Ravens on the roster bubble: Chris Board and Otaro Alaka edition
With training camp set to open later this month, there will be a handful of Baltimore Ravens’ players that will be facing an uphill climb and tough competition in order to make the final roster for the 2020 season. It’s hard to rest easy knowing you’re on the roster bubble and in jeopardy of having the dream you’ve worked towards all your life snatched away in the very near future if you don’t make a good enough impression in a little over a months’ time.
The players featured in this six-part series face an even more daunting task than most would in their shoes in any given year because this offseason has been like nothing any of us has experienced in our or even our parent’s lifetimes with the physical restrictions and limitations placed on us all, professional athlete and common folk alike, due to the global pandemic caused by COVID-19.
According to multiple reports in recent weeks, the league and the NFLPA are considering shortening or canceling the entire preseason to give players more time to get into football shape after only being able to attend virtual workouts all offseason and decrease the chances of potentially exposing players, coaches, and other team officials to the virus to play exhibition games. These unfortunate developments have made not only life but making the roster much more difficult for fringe players that need every opportunity they can get to leave enough of a lasting impression on their organizations.
Here is the last two Ravens on the list of features that needs to have a strong training camp and preseason—if there is one—to keep his hopes and dreams alive, at least with this team:
ILBs Chris Board and Otaro Alaka:
These two former undrafted free agents are listed together on this list because they find themselves in the same dilemma battling for what will likely be the fourth and final inside linebacker spot on the 53-man roster. Last season the Ravens used a rotation of players, all of which were former undrafted free agents, to fill the void left by four-time Pro Bowler CJ Mosely in the middle of their defense.
They lost two of them in free agency and signed another to an extension before the 2019 season ended. Josh Bynes signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, Patrick Onwuasor joined Mosely in the Meadowlands with the New York Jets—aka the imitation Ravens—and LJ Fort will join rookies Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison in the competition for a starting spot this year.
That leaves likely just one more spot left on the depth chart at the position which means Board and Alaka will have to duke it out for who makes the final cut in training camp and whatever preseason games they do end up playing, which might only be two or none at all according to reports.
This could hurt Alaka’s chances of gaining an edge over Board since he turned an impressive string of preseason performances last year into a spot on the final 53 man roster before a hamstring injury he suffered in September placed him on injured reserve, effectively ending his season. He’ll need to show out in the game reps he does receive in the preseason this year and stack enough good practices training camp to supplant Board who will be considered the front runner to secure the final spot after being one of the integral and best special teams players on the team last season.
Board finished second only to special teams captain Anthony Levine, nicknamed Co-Cap, in terms of percentage of snaps logged in the third phase of the game with 67 percent. He appeared in 15 games last season and recorded 10 tackles and forced a fumble. This will be one of the under the radar training camp battles this year and since defensive coordinator, Don ‘Wink’ Martindale uses a lot of sub-packages that feature more defensive backs.
He’ll leave just one inside linebacker on the field—usually, the MIKE which will likely be Queen—and bring down safety Chuck Clark or a big-bodied corner like Jimmy Smith into the box to guard a tight end or just play dime linebacker. That means that the likelihood of the Ravens carrying five inside linebackers on the regular-season roster is highly unlikely so barring any injuries, only one of these two players will make the final cut.
