The Baltimore Ravens appear to be undergoing an offensive line shift in 2024. After losing John Simpson, Kevin Zeitler, and Morgan Moses to free agency, they will need to find three new starters up front, whether they choose to do so with in-house options or players not currently on the roster.
With so many new faces needed on the offensive line, the team has an opportunity to shift its identity up front if need be. Baltimore offensive coordinator Todd Monken was asked about what he’s looking for from his blockers in 2024, saying that a few traits are big, smart, physical, and athletic.
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s so hard to say that, because everybody is looking for the same guys – big, smart, physical, athletic. Like, ‘OK,’ and then, at that point, when you’re drafting, it’s like, ‘Well, let’s just take the best player.’ Like, it’s football. If we have to run more gap schemes, run gap schemes. [If we have to] run outside zone, inside zone … Hey, it’s like tight end. Like, ‘Alright, if we don’t have this guy, we have that guy. Let’s try to fit the pieces where they may.’ Certainly, would you like to have athletic linemen? For sure. But, when you have [guys] like Ben [Cleveland], and you have [guys] like Daniel [Faalele] – you have some bigger guys – well, then, you might have to run more power, [and] we might have to be more gap schemes and then play to whoever our strengths are [and] the players that we have.”
The new projected starters on the Ravens offensive line are second-year player Andrew Vorhees, fourth-year lineman Ben Cleveland, and rookie Roger Rosengarten. If they win their respective positional battles, it will be imperative to ensure they play at a high level, as the team needs to be able to effectively open up rushing lanes and protect its quarterback, Lamar Jackson.