Joe Flacco will be stepping on the field with a lot of new receiving talent. However in order for him to have time to throw the ball the outside of the offensive line must be solid. As of right now the depth at the tackle position seems to a positive for this offense.
Right now there are five tackles in Baltimore certainly talented enough to make the roster: Michael Oher, Jared Gaither, Marshal Yanda, Oniel Cousins and this year's sixth round pick Ramone Harewood. I mention talent because all of these players are not guarenteed a spot amongst the 53 because the Ravens may only carry four tackles on the roster.
It is presumed that Gaither and Oher will lock down the edges this season. There seems to be some unspoken conflict between Gaither and the Ravens organization about his contract. At one point, there were rumors about the Ravens shopping Gaither around. That talk has died down however things have changed for him. In the OTA's Oher was practicing at the left tackle spot, the position that belonged to Gaither last season before he got hurt. Oher started all sixteen regular season games last year as a rookie, two of those starts were at the left tackle position. The small chance that Gaither doesn't start on the offensive line comes from the possibility of Gaither getting moved because of his dissatisfaction with his contract or poor work ethic, something Gaither has occasionally been criticized for.
One player the Ravens organization is high on is Oniel Cousins. The 6-4 specimen has had several opporunities to start during his three year NFL career. Believe me, he did not impress. He struggled to pass block at times, a crucial skill a tackle must possess. This year he started in weeks 14 through 16. During this stint, the Ravens played the dismal Detroit Lions caught in the process of rebuilding and the dissapointing Chicago Bears, a team many suspected to ride into the playoffs on the shoulders of Jay Cutler. Both teams possessed pass rushes that were mediocre at best. He did not meet the real challenge until he started in the week 16 20-23 loss to the Steelers. Left Outside Linebacker LaMarr Woodley was often matched up against Cousins and finished the day with a noteworthy ten tackles and two sacks.
The Ravens most intriguing selection in the 2010 draft was Ramone Harewood, tackle out of Morehouse. Harewood has plenty of physical ability but lacks the experience and knowledge of the technical side of playing offensive tackle. He is a project that if properly groomed could become a wonderful asset to an offense with a young quarterback and running back.
I am looking for the Ravens offense to really achieve great things this year but it is because this young offensive line is due to improve. Building an offense is like building a house from the ground up. A stirdy, durable house is always built on solid ground; that's what the offensive line needs to be, solid ground. If the tackles can block efficiently without the excessive assistance of blocking tight ends, this offense will flourish.
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