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2026 Offseason Thread

rossihunter2 said:
other tidbits from that conversation/context that i picked up on:

1) Emery Jones will be taking reps at OT in EDC's mind - to me that always seemed like his best position going back to his college tape where I didn't project him as OT conversion candidate
2) Danny Pinter is definitely leading the C competition
3) Carson Vinson is an exciting developmental guy - and i wonder if they hope/think they might have Stanley's successor in-house already
4) The Nnamdi non-update/update is positive
5) Teddye Buchanan is looking at pretty close to the best-case scenario for his recovery timeline from the ACL tear in December
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Along with this... I know a lot of people are looking at Vorhees for potential cap savings, but this makes him the top backup G with the other options being quite uninspiring. Gwyn and Bullock are more of C options but could slide out to G if needed. Otherwise, you've really got Beerntsen as the only other on paper option for that role. Not saying he won't step up but an undersized older rookie G isn't exactly a thrilling consideration in his own right.

Theoretically...

LT: Stanley, Vinson
LG: Simpson, Vorhees
C: Pinter, Bullock/Gwyn
RG: Ioane
RT: Rosengarten, Jones
 
Simba said:
Along with this... I know a lot of people are looking at Vorhees for potential cap savings, but this makes him the top backup G with the other options being quite uninspiring. Gwyn and Bullock are more of C options but could slide out to G if needed. Otherwise, you've really got Beerntsen as the only other on paper option for that role. Not saying he won't step up but an undersized older rookie G isn't exactly a thrilling consideration in his own right.

Theoretically...

LT: Stanley, Vinson
LG: Simpson, Vorhees
C: Pinter, Bullock/Gwyn
RG: Ioane
RT: Rosengarten, Jones
Click to expand...

my guess is that Jones will be a swing backup at G/T
and with Pocic now having been signed, Pinter offers you some flexibility at G too (although i much prefer him at C)

LT: Stanley, Vinson
LG: Simpson
C: Pocic, Pinter
RG: Vega
RT: RR, Jones

C has questions marks for both guys, but i'd be surprised if those 2 guys weren't on the 53
that is 8 near locks in my opinion

which leaves you only 1or 2 spots remaining out of the following:
Vorhees - probably the favourite to stick, but you do save cap if you get rid of him and he is in the final year of his rookie deal
Gwyn - we know Ledford likes him, but clearly not enough to stop EDC signing Pocic and we know Pinter was ahead of him throughout the offseason so far - not sure there's room for a 3rd C to ride the inactives all year
Beertsen - rookie draft pick status might help him - but he's undersized and older and seems to have been buried on the depth chart so far
Bullock - pre-offseason, would have said he was easily the favourite to stick, but he doesn't seem to be factoring into any of the OL competitions
Pounds - udfa flyer - who's best shot is if the coaches decide that Emery Jones is more of a guard and they want a 4th pure OT

my guess is it's 9 OL and Vorhees is OL9 (only question would be if someone offers them a day 3 pick/pick-swap for Vorhees)
and they look to add Gwyn, Beertsen and Pounds to the practice squad but won't be heartbroken if any of them are sniped elsewhere
 
My pre-training camp best guess at the 53:

QB (2)
Locks: Lamar, Huntley
Bubble: Thompson
Longshots: Fagnano, Pavia

QB seems easy enough unless Thompson does enough that they want to keep him as the emergency 3rd QB on gameday rosters.

RB (4)
Locks: Henry
Near Locks: Hill, Ali, Randall
Longshots: McMillan, Tau-Tolliver

RB doesn't need much explaining. Barring a surprise this group is pretty much set already.

TE (4)
Locks: Andrews
Near Locks: Smythe, Hibner, Cuevas
Longshots: Pezza, Scott

TE much like RB doesn't need much explaining. Again barring a significant underperformance by the rookies, this group is basically locked already.

WR (6)
Locks: Flowers, Bateman
Near Locks: Walker, Lane, Sarratt
Bubble: Wester
Longshots: Wade, Guillory, Johnson, Smith Jr, Braham Jr

Feels harsh to call Wade a longshot but he is. Wester is only really on the bubble because we've added some other potential return options this offseason, but i'd still expect him to win the WR6 and starting PR job.

OL (9)
Locks: Stanley, Simpson, Ioane, Rosengarten
Near Locks: Jones Jr, Vinson, Pocic, Pinter
Bubble: Vorhees, Gwyn, Beertsen, Bullock, Pounds
Longshots: Lichtenhan, Penning, Dawkins

Seems like we're almost locked on 8 of the 9/10 OL right now. Vorhees would be my favourite right now to be last man on. Pinter still feels like a near lock for the 53 to me even with the Pocic signing.

DL (7)
Locks: Madubuike, Jones, Campbell, Jenkins
Bubble: Peebles, Washington, Benny, Okoye
Longshots: Olajiga, Wilson Jr, Graves

Could definitely see them only keep 6 DL here. Hard to choose who the last one off would be though - Peebles in year 2 and who showed promising flashes as a rookie feels hard to leave off, Washington has underperformed his contract but hard to argue he's not good in the rotation, Benny has the traits and trust with the coaching staff that it feels tough to project him missing out. Which is why i've ballparked 7 DL for now. Would not surprise me though if they kept 6 DL and opted for an extra EDGE or LB.

EDGE (4)
Locks: Hendrickson, Green, Robinson, Young
Bubble: Isaac, Rucker
Longshots: Burke

Feels pretty straightforward. Only real question is whether Isaac can earn himself a 53 man roster spot or not as a 5th EDGE vs someone at another position.

LB (4)
Locks: Smith, Buchanan, Simpson
Bubble: Higgins
Longshots: Williford, DeLuca, Jones

Again feels like a light position but we always seem to be able to find guys at LB. Right now though hard to pick more than the 4 guys who were there last year.

DB (10)
Locks: Hamilton, Starks, Wiggins, Humphrey, Hawkins, Awuzie
Near Locks: Tampa
Bubble: Jackson, Rivers, Martin, Kone, Longerbeam, Oruwariye, Wallace
Longshots: Robinson, McDoom, Webb Jr, Robinson, Walters

The bottom of the 53 at DB feels so hard to predict. Jackson feels like the easy one because of his special teams prowess. Rivers feels tough to leave off because of the draft pick status. Which for me would leave Martin vs Kone for the final DB spot right now but would potentially leave you light at safety which is where K'Von Wallace might fit in and sneak on at the end.

For me the questions going into camp right now for last spots on are:
OL10 vs DL7 vs EDGE5 (Isaac) vs LB5 vs DB11 for 1 spot on the roster

and then also the competition for the last "guaranteed" positional spots at various positions too:
OL9 - 1 of: Vorhees vs Gwyn vs Beertsen vs Bullock vs Pounds
DL6 - 2 of: Peebles, Washington, Benny, Okoye
DB10 - 3 of: Jackson, Rivers, Martin, Kone, Longerbeam, Oruwariye, Wallace
 
rossihunter2 said:
My pre-training camp best guess at the 53:

QB (2)
Locks: Lamar, Huntley
Bubble: Thompson
Longshots: Fagnano, Pavia

QB seems easy enough unless Thompson does enough that they want to keep him as the emergency 3rd QB on gameday rosters.

RB (4)
Locks: Henry
Near Locks: Hill, Ali, Randall
Longshots: McMillan, Tau-Tolliver

RB doesn't need much explaining. Barring a surprise this group is pretty much set already.

TE (4)
Locks: Andrews
Near Locks: Smythe, Hibner, Cuevas
Longshots: Pezza, Scott

TE much like RB doesn't need much explaining. Again barring a significant underperformance by the rookies, this group is basically locked already.

WR (6)
Locks: Flowers, Bateman
Near Locks: Walker, Lane, Sarratt
Bubble: Wester
Longshots: Wade, Guillory, Johnson, Smith Jr, Braham Jr

Feels harsh to call Wade a longshot but he is. Wester is only really on the bubble because we've added some other potential return options this offseason, but i'd still expect him to win the WR6 and starting PR job.

OL (9)
Locks: Stanley, Simpson, Ioane, Rosengarten
Near Locks: Jones Jr, Vinson, Pocic, Pinter
Bubble: Vorhees, Gwyn, Beertsen, Bullock, Pounds
Longshots: Lichtenhan, Penning, Dawkins

Seems like we're almost locked on 8 of the 9/10 OL right now. Vorhees would be my favourite right now to be last man on. Pinter still feels like a near lock for the 53 to me even with the Pocic signing.

DL (7)
Locks: Madubuike, Jones, Campbell, Jenkins
Bubble: Peebles, Washington, Benny, Okoye
Longshots: Olajiga, Wilson Jr, Graves

Could definitely see them only keep 6 DL here. Hard to choose who the last one off would be though - Peebles in year 2 and who showed promising flashes as a rookie feels hard to leave off, Washington has underperformed his contract but hard to argue he's not good in the rotation, Benny has the traits and trust with the coaching staff that it feels tough to project him missing out. Which is why i've ballparked 7 DL for now. Would not surprise me though if they kept 6 DL and opted for an extra EDGE or LB.

EDGE (4)
Locks: Hendrickson, Green, Robinson, Young
Bubble: Isaac, Rucker
Longshots: Burke

Feels pretty straightforward. Only real question is whether Isaac can earn himself a 53 man roster spot or not as a 5th EDGE vs someone at another position.

LB (4)
Locks: Smith, Buchanan, Simpson
Bubble: Higgins
Longshots: Williford, DeLuca, Jones

Again feels like a light position but we always seem to be able to find guys at LB. Right now though hard to pick more than the 4 guys who were there last year.

DB (10)
Locks: Hamilton, Starks, Wiggins, Humphrey, Hawkins, Awuzie
Near Locks: Tampa
Bubble: Jackson, Rivers, Martin, Kone, Longerbeam, Oruwariye, Wallace
Longshots: Robinson, McDoom, Webb Jr, Robinson, Walters

The bottom of the 53 at DB feels so hard to predict. Jackson feels like the easy one because of his special teams prowess. Rivers feels tough to leave off because of the draft pick status. Which for me would leave Martin vs Kone for the final DB spot right now but would potentially leave you light at safety which is where K'Von Wallace might fit in and sneak on at the end.

For me the questions going into camp right now for last spots on are:
OL10 vs DL7 vs EDGE5 (Isaac) vs LB5 vs DB11 for 1 spot on the roster

and then also the competition for the last "guaranteed" positional spots at various positions too:
OL9 - 1 of: Vorhees vs Gwyn vs Beertsen vs Bullock vs Pounds
DL6 - 2 of: Peebles, Washington, Benny, Okoye
DB10 - 3 of: Jackson, Rivers, Martin, Kone, Longerbeam, Oruwariye, Wallace
Click to expand...
I feel like I'm pretty close to this.

DL certainly feels like the deepest spot on the roster. Can't keep them all and you're almost surely cutting someone that is going to play elsewhere in the league if not here. I don't think Okoye did much improving once he got on the field but he's not done playing in this league and he feels to be the least likely of the bubble guys right now, which is a good problem to have.

DB is the other one where you have a lot of options, and I'd consider the possibility of some veteran handshake stuff there. Guys like Oruwariye and Wallace would probably be amenable.

Not saying he's making it by any means, but I wouldn't discount Carl Jones' shot at the roster. May be more of a PS guy but they tried to sign him to their PS a few times after he was cut but he opted to stay in Chicago. Took them finally claiming him to get him here.

With all of that being said, definitely feels like a lighter depth year than normal. Feels like you only have about 60ish real candidates at it before we see if any of the UDFAs stand out in camp.
 
Gonna be so weird seeing this offense without Ricard
 
Simba said:
Along with this... I know a lot of people are looking at Vorhees for potential cap savings, but this makes him the top backup G with the other options being quite uninspiring. Gwyn and Bullock are more of C options but could slide out to G if needed. Otherwise, you've really got Beerntsen as the only other on paper option for that role. Not saying he won't step up but an undersized older rookie G isn't exactly a thrilling consideration in his own right.

Theoretically...

LT: Stanley, Vinson
LG: Simpson, Vorhees
C: Pinter, Bullock/Gwyn
RG: Ioane
RT: Rosengarten, Jones
Click to expand...

Did they give up on the Emery Jones at Guard experiment?

A 3rd round pick not in competition for any starting 5 is a shame.
 
rossihunter2 said:
DL (7)
Locks: Madubuike, Jones, Campbell, Jenkins
Bubble: Peebles, Washington, Benny, Okoye
Longshots: Olajiga, Wilson Jr, Graves

Could definitely see them only keep 6 DL here. Hard to choose who the last one off would be though - Peebles in year 2 and who showed promising flashes as a rookie feels hard to leave off, Washington has underperformed his contract but hard to argue he's not good in the rotation, Benny has the traits and trust with the coaching staff that it feels tough to project him missing out. Which is why i've ballparked 7 DL for now. Would not surprise me though if they kept 6 DL and opted for an extra EDGE or LB.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised to mildly shocked the general consensus isn't that Washington gets cut. He was awful last year and saves 4m (correct if wrong). Benny/Okoye/Peebles would have to really disappoint for him to stick. Especially with Urban on hot dial. Hell I'm not even sure Washington would get picked up.
 
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Baltimorican said:
I'm surprised to mildly shocked you and the general consensus isn't that Washington gets cut. He was awful last year and saves 4m (correct if wrong). Benny/Okoye/Peebles would have to really disappoint for him to stick. Especially with Urban on hot dial. Hell I'm not even sure Washington would get picked up.
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was washington awful or was he just injured the whole year?
he only played in 3 games and was on I/R the rest of the season and had achilles surgery...

with madubuike's health in doubt, would not surprise me if they do everything they can to avoid last year's issues at DL and hoard depth there

he's definitely not a lock now that they've retained jenkins and brought in calais - but hard to believe he wouldnt beat out peebles and benny in a straight-up competition and the ravens recently havent been interested in making roster decisions with depth based on saving cap space (could have the same conversation about vorhees too)
 
rossihunter2 said:
was washington awful or was he just injured the whole year?
he only played in 3 games and was on I/R the rest of the season and had achilles surgery...

with madubuike's health in doubt, would not surprise me if they do everything they can to avoid last year's issues at DL and hoard depth there

he's definitely not a lock now that they've retained jenkins and brought in calais - but hard to believe he wouldnt beat out peebles and benny in a straight-up competition and the ravens recently havent been interested in making roster decisions with depth based on saving cap space (could have the same conversation about vorhees too)
Click to expand...

He was also bad the year before. With Campbel and Jenkins it just doesn't feel like they need another old guy in the rotation. 4m goes a long way during the early parts of the season to the trade deadline. And again, him or Urban on hot dial in a pinch.
 
Davesta said:
Did they give up on the Emery Jones at Guard experiment?

A 3rd round pick not in competition for any starting 5 is a shame.
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i personally always thought he was a OT
with Stanley's health and age and with RR's slump in form in year 2, no harm in having talented guys in waiting

obviously you want your 3rd rounders to play but it's not like he's not playing because he sucks, he's not playing because we've got good starters ahead of him

your 5 starters on OL rarely play the whole season - having a 3rd rounder who can potentially play 4/5 positions on the OL as a swing backup, isn't the worst outcome in year 2 (especially after he missed most of his rookie year)

the bigger issue for Jones is that barring injuries or a big downturn in form from RR, there's not much of a pathway to start in the future either (RR still has 2 years on his rookie deal, Vega has 4-5 years on his rookie deal, Simpson's around for at least 2 years and maybe 3, Stanley has 2 years left on his deal) - which means Jones probably doesnt have the option to start anywhere until his contract year in year 4 and he'll potentially be competing with Vinson for an OT spot that year too
 
Baltimorican said:
He was also bad the year before. With Campbel and Jenkins it just doesn't feel like they need another old guy in the rotation. 4m goes a long way during the early parts of the season to the trade deadline. And again, him or Urban on hot dial in a pinch.
Click to expand...

it's not him vs Urban - if urban was going to be an option, he'd be on the ravens for training camp and they'd do an under the table deal
urban's not practising anywhere which suggests to me that his career might be over
 
Simba said:
I feel like I'm pretty close to this.

DL certainly feels like the deepest spot on the roster. Can't keep them all and you're almost surely cutting someone that is going to play elsewhere in the league if not here. I don't think Okoye did much improving once he got on the field but he's not done playing in this league and he feels to be the least likely of the bubble guys right now, which is a good problem to have.

DB is the other one where you have a lot of options, and I'd consider the possibility of some veteran handshake stuff there. Guys like Oruwariye and Wallace would probably be amenable.

Not saying he's making it by any means, but I wouldn't discount Carl Jones' shot at the roster. May be more of a PS guy but they tried to sign him to their PS a few times after he was cut but he opted to stay in Chicago. Took them finally claiming him to get him here.

With all of that being said, definitely feels like a lighter depth year than normal. Feels like you only have about 60ish real candidates at it before we see if any of the UDFAs stand out in camp.
Click to expand...

for sure we weren't talking about lowery or martin this time last year

but it does seem like a weaker udfa class than we've had recently (certainly in terms of name value)

the most talented guys with the best shot to make it right now would seem to be:
Diego Pounds, OT
Dom DeLuca, LB (special teams)

wouldn't be surprised if they kept more DL than usual given the uncertainty around Madubuike and the age at the position (Jenkins, Calais) and the issues we had last year - 7 would feel like a lot but they could justify it if they went with only 4 at EDGE and LB but it would put pressure on the special teams snaps (and LB also has Buchanan coming off an injury)
 
rossihunter2 said:
it's not him vs Urban - if urban was going to be an option, he'd be on the ravens for training camp and they'd do an under the table deal
urban's not practising anywhere which suggests to me that his career might be over
Click to expand...

Either way methinks he's on the chopping block pretty much the second Beeks is declared a full go for week 1.
 
Right now I've got 9 spots for the following:
QB 3 - Skylar Thompson
WR 6 - LaJohntay Wester
OL 9/10 - Andrew Vorhees, Jovaughn Gwyn, Evan Beertsen, Corey Bullock, Diego Pounds
DL 5/6/7 - Aeneas Peebles, Broderick Washington, Rashaun Benny, CJ Okoye
EDGE 5 - Adisa Isaac, Kaimon Rucker
LB 4/5 - Jay Higgins, Dom DeLuca, Carl Jones
DB 8/9/10/11 - Keondre Jackson, Chandler Rivers, Keyon Martin, Bilhal Kone, Robert Longerbeam, Amani Oruwariye, K'Von Wallace

that's 23 guys for 9 spots
we know at least 1 spot will be OL9, we know at least 1 spot will be DL5 and probably a 2nd spot for DL6, we know at least 1 spot will be LB4, we know at least 2 spots will be DB8, DB9 and probably a 3rd spot for DB10

which leaves 2 spots truly up for grabs across position groups:
QB3 vs WR6 vs OL10 vs DL7 vs EDGE5 vs LB5 vs DB11
Skylar Thompson vs LaJohntay Wester vs OL10 vs DL7 vs Adisa Isaac vs LB5 vs DB11

excluding any udfa wildcards (other than DeLuca and Pounds)
 
The camp battles that actually matter to watch out for in training camp for me:

1) Starting C: probably Pocic vs Pinter with Pocic going in as the favourite to win
2) LB2: Buchanan coming off the injury vs Simpson with a full offseason - Buchanan should be the favourite as long as the recovery continues to go well
3) WR3: Tez Walker vs the two rookies (Lane and Sarratt) - the hope should be that one of the rookies wins this because Walker winning would feel like a win-by-default
4) TE2/3: Can either of the rookies (Hibner and Cuevas) steal the TE2 spot from Smythe and if not, who wins the TE3 job
5) K: Tyler Loop vs........ literally nothing right now - not sure how that helps him deal with pressure in-season
 
rossihunter2 said:
i personally always thought he was a OT
with Stanley's health and age and with RR's slump in form in year 2, no harm in having talented guys in waiting

obviously you want your 3rd rounders to play but it's not like he's not playing because he sucks, he's not playing because we've got good starters ahead of him

your 5 starters on OL rarely play the whole season - having a 3rd rounder who can potentially play 4/5 positions on the OL as a swing backup, isn't the worst outcome in year 2 (especially after he missed most of his rookie year)

the bigger issue for Jones is that barring injuries or a big downturn in form from RR, there's not much of a pathway to start in the future either (RR still has 2 years on his rookie deal, Vega has 4-5 years on his rookie deal, Simpson's around for at least 2 years and maybe 3, Stanley has 2 years left on his deal) - which means Jones probably doesnt have the option to start anywhere until his contract year in year 4 and he'll potentially be competing with Vinson for an OT spot that year too
Click to expand...
I think there’s a very underrated aspect to emery jones’ place on this roster that nobody wants to say out loud…

Is Roger rosengarten actually a quality starting RT? The jury is still very much out on this. If emery jones ever had a natural position, it’s RT.
 
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