Baltimore Ravens: 2011 Depth Chart Heading into Game vs. Redskins

The Baltimore Ravens are awaiting the arrival of the Washington Redskins for a ‘Beltway’ matchup tonight at M&T Bank Stadium.

It will be nationally broadcast on ESPN at 8:00 p.m. EST.

The preseason is going fairly well for both teams, but the Redskins have many more questions than answers as they ramp up preparation for the regular season.

For this game, the Ravens are pretty much going to be doing last minute evaluations on certain position battles and deciding on who will make their next roster cut. 

Pittsburgh has been the class of the division since it’s inception in 2002, but this year Baltimore may be ready to step up and win it for the first time since 2006.

Let’s take a look at their roster and see if the 2011 Ravens can get it done.

Offense:

Quarterback

Joe Flacco, Tyrod Taylor, Hunter Cantwell

Flacco is without a doubt the starter here. He has rapidly improved every year he has been in the league and had his best season last year.

Tyrod Taylor, a rookie 6^th round draft pick out of Virginia Tech, is the No. 2 QB. He has made great plays in both the preseason and practice to help solidify his status as the backup.

It’s a risky move to rely on a rookie backup for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, but Taylor has proven himself worthy of the role.

Running Back

Ray Rice, Ricky Williams, Jalen Parmele, Matt Lawrence

The Ravens backfield last year consisted of Rice and Willis McGahee splitting carries. Le’Ron McClain, a fullback, also got touches as well.

This year, they upgraded McGahee to Ricky and the move should pay dividends. Ricky is a phenomenal backup RB and you always know what you are going to get from him.

He runs hard, falls forward, can catch and also pass protects. He is going to be a great addition to the Ravens running back corps.

Fullback

Vonta Leach

Leach plowed the way for Arian Foster last season, who as you know had the finest rushing year in the NFL. By ditching Le’Ron McClain for Leach, the Ravens are really going to see big results from Rice and Ricky this season.

Tight End

Ed Dickson, Dennis Pitta, Davon Drew

The Ravens decided not to re-sign Todd Heap, who was their stalwart TE for the past nine years and a two-time All-Pro player.

They are forging ahead with two new tight ends, Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta.

Dickson was a 3^rd round pick last season and is expected to be the starter this season. He got hurt during training camp and Pitta impressed in his absence.

They should help add some youth to a position that an ailing and aging Heap dominated for so long.

Wide Receiver

Anquan Boldin, Lee Evans, Marcus Smith, David Reed, Justin Harper, Tandon Doss, Torrey Smith.

The Ravens decided to cut Derrick Mason as part of their plan to shed salary and aging veterans at the start of the offseason.

This left them in a bind with just Anquan Boldin as a truly proven receiver so they went out and made a brilliant trade for Lee Evans. Evans is going to be great in Baltimore and it will do him well to not be the sole focus of a teams’ secondary.

Marcus Smith is a veteran that has not seen the field much and probably wont have too much an impact.  

The battle for the No. 3 is between David Reed and rookies Torrey Smith and Tandon Doss. The two that don’t win will most likely get the 4^th and 5^th receiving spots on the final roster.

Offensive Line

LT: Michael Oher LG: Ben Grubbs C: Matt Birk RG: Marshall Yanda RT: Oniel Cousins

This is the current starting roster for the Ravens O-Line but a recent addition may shake things up.

The team acquired Bryant McKinnie and may use him at his traditional LT role. This would shift Oher to RT, which he played his rookie season.

McKinnie has chemistry with Birk from when they played together in Minnesota and he would be an upgrade over Cousins. The rest of the line is decent at best, so the addition of Vonta Leach should help them out quite a bit.

Defense:

Linebacker

LOLB: Jarret Johnson MLB: Ray Lewis, Jameel McClain ROLB: Terrell Suggs

Ray Lewis has been anchoring the Ravens defense for years. He is an absolute force in the middle and is the glue that holds one of the best defenses in football together each and every year.

Terrell Suggs is a beast in the pass-rush and wreaks havoc on the opponents’ QB.

Sergio Kindle is an interesting player to watch as a 2^nd round pick out of Texas last season. He is finally looking to get healthy and will see some action this year.

Defensive Line

LDE: Cory Redding DT: Terrence Cody RE: Haloti Ngata

The defensive line of the Ravens may be the unsung heroes of their defense. They play a base 3-4 scheme, which means the nose tackles just clog up blockers and allow the linebackers and ends to get in the backfield.

Ngata and Cody are two of the better, young players at their respective positions. Look for them to each have a fine season.

Cornerback

Dominique Foxworth, Chris Carr, Lardarius Webb, Jimmy Smith, Cary Williams

Baltimore needs to be careful with their corners going into the regular season. Foxworth is dealing with recovering from a torn ACL and is their most experienced corner.

Smith and Williams have looked like the best corners on the team and should be the starters Week 1. They are both over 6-feet tall and have the athleticism to hang with any receiver in the league. Having Carr, Foxworth and Webb as reserves is a huge boost to this teams’ depth.

Safety

Tom Zbikowski, Ed Reed, Haruki Nakamura, Bernard Pollard

Ed Reed is obviously going to start at free safety, where he has been one of the best players on earth for years.

Strong safety is wide open, with Travis Zbikowski, Bernard Pollard and Haruki Nakamura all competing for playing time at the position. Pollard has an interception already in the preseason and looks to be the favorite right now to start.

As you can see, this is a deep team with very few weak spots across the entire roster. It would be very surprising to see them miss the playoffs with this much talent. Look for the Ravens to iron out some of the position battles like CB, Strong Safety and LT during tonight’s’ game. 

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