Speaker 1: Welcome into lounge. I'm Ryan Mink here with Garrett Downing,
Speaker 1: and we are going to talk about who has improved
Speaker 1: their stock during Ravens' training camp so far. Of course,
Speaker 1: it's still early. We haven't even gotten to the first
Speaker 1: preseason game, which will kick off Saturday at Mt. Banks Stadium,
Speaker 1: but we've seen about almost two weeks of practice now.
Speaker 1: The pads have come on this past week. There's been
Speaker 1: some high intensity practices as this team gets prepared for
Speaker 1: that preseason opener. And Garrett, we'll start with a player
Speaker 1: that I think is generating maybe the most buzz of
Speaker 1: anyone at Ravens training camp, and that's rookie wide receiver
Speaker 1: Jacoby Lane.
Speaker 2: You can't go anywhere in Baltimore right now without somebody
Speaker 2: stopping and asking, how's Jacoby Lane looking?
Speaker 3: Is he really as good as advertise?
Speaker 2: Is the hype reel all this stuff, and my feeling
Speaker 2: on it is that the excitement around him, based on
Speaker 2: what I've seen in practice is justified. He has been
Speaker 2: better than advertised. He's making seemingly a play a day.
Speaker 2: And the if you were to just stack up, if
Speaker 2: you power ranked, give me the ten best plays of camp.
Speaker 2: Jacobe lane probably has like eight of them, and so
Speaker 2: he's delivering like these highlight reel plays.
Speaker 3: He's doing it with consistency.
Speaker 2: And he's doing it against the first team defense in
Speaker 2: many occasions on many occasions, and he's put himself in
Speaker 2: a position where I think he's going to be a
Speaker 2: starter or like a one to a starter this year,
Speaker 2: depending on what the packages are that they want to
Speaker 2: run on offense, but in three receiver sets, like, I
Speaker 2: think he has done enough to show that he is
Speaker 2: going to be in that top three receiver group.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's not quite decided yet. I think
Speaker 1: Devantees Walker is still going to fit a lot of runtime.
Speaker 1: I think Zay Flowers and bait Rashad Bateman obviously are
Speaker 1: gonna see a lot of action. It's too early for
Speaker 1: me to say, oh, I'm gonna squarely put him ahead
Speaker 1: of Devonte's well in this pecking.
Speaker 2: Order here, I guess I would says he's done a
Speaker 2: better way to put it rather than a starter piece.
Speaker 2: He has done enough to show that he is going
Speaker 2: to have a role on offense this year. He is
Speaker 2: absolutely going to have a roll on off.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and I think I feel comfortable saying it's going
Speaker 1: to be a bigger role than I envisioned even two
Speaker 1: weeks ago before training camp began. He's been a quick
Speaker 1: study and he is an extremely talented player that you know.
Speaker 1: We've seen the highlights from his college tape of making
Speaker 1: these highlight real catches and you're like, well, can you
Speaker 1: do that in the NFL. Well, he's done it in practice,
Speaker 1: at least practice is different from a game. But he's
Speaker 1: done it against some pretty darn good corners, including Marlon Humphrey, right,
Speaker 1: And so he definitely has momentum. I think that is real.
Speaker 1: The talent is real. He has a lot more to
Speaker 1: momentum to build and a lot more to improve on
Speaker 1: to become a guy who consistently makes plays like that
Speaker 1: in NFL games. But gosh, you can't love. You can't
Speaker 1: not love what you're seeing so far from him, and
Speaker 1: I think that he is proving that the sky He
Speaker 1: has sky high potential.
Speaker 2: What I like is that it's not just like a
Speaker 2: one trick pony in that like, oh man, he's got
Speaker 2: great speed and he's just getting behind everybody or while
Speaker 2: he can go up and make contested catches, Like to me,
Speaker 2: he's running a complete route tree. He's making plays on
Speaker 2: deep balls, he's making plays on short routes.
Speaker 3: He's made some of these.
Speaker 2: Highlight reel catches. Like it's the collection that really has stood.
Speaker 3: Out to me.
Speaker 2: And the Ravens talked, Zay Flowers talked about this for
Speaker 2: Sean Bateman talked about it is how they're using receivers.
Speaker 2: They're moving them around a little bit. It's not just
Speaker 2: so defined as you're the outside receiver, you're the slot receiver.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of.
Speaker 2: Movement and Jacobe Lane seems to be comfortable in all
Speaker 2: the different ways that he's being deployed. He doesn't seem
Speaker 2: like he's out there trying to figure out what he's doing.
Speaker 2: Like that's the thing you worry about as a rookie,
Speaker 2: like do you know what you're doing? He knows what
Speaker 2: he's doing and that's allowed him to play fast, to
Speaker 2: make those plays.
Speaker 1: Decklan Doyle did say that Jacoby came up to him
Speaker 1: after one of the practices last week and said, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, I know what I screwed up on, you know.
Speaker 1: And so it's not like he's he's making not making
Speaker 1: any mistakes yet He's a rookie, right, and this is
Speaker 1: a very detail oriented offense. But the fact that he's
Speaker 1: learning from those mistakes, that he's recognizing those mistakes immediately,
Speaker 1: that's already a good sign. I think what stood out
Speaker 1: to me are some little things about him that I'm
Speaker 1: impressed with. And I'll specifically reference Sunday's practice that I
Speaker 1: was here for, and one was his first catch up
Speaker 1: practice was like a fifteen to twenty yard er working
Speaker 1: against Marlon Humphrey. Tight coverage by Marlon, and I really
Speaker 1: liked that Jacoby worked back for the ball. He could
Speaker 1: sense that Marlon was in his hip pocket and he
Speaker 1: came back to the quarterback to make that catch. If
Speaker 1: he didn't do that, I think Marlon probably breaks up
Speaker 1: that pass from reaches around and breaks up that pass.
Speaker 1: And that's kind of just a savvy, almost veteran thing.
Speaker 1: You see that all the time on NFL broadcast when
Speaker 1: you're watching his Oh man, look at him. He knows
Speaker 1: how to work right for the ball, like this is
Speaker 1: a rookie doing that. And I was like, oh, nice
Speaker 1: heads up play there. The other one blocking on the perimeter.
Speaker 1: It was an outside Derrick Henry run and Jacoby's blocking
Speaker 1: on the perimeter against the corner. That really allowed Derek
Speaker 1: Henry to get more yardage out of that that run
Speaker 1: that he maybe otherwise would have. That's gonna get him
Speaker 1: on the field more too. Coaches going like that, Coaches
Speaker 1: love that. And we've seen his willingness to block. We
Speaker 1: saw him blocking Zyeon Young, throwing his nose in there
Speaker 1: and getting after a big outside linebacker, and so little
Speaker 1: things like that are what encouraged me that to your
Speaker 1: earlier point, that it's not a one trick pony kind
Speaker 1: of situation, that he is becoming this complete receiver and
Speaker 1: it's not just oh he's a situational guy. We're gonna
Speaker 1: use him in red zone packages. We're gonna use him,
Speaker 1: you know, in go balls down the sideline to draw
Speaker 1: pis and make some big contested catches. I think that
Speaker 1: that's kind of all When you saw his college stats
Speaker 1: and he led the nation in touchdowns two years ago,
Speaker 1: Elija Thrat did it last season, then you're like, well,
Speaker 1: these guys are red zone threats, they're gonna be situational players.
Speaker 1: I think Jacobe Lane is already proving that he's more
Speaker 1: than that. He could be more than that, even as
Speaker 1: a rookie. Yeah, and so I think that's what gives
Speaker 1: me a lot of encouragement about him. I'll also say, like,
Speaker 1: it's not just buzz from media members. Yeah, that's not
Speaker 1: just gonna say yeah Jameson Hensley. I mean he tweeted
Speaker 1: that he hasn't seen a rookie have a training camp
Speaker 1: like this in all of his years covering the Ravens.
Speaker 1: That's from a veteran reporter. You've seen a lot of
Speaker 1: training camps.
Speaker 3: Yeah right.
Speaker 1: For him to say that means something. But it's not
Speaker 1: just the reporters, it's coaches, Declan Doyle comparing him to
Speaker 1: his hands to Michael Thomas. Ye right, one of the
Speaker 1: great receivers in his generation who got off to a
Speaker 1: crazy fast start in his career, then four straight thousand
Speaker 1: yard seasons to begin his career. Yeah right, Like, and
Speaker 1: coaches are usually pretty wary of really hyping a rookie, right,
Speaker 1: it's usually the all right, pumped the brakes, everybody, I know,
Speaker 1: it's training game. We're all exciting, pump the brakes. The
Speaker 1: kid's got a lot of letc Like Deckam Doyle thrown
Speaker 1: out there that says something, Right, it's former greats like
Speaker 1: Mike Thomas, you know, like like these other great players
Speaker 1: who keep looking at Jacoby and being like, yeah, this
Speaker 1: kid's something, He's going to be something like it's teammates,
Speaker 1: you know. Elijah Surratt said, it's like he's effortlessly good,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. That doesn't mean Jacoby Lane's
Speaker 1: not putting an effort. He is, but like he just
Speaker 1: makes it. He makes plays that way, he.
Speaker 2: Makes a look at for this, I look at like
Speaker 2: the what his teammates, That's what I stood out to me,
Speaker 2: teammates on both sides of the ball. We sat down
Speaker 2: with Marlon Humphrey on the podcast and he talked about
Speaker 2: how he's just been incredibly impressive. He joked like at
Speaker 2: one point it felt like he was standing on his back.
Speaker 2: He went up and caught the ball so high, standing
Speaker 2: on his shoulders. And Derek Henry has talked about how
Speaker 2: good he's looked. And then on the defensive side, Marlin has,
Speaker 2: Jalen Hawkins has, So it's like this consistent drumbeat of
Speaker 2: players who are praising everything he's doing. And there was
Speaker 2: a play with on Sunday where he made a nice
Speaker 2: catch along the sidelines and then him and Derek Henry
Speaker 2: kind of celebrate. Henry runs down the field to jump
Speaker 2: up and they celebrate together, like he's got buying from
Speaker 2: his teammates. And the other last point I'll make on
Speaker 2: Jacoby is jesse Minter talked about how he had a
Speaker 2: conversation with Lamar of like test him kind of in
Speaker 2: training camp, of see put it in some spots, see
Speaker 2: if you can go get it, See how we respond
Speaker 2: to an tested catches, Like this is what training camp
Speaker 2: is for. You want to see how guys can handle it.
Speaker 2: This is how you build chemistry. And so Lamar has
Speaker 2: thrown it up there at times and like let's see
Speaker 2: if you can go get it. Jacoby has been able
Speaker 2: to go get it. And I think that all of
Speaker 2: those things helped build the chemistry and the trust that
Speaker 2: Lamar is gonna have in him.
Speaker 3: And like we're.
Speaker 2: Seeing with Lamar, Yeah, if he trusts you, he's gonna
Speaker 2: keep throwing to you.
Speaker 1: Yep. I've seen Lamar's Sunday Lamar and Jacoby frequent conversations
Speaker 1: between the two of them. Lamar was really Zay Flowers
Speaker 1: didn't practice on Sunday, but a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: multiple conversations with Seoan Bateman and Jacoby Lane, you know,
Speaker 1: and and when you're when you're getting reps with the ones,
Speaker 1: when you have your star quarterback pulling you into the
Speaker 1: side and talk talking to you and giving you tips
Speaker 1: and you know, going back and forth about different routes
Speaker 1: and what he wants to see. All good things for
Speaker 1: a rookie third round pick.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, totally agree.
Speaker 2: So the hype train like has left the station on him,
Speaker 2: but I think it's warranted and I think that the
Speaker 2: next step for him will be how does he do
Speaker 2: in these preseason games. I think most Ravens fans when
Speaker 2: they come to the game and mp MT Bay Stadium
Speaker 2: on Saturday against the Eagles, or they turn on turn
Speaker 2: on the TV, they're gonna want to see Jacobe Lane.
Speaker 2: Like that's gonna be who they are most excited to
Speaker 2: watch in that game.
Speaker 1: Dude, it was wild on Sunday, just on the sideline
Speaker 1: and kids are screaming Jacoby Jacob like, you know, you
Speaker 1: don't often see a third round rookie pick, like the
Speaker 1: kids are yelling for.
Speaker 3: Him getting the star treatment.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's it's I mean, it's cool. And I
Speaker 1: asked the kids, I was like, is he one of
Speaker 1: your favorite players he's there. Yeah, of course we see
Speaker 1: the highlights.
Speaker 2: If he can keep this up, he is he is
Speaker 2: definitely going to be a star. And I think that
Speaker 2: in Baltimore and around the league, and he is.
Speaker 3: Certainly comfortable in that environment.
Speaker 1: His personality lends himself the social media presence all that
Speaker 1: makes him like even a young fans favorite player, right,
Speaker 1: He just connects really well with young fans in particular.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I totally agree. So, uh, good start to him.
Speaker 2: So I think we would agree he's the first guy
Speaker 2: in the notebook.
Speaker 3: When you're talking about stock up. Who else has stood
Speaker 3: out to you?
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with Tyler Loop the kicker. Second year
Speaker 1: kickers has been really good over the weekend, made every
Speaker 1: one of his live field goal attempts. He had multiple
Speaker 1: fifty plus yarders in practice. Sunday. The offense kind of stalled.
Speaker 1: It had an uneven practice, I would say on Sunday
Speaker 1: in part because of some you know, it was false
Speaker 1: start penalties. They had some penalty issues. You just more
Speaker 1: yellow flags than you'd like to see, which back then
Speaker 1: put them in kind of negative scripts down in distance wise.
Speaker 1: And so Tyler Loop was the got a lot of opportunities.
Speaker 1: That was the byproduct, and he made the most of them.
Speaker 1: So that's what you want to see, of course with
Speaker 1: Tyler Loop because of how last season ended. Really you're
Speaker 1: waiting for clutch, high pressure situations. That's where he's going
Speaker 1: to prove that he's beyond that. And we all know
Speaker 1: he's a talented kicker, he's a really good kicker. Until
Speaker 1: we get those situations, and I think everybody's going to
Speaker 1: kind of hold their breath a little bit. But all
Speaker 1: you can do is make the kicks that you're given
Speaker 1: in training camp, and for the most part, that's what
Speaker 1: Tyler Loop has done.
Speaker 2: And the Raves have tried to simulate those situations end
Speaker 2: of practice, fifty push ups on the line, that type
Speaker 2: of stuff. And I'm not going to sit here and
Speaker 2: say that's the same type of pressure as you feel
Speaker 2: at the end of the season in Pittsburgh with the season.
Speaker 3: On them, But like, the best you can do is
Speaker 3: what you can do in this environment.
Speaker 2: And so I think I agree that the test for
Speaker 2: him is going to be how you do once you're
Speaker 2: back in that game situation, how you respond late game situation,
Speaker 2: all of that, and you're not going to know that
Speaker 2: until you know it. And I think that all the
Speaker 2: early indications on him in training camp have been positive,
Speaker 2: which is all you can hope for at the time
Speaker 2: of the year.
Speaker 1: Yep. All right. Next player I'm going to point to
Speaker 1: is safety Jalen Hawkins, And you know he's been in
Speaker 1: the middle of some collisions here, one with with Zay
Speaker 1: Flowers that sent him off early earlier with a quad
Speaker 1: confusion for Jay Flowers, and then another one with Rashad
Speaker 1: Bateman in Sunday's practice where I mean he it was
Speaker 1: a pretty big hit over the middle when Rashaw went
Speaker 1: up to make that play. Now, you want to go
Speaker 1: up and you want to protect your players, and I
Speaker 1: don't think Jalen Hawkins. I know Jalen and Hawkins isn't
Speaker 1: going out there trying to hurt guys, you know, obviously,
Speaker 1: But I do think that you see that this dude's
Speaker 1: gonna hit, and I think he's gonna be a force
Speaker 1: on the back end of this defense. And Jesse Minner
Speaker 1: was asked like, do you have to have a conversation
Speaker 1: with Jalen about some of these hits, and he said,
Speaker 1: like he doesn't want to put that on Jalen like
Speaker 1: even in practice, of course you're trying to take care
Speaker 1: of your teammates, but it's bang bang, And like he
Speaker 1: likes that Hawkins is there to make up play and
Speaker 1: when in games situations he would be leveling some dudes.
Speaker 1: And so I like that from Jalen Hawkins. And you know,
Speaker 1: we've seen Kyle Hoilton is a very physical player who
Speaker 1: just we've seen him destruct blocks near the line of
Speaker 1: scrimmage unlike any other safety in the league, to make
Speaker 1: tackles for loss and just create disruption on the back
Speaker 1: end of the defense, kind of that roving hitting safety.
Speaker 1: Because we don't see Kyle Hoilton in that role, or
Speaker 1: we haven't at least I think he might do more
Speaker 1: of it. But Jalen Hawkins I think could bring some
Speaker 1: more of that.
Speaker 2: He's around the ball a lot, he plays physical. I
Speaker 2: think we all knew when the Ravens drafted him about
Speaker 2: the production he had from a takeaway standpoint led the
Speaker 2: Patriots last year. Like we've said that line like a
Speaker 2: hundred times and whenever talking about Jalen Hawkins. But I
Speaker 2: don't think I fully appreciated or was totally aware of
Speaker 2: just how physical he could be.
Speaker 3: Yep, And I've seen that at practice.
Speaker 2: You want to to the point like you don't like
Speaker 2: seeing him in Zay Flowers collide. That makes your your
Speaker 2: stomach drop a little bit when you see that. Once
Speaker 2: you get into the season and you're delivering some of
Speaker 2: those hits against you know, posing teams, I like that
Speaker 2: a lot. But I think that he plays with the style,
Speaker 2: he has the knack for the football. He's around the ball.
Speaker 2: I want safeties that are around the ball a lot,
Speaker 2: and that's what he is, ye. And so I've been
Speaker 2: impressed with him, and I think he's going to be
Speaker 2: a really important piece. Like him, is there there's no
Speaker 2: better safety trio in the league right than Kyle Hamilton,
Speaker 2: Malachi Starks in Jalen Hawkins.
Speaker 1: Like tough tough to find one better.
Speaker 2: One, ye then that especially when you have Kyle, who
Speaker 2: I think we both agree is probably the best safety
Speaker 2: in football. And Malachi is also a guy that we
Speaker 2: could probably put on the list of who's look good
Speaker 2: in camp so far stock up, everybody's talking about how
Speaker 2: he could be one of the best safeties in the game.
Speaker 2: So those three, I think are going to be a
Speaker 2: strength of this team. And if the Ravens defense is
Speaker 2: going to be as good as we think it is.
Speaker 2: They will be a strength of the team, and Jalen
Speaker 2: Hawkins is going to be a big reason why.
Speaker 1: Yep, absolutely agree. Let's stick with safety, and I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go with KeAndre Jackson.
Speaker 3: Oh, let's get another one. I'm talking to the other three.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the deaths. Let's talk about the fourth.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And KeAndre I think that all of us thought
Speaker 1: he could he could be really a special team standout
Speaker 1: if he continued the momentum that he built during his
Speaker 1: rookie season and really kind of take over a leading
Speaker 1: role on the special teams units, which he certainly can.
Speaker 1: But I've been really impressed with what he's done defensively.
Speaker 1: I mean multiple interceptions. Now, he got one off snoopunt
Speaker 1: Lee during Sunday's practice. Just I mean it was a
Speaker 1: pretty quick throw, it got out pretty fast, and Kandra
Speaker 1: Jackson just broke on the ball immediately and undercut the
Speaker 1: receiver to make the pick. And so you talk about
Speaker 1: getting interceptions, making plays, does anybody have more than Kandre
Speaker 1: Jackson to this point in training camp, I'm not so sure.
Speaker 1: And so to me that you know, you have to
Speaker 1: have depth. We talked about that the Ravens are going
Speaker 1: to use a lot of three safety looks. Well, knock
Speaker 1: on wood, if if anybody were to go down for
Speaker 1: any amount of time, if KeAndre Jackson's out there making plays,
Speaker 1: you don't have to really change what you're doing defensively.
Speaker 1: Plug him in. He's the next guy up right, and
Speaker 1: you don't have to tweak what you want to do
Speaker 1: game plan wise with a heavy three safety rotation. I
Speaker 1: think that Kandre Jackson is proving yeah, he's he you
Speaker 1: can rely on him if called up.
Speaker 2: Also, similar to how we talked about Jalen Hawkins. From
Speaker 2: a physical standpoint, that's one of the strengths of Candre
Speaker 2: Jackson's game, Like he just he does not shy away
Speaker 2: from contact. I think he seeks it out and he
Speaker 2: plays with this like relentless motor. And that's what I
Speaker 2: think caught the coach's attention last year's Like, man, this
Speaker 2: guy just plays hard. He's around the ball like there's
Speaker 2: no quit in him. And that's what coaches, especially like
Speaker 2: from a special teams player, undrafted rookie, like how do
Speaker 2: you find your way onto the field, Just have like
Speaker 2: this relentless motor be around the ball and like no
Speaker 2: quit attitude, and that's what he brings, and so I
Speaker 2: think that he would have that same mentality. He definitely
Speaker 2: would have that same mentality if he gets called into
Speaker 2: a bigger role on offense. And I like him as like,
Speaker 2: I just think he brings energy. That's the thing about
Speaker 2: when I think of Candre Jackson, I think of like
Speaker 2: a big, physical safety that brings energy, yep. And I
Speaker 2: like guys that you want guys to embody that. And
Speaker 2: I've been impressed with him all the way through. I
Speaker 2: don't know, Like I always just in my head envision
Speaker 2: perfect health for everybody any across over the course of
Speaker 2: the year. So like, I don't know what the role
Speaker 2: will be for him on defense. I kind of hope
Speaker 2: that it's not that significant just because the guys who
Speaker 2: are ahead of him continue to stay healthy and play
Speaker 2: as well as we just talked about. But if he
Speaker 2: does need to play, if he does need to step
Speaker 2: into the lineup on defense, I think he's ready. And
Speaker 2: then from a special team standpoint, I think he's gonna
Speaker 2: be one of the best special teamers on the team.
Speaker 2: And like you look at the you look at the
Speaker 2: Ravens history, They've always had a guy or two who's
Speaker 2: like the leader of the special teams unit. Anthony Levine
Speaker 2: is a perfect example. Now he's the coordinator of the group,
Speaker 2: and so like, who's gonna be that special team's leader.
Speaker 2: I think he Andre Jackson could step into that role
Speaker 2: this year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I totally agree. I'm keeping in the secondary. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna stick with a cornerback this time, which one Okay
Speaker 1: TJ Tampa. DJ has just quietly just had another really
Speaker 1: strong offseason. I thought he was one of the Ravens
Speaker 1: better training camp players last year and then just saw
Speaker 1: he saw defensive action certainly more last year than he
Speaker 1: did as a rookie. But the way he's playing in
Speaker 1: training camp this year, I think that he could work
Speaker 1: into a significant role in that rotation. I mean, obviously
Speaker 1: Nate Wiggins is a guy, Marlin's the other starter, and
Speaker 1: then you have cheetoh Ouzie, who again is another starter.
Speaker 1: But Jesse Minter with the Chargers rotated his corners, I
Speaker 1: think at a higher rate than what we've seen here
Speaker 1: in Baltimore, where sometimes your corners are playing you know,
Speaker 1: oftentimes they're playing one hundred percent or close to it
Speaker 1: of the snaps. Now, they did have a little bit
Speaker 1: of a rotation last year with Cheeto getting action in there,
Speaker 1: but I think that there could be an even heavier
Speaker 1: kind of four man rotation. Nate Wiggins is going to
Speaker 1: play a lot, but a heavier four man rotation with
Speaker 1: the way that TJ. Tampa's playing.
Speaker 2: Tampa has is he's playing well enough to show that
Speaker 2: they should consider that for man rotation. Like it's like, Okay,
Speaker 2: this is a guy you might want to get on
Speaker 2: the field more than you intentionally anticipated. So he had
Speaker 2: to punch out one day in practice. Like again, I
Speaker 2: think the takeaway piece is going to be so important
Speaker 2: for this defense this year.
Speaker 3: If they're going to.
Speaker 2: Take a step they needed, they need to force more takeaways.
Speaker 2: And he did that on a play against Rashena a
Speaker 2: Lee last week. Just perfect punch out. And so those
Speaker 2: are the types of plays that you like to see.
Speaker 2: I was I thought you might say Nate Wagans when
Speaker 2: you were talking about players who have stood out. I
Speaker 2: think Nate's had a good camp. I think there's been
Speaker 2: some good battles. We talked about Jacobe. There's been some
Speaker 2: times that they've been matched up against each other. But
Speaker 2: I think that Nate Wiggans overall has had a good camp.
Speaker 2: Come up with the pick, survived contact from Jalen Hawkins
Speaker 2: one day in practice. Actually, those two guys collide and
Speaker 2: Nate came up with an interception and he had a
Speaker 2: he had He's had multiple pass breakups over the course
Speaker 2: of practice. I think he's been sticky in coverage. He's
Speaker 2: talked about being healthy moving back. Seems like he's moving
Speaker 2: really fluidly this year. So I think that he's just
Speaker 2: in store for a big season, and I've seen that
Speaker 2: so far in camp.
Speaker 1: All Right, here's the name for you. You're gonna like
Speaker 1: this one. Adam Randall, the rookie running back. You've kind
Speaker 1: of you've been on the Randall bandwagon from the start
Speaker 1: on board here. I've been impressed as pads have come on.
Speaker 1: He's been a player that has stood out to me.
Speaker 1: And that's what you would expect with a guy of
Speaker 1: his size. I mean, you're talking about sixty three, two
Speaker 1: hundred and forty pound running back. Dude. This guy just
Speaker 1: runs hard. Yeah, man, I mean it's it's impressive. He
Speaker 1: reminds me a little bit of Gus Edwards. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think it's a good one cut runner, get your foot
Speaker 1: in the ground, getting north south. Big dude, he's gonna
Speaker 1: run through arm tackles. One play on Sunday, I mean
Speaker 1: he was stopped in the backfield by a defensive lineman,
Speaker 1: kind of shook that off, came around the corner for
Speaker 1: a ten to fifteen yard gain, and I just think
Speaker 1: that he's a player that wants the pads have come on.
Speaker 1: You see and see Meencer talked about this, you know,
Speaker 1: you're like when you're in thud, which is basically like
Speaker 1: you kind of give the guy a bump.
Speaker 3: Basically to step up from two hand touch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, to say, like you you're tackled, when you're
Speaker 1: in thud, you blow it a play dead, you know
Speaker 1: when they get bumped. Well, when it's live tackling and
Speaker 1: a player gets bumped and he doesn't get down, to're like,
Speaker 1: oh okay, that he wouldn't. He would have been down
Speaker 1: on that thud actually, And Adam Randall's showing it's gonna
Speaker 1: take more than a thud to tackle me. And so
Speaker 1: I've been impressed with the rookie running back.
Speaker 3: Well. We talked about how TJ.
Speaker 2: Tampa has played well enough that may give the coaches
Speaker 2: something to think about. You do you find ways to
Speaker 2: work him into the rotation. I think that's true of
Speaker 2: Adam Randall. I think that he's done enough, and I
Speaker 2: do think the preseason is going to be important for him.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be really exciting because he's probably gonna get
Speaker 1: a lot of runtime. I mean a lot of runtime.
Speaker 1: You've seen Derrick Henry I was I would not much,
Speaker 1: if at all, of Derrick Henry in the preseason. Justice
Speaker 1: Hill has proven everything he needs to prove in his
Speaker 1: career to this point, right.
Speaker 2: I think for those two guys, I don't know how
Speaker 2: much you I mean, certainly Henry even Hill, I don't
Speaker 2: know how much you need to see of him in
Speaker 2: the preseason.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. Adam Randall here is a converted wide receiver
Speaker 1: to running back. He really a one year running back
Speaker 1: at Clemson who is now coming into Baltimore looking to
Speaker 1: establish himself. You give him a lot of snaps and
Speaker 1: you say, basically, you're in the lead back role. Let's
Speaker 1: see what Let's see how you handle this. I'm excited
Speaker 1: to watch Adam Randall this preseason.
Speaker 2: Every step of the process. For me, he has stood out.
Speaker 2: I thought he looked really good at rookie minie camp.
Speaker 2: I thought he looked good in OTA's I think he's
Speaker 2: just continued to look good over the course of training
Speaker 2: camp pads on pass off like he just stood out
Speaker 2: to me. He runs hard when he gets the ball
Speaker 2: in his hands, like he runs with intent, and he
Speaker 2: also catches the ball well again converted wide receiver. So like,
Speaker 2: I think there's gonna be plays and packages where he
Speaker 2: has I mean, look, there's a lot of mouths of
Speaker 2: feet on offense, So I don't think that Decklan Doyle
Speaker 2: is gonna spend like too much time like then we
Speaker 2: dial up a whole package for Adam Randall. But I
Speaker 2: think that when he's in the game, he can catch
Speaker 2: the ball out of the backfield and then turn up
Speaker 2: field and get pick up ten yards.
Speaker 3: He has that ability, and.
Speaker 2: He can also run between the tackles like he's not
Speaker 2: just a swing pass guy that can make things happen
Speaker 2: when he gets the ball out in space like he
Speaker 2: can run between the tackles. He has that size and
Speaker 2: hard running ability. So he has shown enough to me
Speaker 2: that you think about could he take more snaps from
Speaker 2: Justice Hill if he's looking as good as he has
Speaker 2: in camp, Like, could he force the coaches to say,
Speaker 2: let's just get him on the field more, especially as
Speaker 2: you think about the long season, like Derek of course
Speaker 2: and Justice, like they're veteran running backs. You want to
Speaker 2: keep these guys fresh all throughout the year, and so
Speaker 2: you have a rookie running back that is showing real
Speaker 2: potential and ability there. I think that he's going to
Speaker 2: find his way onto the field. And then the other
Speaker 2: factor too is the Ravens have to decide do they
Speaker 2: keep three or four running backs. Rashina Lee is the
Speaker 2: other one who they have to see on the team.
Speaker 2: Is the office say, are what kind of role does
Speaker 2: he have on this offense. That's something that they're going
Speaker 2: to evaluate over the course of these preseason games. I
Speaker 2: think Rashin Alise also a really good special teams player,
Speaker 2: so I think that he's going to definitely bring something
Speaker 2: in that regard. Maybe this is maybe it's a starting
Speaker 2: kick returner. But yeah, Adam Raynald to me, has been
Speaker 2: a stand out since the time he got here, and
Speaker 2: I think that he may be a diamond in the
Speaker 2: rough find for the Ravens in this draft.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, I agree, let's go to the offensive line.
Speaker 1: How about Danny Pinner at center. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: that when Ethan Postik was signed, a lot of people
Speaker 1: pointed to it and said, all right, the Ravens answered
Speaker 1: the center question, here's a long time starting center to
Speaker 1: plug in there. You know it's done. And Jesse Minner
Speaker 1: came on this very podcast and said, hey, it's still
Speaker 1: a competition, you know, And and they the Ravens were
Speaker 1: impressed with Danny Pincer and Javon Gwinn and these guys
Speaker 1: that they had already in house, and Postik was another
Speaker 1: piece in that competition. And I think that we've still
Speaker 1: seen Pincer get a lot of runtime with the first
Speaker 1: team offense. Posik now he could still very well win
Speaker 1: the job and be the starting center week one. Keep
Speaker 1: in mind he's working his way back from an achilles
Speaker 1: into a serious Achilles injury, and so you know he's
Speaker 1: gonna need time to knock off the rust and get
Speaker 1: up to speed as well as just with the offense, right,
Speaker 1: learning the offense and whatnot. But I do think the
Speaker 1: fact that Danny Pinter is still very much in that
Speaker 1: competition is a check mark in his favor.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's early, and there's still there's you know, we're
Speaker 2: just over a month out from week one yep, wow,
Speaker 2: like almost there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I felt this was before.
Speaker 2: I mean, we had a conversation before training camp and
Speaker 2: the question was is the starting center on the team
Speaker 2: or not? This was before the Ravens signed Ethan Posick,
Speaker 2: and I said yes, I felt like the starting center
Speaker 2: was on the team because I felt like Danny Pinter
Speaker 2: was gonna win that job. I still feel like the
Speaker 2: starting center for week one is going to be Danny Pinter.
Speaker 3: Like, again, there's a.
Speaker 2: Lot of football left, but I think that he's looked
Speaker 2: really good and I've been impressed and so it would
Speaker 2: not surprise me at all if we go into week
Speaker 2: one and he ends up being.
Speaker 3: The starter for this team.
Speaker 2: Again, part of it is Post Sick coming back from
Speaker 2: the injury and how does he feel after practice every
Speaker 2: day and kind of gets his legs back under him.
Speaker 2: And I still think that Post Sick, like, I still
Speaker 2: think it's a really good signing and I think that
Speaker 2: he could end up being the starter this year. But
Speaker 2: I just have been impressed with Danny Pinter. This has
Speaker 2: less to do about Post sick and more to do
Speaker 2: with Pinter in my mind, as a guy that like
Speaker 2: has been looking for an opportunity. He has a chance
Speaker 2: to win the job now, and I think that he's
Speaker 2: done a really good job up until this point. All Right,
Speaker 2: So let's take a quick break. When we come back,
Speaker 2: we'll talk about some of the other news of the
Speaker 2: week as well as what the Ravens want to see
Speaker 2: over the course of this week of practice leave leading
Speaker 2: into their first preseason game against the Eagles. Listening to
Speaker 2: the Lounge podcast, We're coming to you from the Seat
Speaker 2: Geek Studio. So the big news from practice over the
Speaker 2: weekend was was the injury scare. We touched on it
Speaker 2: early on Zay Flowers goes down least Saturday practice early
Speaker 2: after a collision with Jalen Hawkins. Jesse Miner said it
Speaker 2: was a quad contusion, kind of a SyRI leaf there. Look,
Speaker 2: whenever you see a player of lead practice early, not good.
Speaker 2: When it's your number one wide receiver fresh off of
Speaker 2: one hundred plus million dollar contract, it's really not good.
Speaker 2: And so I think that's kind of a dodge bullet situation.
Speaker 2: It sounds like wasay and you know, deep exhale when
Speaker 2: you get that update from Jesse Menzer.
Speaker 1: And jesse Minner said he expects him to be back
Speaker 1: very soon. It could be the next day or two
Speaker 1: or maybe three. But that nothing to be worried about
Speaker 1: with Zay Flowers.
Speaker 2: The good news there, Yeah, I mean that's just again
Speaker 2: you see him leave and you get concerned immediately when
Speaker 2: he's limping off the field, and so to find that
Speaker 2: that's a minor situation is really good news news, and
Speaker 2: like it's to be honestly, you don't want to have
Speaker 2: these reminders, but it is kind of a reminder.
Speaker 3: There's this thin line.
Speaker 2: Of like like getting the most out of practice and
Speaker 2: also protecting each other and pulling back at the right time.
Speaker 2: Like it's all kind of a puzzle, and so it's
Speaker 2: you don't want to like you want to get better
Speaker 2: in practice, but you also need to protect each other.
Speaker 2: And jesse Mitzer touched on that, but you just don't
Speaker 2: want to see your star players limping off the field right.
Speaker 1: Another piece of news from this weekend's practices is the
Speaker 1: defensive line, which we've seen it's been shorthanded for really
Speaker 1: almost the entire summer. Obviously, nom thee Mattabkas back on
Speaker 1: the practice field, but he's still doing individual drills. You
Speaker 1: have to be encouraged that, you know, there's been progress.
Speaker 1: At least he's on the field right and so so
Speaker 1: that's good. Kalais Campbell is now participating in some eleven
Speaker 1: on eleven action in Sunday's practice. John Jenkins, another veteran,
Speaker 1: has returned to eleven on eleven action and come off
Speaker 1: the pup list. So two big additions there. The next
Speaker 1: piece of the puzzle will be Travis Jones and him
Speaker 1: coming off the pup list. That is one that I
Speaker 1: think is going to come over the next couple of days.
Speaker 1: Jesse Minner said, was encouraged that it's going to be
Speaker 1: very very soon for him and and so that's a
Speaker 1: you know, Travis Jones is a player they gave a
Speaker 1: big contract to contract extension to at the end of
Speaker 1: last season, a player that really has the potential to
Speaker 1: be one of the strongest defensive tackles in the league,
Speaker 1: and he reportedly suffered a pectoral you know injury, and
Speaker 1: so getting him back on the field, then that would
Speaker 1: allow you to kind of see the picture coming into
Speaker 1: shape for this defensive line.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the big question here, of course, is
Speaker 2: still an omnibat of BK and it's to your point,
Speaker 2: it's been good to see him just stay out on
Speaker 2: the field. He's been on the fract field every day
Speaker 2: and so that's been really encouraging. But you want to
Speaker 2: see how he does he is he able to do
Speaker 2: eleven on eleven work and just continue to ramp up
Speaker 2: and so what does that ramp up look like? Have
Speaker 2: not heard from him yet either, So at some point,
Speaker 2: you know, does he talk with the media and kind
Speaker 2: of give an update in his words? That's the Ravens
Speaker 2: have said that really since this injury happened almost a
Speaker 2: year ago. Now Mattabik will speak to it, you know,
Speaker 2: when he's ready, and so whenever that time comes, that
Speaker 2: will be something that everyone's interested to hear. But if
Speaker 2: this defense has this defensive line at full strength, then
Speaker 2: like look out, like I think it's I talked about
Speaker 2: how the secondary and the safeties could be the strength.
Speaker 2: Well up front with Kalais Madebike and Travis Jones, it
Speaker 2: feels like a pretty good strength too, if those guys
Speaker 2: are all healthy and playing at the level that they're
Speaker 2: capable of. So I think as you get again we're
Speaker 2: about a month out from the season. You want to
Speaker 2: see things kind of round into form between now and then.
Speaker 2: You want to see, like, Okay, how healthy are we
Speaker 2: gonna be? What's this group gonna look like? And and
Speaker 2: fingers crossed that everything continues moving in the right direction
Speaker 2: with that group as a whole, it'll.
Speaker 1: Be really important because the interior defensive lineman in this defense,
Speaker 1: there's gonna be a lot of stress put on them
Speaker 1: to hold up against the run because you're playing with
Speaker 1: a lot of defensive backs and so when you're playing
Speaker 1: a little bit lighter upfront, potentially you're relying on those
Speaker 1: defensive linemen to shut down the run. And and the Ravens.
Speaker 1: I think that's part of why they wanted these veterans.
Speaker 1: These these are guys who know how to stop the run.
Speaker 1: These aren't projects, and and seeing them get back on
Speaker 1: the field makes me more encouraged that they're gonna be
Speaker 1: really strong against the run.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like Kalaias Campbell is about as defined as you're
Speaker 2: gonna as you're gonna get like the most non projects
Speaker 2: you're gonna find, and like and and and same goes
Speaker 2: for like the rest of the guys too. Like that
Speaker 2: defensive front they are, Like if they're again healthy, playing
Speaker 2: at the level that they're capable of, you know what
Speaker 2: you're getting there, and it's like a top flight defensive line.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: And I think last year the absence of Nomne Mattabique
Speaker 2: hurt this team more than people realized. Took him a
Speaker 2: while to figure that out and probably never really fully
Speaker 2: adjusted to his absence last year and all that he meant.
Speaker 2: And so again, if he's able to play, if Kalais
Speaker 2: and Travis Jones were able to be at the level
Speaker 2: that we've seen from them, then like that's gonna.
Speaker 1: Be I think Travis Jones, you think another level, another level.
Speaker 1: I mean, he led the team with five sacks. He
Speaker 1: led the team in sacks last year, Yeah, five of them,
Speaker 1: and he was he was banged up for a decent
Speaker 1: portion of the season.
Speaker 3: And getting sacks is not his specialty.
Speaker 1: No, I mean, but he had career highs and tackles, sacks,
Speaker 1: tackles for loss, quarterback heads across the board, a career
Speaker 1: highs And I still think there's another level to his game.
Speaker 2: And you're gonna add you've added pieces on the edge
Speaker 2: name Trey Hendrickson, yeah, exactly, So like that's gonna and
Speaker 2: let's just say Matabik is able to play, like there's
Speaker 2: just less pressure on Travis Shoan. So like I mean,
Speaker 2: could what's that five sacks become this year?
Speaker 3: Could that be eight?
Speaker 1: Right? Possible?
Speaker 3: I think it's possible.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, So a lot of encouraging things from Ravens
Speaker 1: training camp as the team gets healthier and we see
Speaker 1: more of these players on the field. As you mentioned,
Speaker 1: it's going to be another interesting week of practice as
Speaker 1: the team ramps up for the preseason game. Hoping to
Speaker 1: get Skylar Thompson. He's one player dealing with a little
Speaker 1: bit of an issue that didn't practice Sunday. Jesse Miner
Speaker 1: said it. They're hoping to get him ready for Saturday's
Speaker 1: preseason game. A lot to look forward to this week,
Speaker 1: and you have one more thing that yeah, well, just
Speaker 1: in terms of the game on Saturday, we are really
Speaker 1: excited because for the first game of the season, even
Speaker 1: it's preseason, anytime the stadium's back open again, super excited
Speaker 1: about that.
Speaker 2: Also going to be an opportunity for fans to come
Speaker 2: in and check out the new spaces at the stadium,
Speaker 2: the new North Plaza, We're gonna have more on that
Speaker 2: over the course of this week, so it'll be a
Speaker 2: chance to show fans the talent and these new areas
Speaker 2: on that north plaza, which has been a multi year
Speaker 2: renovation project that has been underway at Mt.
Speaker 3: Bak Stadium. This is kind of the crowning achievement of it.
Speaker 2: This is something that every fan is gonna be able
Speaker 2: to experience, and we've got a sneak peek of it.
Speaker 2: That area is awesome on the north side, right there
Speaker 2: at the end of Raven's Walk as you're coming into
Speaker 2: the stadium. Fans are gonna love it, and so we
Speaker 2: can't wait to show that off in this game. And
Speaker 2: again we got more coming on that later this week,
Speaker 2: so stay tuned. As always, you can email us at
Speaker 2: the lounge at ravenst NFL dot net. Thank you so
Speaker 2: much for listening, and we will be back with you
Speaker 2: again soon