We will know soon enough who will be among the 53 players that will make up the Baltimore Ravens roster, but lets take a shot at it now, before they play their final preseason game tonight at the St. Louis Rams. Don't expect to see many, if any, of the starters, other than perhaps the kickers, their holders and snappers. However, the others will all be fighting for the few priceless roster spots available on this veteran-laden team.
By position, here are my locks for the 53-man roster, with the final position battles noted afterwards:
OFFENSE:
QB: Joe Flacco (Position Battle: Tyrod Taylor vs. Curtis Painter) - Total spots: 2
RB: Ray Rice, Bernard Pierce, Bobby Rainey (Bubble: Damien Berry) - Total spots: 3
FB: Vonta Leach - Total spots: 1
WR: Anquan Boldin, Torrey Smith, Jacoby Jones, LaQuan Williams, Deonte Thompson (Bubble: Tandon Doss) - Total spots: 5
TE: Ed Dickson, Dennis Pitta, Billy Bajema - Total spots: 3
OL: Matt Birk, Marshal Yanda, Bobbie Williams, Michael Oher, Bryant McKinnie, Kelechi Osemele, Gino Gradkowski (Bubble: Jah Reid, Ramon Harewood, Justin Boren, Tony Wragge) - Total spots: 8
(Click on the 'Jump' to read my shot at the defense and Special Teams)
DEFENSE:
DL: Haloti Ngata, Terrence Cody, Arthur Jones, Pernell McPhee, Ma'ake Kemoeatu, Bryan Hall - Total spots: 6
LB: Ray Lewis, Jameel McClain, Paul Kruger, Albert McClellan, Courtney Upshaw, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Dannell Ellerbe, Sergio Kindle (Bubble: Chavis Williams, Nigel Carr - Total spots: 8
CB: Lardarius Webb, Jimmy Smith, Cary Williams, Corey Graham, Danny Gorrer, Asa Jackson (Bubble: Chykie Brown)- Total spots: 6
S: Ed Reed, Bernard Pollard, Christian Thompson, Omar Brown (Bubble: Sean Considine) - Total spots: 4
SPECIAL TEAMS:
PK: Justin Tucker
Punter: Sam Koch
LS: Morgan Cox
Total spots: 3
PUP LIST: Terrell Suggs, Tommy Streeter (Not counted against 53-man roster)
That's a current total of 49 spots, meaning there are still four more to be named. I could see one player added in the following positions: OL, DL, LB, CB. That would add up to the maximum of 53 players. Of course the last one or two spots would still be in jeopardy as the Ravens are sure to sift through the trash heap from the cuts around the rest of the league to perhaps add a player or two. The addition of Steeter to the PUP List is a prediction, not anything definitive.