The Ravens have a question mark as to who will replace Marshal Yanda, but the picture at center might be coming more into focus.
Center Matt Skura is "ahead of schedule" in his recovery from knee surgery on his ACL, MCL and PCL, which he tore in Week 12 last season.
"We're healthy. Matt Skura was the biggest injury we had last year and he looks to me like he's ahead of schedule," Head Coach John Harbaugh said Monday on a video call with reporters.
"I'm really impressed with how hard he's worked at it. He really looks good out there. … The timing of the conditioning test, he just blew the thing away. So that's remarkable."
The Ravens' conditioning test is no easy feat for any player, let alone one coming off a major knee injury. It's a good sign that Skura could be ready to go by the start of training camp, as he said he hoped for when talking to reporters immediately after the Ravens' 2019 season ended.
Skura has been a three-year starter, including all 16 games in 2018. He was having an even better season last year, anchoring one of the NFL's top offensive lines that helped protect MVP Lamar Jackson and paved the way for a new league team rushing record.
Harbaugh said after last year's injury that Skura had established himself as "one of the better centers, at least in the National Football League, without trying even to overstate it."
Skura will, of course, still get competition for the starting center spot. Undrafted rookie Patrick Mekari stepped in and played well last year down the stretch and Harbaugh has talked this offseason about the possibility of Bradley Bozeman, last year's starting left guard, getting a look at center.
But if Skura is healthy enough for the job, he would likely enter training camp as the favorite to reclaim his spot in the middle.
