The Ravens have added another player to the mix for the starting right tackle job.
Second-year lineman Ryan Jensen has moved to tackle from the interior positions and was taking some reps with the first-team offense during Thursday's Organized Team Activity (OTAs) practice.
"He's getting reps at both right tackle and left tackle," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "We're going to put him in the mix out there and see how he does."
Jensen, a sixth-round pick out of a Colorado State-Pueblo, primarily worked at guard and center last season. He spent the entire year on the 53-man roster, but was never active for a game.
The 6-foot-4 and 318-pound lineman has the size to play inside or outside.
Playing tackle isn't foreign to him because he started on the outside all four years in college. As a small school product he initially projected as an interior lineman, but the coaching staff wanted to give him a chance on the outside.
"Tackle is a natural position for me," Jensen said. "It felt good to get back to being in my position where I played in college. I was excited to get to work."
The expectation coming into the season was that Jensen would compete for a spot at left guard, potentially allowing Kelechi Osemele to move back outside to right tackle. But the Ravens appear to be keeping Osemele at left guard and giving Jensen a shot to compete with fellow second-year lineman Rick Wagner at right tackle.
"It's competition, and we're both here to compete," Jensen said. "Everybody is here to compete, so it's been good."
Overall assessment of the offensive line is premature at this point, as the Ravens have just started to get on the field for 11-on-11 drills during OTAs. NFL rules also prohibit teams from practicing in full pads at this point of the year.
But based on what he has seen in early practices, Harbaugh has been impressed with Jensen at tackle.
"He's comfortable out there, mentally, it seems like," Harbaugh said. "We'll see if he's a fit out there also. It'll just give us more competition."
Jensen never saw game action last year, but he did benefit from the year of practice time. After spending the first half of the season recovering from a training camp foot injury, Jensen returned to practice and was able to learn the offensive schemes from Offensive Line Coach Juan Castillo.
He worked at guard and center last season, and has the potential to play all five positions along the line.
"I view it as a learning experience, and kind of that redshirt year where I can see what the veterans do," Jensen said. "I could see how they worked, how they played, what they did to be the best they can be. There's always value in repetition. I was able to practice for a little over half the year, and being on scout team it was great learning experience."
