The Ravens are sticking to their talking points. The messaging has not changed.
They want this center competition to be the one spot on this roster where there is supposed to be some real intrigue and mystery. And they really, I guess, want the the Colts to wonder about who will be snapping the ball to two-time MVP Lamar Jackson Week 1. They are committed to this bit, and I'll say this - if they decide that Jovaughn Gwyn , making no money with 11 snaps to his resume at center as a special teams guy in Atlanta , is better than Ethan Pocic , pushing 6,000 career reps who they had to beat out other teams to sign, they'd better be right.
Even if it's just for a game, or a few games. Even if just because Pocic is still coming back from Achilles surgery. They'd better be right. And damn right. And unlike the games they used to play rotating tackles and guards around here, you willingly rotate centers you are courting disaster.
"I think we are still evaluating that," rookie head coach Jesse Minter said of the center position Monday. "We will probably have, over the next week or so, to kind of figure that out, but I still think that is a real competition."
Okay.
A Monster Of Their Own Creation
Keep in mind, they have no one to blame but themselves for letting Tyler Linderbaum leave the building as a free agent at a time they have a record $360M payroll , playing such an important position at a critical time as they install a brand-new offense. Rookie coordinator Declan Doyle spoke to how important experience and communication and understanding is to this position for him recently, and we spoke to Doyle's mentor, Broncos head coach Sean Payton, about how crucial it is in his scheme and especially when he was a young coach .
Everyone from Brian Baldinger to former GM Marty Hurney to Bucky Brooks to Phil Simms has come on "The Daily Flock" and been perplexed that this prime free agent left Owings Mills. Don't lose sight of that.
So if you go with Gwyn, for anything - just a snap - he'd better be ready and look the part and hold up. Because merely looking at this of framing it as "Pocic vs. Gwyn" is kind of twisted and myopic. That's never what it had to be.
This has been the biggest pressing need since Linderbaum left at the start of free agency, and they knew way back at the combine he likely had a richer offer than they were willing to match. Options abounded still. The draft had all kinds of possibilities. Instead, they signed Colts jack-of-all-trades lineman Danny Pinter and now he's out for the season and their deep depth is gone with the Panthers claiming Corey Bullock on waivers.
Gwyn worked with offensive line coach/run game coordinator Dwayne Ledford in Atlanta. That's great. He still never saw the field on offense. The stakes here are way higher with Jackson in a potential walk year , coming off another injury-plagued season, in Super Bowl or bust mode.
If Pocic isn't fully ready, or they just think Gwyn is better, and they want to go out on that limb - with a young coach who was uber-conservative in his player usage in the preseason - it best not quickly snap. That decision best not jeopardize their quarterback of their offense.
They'd better get this right.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/ravens/onsi as The Ravens Created A Mess At Center. They'd Best Fix It By Week 1 .
