Observations on safety Hamilton, left guard battle and more
Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton’s athleticism was evident during the first couple of days of his rookie training camp last year, but then his lack of experience began to show.
That’s not the case anymore.
From the last quarter of the 2022 season until now, the first-round draft pick has shown the ability of not just being able to play near the line of scrimmage, but also drop into coverage in the deep third of the field.
When quarterback Lamar Jackson tried to drop in a deep pass to rookie Zay Flowers along the right sideline early in practice Thursday, Hamilton was in position for an easy interception.
In the first two days of training camp, the former Notre Dame star has shown good instincts and provides another weapon for defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald. The Ravens can interchange both Hamilton and fellow safety Marcus Williams as opposed to having Williams play center field in passing situations the way he did in the first half of last season.
Because Hamilton is built like a linebacker at 6 feet, 4 inches and 220 pounds, the Ravens can also bring him off the corner in either run or pass blitzes.
“Kyle looks great,” Williams said. “Since he was a rookie, he’s always been getting better. He’s continuing to get better in the film room, out on the field, getting more comfortable, playing together, side by side.
So, as long as he continues to focus, lock in and come out here and do all he can to work, I think he’s going to be great.
“Anybody you go out there with, you want to build that chemistry,” Williams added. “But, just being together for a whole year, it gives us that chemistry already. So, just being able to talk to him, him being able to listen — and he even tells me stuff — it’s just feeding off each other so we can both get better.”
Ojabo vs. Stanley
It would be interesting to watch secondyear outside linebacker David Ojabo go against Pro Bowl left tackle Ronnie Stanley in a game.
The Ravens need Ojabo to have a breakout season, and so far the 2022 secondround pick has played well against Stanley in training camp. Ojabo has an assortment of moves and Stanley, despite battling major ankle injuries the past two seasons, is still one of the best at his position.
It was and still is one of the featured matchups in training camp. It will get better when both players put on full pads.
Left guard battle taking shape
If we had to wager, we’d put money on rookie Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu starting at left guard in the season opener against the Houston Texans on Sept. 10.
The sixth-round pick out of Oregon appears flexible, runs well and seems to be developing nice chemistry with Stanley, especially when it comes to picking up blitzes.
It will come down to how well Aumavae-Laulu plays in preseason games. If he doesn’t pan out, the Ravens could move second-year player Daniel Faalele to left guard. Faalele has been a reserve tackle, but he has the athleticism to play inside. He also appears to have done a lot of work in the weight room in the offseason and is certainly quicker off the snap of the ball.
Despite the team being in shorts and shells, coach John Harbaugh says he looks at assignment, communication, footwork, hand punching and timing from all the interior linemen.
The give and take
Second-year tight end Charlie Kolar had a big catch early in practice Wednesday and added a couple more Thursday. When you are 6-6 and weigh 257 pounds, coaches take notice.
“He is ready to go,” Harbaugh said of Kolar, “big, strong and determined.”
Backup quarterback Tyler Huntley might have gotten a little greedy in throwing to Kolar. His pass intended for the tight end was picked off by rookie safety Jaquan Amos in the end zone near the tail end of practice.
Overall, it was not a good day for Huntley.
Beating the heat
Harbaugh apparently plans to ramp up practices as the temperatures decrease.
For now, he is comfortable going with 90-minute sessions.
The Ravens have made some modifications, including allowing the offensive linemen to have an individual period inside before going out on the field.
“You have to be very vigilant,” Harbaugh said of the heat wave, which will peak at a high of 99 degrees Friday. “I think our staff does a great job — training staff, strength and conditioning staff. Everybody is doing a great job of making sure we get the hydration. We’re monitoring every single player. You may have a player here or there who’s got to take some time out or you pull them back.”
“We took a little more time between drills — you saw — today,” he added. “We had a period right before the field goal where we just took an extended water break. You just try to cool them down, get the helmets off, stop them moving a little bit. It’s good. It’s not often you play in this kind of heat in the NFL — maybe in early September you might get a day that’s hot — so there’s really no reason to push it beyond the edge, for sure, and I don’t think we’re even close to that. But there is an aspect of it with acclimation that is positive, if you handle it the right way, and I thought our guys did a good job of that.”