Football is back!
Well, sort of. With five grueling Training Camp practices in the books (including an exciting practice at M&T Bank Stadium last night), it is time to unveil the first edition of Ravens Rookie Report for the 2015 season. Let’s take a look at some of the notable Training Camp storylines surrounding some of the youngest Ravens looking to earn a spot on the final roster.
The breakout rookie thus far has to be Javorius “Buck” Allen. The speedy running back has been as advertised as a natural pass catcher in space, and used a slick juke move to shake Albert McClellan last night while taking a screen pass for a touchdown. Under coordinator Marc Trestman, who loves to throw the ball to his running backs, I am predicting a productive rookie campaign for Allen.
Carl Davis teamed up with Timmy Jernigan and Brandon Williams to form a fearsome run-stuffing trio over the weekend, and the Iowa defensive end has shown both power and speed in the trenches.
Maxx Williams is a bit of enigma to me. He labored through the first day of camp, looking slow as a route runner and ineffective as a blocker, perhaps even carrying a limp. But the tight end looked much more fluid over the weekend and shined last night catching a deep pass during 7-on-7 drills. Williams needs to show more consistency and toughness this week.
6’6” Darren Waller continues to show he is more than just a big body. Waller looks comfortable on routes over the middle, making several plays on slants and crosses, and he beat Will Hill 1-on-1 on a post route for a touchdown last night.
Breshad Perriman is fast. And big. Unfortunately we have yet to get a prolonged look at the speedy wide receiver as coaches have held him out of practice since Thursday due to a knee bruise. He should practice again sometime this week.
As for the undrafted free agent rookies, DeAndre Carter has shown a willingness to snag tough catches underneath, but his deeper route running has been suspect. He will have to improve quickly both on offense and as a kick returner to unseat more seasoned players like Michael Campanaro.
The season-ending injury to Matt Elam opens up a sliver of hope for undrafted safety Nick Perry out of Alabama to sneak his way onto the final roster—he was the beneficiary of a Matt Schaub bomb into triple coverage last night.
The grind of NFL Training Camp has been obvious on several of the rookies’ faces towards the end of various practices, especially in the trenches where Carl Davis and Za’Darius Smith have grown noticeably tired later in the day. This almost isn’t a bad thing; coaches like to push their younger players at this point in the summer to see where their stamina is, and to indoctrinate them to Ravens football as harshly as possible. In fact, John Harbaugh said as much on Sunday, explaining that his rookies “get lots of reps—they have probably the longest days of any rookie group in the NFL in the offseason because we want them to be ready to compete in Training Camp.”
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We will be back next week with a second look at how the rookies are progressing before the Ravens take on the Saints in their first preseason game, which is a mere nine days away!
