With a week of practice in the books and the Baltimore Ravens preparing for Week 1 of the preseason, the team has released their first official depth chart of the season.
It’s done by the public relations staff, not the coaches, so it should be taken with a grain of salt. But it does give fans and analysts a first look at what Baltimore’s starting lineups could look like and which players are in danger of being cut.
Here’s the Ravens’ first depth chart of the summer:
Quarterback
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| QB | Lamar Jackson | Robert Griffin III | Trace McSorley | Joe Callahan |
No surprise here. This is Jackson’s team after he led the Ravens to the playoffs last season. He’s not going to lose the starting job unless he gets hurt or performs extraordinarily poorly this season. Behind him is Griffin, who performed well last season and was re-signed this offseason.
Given how the Ravens are using McSorley both at quarterback and on special teams, it gives hope they’ll find a roster spot for him for the regular season.
Callahan is really only at training camp because of Griffin’s broken right hand and almost assuredly won’t make the final 53-man roster.
Running back
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| RB | Mark Ingram | Gus Edwards | Kenneth Dixon
Tyler Ervin |
De’Lance Turner
Justice Hill |
Though coach John Harbaugh had previously said Edwards was the team’s No. 1 running back, the depth chart has switched it up. Instead, it’s Ingram who gets labeled as the starter and Edwards right behind him. Though with Baltimore’s run-based offensive strategy, the duo will likely rotate in and out throughout games.
Where this gets interesting in the third spot. Dixon’s job is far from safe given his struggles with staying on the field. Hill is the most likely candidate to take his job this summer.
There isn’t much of a future for Ervin on this team, and Turner can expect to make the practice squad after starting the 2018 season there.
Fullback
| 1st | 2nd | |
| FB | Patrick Ricard | Christopher Ezeala |
Ricard was the Ravens’ leading fullback last season, so it makes sense he still holds the top spot. But he didn’t see the field at all after Week 11 as Baltimore instead used their tight ends as fullbacks when needed.
Ezeala is the Ravens’ international player and grants them an extra spot on their roster to make it 91. He also gives Baltimore an extra spot on their practice squad, which is where he spent last season.
Left tackle
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
| LT | Ronnie Stanley | Greg Senat | Marcus Applefield |
It should come as no shock Stanley keeps his starting spot. He’s one of the best young left tackles in the NFL and the Ravens recently picked up his fifth-year option to keep him in town a little longer.
Senat spent last year on injured reserve with a foot injury, and Applefield is a rookie. While Senat has a chance to make the 53-man roster, Applefield is likely fighting for a spot on the practice squad.
Left guard
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| LG | Jermaine Eluemunor | Alex Lewis | Ben Powers | Patrick Vahe |
This is a huge shakeup in one of the biggest competitions of training camp. Though Eluemunor is in the competition for the starting left guard job, it seems unlikely he’s the front-runner for it.
However, Lewis has still been recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and hasn’t fully practiced yet. Powers has been running with the first team quite a bit, which makes his third-string placement a little odd.
What’s perhaps the most interesting is James Hurst isn’t on this part of the depth chart at all. Baltimore re-signed him last offseason after what he did at left guard in 2017. They eventually moved him back to left guard last season once Orlando Brown Jr. took the starting right tackle job partway through the year.
Vahe doesn’t appear to be in the running for a starting job and likely is only fighting for a spot on the practice squad.
Center
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| C | Matt Skura | Bradley Bozeman | Randin Crecelius | Patrick Mekari |
Skura is the starter at center after holding the job all of last season. But he’s been spotted snapping the ball a little high at times in training camp and doesn’t have the job locked in quite yet.
Bozeman has a chance to win the starting job at center and at least factors into a backup role at guard as well.
Crecelius and Mekari are battling for spots on the practice squad.
Right guard
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
| RG | Marshal Yanda | Darrell Williams | Isaiah Williams |
Yanda is the unquestioned starter. Williams and Williams are likely fighting for a spot on the practice squad more than a backup role behind Yanda at this stage. With so many players fighting for the left guard job, Baltimore will probably just use whoever doesn’t win the starting role as a backup at both guard spots.
Right tackle
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
| RT | Orlando Brown Jr. | James Hurst | R.J. Prince |
Brown cemented himself as the starter at right tackle last season when he came in for the injured Hurst. As long as he continues to progress, he’ll undoubtedly continue to hold that job.
Hurst has been seen practicing with the first-team offense at right tackle largely thanks to Brown being in Harbaugh’s doghouse after a failed conditioning test to start camp. But his experience at right tackle and left guard gives him a pretty firm spot on the 53-man roster regardless of what happens above him.
Prince, like so many others in that third- or fourth-string spot, is eyeing a spot on the practice squad rather than the 53-man roster.
Wide receiver 1
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| WR 1 | Willie Snead IV | Chris Moore | Marquise Brown
Jaylen Smith |
Sean Modster
Joe Horn Jr. |
It’s no surprise Snead takes the top spot after being Baltimore’s most productive receiver last year. As one of only a few holdovers from 2018 and a real asset in the middle of the field, Snead is going to get a starting job to begin this season.
Moore is the other holdover and takes the second-string spot behind Snead. However, he needs to become more consistent this season if he wants to see the field as often given the bevy of additional receivers the Ravens have on their roster this year.
You might be surprised by Brown’s lower placement on the initial depth chart. But given he had been recovering from his Lisfranc surgery on his foot and just recently got cleared to attend practice, it shouldn’t be quite as big of a shock. While he’s still just running individual drills right now, he should move up the depth chart once he fully returns to practice.
Smith, Modster and Horn are all in the mix for one of the few remaining roster spots but will have to impress on the field and likely find a valuable role on special teams to ensure they make the cut.
Wide receiver 2:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| WR 2 | Seth Roberts | Jaleel Scott | Michael Floyd | Miles Boykin
Antoine Wesley |
This is another moment where the depth chart doesn’t seem to make a ton of sense.
Roberts has been on fire throughout training camp and looks to have a spot on the 53-man roster locked up. But Boykin has looked equally as good, making big plays routinely. Yet Boykin finds himself in the fourth-string spot, which is a head-scratcher.
Scott is the only remaining wide receiver selected in the 2018 NFL draft to still be on the team after the Ravens cut Jordan Lasley last week. Scott has been making some plays, but as we found out, his roster spot isn’t guaranteed by any measure and he’ll have to continue to impress to stick around.
Floyd is a veteran presence and has made a few plays but seems to be well behind some of the other players in finding a spot on the 53-man roster. He still has a chance but he’ll have to really begin stacking up big plays in subsequent practices to overtake the others for the last roster spot.
Wesley has also made a few big plays and likely factors into the running for one of the final spots on the roster. However, given his undrafted rookie status, he could be a perfect candidate to slide to the practice squad and continue developing.
Tight end
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| TE | Nick Boyle | Mark Andrews | Hayden Hurst | Charles Scarff
Cole Herdman |
We already know at least three tight ends are going to make the 53-man roster. Boyle, Andrews and Hurst are all locks. Scarff and Herdman are fighting for a spot on the practice squad most likely.
Defensive tackle
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
| DT | Brandon Williams | Willie Henry | Gerald Willis |
Williams isn’t going to be dethroned from his starting job. But as is often the case for defensive linemen, it’s about the rotation. The players beneath Williams are looking at spelling him on certain packages to help keep him fresh over the season.
Henry has had some injuries in recent years but is a force to be reckoned with when he’s on the field. He’s pretty much a lock to make the team at this stage. Willis is perhaps Baltimore’s best undrafted free agent and the most likely to continue their tradition of keeping one on the 53-man roster.
Nose tackle
| 1st | 2nd | |
| NT | Michael Pierce | Daylon Mack |
Pierce started this offseason on the wrong foot, being removed from minicamp practices due to poor conditioning. But Pierce came into training camp thinned down and has been in the backfield quite a bit already. He looks like his typical disruptive self once again.
As one of the Ravens’ fifth-round picks in the 2019 NFL draft, Mack isn’t a lock to make the roster. But Baltimore has typically been a little more lenient in their young defensive linemen as long as they show some progress.
Defensive end:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
| DE | Chris Wormley | Zach Sieler | Patrick Ricard |
Wormley takes the top spot on this depth chart and it’s really his job to lose. But don’t discount Sieler from making some splashes and turning it into a competition.
Ricard also finds himself on the depth chart at defensive end in addition to fullback. But he’ll have to really impress on defense if he wants to secure a spot on the 53-man roster.
Rush linebacker:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| RUSH | Pernell McPhee | Tim Williams | Jaylon Ferguson | Michael Onuoha |
McPhee is one of the Ravens’ newest additions at outside linebacker and has come home with impressive early results. He’s been taking most of the first-team snaps and generating a good pass rush.
Behind him is Williams, who has to step up in his third season to keep a roster spot. But Williams has been seen taking first-team snaps when McPhee is given a vet day off.
Ferguson is Baltimore’s third-round draft pick, which makes him a lock to make the roster. But he’s also seen as a bit of a developmental project. Still, if he improves rapidly through the rest of training camp, he could find his way up the depth chart and push Williams for an impact role.
Onuoha is just additional depth and is trying to make the practice squad more than the 53-man roster at this point.
Middle linebacker:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| MLB | Patrick Onwuasor | Kenny Young | Alvin Jones | Otaro Alaka |
Taking over for C.J. Mosley, Onwuasor is a lock in the starting role. What’s interesting is Young is here at middle linebacker in spite of being expected to be competing with Chris Board for a starting job next to Onwuasor.
Jones and Alaka are both trying to take one of the final roster spots but are likely more in the running for a spot on the practice squad.
Weak-side linebacker:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| WLB | Chris Board | Nicholas Grigsby | Silas Stewart | E.J. Ejiya |
Board has been running with the first-team defense next to Onwuasor and seems to have the starting job all locked up already.
Grigsby is the newest addition, being signed earlier this week. But his second-string placement behind Board likely indicates more about Stewart and Ejiya than him. If Grigsby can be a consistent force at linebacker and can show up on special teams, he could steal a roster spot.
SAM linebacker:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| SAM | Matthew Judon | Tyus Bowser | Shane Ray | Aaron Adeoye |
Judon takes the top spot on the depth chart, which was fully expected before training camp began. Much like Tim Williams, Bowser finds himself as the primary backup but will need to step up in his third season to lock himself into the 53-man roster.
Ray has had an injury-plagued early start to his career and comes to Baltimore looking to change that. He’s stayed healthy so far but hasn’t really shown up like a former first-round pick would be expected to do. He’s not a lock to make the roster and will need to make some big plays to put himself firmly on it.
Adeoye is camp depth and a practice squad candidate.
Left cornerback:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| LCB | Marlon Humphrey | Tavon Young | Anthony Averett | Maurice Canady |
Humphrey is considered one of the best young cornerbacks in the league and he’s shown up to training camp continuing to impress. The starting job should be absolutely locked in at this point.
Though Young takes the second-string spot on the depth chart, he’s really a starter in today’s NFL as the slot corner. It’s part of the reason the Ravens gave him an early contract extension this offseason.
Averett would likely be fighting for a starting role on most defenses in this league but the Ravens’ depth keeps him down on the depth chart. While he’s technically the third-string corner, he’s most likely the first backup behind Humphrey on the outside.
Canady finds himself at the bottom of the depth chart. Even though he’s been with the team since 2016, he’s wound up on injured reserve in each of his three seasons. That injury history and the depth Baltimore has at cornerback means he really needs to stay healthy and step up his game if he wants to make the 53-man roster.
Right cornerback:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| RCB | Jimmy Smith | Brandon Carr | Justin Bethel | Cyrus Jones
Stanley Jean-Baptiste |
Smith had a tough year in 2018, dealing with a suspension and looking like a shadow of his former self after coming back from an Achilles tear suffered in 2017. But he’s back at the top of the depth chart for 2019, pushing Carr down a spot.
Carr might not be at the top of the depth chart this season but defensive coordinator Don Martindale has been moving him around the secondary. If Carr plays a hybrid defensive back role, he could end up still being a starter again this year.
Bethel takes the third-string spot, likely because of his value on special teams. But don’t discount Jones and Jean-Baptiste from what is likely the final roster spot at cornerback since both offer value on special teams as well.
Strong safety:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| SS | Tony Jefferson | Anthony Levine | Chuck Clark | Brynden Trawick |
Jefferson has the starting job locked up but Baltimore uses their safeties in unique ways, so it doesn’t tell the whole story.
Levine effectively comes down as an extra linebacker most of the time, which bolsters that rather thin unit. Clark plays a little bit of everything in the secondary and will see plenty of snaps in various schemes as well as on special teams.
Trawick was just added but is a special teams ace that could make the team solely because of that value.
Free safety:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
| FS | Earl Thomas III | DeShon Elliott | Bennett Jackson |
Thomas was signed as an upgrade over Eric Weddle and brings some serious ballhawk ability to the secondary. Of course, he’s going to be the starter as long as he’s healthy.
Elliott had outstanding OTA practices, making some big plays including a diving interception. But so far in training camp, he’s been pretty quiet and had a few coverage breakdowns. That gives Jackson a chance to cut his way in and turn it back into a competition.
