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5 Baltimore Ravens Cut Victims Who Deserved A Spot On 53-Man Roster
5 Baltimore Ravens Cut Victims Who Deserved A Spot On The 53 Man Roster
The final rosters for all 32 NFL teams are just about set. This means that the season is literally around the corner. For my favorite team, the Baltimore Ravens, it’s tomorrow night. Gives me goose bumps to even type that. Before we go forward into Denver, though, it’s important we reminisce a little about the preseason.
The preseason for the Ravens seemed to be all over the place. It was up, down, left, right, diagonal, Cybil Shepard, forwards, backwards; you name it. On the positive, a few relative no-namers like Marlon Brown, Aaron Mellette and Brynden Trawick played their way onto the 53-man roster. Unfortunately, when guys step up unexpectedly, it usually means that a few deserving guys have to go. Much like every team, the Ravens had to part ways with some very deserving guys. I’ll go over five of the poor souls who were deserving for the Ravens who just couldn’t break through.
Before I go through my list I should mention a player who didn’t make the cut for my list and that player's name is Tandon Doss. The expectations for Doss were pretty high coming into this preseason. The only problem was that expectations don’t always lead to results on the field. His name should have been changed from Doss to Lost.
The following is my list of five players who were very deserving of being on the Ravens 53-man roster. Luckily rosters will expand eventually once the 18-game season is passed (it’s coming). Enjoy the list and, of course, the start of the NFL season.
Bryan Hall
I like Bryan Hall. I liked him last year and I liked him this year. Hall changed positions this offseason from a defensive linemen to a linebacker. Hall might have had a better chance winning a spot on the line as opposed to the overstocked linebacker core. Hall will catch on somewhere I'm sure.
Bobby Rainey
Bobby Rainey is probably the most obvious name on the list. After a great performance against the St. Louis Rams in the last preseason game, I figured Rainey was golden for a roster spot. Rainey is small in stature and has a similar skill set to Ray Rice. Obviously, if Rice got hurt, then Bernard Pierce would be the next man up, but a guy like Rainey would soften the blow for sure. The Ravens likely were hoping Rainey would clear waivers to get him on the practice squad, but the Cleveland Browns, who love taking ex-Raven players, couldn't resist picking him up.
LaQuan Williams
LaQuan Williams initially made it through all the cuts, only to be cut the day after the deadline for the 53-man roster. Williams had a huge game in the opening preseason contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Williams was also a pretty solid special teams player, but due to the surprising performances of Marlon Brown and Aaron Mellette, in addition to the signing of Brandon Stokley, left Williams out in the cold. Still, I feel like the Ravens will bring back Williams at some point; he deserves a spot on this team.
Matt Furstenburg
If you're one of my regular readers, then I'm sure you saw this coming. During the preseason I developed a bit of the man crush on undrafted rookie tight end Matt Furstenburg. Seeing as the regular season is almost here, this will probably be my final swan song to my boy Furstenburg. Oh Matty, you're a big target, you made some nice catches over the middle and you've got the potential to be something special. Luckily, you're still on the practice squad at the very least. Should Ed Dickson or Dallas Clark go down for an extended period of time, no reason to hit the free agent market because Furstenburg is the guy.
Omar Brown
Omar Brown getting cut was probably the biggest shocker to me, besides Rainey. Brown was on the main roster last year and was cut from this one in favor of undrafted free agents Anthony Levine and Trawick. Very strange seeing as Brown had the best performance in the last preseason game against the Rams. Doesn't seem to add up does it? Oh well, just like Furstenburg, at least Brown is still on the practice squad. I have a feeling he'll be back on the main roster at some point his year.
Dan Abeshouse is a Baltimore Ravens Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Danabeshouse82, Like him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google
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