As a route runner, tight end Andrews worthy of imitation

Second-year player more comfortable after breakout

Mark Andrews is such a good route runner, Charles Scarff stole from him. Sort of. It wasn’t like he took $20 out of a jacket pocket. It was more like … theft of intellectual property.

When the undrafted free agent joined the Ravens for training camp this summer, he knew he’d have to catch passes. To do that, Scarff would have to get open. The tight end was a third-team All-American last season for Football Championship Subdivision program Delaware, but he’d gone undrafted. There was a lot to learn, much to prove.

Andrews had been a rookie tight end in Baltimore the year before. He also happens to be, in Scarff’s estimation, “the savviest route runner I’ve ever seen.” So savvy, in fact, that Scarff started to adopt Andrews’ releases at the line of scrimmage as his own. To great success, too. “It’s been getting me open and everything,” he said after practice Monday.

At a recent tight ends meeting, the truth came out. As film from practice rolled, Andrews noticed his handiwork. He spoke up. “He was like, ‘Quit stealing my releases,’ ” Scarff recalled, chuckling.

More than a week through training camp, it has been easier to mimic Andrews than stop him. He’s quickly achieved most-favored-receiver status with quarterback Lamar Jackson, and their partnership has risen like the morning sun over Owings Mills. It’s roasted just as many people, too.

As a 6-foot-4, 256-pound tight end, Andrews has seemingly reached that sweet spot: too fast for linebackers to cover, too big for cornerbacks to reroute, too skilled for safeties to handle. On a team that spent the first half of last season with an unsteady passing game and the second half commit