Jermaine Eluemunor has potential, now he has to step up

With right guard Matt Skura likely missing a few games with a MCL sprain to his right knee, the Ravens will confide in their rookie fifth round pick Jermaine Eluemunor to take his place.

This isn’t the first time in the 2017 season that the Ravens will have to replace a right guard, or an offensive lineman for that matter. Marshal Yanda went down with a fractured ankle in Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns. Nico Siragusa (knee) and Alex Lewis (shoulder) went down with their injuries during camp.

Now Eluemunor, who was supposed to be an understudy of Yanda before the season began, will take his place. The 22-year old guard has the size (6’4, 337 lbs) that Baltimore likes to see in their offensive linemen. The issue is that he hasn’t played particularly well in the small sample size of three games that he’s appeared in.

According to Pro Football Focus, Eluemunor received a grade of 44.2 over the course of three games. This puts him in the “poor” category of players at his position. Although this is the case, he has never started in an NFL contest before. The extra preparation with the first-team offense during practice this week will do him some justice.

He also was a part of the offensive line during Baltimore’s Week 5 matchup against the Oakland Raiders in which the Ravens didn’t allow one sack. Taking this into account, Eluemunor can build off of the success that Baltimore had last week on the offensive line.

He has a great deal of potential to be a good player in the league. He’s playing next to Austin Howard (PFF grade of 81.5) and Ryan Jensen (86.7), who have both performed well this season. If he can show that he can step up to the plate between them, the right side will be a force to be reckoned with.