• Welcome to PurpleFlock! Be sure to sign up here so that you can chat with your fellow Ravens fans.

2023 OL Thread

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
Hopefully we're not talking about OTs again this year.

Stanley a year further away from his injury (and already playing at an all-pro level), Morgan Moses, Patrick Mekari, Daniel Faalele is a really great group to be taking into 2023.

Tyler Linderbaum looks like everything we could have possibly wanted out of a new pivot. With Colon and Mekari also here we look solid at backup too.

Guard is where my attention is going to be. With Powers a free agent and Zeitler potentially going to be a cap casualty, we might be looking at 2 new OGs. It's possible that Ben Cleveland nails down that RG spot as a Zeitler replacement. But even in that best case scenario, we'd still be looking at having to find 1 starter and some depth at the position this offseason.

I would say I'm not enthused about the top of this class (from what I've seen so far) at OG. But typically, there's always a bunch of guys in day 3 that I really like the look of. I'm hoping this year will be much the same.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
Good lord



in all the tape ive watched of pass rushers, this is the guy who consistently stood out and drew my attention when watching them vs ohio state

paris johnson on the other side is the more highly regarded OT right now but Dawand Jones is an eraser at RT with his length and grip strength - guys couldnt do anything against him

he single-handedly nuked some of the grades on some of the pass rushers in this class for me lol
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
This quote from Lance Zierlein's profile on Dawand Jones must be David Blackburn from the Ravens right???

Sources Tell Us

“We are fine with big guys as long as they have functional movement. Big, long tackles have a way of working out up here.” -- Director of scouting for AFC team

who else could it be... talking about huge tackles with length, AFC team, probably geographically north

only other realistic option could be the patriots maybe?
 

Simba

Staff Member
Moderator
i really hope there's a run on OTs and OL in general in the 1st round obviously
but doesnt look like an amazing class so far - a bunch of guys with promise and questions, and a bunch of somewhat hyped guys who i dont like at all lol
Haven't done much digging at all into OL yet, but curious to hear who you have in the latter category of hyped but meh
 

Simba

Staff Member
Moderator
darnell wright
jaelyn duncan

think peter skoronski's great but probably not an OT

i really like Anton Harrison who I've seen very little hype about
Duncan was one of two guys (also O'Cyrus Torrence) that I've looked into so far and I had similar feelings. Technique is way off, especially in pass protection.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
Duncan was one of two guys (also O'Cyrus Torrence) that I've looked into so far and I had similar feelings. Technique is way off, especially in pass protection.

i dont know what he does well other than light feet
but if he was the size he is and didnt have light feet then he's not the kind of guy who even smells the draft, let alone actually gets drafted

i think some zone based team might give him a go late day 3 - but personally, for the ravens, i think duncan's borderline undraftable - type of guy you bring in as a udfa if he's there and willing but dont expect much - hand usage is all over the place, he doesnt have a good frame or length, he's sub 300lbs and looks like he doesnt have an anchor or base that can hold up vs any sort of reasonable power and gives up a soft edge vs most rushers - once he gets figured out in games, bad reps seem to come in bunches and it's pretty telling (to me) that he got dominated and had his 2 worst games against the best competition he faced

what does he do well other than footwork?

I've got 3 IOL guys that I've got on deck to watch next: Torrence is one of them and i look forward to that one - also gonna hopefully get to Steve Avila and Emil Ekiyor Jr - ekiyor's not super hyped but he was somebody i watched a fair amount via osmosis from last year's draft class and before he decided to go back to school thought he might have been interesting to look at at OG
 

Simba

Staff Member
Moderator
I've got 3 IOL guys that I've got on deck to watch next: Torrence is one of them and i look forward to that one - also gonna hopefully get to Steve Avila and Emil Ekiyor Jr - ekiyor's not super hyped but he was somebody i watched a fair amount via osmosis from last year's draft class and before he decided to go back to school thought he might have been interesting to look at at OG
Torrence is a fun one. Guys that big shouldn't move the way he does. Feels like he's a good NFL coach away from being an absolute stud.
 

JoeyFlex5

Hall of Famer
i dont know what he does well other than light feet
but if he was the size he is and didnt have light feet then he's not the kind of guy who even smells the draft, let alone actually gets drafted

i think some zone based team might give him a go late day 3 - but personally, for the ravens, i think duncan's borderline undraftable - type of guy you bring in as a udfa if he's there and willing but dont expect much - hand usage is all over the place, he doesnt have a good frame or length, he's sub 300lbs and looks like he doesnt have an anchor or base that can hold up vs any sort of reasonable power and gives up a soft edge vs most rushers - once he gets figured out in games, bad reps seem to come in bunches and it's pretty telling (to me) that he got dominated and had his 2 worst games against the best competition he faced

what does he do well other than footwork?

I've got 3 IOL guys that I've got on deck to watch next: Torrence is one of them and i look forward to that one - also gonna hopefully get to Steve Avila and Emil Ekiyor Jr - ekiyor's not super hyped but he was somebody i watched a fair amount via osmosis from last year's draft class and before he decided to go back to school thought he might have been interesting to look at at OG
I like all 3 of those guys. I don’t watch much film any more these days but I’ve watched all 3 a little bit and really was a fan
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
Can't believe i hadnt heard of him, maybe it's because we had Linderbaum and i havent particularly been looking for Cs...

but Ricky Stromberg is the best C i've watched and i reckon this guy's a 2nd rounder lol - id not heard anything about him before - seen loads of hype around JMS and Tippmann and even Wypler but i didnt love any of them in particular but Stromberg popped

and he's got G versatility too - my guess is we never have a chance to pick him but if he's hanging around in the 3rd round i'd be sorely tempted even with all the other positions we'd want to go

if he somehow makes it into day 3 i think we really have to try and make sure we get this guy

but on a larger note this is why i like this later part of the process - id graded 121 players so far and was thinking maybe im running out of guys that'll pop and make me excited and there comes this random C from Arkansas that id never heard of and suddenly im re-energised lol and the 2nd round gets even fatter

lots of questions at the top of this draft but love the depth on day 1 and day 2 and the weaknesses of this class matchup well with where the ravens don't need to care (no LBs or Safeties... weaker than recent times OT group)
 

Willbacker

Ravens Ring of Honor
Can't believe i hadnt heard of him, maybe it's because we had Linderbaum and i havent particularly been looking for Cs...

but Ricky Stromberg is the best C i've watched and i reckon this guy's a 2nd rounder lol - id not heard anything about him before - seen loads of hype around JMS and Tippmann and even Wypler but i didnt love any of them in particular but Stromberg popped

and he's got G versatility too - my guess is we never have a chance to pick him but if he's hanging around in the 3rd round i'd be sorely tempted even with all the other positions we'd want to go

if he somehow makes it into day 3 i think we really have to try and make sure we get this guy

but on a larger note this is why i like this later part of the process - id graded 121 players so far and was thinking maybe im running out of guys that'll pop and make me excited and there comes this random C from Arkansas that id never heard of and suddenly im re-energised lol and the 2nd round gets even fatter

lots of questions at the top of this draft but love the depth on day 1 and day 2 and the weaknesses of this class matchup well with where the ravens don't need to care (no LBs or Safeties... weaker than recent times OT group)
Well we lost TCC and could use a guard center type and if he's got agility that's what we would need for a good pulling left guard. Really not liking only the prospects of Mekari backing up the center position. Day 3 is most definitely the way to go.
 
Top