The Ravens pumped up the energy a little bit on Day 3 of 2022 Training Camp, and all eyes were on the passing game. There were some good things to see there.
Lamar Jackson was sharp throughout, hitting quick passes to tight ends and running backs, along with a few nice deeper connections throughout the session. It was a no-pad, no-contact kind of day, so there wasn’t a lot to learn about the respective lines or run game, but a few of the young pass-catchers the Ravens look to be depending on this year did show up throughout practice.
There has been much talk this year about the receiver corps, and though there seems to be some level of comfort with Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman, there has been some nervous hand-wringing over other options to develop this passing game.
— Let’s start with those first two: They were both standouts on Friday. Andrews made numerous catches throughout the afternoon, and probably had the play of the day on a sliding deep catch with tight coverage from Kyle Hamilton. He made another nice grab later on a terrific throw from Jackson, who stepped up in a crowded pocket and fired low and away from Andrews, the only spot he had. Andrews made the catch and drew some “oohs” from the crowd. Bateman was steady as could be. He is smooth coming in and out of his breaks, and snatches the ball out of the air. He beat Marlon Humphrey in a drill on a sudden comeback that stood out, and caught both short and intermediate passes.
— As for the guys behind them, James Proche looked good throughout the day, making numerous catches. Devin Duvernay was also solid, catching several short crossers and one deep ball down the sideline against one of the younger cornerbacks, whom I unfortunately couldn’t identify from my position. Both of these third-year guys looked solid, and were a level up from everybody else not named Andrews or Bateman.
— I get the hype around Isaiah Likely now. I was hesitant to embrace the hoopla based on his college competition, as well as a general distrust of Twitter draft world, but he does look like a player. Likely is a smooth runner, and appears comfortable catching the ball. There was one pass that appeared to sail through his hands, but it came on him high and quick, and I wasn’t able to tell if he saw it in time. Regardless, on a field of tremendous athletes, Likely certainly appears to stand out.
— As for the undrafted rookies, there wasn’t a lot to take from this practice. Shemar Bridges has made a few plays, Slade Bolden does seem to get open quickly, and there are some things I liked about Makai Polk and Raleigh Webb. I did kind of like watching Devon Williams in drills. He’s long at 6’5”, and moves well for his size. But there weren’t a whole lot of plays made today by this bunch.
— I liked what I saw of rookie running back Tyler Badie. He has great start-stop ability, and runs with a lot of confidence. Mike Davis is a solid man and kind of looks like Lorenzo Neal on the field, and I wouldn’t want to be the defensive back who comes up to try to stop Davis coming downhill. Justice Hill looked as fast as ever as he returns from a lost season. The running back depth chart will be interesting to see develop throughout the preseason, and probably long into the season.
— Michael Pierce got some penetration today, but, again, hard to really judge much about the lines during these kinds of practices. Regardless, it was good to see him active and shooting gaps. Odafe Oweh looks absurdly fast, but he looked absurdly fast last year as well. So, yeah… he looked a lot like Odafe Oweh. Patrick Queen also flashed a few times throughout practice.
— Brandon Stephens had a good day, breaking up at least two passes and excelling in press drills. He did not let Binjimen Victor get off the line on one rep, and there was literally nowhere to throw the ball. Fellow safeties Tony Jefferson and Geno Stone picked up interceptions off Anthony Brown, with Stone taking his to the house triggering a raucous celebration from the defense.
— Daniel Faalele is big. Now that we’ve established that, he isn’t just a big, stiff guy. He uses his length well, and seems to have a good understanding of leverage, angles and balance.
— There were at least two plays where it appeared there was some miscommunication in the defensive backfield, and Marlon Humphrey appeared to be hung out to dry on both of them. One resulted in a deep pass to Bateman from Lamar Jackson where Humphrey started on Bateman, and appeared to hand him to a safety who was not there. Granted, that was my view from pretty far down the sideline and without the benefit of knowing the play call, but something weird happened there.
— Josh Oliver was another standout today. He seems to be the forgotten man in the Ravens tight end room, but he was active, and hauled in several balls.
— Saturday night will be this year’s stadium practice. See you there!
