OTL: Ben Cleveland as Confused as We Are

It has been a frustrating beginning to the 2024 Season for the Ravens. They sit at 0-2 and are now looking at a must-win game in Dallas. Some teams have made the playoffs after being 0-2, but that number really craters at 0-3. Since 1979, only six teams have accomplished that feat, so yes, this Sunday is a must-win at Jerry World.

The Ravens, however, did get some good news on the injury front:

CB Nate Wiggins (neck/concussion, red non contact jersey), LT Ronnie Stanley (knee), S Kyle Hamilton (back), OLB Kyle Van Noy (eye/groin) and CB Jalyn Armour Davis (personal) all back practicing for Ravens.
Only player missing was OL Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu (personal).

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) September 19, 2024

It feels great to have everyone practicing. Getting Wiggins back would be quite the boon. No idea if he is playing Sunday, but this struggling secondary needs its first-rounder back.

As for the Cowboys, we have some news about two of their stars:

#Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy described the injuries to WR CeeDee Lamb and CB Trevon Diggs as “not of high concern.” Both will be limited today.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 19, 2024

The Cowboys did not seem too worried about them, but even having a less effective CeeDee Lamb on the field would be a monster advantage for the Ravens. I was watching some Cowboys film this week to see what the Saints did to contain them, and it is clear as day that they need Lamb to start making plays because no one else is stepping up. The other receivers all look bad, and they missed Jake Ferguson as well. This is a massive advantage to the Ravens, and even a less-than-100% Lamb might swing the game for them.

Now that we have this housekeeping out of the way, we need to address the elephant in the room, which is Ben Cleveland‘s situation.

So many fans have been pointing out how bad Daniel Faalele has been at right guard, and many more have pointed out how the Ravens literally have a better option in-house in Cleveland. The former Bulldog’s time in Baltimore has been weird.

Like Faalele, he was drafted into Greg Roman’s system and has now had to adapt to Todd Monken’s more modern spread system.

It’s always seemed weird, the way the team chose to utilize (or not utilize him). It’s not like he was bad when he played, either.

Last year, he had to play in the Dolphins game for an injured Kevin Zeitler. He put up a great PFF score and the tape shows that:

Went and watched 3 Ben Cleveland plays from the Miami game last year. Already see what I need to see. pic.twitter.com/LG27RuKsKV

— RAMEY (@HoodieRamey) September 19, 2024

It has become so odd that on Monday, one of the reporters asked Harbaugh straight up about Cleveland, and his answer was shocking. Harbaugh, in the most polite way, buried Cleveland, saying that Faalele played better than him and that Cleveland knows what he has to do to get on the field.

Well, today, Cleveland responded to those claims by thanks to the Baltimore Sun, and here is what he said:

Ben Cleveland responds to John Harbaugh (per @BaltSunSports)

“There weren’t a whole lot of right guard reps taken by me during camp just because of injury and all the above. So just staying ready for when my number gets called to go in and play […] I feel like I’ve been my…

— Russell St. Report (@RussellStReport) September 19, 2024

First of all, good on Ben for doing this interview. I am sure he is more frustrated than the fans over this weird situation that John has put us all through and his answer was about as respectful and truthful as you could want.

Ben also points out the obvious flaw in John’s earlier comments (which many did before him). John said that Faalele won the job outright at camp, which how could that be true if Ben hadn’t even started as a right guard in camp? I know that John won’t like Ben going to the media to make comments, but given how respectful he was, how can he be mad?

Again, John created this problem by being a stubborn old football coach. It also doesn’t seem like Ben knows what exactly he needs to do to earn this job if an opportunity won’t be given to him.

This is a bad situation for everyone involved. It is a bad look on John’s behalf, a bad look on the team itself as they continue to struggle and potentially get Lamar Jackson killed behind Faalele’s slow moving feet. If you are still sitting here and defending John, ask yourself this: what if Lamar gets hurt because of Faalele and John being stubborn? It’s a different conversation in that case, and John won’t have to worry about who plays where because he might not be the one making those choices anymore.

Ben Cleveland is a dark cloud hanging over this team right now. The Ravens need a win this weekend to reset the vibes because they might be cooked at 0-3.

The post OTL: Ben Cleveland as Confused as We Are appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2024/09/20/out-to-lunch/otl-ben-cleveland-as-confused-as-we-are/