Stock Up
Tyler Huntley
A common theme for this Stock Report will be depth players thrown into big roles, whether it be due to injury or COVID. That being said, I think I’m in love with Tyler Huntley.
Of all the Ravens that earned themselves the most money this season, Huntley is No. 1 on that list. He’s established himself as a legitimate top 25-30 quarterback and paved the path for a long and prosperous playing career.
On Sunday, Greg Roman seemed to simplify things for the QB2 by utilizing play action, moving Huntley outside the pocket and using him in the run game well; a nice game plan when on your backup. His connection with Mark Andrews was out of this world, but he wasn’t scared to spread the wealth a little either. Marquise Brown, Devin Duvernay, Rashod Bateman, James Proche, Tylan Wallace, Devonta Freeman and Latavius Murray were all targeted.
“He took a step forward. He’s a very quick learner,” John Harbaugh said postgame.
If Lamar Jackson is to miss any more time, the offense (which looked good for the first time in months) is in good hands.
Brandon Stephens
Brandon Stephens has been starting since DeShon Elliottd went down a few weeks ago. He’s struggled at times to get up to speed with Wink Martindale’s complex defense, but looked good Sunday and did it with so many of his defensive back mates sidelined. The highlight of his day came when he broke up an Aaron Rodgers deep shot. He high pointed the ball and made enough contact with the receiver to disrupt him but not enough to get flagged, and didn’t hit him too early either. He’s flashed some good ball skills recently.
https://twitter.com/ravens4dummies/status/1472699453572276231?s=20
Ben Cleveland & David Sharpe
Admittedly, it’s hard to analyze offensive line play just going off the broadcast camera angle. Still, I thought Ben Cleveland and David Sharpe had solid games, both filling in for injured starters. Huntley took just one sack and wasn’t pressured at any crazy rate.
Cleveland looked better than Ben Powers has at any point this season at left guard. It’s weird he wasn’t given an opportunity earlier on, but now I’d be surprised if Powers is given his job back when he’s healthy. Sharpe, a 26-year-old practice squad promotion, alternated at right tackle with Tyre Phillips then took over for good once he exited. If Patrick Mekari is to miss more time with his hand injury, Sharpe could hold down the position until then and not be a liability.
Nick Boyle
We saw vintage Nick Boyle on Sunday for the first time in over a year. He blocked his butt off and was huge in creating holes for ball carriers. The run game missed him dearly. Even with Pat Ricard out, the rushing attack looked like it should with Boyle back and healthy. It’s also good to see him return after missing time following his initial return a few weeks ago. I was scared he’d be in a Ronnie Stanley situation where he returned from serious injury too soon.
https://twitter.com/jonas_shaffer/status/1472708038066950150?s=20
Special teams
We knew coming into the game that the battles on special teams would be good ones. The Ravens lead the NFL in special teams DVOA while the Packers are dead last in that category.
The shenanigans started early, when Green Bay was flagged for running into Devin Duvernay on a punt. Later, Duvernay brought a kick return out to near the 40 yard line, and Green Bay fell on a kick off around their own 10-yard line after Justin Tucker skied the kick and dropped it right in front of the line ahead of the returner. They then took a delay of game on a punt late in the fourth quarter that forced a re-punt, which was shanked short out of bounds to give the Ravens offense good starting field position for the final drive.
Any John Harbaugh coached team will always have good special teams units, and we saw what it looks like when a team doesn’t emphasize that side of the ball enough. Don’t take Harbaugh for granted.
https://twitter.com/robertmays/status/1472710299950235649?s=20
Stock Down
The rest of the replacements
The Ravens almost took down the NFC’s No. 1 seed while being absolutely destroyed by injuries and COVID. There isn’t a whole lot of bad to discuss other than the replacements that reside in the bottoms of the depth chart, but there’s a reason they’re there in the first place.
Practice squad promotion Robert Jackson struggled with Davante Adams. Geno Stone, wearing the green dot as the defensive signal caller, was picked on in coverage quite a bit and so was Kevon Seymour, who’s actually been on the 53-man roster for a couple months now in a reserve and special teams role. I didn’t see anything spectacular from Anthony Levine or Tony Jefferson, who both played significant roles in the secondary, either.
Not going to nitpick this week. Overall, everyone that needed to come through to beat the odds and keep this one close did so. The Ravens currently have 10 draft picks, including nine in the first four rounds, in April’s draft to shore up the depth that is the Achilles heel of the roster. Especially in the trenches and the defensive backfield, we won’t see this same lack of insurance again in 2022.
