[News] John Urschel Isn't Kelechi Osemele, But He's Aiming For His Job

[BR News]

Third-year guard/center John Urschel ran with the first-team offense at left guard. Can the Ravens replace brute strength and size with smarts and speed?

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[Halshayeji]

Keep your nose clean and chin up Urschel and ul be fine.

Good player and a great guy. On the field he always shows signs of improvement as he was a 5th round pick. He's outplayed his draft status in the two years he's been here. Even his struggles at center were positive learning lessons. Off the field the guy is almost flawless, heck he may even be a role model. I for one am glad to root for guys like Urschel and hope he earns more playing time and eventually a starting role.

Just another guy I'm proud to root for as a raven. Keep grinding Urschel!

[757RavensFan]

No matter who gets the start at LG, between our new LT and new LG, they will have less than 10 NFL starts combined at their new respective positions.  Our left side will be VERY green.  

Edited June 30, 2016 by 757RavensFan

[cobrajet]

No matter who gets the start at LG, between our new LT and new LG, they will have less than 10 NFL starts combined at their new respective positions. 

Our left side will be VERY green.  

That leaves me feeling uneasy about our o-line. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised next season. I just hope we avoid injury this season on our o-line. I am not confident about our depth.

[ellicottraven]

I think the best and strongest at the position will win the job. Smarts and quickness aren't bad attributes at guard, but strength, speed and length are more important for a guard, especially one that needs to help a newbie LT in Ronnie Stanley. I think Jensen may get the nod short term with Alex Lewis taking over based on his development. I've heard that Lewis looks and plays like a tough guard.

[cobrajet]

36 minutes ago, Halshayeji said:

Keep your nose clean and chin up Urschel and ul be fine.

Good player and a great guy. On the field he always shows signs of improvement as he was a 5th round pick. He's outplayed his draft status in the two years he's been here. Even his struggles at center were positive learning lessons. Off the field the guy is almost flawless, heck he may even be a role model. I for one am glad to root for guys like Urschel and hope he earns more playing time and eventually a starting role.

Just another guy I'm proud to root for as a raven. Keep grinding Urschel!

I know what you mean, a PhD in mathematics is very impressive.

[Legendary Ravens]

Love the Honesty but I want supreme confidence...KO brought the pain. Add up the number of Pancake Blocks and we will have no problem having a Math Expert at the guard. One Love.

[bvotie]

How can you not like this guy? The past 2 seasons have shown that Urshel can play on the line. Last year's stretch of starts gave him first-hand experience of what it's takes to be a starting lineman at the NFL level, and given the guy's academic resume I think that he's smart enough (and has the work ethic) to get himself to that level and beyond. I think John's recipe for success is mistake-free football with no missed assignments.

My prediction is that he earns the starting job at LG and we don't hear his name except for when we get a highlight clip of rushing TD's - which is a good thing! His quickness translates well to a zone running scheme, and I expect to see him as the pulling guard often.

[Troels Bering]

My gut feeling is telling me, that even though Urschel at the moment is left guard, he will eventually become the center of this team for many years. Zuttah is the center by now, but coming off a serious injury, he could have his hands full recovering. I hope the best for the to of them, but I see Urschel as the center by the end of the year and Zuttah released next offseason.

[bioLarzen]

"Can the Ravens replace brute strength and size with smarts and speed?"

With all due respect, this wasn't very nice, Ryan... It totally sounds like you are suggesting KO's only assets were his size and strength with no "'smarts and speed"...

I don't think he deserves that.

[Steve32]

"Can the Ravens replace brute strength and size with smarts and speed?"

With all due respect, this wasn't very nice, Ryan... It totally sounds like you are suggesting KO's only assets were his size and strength with no "'smarts and speed"...

I don't think he deserves that.

Disagree. You are reading too much into it.

[harfordravenfan]

It's great having someone that can play all 3 interior positions, I also thought he would develop into our starting center 

[OzzieBisciotti]

We're talking about John Urschel everyone...... at least he's smart enough to not get arrested or do drugs like some of the other players on this team- can't believe we still have all these issues - we must not being doing enough research on our players.... maybe Oz has to stop reading too much into Twitter feeds of potential players and do some other kind of research..

[Winchester]

On 6/30/2016 at 5:00 PM, harfordravenfan said:

It's great having someone that can play all 3 interior positions, I also thought he would develop into our starting center 

I agree like totally!! He is very intelligent and is an escalating athlete with his tea Kwan do training and nutrition to lean out and maximize athleticism. He is tough and intense and will bully his opponents. He is a hard worker in the gym and very strong for the center position at 315lbs. With Urschel being very lean for an interior player he has the bulk and power  of a 325 lb interior player.once he is completely adjusted at center he has the power, skills,intelligence and top shelf work ethic and should be a top 6 center. Jensen is naturally a stronger player for left guard than Urschel although Urschel is extremely powerful for a center. Jensen is very strong and far more athletic than his squatty frame indicates. Although he is powerful and very athletic as he is now and is not in any need of power and athleticism  It would be cool if he got in a little better shape to avoid injury. His calves and lower leg could use some added muscle to hold his massive 330lb  body. At least to avoid injury. It would benefit him if he lost 20lbs of bad weight and tacked on 12-14 lbs of muscle he would be in better shape to avoid injury. The added strength and athleticism would be a bonus to his already powerful and athletic play. Anyways the focus here is although a little green and not many starts, Jensen and Urschel have plenty of skill,power and athleticism.

Alex Lewis many people think I do not like. However he could be a very fine guard. He is a pretty good athlete for the guard position with good size and power. If he tacked on 12-14 lbs of muscle and a little stronger he could be a 325 lb guard with length and power in the mold of KO because he has very good balance and a really good feel for how to block. He could be a quite a standout guard with a little more muscle and strength. My only knock Is there were a couple dudes that could be very good tackles and guards whatever ravens plans are. And Ron Stanley with Tunsil are the most skilled tackles in last several drafts. More muscle and strength and and a couple touches leaner and Ron Stanley is competing for pro bowls or all pro. So oline is in good shape with players whose best football is on the way!! And Wagner is reported to tacked on significant muscle  and leaned out quite nicely!! If he avoids injury could you imagine Wagner actually surpassing his 2014 form?? Ravens oline has some freaky skills and potential. Have to like how Harbs aggressively  challenges players to get stronger and leaner to max out their skills. Dixon zinging through those holes is going to be fun to watch. I like the ravens weapons but it would of been totally cool if ravens would have drafted a wr tsndem in round3 and 4. Adding Robinson Mitchell or the former ohio qb would give ravens most formidable young wr talent it ever fronted. Perrimans issues calls for a young freaky skilled WR in addition to Chris Moore in the eventPerriman never really plays. I like Wallace but would prefer a young wr with his best football in front of him. For Joe Cool to build a couple yrs of chemistry as opposed to all the castoffs and retreads ravens management try to squeeze a couple productive years from. Because then ravens would have everything to front the best offense in the league. Not many teams have explosive weapons and a dominant oline.

[ALPHA]

I prefer Jensen to Urchel for his lower body power, but Jensen showed some movement limitation in pass pro. Alex Lewis could make a run at the position.

[Winchester]

Jensen actually looked really good with movement while playing left tackle in preseason. Very surprising for a 330lb mauler!!

Edited July 2, 2016 by Winchester

[Ravensfansince03]

The answer is no. Replacing Osemele with Urschel is frankly saying "we're going to downgrade our offensive line". No offense to Urschel, I believe he is good.

[Ravensfansince03]

Jensen actually looked really good with movement while playing left tackle in preseason. Very surprising for a 330lb mauler!!

Jensen looked very good! He has a high motor and chip on his shoulder just like Osemele.

[dirtybird66]

i'd say the club wants to do a lot more athletic stuff that bigger guys aren't as fast at,look at DENVERS line,tough and athletic,but small,quick guy's,mabey.

[dirtybird66]

  On 7/2/2016 at 1:46 PM, Winchester said:

Jensen actually looked really good with movement while playing left tackle in preseason. Very surprising for a 330lb mauler!!

Jensen looked very good! He has a high motor and chip on his shoulder just like Osemele.

i like him too.

[Winchester]

On 7/3/2016 at 6:17 AM, Ravensfansince03 said:

The answer is no. Replacing Osemele with Urschel is frankly saying "we're going to downgrade our offensive line". No offense to Urschel, I believe he is good.

I like Jensen at guard over Urschel. Urschel has good power for a guard but his power at center is considered supreme. He has everything you could want in a center. Very intelligent and athletic and getting stronger and more athletic with a top shelf work ethic. While already very strong for the position and plays tough and nasty. Once he adjusted at center the interior oline was clearly more dominant than with Zuttah. Jensen is very powerful for the guard position with very surprising athleticism to boot. At 330lbs he moves like a smaller guard. He is as nasty as anybody. Jensen is going to be a top5 guard. Yanda Urschel and Jensen are as good as there is. Alex Lewis could eventually take over right guard when Yanda retires. Lewis is pretty strong with good balance and exceptional feel for blocking. He is adopting Urschels work ethic in the gym and nutrition habits. He will eventually tack on 12-14 lbs of muscle by his sophomore season and play at 6'6 325-330 lbs with length power and athleticism in the mold of KO. Urschel is so valuable. He has a top notch work ethic. He strives to get stronger and more athletic and it rubs off on his line mates. Wagner is going to be interesting to watch. He has tacked on about 12lbs of muscle while getting leaner. He could surpass his 2014 form if he is clear of injury. He was dominant the last couple games when he finally was void of injury. Oline is one position ravens have drafted freakishly well at.

[usmccharles]

On ‎7‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 3:17 AM, Ravensfansince03 said:

The answer is no. Replacing Osemele with Urschel is frankly saying "we're going to downgrade our offensive line". No offense to Urschel, I believe he is good.

Well that's kind of what you have to do when a player leaves in FA, next man up.  We don't have anyone as good as KO was...don't know what you would do otherwise.

[stampedehero]

A man of such intelligence can theorize and implement the parameters of the starting tackle position. Its' the physical nature of the game he can expect to improve and become an efficient linesman.

[OUravensfan]

On June 30, 2016 at 2:04 PM, cobrajet said:

That leaves me feeling uneasy about our o-line. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised next season. I just hope we avoid injury this season on our o-line. I am not confident about our depth.

Me either, I think O line depth needs to be addressed in the next off season. The Bengals are loaded and got the luxury of getting two o lineman in the 1st and 2nd last year. 

We also need young pass rushers to step up or we'll be choosing between replacing Yanda or Suggs/Dumerville

[trevorsteadman]

Urschel and Jensen have proven that they can fill in games and be solid. But the question is how they perform the entire season. Plus that left side is super vulnerable to me with young guys of Stanley and Urschel/Jensen. Also if there were to be a few injuries I think the red flags would be flying everywhere.

I just hope this isn't a repeat of the 2013 season when Flacco had no time to throw and got sacked 50 times.

[Winchester]

7 hours ago, usmccharles said:

Well that's kind of what you have to do when a player leaves in FA, next man up.  We don't have anyone as good as KO was...don't know what you would do otherwise.

Jensen could be as good as ko. Not saying definite but he has the power athleticism and attitude

[Winchester]

This discussion is all about can ravens oline replace ko without skipping a beat. And i would say yes through jensen,Urschel at center and Urschel leading the way for his linemates to work and get stronger and max out their potential. Already good olineman getting better.

[usmccharles]

15 hours ago, Winchester said:

Jensen could be as good as ko. Not saying definite but he has the power athleticism and attitude

Hence the whole reason I was always against paying a guard 12million a year

[Winchester]

1 hour ago, usmccharles said:

Hence the whole reason I was always against paying a guard 12million a year

He would of been the left tackle. If he would of been signed well b4 free agency he could be less pricey. Everybody is all for paying a kicker on a 5-11 team $5mil. But not shell out to protect the qb. A qb that thrives when protected and seriously struggles when not given top shelf protection. But Tucker is a media darling and fans eat it up when the media talks up a player/management.  Tucker could get $7mil a yr and fans would be applauding.lol Come to think about it. If Joe cool not been injured and thrived under the Olines dominance the last couple games then KO may of been franchised and signed long term. Not to say ravens are not awesome along the oline. In comparisons of he and Jensen.  my opinion ko is actually built to play tackle more so than guard with his size, skillset,positions/angles, he is most comfortable blocking from. Jensen although he could fill in at tackle is a natural guard with his base,leverage snap from his legs and core and balance . Just an awesome blocker. An awesome natural mauler of a guard!! Technique is pretty good for a player with only several starts. Just needs reps to get a feel for moves used by opponents.  just an awesome awesome guard and overall speciman!! The opposing guard I compared to Jensen is round1 pick Kevin zeitler. Like Jensen a power guard of similar size. However zeitler is waaay maxxed out through work in the gym and packed on muscle. Jensen is a naturally big frame and country powerful b4 even stepping foot in a gym. He did 31 reps with minimum work in the gym at the time. He now works out on a regular basis. Anyways zeitler is a little stiff at times. Actually more than a little at times. And he needs to be set in comfy upright positions for his power to get traction. Where Jensens much like Yandas power is more available and can gain traction from any position. Which allows him to recover(much like yanda) when opponents temporarily  gain position. Because Jensen is more flexible and athletic than zeitler. It is really not close. Jensen is a better guard and more athletic and skilled than Zeitler. With Yanda going into year 10 if he begins sliding it would not be a surprise to see Jensen outperform him. At a bigger school Jensen would of been a round 1 or round2 pick. 

Not to say Ron Stanley isn't a very talented tackle. Very happy to have him. The Player I liked at #6. But it would be interesting to trade down and drafted some players at need positions with that #6 pick. And Urschel I believe could be a top 6 center.

[usmccharles]

1 minute ago, Winchester said:

He would of been the left tackle.

With 4 games or so of playing the position?  Arent you one of the posters who jumps on the FO for making bad contracts?  How does it make any sense to give a guy that much money who has played such little time at a position?