BALTIMORE — John Harbaugh had a young offensive line in his first year as coach of the Ravens.
In 2008, two players — left tackle Jared Gaither and left guard Ben Grubbs — had only one year of experience in the NFL. Right guard Chris Chester was in his third year, while center Jason Brown was a three-year player, and right tackle Willie Anderson was the most-seasoned player entering his 12th year in the league.
That 2008 team went 11-5 and advanced to the AFC Championship Game.
Harbaugh is facing a similar situation this season with a young offensive line. Second-year player Andrew Vorhees is the favorite to start at left guard and rookie Roger Rosengarten will get playing time at right tackle. Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum and tackle-turned-guard Danielle Faalele are playing in their fourth season. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley has the most experience, entering his 10th season.
Harbaugh is embracing the challenge.
“You look back, and it is kind of the nature of what we do. It’d be nice to have 22 starters out there that they’ve been playing, and they’re all great players, and you knew how they were going to play, and they were self-sufficient and proven guys, but that’s never the case,” Harbaugh said. “I’m excited about these guys, and the exciting thing about that kind of a situation is that the upside is something that you kind of lean into. From an optimistic point of view, you say, ‘What can these guys be?’ [And,] ‘Why not be great?’ That’s kind of how I look at these guys right now.
“I can’t wait to see what they develop into, but it’s not going to be … I understand why the concern – I get the questions, and we’re all going to find out real soon, and it will be an ongoing [process]. As we go into the season, they’re going to continue to get better and better, for sure.”
Harbaugh is trying to finalize the starters for the offensive line heading into the regular-season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs on September 5th.
If Linderbaum is back from a neck injury, he will start at center. If Linderbaum cannot play, veteran Pat Mekari could take that spot. Stanley will start at left tackle. Vorhees will likely play at left guard, and Faalele has started all of the preseason games at right guard. Rosengarten is in the hunt to start at left tackle.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson is confident the young offensive line will play well.
“My guys [have been] coming along very well,” Jackson said. “[They’re] young guys, [and this is a] very young group. I think it’s probably the youngest group I’ve been a part of since [I’ve] been in the league … We’ve got Ronnie [Stanley] at tackle, [and] we got Tyler, and those guys that are leaders of the line right now; and we [are] just going to keep stacking and keep getting better.”