Throughout the Ravens' 38-10 drubbing of the Panthers, one player noticeably did not stand out on offense as the team kept scoring touchdown after touchdown.
That player was left tackle James Hurst, who was filling in for the injured Eugene Monroe. And by not standing out, that was a good thing.
Those that follow offensive line play would probably prefer this to be worded a bit differently, considering Hurst came into the game and held his own as Joe Flacco's blind-side protector. With Hurst in, and with the stellar play of the rest of the line, Joe Flacco went on to set a franchise record in quarterback rating (137.4) with the running game's committee posting a combined 127 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
"We had seen James practice, and I don't think any of us felt like there'd be any big drop-off, except you never know until you get into a game situation, and he did," Ravens coach John Harbaugh told reporters on Monday. "He was kind of invisible, there were some things he can work on still, certainly, but he played well. There was no drop-off as he stepped in there."
Monroe is still set to be out for an undetermined time and will definitely take the left tackle spot over once he's healthy enough to. But the Ravens appear to have struck gold in getting Hurst as an undrafted free agent this past May. Sure, it's just one game, but Hurst showed that he's capable of stepping into the fire when asked to do so.