Three Female Ravens Coaches Featured on TODAY Show
The 2024 season will have the most full-time female coaches in NFL history (15), and the Ravens certainly contribute to that.
Baltimore has three women on its coaching staff, more than any other team, and the trio was featured in a segment on the TODAY Show.
Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach Kaelyn Buskey, Assistant to the Head Coach/Defensive Assistant Megan Rosburg, and Coaching Fellow Marianna Salas all spoke about the importance of adding women to football.
"I just think back to when I was in high school or college, I never imagined to be sitting here in this chair with you," Salas said. "I think about what it says to women and girls now to be able to see any of us on the sideline or to see us out at practice. We are very privileged to be on the first wave of this, and it's no mistake that the Ravens are leading the charge in that."
"Just seeing how we can impact them while being ourselves, I think is the most powerful thing," Rosburg said.
Head Coach John Harbaugh added that sometimes in football, teams don't "utilize the whole talent pool."
"There are a lot of women out there that are really interested in football, that are really talented, that can help us be a better team," Harbaugh said. "So, let's go find them. Let's try to be a better football team as a result."
As the three continue to be trailblazers for women in football, it has helped to go through this together.
"Having the two of them here alongside of me has made every challenge that I've navigated in this space so much simpler because I have such an awesome support system," Buskey said.
Pundit Says Ravens Are Taking 'Gamble' With Offensive Line
Baltimore's offensive line is the biggest question mark heading into the season, and The Baltimore Sun’s Childs Walker said the Ravens are taking a risk going into the season with unknowns in the trenches.
"This could be the gamble that undermines a roster designed to take the Ravens all the way to February," he wrote.
Walker isn't necessarily low on Andrew Vorhees (left guard), Daniel Faalele (right guard), and Roger Rosengarten (right tackle), three potential new starters, he's just noting there's "considerable uncertainty packed into a five-man group that needs to become a dependably synchronous unit."
"Perhaps we'll look back in January and say all this fretting was misplaced," Walker wrote. "Perhaps we'll say [General Manager Eric] DeCosta was astute in overhauling a creaky 2023 unit and managing his salary cap in the same fell swoop. The Ravens won big with young, lightly tested lines in Harbaugh's early years. Maybe they will again. Maybe."
ESPN Gives Rookie Preseason Takeaways
With the preseason ending this weekend, ESPN gave its takeaways on how every rookie performed. Jamison Hensley provided his analysis on Baltimore's nine-player draft class:
Round 1 (No. 30): Nate Wiggins, CB
"Wiggins is the top backup corner behind starters Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Stephens and will see a lot of time in nickel and dime defenses. Wiggins' speed has stood out, whether it's sticking with wide receivers or chasing down ball carriers."
Round 2 (No. 62): Roger Rosengarten, OT
"After starting the second preseason game, Rosengarten is now the leading contender to win the right tackle job. How much do they like Rosengarten? He would become the first offensive lineman not taken in the first round to start a season opener for the Ravens since 2020 (Tyre Phillips)."
Round 3 (No. 93): Adisa Isaac, OLB
"It's hard to project Isaac because he has rarely been on the field. A hamstring injury suffered at the NFL combine sidelined him for all of the spring workouts and the first two weeks of training camp. When he returned to play in the second preseason game, Isaac couldn't finish because of cramping."
Round 4 (No. 113): Devontez Walker, WR
"A rib injury has limited Walker's playing time recently, and the addition of two veteran receivers (Anthony Miller and Russell Gage) could limit Walker's playing time in the regular season."
Round 4 (No. 130): T.J. Tampa, CB
"He'll make the team, but it will be tough to crack the field on defense as a rookie because cornerback is one of Baltimore's deepest positions."
Round 5 (No. 165): Rasheen Ali, RB
"Ali probably still has the edge for the No. 3 job behind Derrick Henry and Justice Hill, but he has been outplayed by Owen Wright in the preseason and training camp."
Round 6 (No. 218): Devin Leary, QB
"The Ravens are expected to put Leary on the practice squad as the developmental No. 3 quarterback behind Lamar Jackson and Josh Johnson."
Round 7 (No. 228): Nick Samac, C
"Filling in for Tyler Linderbaum as the starting center, Samac is making a strong push for one of the final offensive line roster spots."
Round 7 (No. 250): Sanoussi Kane, S
"The physicality that he has shown in training camp should make him an immediate-impact special teams player this year."
CBS Sports Has Two Ravens Duos in Top 10 for 2024
As the regular season quickly approaches, CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin ranked the top 10 duos for 2024.
The Ravens were the only team with two different sets to make the cut.
9. Roquan Smith and Kyle Hamilton
"Linebackers and safeties don't necessarily draw the most eyes, but that's not the case in Baltimore, where defense played a pivotal role in the club's 2023 AFC Championship bid," Benjamin wrote. "Smith is a punishing tackle machine at the heart of the unit, while Hamilton was all over the field rotating between positions on the back end in a All-Pro breakout. At just 23, he's primed to become an even more prominent face of the team."
6. Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry
"If there's any duo that defines "thunder and lightning" in the NFL, it may well be these two, who are teaming up in 2024 after years of headlining competing AFC contenders. Henry, 30, is aging and racked up plenty of miles with the Tennessee Titans, but he remains a physical anomaly with supersized bulldozing ability. Jackson, meanwhile, oozes electricity as the game's most dynamic dual threat under center. Imagine trying to defend this run game."
The top five was rounded out by Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey (49ers), Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle (Dolphins), A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith (Eagles), Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase (Bengals), and Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs).
