Baltimore Beatdown
Welcome to Baltimore Beatdown’s Week 12 mailbag! Thank you so much for submitting your questions, and keep them coming in the comments of this post and any others. If you don’t see your question listed below, fear not! We will likely use it in a future mailbag. Read on for our staff’s answers about the Ravens.
How we fix the O-line problem? Will Harbaugh change something someday? (Fernandovaldez20) What is Ben Cleveland doing in practice that is so bad that he can’t crack this starting lineup? (Jack AKA potato jones) Is it possible that Cleveland can look more lost than Faalele? (MadStorkSociety) Do you have any information on how Emery Jones has looked in practice? Is there something about his game that would make the Ravens justified in not substituting Faalele for him? (Thezone27)
I can’t say I’m surprised to get so many questions about the offensive line. It has been the Ravens’ biggest and most consistent weakness this season, especially the interior trio in pass protection. As you allude to in the questions, the most obvious fix is a personnel change, and the most obvious switch would be replacing Daniel Faalele with Ben Cleveland and Emery Jones.
Faalele’s biggest strength is dominating blocking encounters. The trouble, of course, is his frequent inability to locate and lock on to defenders. In my view, continuing with Faalele’s high-variance play runs counterintuitive to the rest of the offense. Talent at other positions, especially the two-time MVP under center, mean that consistently serviceable play at right guard will help the offensive operate smoother.
For my money, Cleveland has been that type of player whenever he has been asked to play. Those opportunities have often come off the bench, an especially tough situation for offensive lineman. He has also appeared to be a reliable player in executing his assignments and picking up different types of pressure packages. My favorite quality is that he loses slowly. But, in my opinion, he has not received a legitimate chance at a starting job in years. Given the current state of play at right guard – where Cleveland has played his best ball – he should get a shot.
Jones’ situation is a bit more complicated. The Ravens were hoping that he would recover from his shoulder surgery much sooner and push for a starting guard spot. Instead, he didn’t make his practice debut until Week 5 and needed physical ramp-up time, not to mention getting acclimated to a new offense. It’s possible that he progresses quickly enough to push for playing time, but ultimately, a change just feels unlikely. The Ravens have stuck with Faalele at this point, and they may be hoping he makes some late-season progress like he did in 2024. – Nikhil Mehta
Why is Aeneas Peebles so deep in the Harbaugh doghouse? (Phkiernan)
I’m a big believer that the Harbaugh doghouse still exists. But I’m actually going to say that Fub isn’t in it. While a lot of what Harbaugh says I take...
