John Harbaugh sees a potential role for Ravens rookie Qadir Ismail
Qadir Ismail, son of former Ravens wide receiver Qadry Ismail, could ultimately stay with the club.
There might be a place on the roster for the undrafted free agent, who impressed enough at rookie camp to earn a berth on the 90-man roster.
On Thursday, a reporter pointed out that Ismail was working with the tight ends instead of the wide receivers for the individual sessions.
He asked head coach John Harbaugh the reasoning/motivation behind it.
“It’s exploring options,” Harbaugh answered.
“Everything nowadays, you put them in groups, you call them tight ends and wide receivers, but a lot of times, they do the same jobs.
“Having him over there working on some of those techniques was what we were doing.
“He’ll probably be kind of an inside receiver type of a guy; not to say that he couldn’t go outside and go get fades and things like that, he’s so big. I would say he’s really looked good.”
The most relevant part of that soundbite is this: “an inside receiver type of a guy.”
Harbaugh has identified a potential niche for Ismail, which will help Ismail overcome the long odds he faces of making the opening day roster.
Maybe he will be the Ravens’ next great slot receiver? The idea of him making the squad as a tight end seems pretty far-fetched right now.
He’ll have to earn it by continuing to impress on the practice field. Of course, he’s getting this chance in the first place because of who his dad is.
We like to think of sports as pure meritocracy, but sometimes it really is about who you know. We do see instances of cronyism and nepotism in football all the time, especially so in coaching.
“He’s had a nice camp,” Harbaugh continued.
“[He] signed as a tryout player. He’s got a family pedigree – it’s incredible – but he’s doing it all alone, and he made a couple of catches today.
“He looked good out there.”
Qadry Ismail won a Super Bowl and played two 1,000-yard seasons in Baltimore. If Qadir produces even a tiny fraction of that success, this will be considered a very astute signing.
