright, Bucky Irving, Will Shipley, Ray Davis, and Isaac Guerendo (the last four making up four of the five picks before Baltimore’s) led the team to go in another direction (though Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen was available and selected four picks later).
These runs, especially the four running backs selected in the five picks before the Ravens’ selection, seemed strategic, given the team’s obvious desire to add to both positions in the draft. Faced with this challenge general manager Eric DeCosta pivoted, and instead of drafting a player at those positions far above their distinguished value, Baltimore addressed other needs, selecting Penn State pass rusher Adisa Isaac and Iowa State cornerback T.J. Tampa.
Unrelated, rookie safety Beau Brade, one of the Ravens’ top undrafted free agent signings out of Maryland, is set to be sidelined for a few weeks after injuring his ankle in the team’s rookie minicamp. Considered one of the most likely undrafted players to make a roster spot (the Ravens historically have at least one per year), Brade is expected to be back before the team adjourns for the final break before training camp.
Here are a few other rumors coming out of the NFL’s toughest division:
- The Steelers utilized three of their seven draft picks in an attempt to make improvements to their offensive line, including taking Washington offensive lineman Troy Fautanu 20th overall. While the team was happy to see Fautanu fall to them, considering they predicted he could go as high as No. 10, the team also had their eye on Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims. With all the recon the team dedicated to offensive linemen, Pittsburgh likely figured out that Mims was headed to Cincinnati two picks before them, so it speaks to the team’s feelings on Fautanu that they opted not to make a trade up. As soon as they put in the pick in the first round, they went back to work, targeting West Virginia center Zach Frazier to determine whether or not he would still be around at No. 51 (he was).
- New Browns running back Nyheim Hines missed the entire 2023 season on injured reserve after tearing his ACL in a freak jet skiing accident last summer. Known for his abilities receiving out of the backfield and returning kicks, Hines lines up as a perfect complement to recovering lead back Nick Chubb on paper. In order to do that, though, Hines has to come all the way back from the season-ending injury. On the Up & Adams show on FanDuel TV, Hines explained that he’s made progress on his rehabilitation and is on schedule for his recovery.
Really, really like those two Steelers picks. Not much more to say.
I like their entire draft. Just wish they had a stud receiver
The draft went about as perfectly as the Steelers really could have hoped. In nearly every round they got a guy they were praying was still going to be there.
The NFL schedule for 2024 has been out a few days now and it appears the Steelers got the worst of it with the toughest strength of schedule. They’ll need the rookies to have an immediate impact and avoid injuries to key players to make any kind of playoff run.
Yeah they need to come out of the gate strong. I guess I’m with Mark Madden where playing division rivals is concerned. They’d have to play them anyway. But what’s ridiculous is the idea of playing 3 games—the Eagles, Ravens and Chiefs, to boot—in the space of 10 days
Merry Christmas, fellas
We hear a great deal about the NFL considering the safety and well-being of players but profits matter more, of course. The epitome of the term “lip service”
Well, it’ll be a great test. If the Steelers do manage to make the playoffs, that three game stretch will do a lot to harden the team, if they don’t break under the pressure or fatigue from the grind. It could be a blessing, if they handle it correctly.
Still a brutal stretch, I agree. But it could be helpful, in the end.
The Ravens, Browns and Bengals also have a 3 in 10 stretch so that levels the disadvantage some. I completely agree with your “lip service” assessment.
Yeah, the Ravens have the Giants, Steelers and Texans in a 10 day stretch in December.
The Bengals have the Cowboys, Titans and Browns in the same stretch
The Browns have the Steelers, Chiefs and Bengals
I’m going to stop thinking this was a Steelers schedule quirk. Thanks, @crosseyedlemon. Didn’t know this
I’m betting all NFL teams are in this boat—as the league pushes its sport to the masses
Wait, why were the Ravens desperate to take a running back? They signed Henry, Mitchell looked strong as a rookie (which also is a reminder that low-round or undrafted running backs can contribute better than almost any other position), and still landed Rasheen Ali. Isaac and Tampa were much better values than taking a second tier back in a so so class.
They lost JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards in free agency, Mitchell tore his ACL last year and Henry has a ton of miles on his tread and given the shorter term contract they gave him the Ravens view him as a veteran stopgap and rightfully so. Their running back room should be fine this year with Henry, Mitchell and Justice Hill but they certainly needed to add depth and a potential long term starter especially for this franchise whose offensive identity is a power running game that usually features multiple running backs.
All of that makes sense, but I think Ali is a perfectly fine way to address that level of need, especially as it pertains to the rest of their draft. As a fan of the team that drafted Allen, I don’t think he’s worth worrying that much about. Would he or Estime have more potential than Ali? Probably. But I think landing Tampa so late is a bigger win.
I see why you’d say that, Oof, because I’d tend to agree, but I think that jimmyz is probably right. Henry hasn’t played a down for them yet, and has had started to have injuries, and so for the Ravens is a question mark at this time who offers great potential. Given how much they rely on the run, the Ravens need to have a lot of options and a constant pipeline for replacement if it comes down to it. I also anticipate them attempting to continue the effort to slowly ease up on Jackson’s running to preserve his availability as well, and having more bodies in the rushing attack aids in that goal.
As a ammedment to that statement, actually, let me say this: I don’t think that the Ravens simply want “bodies”; I think that want each back to actually have a valuable skillset, and not just be a guy to fill a roster spot. Perhaps that’s why they’d be so invested in taking a player to be the third or fourth guy in the room. If they didn’t get him? Fine, they’d be okay. But still, it appears that they wanted to keep the pipeline flowing.
This “article” provided nothing new or interesting or insightful on the ravens. Just rehashed simple facts