Adisa Isaac is running out of runway in Baltimore.
The Ravens needed a preseason step forward from the young edge rusher, and through two weeks, it just hasn’t shown up. His most notable moment so far was a pick-six that ultimately got wiped out when it was ruled incomplete.
Outside of that, he’s logged more than 30 preseason snaps without putting a single statistic on the board. That’s not the kind of line that helps a player hold off a crowded position battle.
Meanwhile, Ethan Burke and Kaimon Rucker are making the conversation a lot more complicated.
Burke has been the loudest riser of the group. His first preseason outing was solid, but Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings is where he really flashed.
He finished with 3 tackles, 1 sack, 2 QB hits, 1 forced fumble, and 2 passes defended. Whoever was at quarterback for Minnesota had a rough night with Burke coming downhill.
There’s another layer here, too: Burke may be carving out a path as a special teams standout. In a roster fight this tight, that kind of value can matter just as much as pass-rush production.
Rucker’s stat line is quieter - 3 total tackles and 1 QB hit across two games - but the tape and the grading suggest he’s doing plenty with his chances. In Week 2, he posted the best defensive grade on the team at 90.4, according to Pro Football Focus. Not flashy, but effective.
That leaves Isaac in an ugly spot. Injuries have already slowed the start of his NFL career, and now that he’s healthy, the production has gone missing at the worst possible time.
Baltimore also isn’t in the same place it was when Isaac first entered the picture. The Ravens already have Trey Hendrickson, plus two outside linebackers with plenty of upside in Mike Green and Zion Young, along with a versatile piece in Tavius Robinson. There’s no need to chase the idea of what Isaac could become if the other options are already doing the job.
At this point, the choice looks pretty straightforward: take the player showing it now, not the one still asking for a leap that hasn’t come.
Isaac still has one more week to change the story. NFL cutdown day is August 30. If he can’t make some noise before then, Burke and Rucker will enter the final roster decision with the momentum firmly on their side.
In Other News...
Ravens Rookie Is Forcing A Real Slot Corner Conversation
Chandler Rivers is starting to make a case that the Ravens may have more to sort through in the slot than they expected this summer. The fifth-round rookie cornerback turned in a strong showing in Week 2 of the preseason, finishing with five combined tackles, a half-sack and a pass breakup while flashing the kind of versatility Baltimore likes to uncover in the back end.
Pro Football Focus rewarded the outing with an 84.6 overall grade and a 90.0 coverage mark, which only adds to the intrigue around his push for a rotational role. For a defense that values depth and competition in the secondary, Rivers is at least giving the coaching staff a real conversation at slot corner as the preseason unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Center Battle Just Took A Brutal Turn
The center competition in Baltimore has already been one of the more consequential battles of camp, and it just lost one of its veterans. Head coach Jesse Minter confirmed that Danny Pinter suffered a right patellar tendon tear, an injury that is likely to end his season and remove an experienced option from the mix as the Ravens sort out the middle of the offensive line.
Ethan Pocic and Jovaughn Gwyn will keep battling for the starting job, a contest that matters even more now after Tyler Linderbaums departure to the Las Vegas Raiders. For Baltimore, the issue is bigger than simply naming a starter. It is about settling the lines anchor spot before the season starts to press in. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Defense Has A Growing Concern Right Up The Middle
The Ravens are trying to sort out the middle of their defense just as training camp starts to sharpen the picture for rookie head coach Jesse Minter. Nnamdi Madubuike is working his way back cautiously after neck surgery, and Roquan Smith is coming off a stretch in which he has been trying to rediscover the level of play that made him such a force in the center of the unit. Baltimore has built some better depth around them, but the main questions still sit right up the middle.
What makes the situation trickier is that the Ravens do not just need bodies there, they need reliable production from the defensive spine. Smiths coverage has been a concern, and Madubuikes recovery leaves the interior line in a holding pattern as the regular season gets closer. For a defense that expects to be sturdy from the inside out, the coming weeks will tell a lot about whether this group is simply reloading or still waiting on its core to come together. [Read more 🡒]