The Final Preseason Game is a Key to the Future For Some.

There is no such thing as a meaningless game, especially when livelihoods are at stake. Tonight the Ravens will take the field with the St. Louis Rams to do the same thing every other team plans on doing, assessing what talent they should keep and which ones they should cast off.

Young players like cornerback Prince Miller will receive a huge opportunity to leave a lasting impression on the coaches. His first impression was a very good one returning a punt for 43 yards in his first preseason game versus the Carolina Panthers in conjunction with exhibiting good coverage skills against the likes of Armanti Edwards and Dwayne Jarrett. Miller is a new father as of a few weeks ago and having a roster spot would make his families future look much more secure.

Do Curtis Steele and Jalen Parmele stick around? Both are behind excellent running backs in Ray Rice and Willis Mcgahee and fullback/runningback hybrid Leron McClain, all of whom will share carries this year. Neither back has given anyone reason to guarantee them a place. Parmele may have an edge because his experience as a special teamer. Parmele returned kickoffs successfully last year finishing with an average of 31 yards/return in the regular season. Steele is inexperienced and hasn't shown well in preseason but busted a few eye-popping runs in training camp. A good performance tonight may decide whether or not he is worth keeping on the practice squad.

Underachieving wide receiver Demetrius Williams is also on the bubble after years of not tapping his potential and an offseason of new receiver acquisitions in Anquan Boldin, Dante Stallworth and David Reed. Williams has shown he can get deep and make big plays on occasion but has not been able to stay healthy and dominate consistently enough to be a mainstay. He will see a lot of time in this final preseason game because the coaching staff must see if he is the player best suited to be that fourth (while Stallworth is injured) or fifth receiver.

If not, there are even younger receivers like Marcus Smith and David Reed who could be valuable options for that final receiver spot. Smith is a standout special teams player posting six tackles last season but has never caught a pass in the regular season. Fortunately for him, he is catching passes in the preseason so a strong performance helps his cause.

David Reed left  Utah State with a reputation as a tough, strong handed receiver who could go over the middle and take hits. So far, the Ravens haven't seen a whole lot of that. Reed dropped a lot of passes in training camp and besides the four catch performance he put against the Redskins, we haven't seen much else from him on offense. He is capable of returning kicks which makes all the more valuable.

To the dismay of a few, some of these players won't be a Raven much longer. There are numerical requirement teams must follow and in order to comply cuts must be made.