Ravens OTA Depth Chart Analysis: Safeties
With the Baltimore Ravens Organized Team Activities fully underway, I will be going through the Ravens position by position breaking down the depth and the competition. I will be categorizing players into one of three spots; locks to make the team, bubble players, and longshots.
Safety:
Locks: Eric Weddle(12th), Tony Jefferson(6th), DeShon Elliott(R), Anthony Levine Sr.(7th)
Weddle returns to lead the safety crew after a Pro Bowl season last year. At 33 his best years are behind him, but he has shown he can still play at a high level. Tony will come in trying to return to 2016 form when he had 20 more tackles and double the passes defended than this past year. Some of his drop off can be put on Dean Pees use of him, Tony’s skill set is best for in the box, hardnosed safety.
Deshon Elliot looks like the steal of the draft in the 6th round. He has some similar physical traits to Jefferson but created several turnovers in College. Levine has been a real too for the Ravens taking snaps at Safety, Cornerback, and Linebacker. He will continue to be, a do it all player and special teams ace.
Bubble: Chuck Clark(2nd), Kai Nacua(2nd)
These players have similar numbers, but one is UFA (Kai) who got cut from a team that has an insane amount of talent come in. The other (Clark) is a 6th rounder who got pushed into games because of injuries. The Ravens were lucky to get Kai, because he has the potential to be a starter in the NFL and might be the long-term answer for the Ravens. While it would be nice to keep both, Kai has more potential and if it comes down to the two of them, I would want them to keep Kai.
Long shots: Bennett Jackson(2nd)
Just a warm, oft injured body.
I may have overstated Kai’s potential but if you watch the tape the ball hawking skill is there, and he was electrifying with the ball in his hands and he can hit. Weddle and Jefferson should benefit from the tweaks that Wink Martindale puts in the system. It will be interesting to see which, if any safeties step up during the season.
