The Baltimore Ravens have been absolutely ravaged by injuries and COVID-19 this season. It’s caused the Ravens’ schedule to be adjusted several times, both for their own outbreak and for the Tennessee Titans’ outbreak. But with another six players going on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday, it’s gotten to a ridiculous level that has to be seen in a different way to be believed.
When accounting for injured reserve (both the practice squad injury and non-football injury lists, as well as normal injured reserve) and the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the Ravens are currently missing 30 players including 20 due to the coronavirus. Considering NFL rosters are just 53 players (69 if you include the practice squad), it’s apparent Baltimore is missing the majority of the team it started the season with.
Here’s what the depth chart on offense and defense looks like right now, barring any future moves:
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| QB | Robert Griffin III | ||
| RB | Gus Edwards | Justice Hill | |
| FB | |||
| TE | Mark Andrews | ||
| WR1 | Willie Snead IV | Dez Bryant | Miles Boykin |
| WR2 | Marquise Brown | Devin Duvernay | James Proche II |
| LT | Orlando Brown Jr. | ||
| LG | Bradley Bozeman | ||
| C | Trystan Colon-Castillo | ||
| RG | Ben Powers | ||
| RT |
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| DT | |||
| NT | Justin Ellis | ||
| DE | Derek Wolfe | ||
| RUSH | Yannick Ngakoue | ||
| MLB | Patrick Queen | Chris Board | Kristian Welch |
| WLB | L.J. Fort / Malik Harrison | ||
| SAM | Matthew Judon | Tyus Bowser | |
| LCB | Marcus Peters | Jimmy Smith | |
| SS | Chuck Clark | Anthony Levine Sr. | |
| FS | DeShon Elliott | Jordan Richards | Geno Stone |
| RCB | Marlon Humphrey | Tramon Williams |
That’s less than ideal, to put it nicely. If Week 12’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers were to happen right this minute, Baltimore wouldn’t be able to field a complete starting lineup, much less a game-ready roster.
Even if the Ravens were to bring up every player on the practice squad, they would just barely be able to put a starting lineup on the field. Defensive tackle Aaron Crawford would start in Calais Campbell’s spot and R.J. Prince be the new starting right tackle. Even then, a single injury to either the offensive or defense lines would put Baltimore right back to not having enough players to start.
While there’s a chance some players could be coming back from the Reserve/COVID-19 list in the coming days, it seems like a near-impossible task to still play this game on Tuesday with the roster looking like this. With the potential for more positive tests in the next few days, the pressure is on the NFL to have a backup plan ready.
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