Will Ravens Continue UDFA Streak?

As Ravens training camp hits the halfway point in this COVID-abbreviated preseason, it’s time we start discussing those Undrafted Free Agents (UDFA) that stand a solid chance of making the Ravens roster. As many fans know, the Ravens have a rich history of UDFA’s making the Week 1 roster out of camp, including some well known Ravens such as Matt Skura, Dannell Ellerbe, Will Demps, Bart Scott, Priest Holmes, Michael Pierce, Jameel McClain, and of course, our beloved Patrick Ricard. 

With such a rich history of UDFA’s not only making the roster out of camp, but becoming key contributors, who currently has the best odds to continue on the tradition?

S Nigel Warrior, Tennessee

Warrior came into Ravens camp way down the Safety pecking order, but with the ousting of Earl Thomas, that ladder got one rung shorter. The expectation for Warrior has never been to find a defensive role Week 1; rather, his ability to find a role on Special Teams is the key to making this roster. While we’ll never see much in camp in terms of live Special Teams reps, depth DBs playing on Teams is commonplace, and seeing Warrior out there is a positive sign for his roster chances.

It’s worth noting as well that Warrior hasn’t been much of a liability defensively, either. The expectation levels for a UDFA Safety aren’t exactly sky high, but Warrior has more than held his own in coverage when called upon. There’s plenty of room for growth, and learning under students of the game in DeShon Elliott and Chuck Clark will only benefit his growth.

QB Tyler Huntley, Utah

The Ravens have kept three QBs over the past few years, and there’s reason to believe 2020 will be no different. Should the Ravens keep a trio of signal callers, the only true competition right now is for QB3 between second-year Raven Trace McSorley, and UDFA Tyler Huntley. While McSorley has a better grasp of the system, having been with Greg Roman for a full season now, Huntley has outperformed the former Nittany Lion in camp thus far. Huntley has been the more accurate of the two, and has shown more pocket awareness as well. 

Should camp continue to follow the trend we’ve seen in the last week and a half, I think Huntley’s chances of making the roster simply come down to whether or not the Ravens keep just two quarterbacks, or three. 

EDGE John Daka, JMU

Daka was the one UDFA that Ravens fans got excited for following the draft. While Daka is a relative unknown around the league, having spent his college years at JMU – less than three hours away from Baltimore – the Ravens knew exactly what he provided: speed on the edge with a high motor. 

While Daka shows upside, the biggest thing against going against him is purely numbers: Daka is looking up at Matthew Judon, Pernell McPhee, Jaylon Ferguson, Tyus Bowser and Jihad Ward. The odds of the Ravens keeping six here are pretty thin, and quite frankly, Daka hasn’t shown enough to give them reason to consider as much.

But I won’t go all doom and gloom for Daka. Let’s go back to a previous point: he’s relatively unknown around the league. Should the Ravens cut Daka loose, I think there’s a good chance he sticks on the practice squad. This is a rare occasion that the lack of preseason games works in Baltimore’s favor, as 31 other franchises didn’t get a good look at what Daka can provide, should he continue his growth with Baltimore. 

TE Eli Wolf, Georgia

The Ravens came into camp with a clear cut logjam for the third Tight End spot on this roster. That group started to thin out when they waived/IR’d Oregon TE Jake Breeland earlier in the month, but fellow rookie UDFA Eli Wolf was still competing against second-year Charles Scarff and veteran Jerrell Adams. 

Wolf’s biggest knock coming into camp was his lack of physicality; the former Volunteer-turned-Bulldog was a high school wideout, who switched to Tight End in college, but was always a threat in the passing game more than a heavy-handed blocker. Wolf would need to develop that aspect of his game in order to fit the mold of the Ravens Tight Ends. 

Sure enough, Wolf surprised me in camp early on. He made catch after catch, but also showed promise blocking, both at the LOS and downfield as well. Unfortunately, Wolf has been sidelined with an injury that occurred last Wednesday, and hasn’t been back since then. In that time, Scarff seems to be running away with the TE3 gig; however, should Wolf find his way back to the practice field, there’s a slim chance he could force his way onto this roster.