Time to Give Ben Cleveland a Shot

The Baltimore Ravens need to start Ben Cleveland at left guard. It may not seem like the most important takeaway after the Miami Dolphins torched the Ravens’ defense for a 45-38 comeback win, but it’s still one of my main thoughts after the game. Ben Powers isn’t the answer.

The Ravens’ offensive line has been quite the paradox. They protect the passer well. Without Ronnie Stanley and with Ja’Wuan James on injured reserve, pass protection hasn’t missed a beat. Somehow at the same time, the offensive line can’t create any daylight for their running backs. The hard truth is that the Ravens can’t run the football unless Lamar Jackson is doing it. This team can’t win consistently if that remains the case.

There’s not much the Ravens can change to help their running game. Pat Mekari is the left tackle until Stanley is back. Kevin Zeitler is the best offensive lineman the Ravens have and Morgan Moses is essentially the right tackle by default. Tyler Linderbaum is a first-round pick and a rookie the Ravens have high hopes for. This makes Powers the only easily replaceable part of the offensive line.

Cleveland deserves a chance. The left guard competition was never permanently closed. Powers won the job out of training camp, but remains the starter with the loosest grip on his job. It could be argued that circumstances put Powers ahead of Cleveland more than on-field play, as Cleveland missed the first handful of practices because he failed his conditioning test. It was a bad look that won him no favors with John Harbaugh or offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris. Cleveland also missed some practices near the end of the preseason, furthering the idea that durability was an issue for him.

Powers has had more time to make his mark on this organization. He was drafted in 2019, two seasons before Cleveland. When Tyre Phillips took himself out of the equation with poor preseason performances, the job went to Powers. Fine. Powers had to maintain the job. Greg Roman’s offense depends heavily on guards reaching their blocks and plowing players out of the way, and Powers isn’t doing that. If the gap between Powers and Cleveland is viewed as thin, the coaching staff must take a chance on Cleveland.

Powers lines up as a 6-4 338-pound guard. He has the physical traits you look for and he should be more effective driving defenders where he wants them to go. Cleveland’s measurables eclipse Powers, as he towers over just about everybody at 6-7 and weighs 370 pounds. Cleveland looks like a perfect merger between Tarzan and a Sumo wrestler. In my view, he has untapped potential.

The definition of insanity is said to be doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results. The Ravens need a variable. Until JK Dobbins and/or Gus Edwards return, Cleveland is that variable. Yes, he may struggle. The problem may even get worse, but the Ravens will never know if they don’t give him a legitimate chance on the field. The team should let he competition for the job go into the regular season until Powers or Cleveland proves they should remain the permanent starter. Why not?

How bad has Powers been at left guard? Through two games he has been given a grade of 52.9 by Pro Football Focus. That’s his overall score; as a run blocker, he scored 43.9. PFF shouldn’t replace the eye test, yet it’s a decent tool for measuring a player’s performance. The problem Powers has here is that the score matches what you would expect after watching the first two games. It’s not working and Powers is the weakest link. It’s solid evidence in the case against Powers as a starter.

The Ravens must focus on the actual changes they can make. Running the football has been a big problem. Cleveland may or may not be the antidote, but the experiment is worth a shot, Getting Dobbins back will help, but that doesn’t mean the second Dobbins is back the running game will be back as well. The problem stems from the offensive line. The Ravens have to see if Cleveland can give the line a boost.

When Cleveland took so long to get on the field at the start of camp, there was a palpable frustration. The reason it was so frustrating is that the team knows how good Cleveland could be if he puts everything together. The Ravens must let him have that chance. The bottom line is the Ravens need to run the ball better and they have to change things up.

The easiest thing to do is to get another look at Ben Cleveland on the left side of the line.