Tag: Otaro Alaka

L.J. Fort reportedly suffers season-ending injury

The Ravens reportedly lose a key contributor on defense for the season

The Baltimore Ravens have had plenty of injury problems so far during 2021, but none of them had been season-ending. That all reportedly changed in Week 2 of the preseason against the Carolina Panthers, as inside linebacker L.J. Fort went down with a knee injury in the first half.

After the game, head coach John Harbaugh offered a grim injury update on Fort, saying that things didn’t look good. On Sunday, those fears were confirmed, as it was reported that the linebacker tore his ACL, effectively ending his season.

Fort is a big loss for Baltimore’s defense. In his first two years with the Ravens, the linebacker accumulated 88 total tackles and two sacks. He was a big contributor on both defense and special teams, so Baltimore will feel his loss on multiple units.

The veteran’s injury opens up more playing time for linebackers such as Malik Harrison, Chris Board, Otaro Alaka and Kristian Welch. The Ravens could also opt to bring in a player from outside the organization to soften the blow of losing Fort, including K.J. Wright or a familiar face in Patrick Onwuasor.

John Harbaugh gives grim injury update on L.J. Fort

John Harbaugh gives grim injury update on L.J. Fort

The Baltimore Ravens got out of their Week 2 preseason contest with the Carolina Panthers relatively injury free. However, the team did see linebacker L.J. Fort leave the game in the first half with a knee injury.

After the game, head coach John Harbaugh provide an update on Fort, and it was rather grim.

With Harbaugh saying that Fort’s injury doesn’t look good, it raises multiple questions. Many are wondering how many weeks or months it would keep the linebacker out, how the team would replace his defensive and special teams production and more. If Fort is out for an extended amount of time, Baltimore would lose a great contributor and a leader, which would be a big blow to the team.

There will likely be an update on Fort’s status in the coming days, but for now, things aren’t looking promising. The veteran’s absence would open up more opportunities for players such as Malik Harrison, Chris Board, Otaro Alaka, and Kristian Welch.

Ravens place four players on Active/PUP list

Ravens place four players on Active/PUP list

The Baltimore Ravens have been busy preparing for 2021 training camp. Their first full team practice will take place on July 28th, but some players won’t be on the field due to previous injuries that they suffered last season and are still recovering from.

On Thursday, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic shared that according to Thursday’s transaction notice, Baltimore had placed four of their players on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.

The placement of Boyle, Stanley, Alaka and Marshall on the list doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Back in June, head coach John Harbaugh said that they “might” be ready for the first day of training camp when asked about the health of the injured players by Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Sun.

All four players that Baltimore placed on the list suffered a major injury at some point during 2020. Marshall was hurt in training camp, while the others got hurt during the regular season.

In being placed on the Active/PUP list, a player can start practicing immediately after they’re activated.

Trystan Colon-Castillo, Kristian Welch sign exclusive rights tenders

The Baltimore Ravens had two exclusive rights free agents sign their tenders on Saturday in Trystan Colon-Castillo and Kristian Welch

The Baltimore Ravens will enter 2021 training camp with plenty of young players ready to compete for a roster spot and prove that they can make an impact at the NFL level. Two of those players signed their exclusive rights tenders on Saturday, the team announced.

 

Colon-Castillo, 23, signed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent after playing at the University of Missouri. While he didn’t make the final 53-man roster out of training camp, he was added to Baltimore’s practice squad shortly after he was let go.

After spending the first few weeks of the season on the practice squad, the center was signed to the active roster on October 12th. The promotion came after rumblings began that other teams were looking to poach him from the Ravens’ practice squad and sign him to their own active rosters. He appeared in two games for Baltimore during his rookie campaign, including making his first career start in the Ravens’ December 2nd game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a contest where the Baltimore was missing a plethora of contributors due to the Coronavirus.

Welch, 22, played primarily on special teams for the Ravens in 2020, and filled in nicely after fellow linebacker and special teams contributor Otaro Alaka was lost for the season with a knee injury.

The former University of Iowa Hawkeye was let go by Baltimore during final cut down day, but was back with the team the next day, signing to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on November 7th after being a game-day call up for multiple weeks. He totalled three tackles on the season.

Both players showed potential last year, and are viewed highly by the Ravens. They could be looking at increased responsibilities, especially after having a year with the team to learn the NFL game and figure out Baltimore does things.

Signing the tenders that they were assigned on March 10th means that both Colon-Castillo and Welch are under contract for another year with the Ravens and will make the league minimum, which is $780,000 for players with one accrued season.

Ravens make trio of roster moves after Week 5, including signing UDFA C Trystan Colon-Castillo

The Baltimore Ravens made a trio of moves after Week 5, putting Otaro Alaka on IR and signing Trystan Colon-Castillo to the 53-man roster

The Baltimore Ravens moved to 4-1 on the season, beating the Cincinnati Bengals 27-3 on Sunday. But the coaching staff and front office didn’t have much time to celebrate the win before having to get back to work.

According to the transaction report for Monday, the Ravens were busy. In addition to putting linebacker Otaro Alaka on injured reserve with a knee injury, Baltimore brought up center Trystan Colon-Castillo from the practice squad and signed defensive back Nate Hairston to fill his spot.

The trio of moves was somewhat expected. Alaka suffered what was feared to be a season-ending knee injury against the Bengals. As well, coach John Harbaugh noted Colon-Castillo had been garnering some attention on the practice squad, forcing the team to bring him up to the 53-man roster to keep him from getting poached.

Colon-Castillo was one of the Ravens’ undrafted free agents this offseason. Though Baltimore chose to not keep a single UDFA when creating their initial 53-man roster — breaking a 16-year record — the Ravens clearly feel the former Missouri center is someone they want to continue to develop for the future. With an offensive line that has had some subpar play this season following right guard Marshal Yanda’s retirement, keeping linemen they value is a pretty easy decision.

Hairston joins Baltimore’s practice squad with the veteran exception tag. A former fifth-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts, Hairston is in his fourth season in the NFL and on his third team. While it’s easy to think Hairston is simply an insurance policy for the Ravens, he brings quite a bit of experience at cornerback, an area Baltimore has been a little thin at this season.

Hairston has played in 40 games throughout his four-year career, starting 17. He’s notched two interceptions, nine passes defensed, two sacks, 95 combined tackles, and a safety.

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Ravens injuries: LB Otaro Alaka suffers expected season-ending knee injury

The Baltimore Ravens got some bad news in Week 5 as reserve linebacker Otaro Alaka suffered what is feared to be a season-ending injury

The Baltimore Ravens picked up their fourth win of the 2020 NFL season on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. But the win comes with a bit of a down note as 24-year-old linebacker Otaro Alaka suffered a knee injury.

According to coach John Harbaugh following the game, Alaka’s injury is expected to be season-ending. If that prognosis holds true, he’ll join the likes of cornerback Tavon Young on injured reserve, opening up a spot on the Ravens’ 53-man roster.

Alaka has primarily been used on special teams, sitting in third on Baltimore’s depth chart on defense at inside linebacker. L.J Fort is the most experienced linebacker on the roster currently, with Baltimore leaning more on rookie Patrick Queen to man the center of the defense. While this might not have any immediate impact, it does shrink the depth at linebacker for the Ravens — a unit that was already filled with inexperienced players.

This will be the second time Alaka has made his way to injured reserve in his very young career. The Ravens placed Alaka on injured reserve last year after suffering a hamstring injury that kept him from playing any games in 2019.

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How Patrick Queen impacts the Ravens’ depth chart

With the Baltimore Ravens taking LB Patrick Queen in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, how does that shake up the depth chart?

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Now that the Baltimore Ravens have taken Patrick Queen with the 28th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, our focus shifts to how that affects to the Ravens’ roster.

Baltimore’s depth chart at linebacker was incredibly shallow prior to the draft, even though the Ravens had just signed Jake Ryan last week and gave an extension to L.J. Fort last season. Queen should be considered an immediate starter for Baltimore, which is something they didn’t have prior to the 2020 NFL Draft. But Queen might not fit in the spot many expect him to.

The depth chart as it stands right now should look like this:

Position 1st 2nd 3rd
MLB Chris Board Jake Ryan Otaro Alaka
WLB Patrick Queen L.J. Fort

Queen as a more rangy player actually fits in best at weak-side linebacker initially. That’s where the Ravens can maximize his playmaking ability and his speed in both coverage and as a potential blitzer, two things he showed at LSU.

One of the bigger knocks on Queen was his ability to play inside in run support. As an undersized linebacker, Queen can get caught up in the mess and struggles at times to recognize gap assignments, which makes him less effective as a traditional middle linebacker. While those are things he’ll certainly work on and he has the ability to improve dramatically at with more experience, Baltimore will get the most out of him by giving him room to run.

That makes middle linebacker a pretty hotly contested battle right now. Board, Ryan, and Alaka are all in the mix there as larger and more stout linebackers. Where Ryan comes with more starting experience, Board has more time in the playbook, which might make all the difference. Alaka still sits in third right now but could surprise people when the Ravens get back on the field for training camp.

Still, this is a group that could use more depth. The 2020 NFL Draft is far from over and there are some linebackers in the mid-to-late rounds that could come in an compete for a job as an early-down linebacker next to Queen. The second wave of free agency could even see an experienced option hit the market, which might be more up Baltimore’s alley given their lack of experience at the position.

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What does Jake Ryan’s addition mean for the Ravens’ 2020 NFL draft plans

With Jake Ryan coming to the Baltimore Ravens on a one-year deal, does it change what the Ravens are going to do in the 2020 NFL Draft?

The Baltimore Ravens bolstered their thinnest position group with the addition of inside linebacker Jake Ryan, who agreed to terms on a one-year contract pending a physical. With the 2020 NFL Draft coming up in less than a week, the biggest question with any new signing is how it will impact the Ravens’ draft plans. For Ryan, that’s a little bit of a complicated situation.

When healthy, Ryan is a starting-quality linebacker. In fact, he did that in 27 games over three seasons for the Green Bay Packers. But injuries have kept him from the field for all but one snap over the last two seasons, with the Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars respectively. While there’s certainly hope Ryan has recovered from the knee injury that put him on injured reserve in 2018 and the hamstring injury that ended his 2019 season, betting on that seems like a shaky proposition.

However, Baltimore just needed more experienced depth. Prior to Ryan’s signing, the Ravens had just three inside linebackers under contract and only L.J. Fort has started even just one NFL game. Only Fort and Chris Board have gotten any defensive snaps. With two linebacker spots to fill on base defense, that very limited depth and production simply wasn’t going to cut it for a Baltimore defense that has a long and proud history of linebacker play.

While Ryan’s addition certainly helps that depth, it likely isn’t a huge impact on the Ravens’ draft plans. They’re still likely going to use at least one of their nine picks at the position in the 2020 NFL Draft. However, they might not necessarily be forced into taking one of the linebackers — Patrick Queen and Kenneth Murray — who have frequently been mocked to them in the first round.

As director of college scouting Joe Hortiz noted in the pre-draft press conference, there are a bunch of linebackers that can be found later in the draft to fill specific roles. If Baltimore wants to split the position group into linebackers who can cover and ones who are stout against the run, they might be able to wait until Day 2 or 3 of the draft to find their other piece of the puzzle to combine with Ryan, Board and Fort.

As with everything the Ravens tend to do in the offseason, Ryan’s addition is about giving them more flexibility. They can let their draft board come to them without having to feel like they need to reach to fill a need with an early pick. It’s a strategy that has worked out quite well for Baltimore over the years, so it’s hard to disagree with it.

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