Adeniji Joins the Flock

Depth With a Dash of Upside for Ledford’s Zone

Training camp hasn’t even cracked its knuckles in Owings Mills and Eric DeCosta is stuffing the offensive line pantry before the cupboard goes bare. The latest spice placed up on the shelf: veteran lineman Hakeem Adeniji, whose signing ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported on July 25 after Baltimore ran him through a workout the day before. The Ravens made it official alongside a reunion with receiver Chris Moore.

Let’s be clear-eyed about what this is and isn’t. This isn’t the cavalry riding in to start. It’s a smart, low-cost bet on a 28-year-old who’s lined up across the offensive front and comes with a résumé heavier than his 6-4, 302-pound frame suggests.

The Cincinnati chapters — the good, the ugly, and the honest

A sixth-round pick out of Kansas in 2020, Adeniji got thrown to the wolves early in Cincy and never really stopped moving. Across three seasons with the Bengals he appeared in 39 regular-season games, starting 15, and started all seven of the franchise’s playoff games over two postseasons — filling in at right tackle for the injured La’el Collins during their Super Bowl run. That’s not a typo. This man started an AFC Championship Game and a Super Bowl.

Now, the tape from that stretch wasn’t a highlight reel. Pro Football Focus wasn’t kind to the swing between guard and tackle during those Cincinnati years, and anyone who watched Super Bowl LVI remembers the interior getting pushed around. Adeniji was part of that.

But here’s the thing about how his own people viewed him: they kept trusting him in the biggest moments. Ahead of that second playoff run, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said Adeniji “played a lot of games in a lot of key positions” for them — the kind of quote a coach reserves for a guy he believes will be ready when his number is called.

Detour years, then Dallas

The middle of the story is mostly bad luck. He spent 2023 with the Vikings and 2024 with the Browns, though a knee injury in the preseason wiped out his entire Cleveland campaign on injured reserve. A lost year for anybody, and a gut-punch on a personal level too, given what he and his family endured that fall.

The 2025 reboot in Dallas is where the profile gets interesting again. His lone Cowboys start came at left guard against the Jets, with Dallas banged up and missing Tyler Smith, Tyler Booker and Cooper Beebe — and he helped pave the way for a 180-yard rushing day while matching up plenty against Quinnen Williams. Dallas valued him as a locker-room presence and used him at guard, tackle, and even as a jumbo extra tight end in short yardage.

The efficiency numbers back up the “clean, dependable spot-starter” read. Across 77 offensive snaps, PFF charged him with just two total pressures — zero sacks, zero hits — and one penalty on the year. Small sample size for sure, but you’ll take tidy over Faalele turnstile every time.

The fit: does he move for Ledford and Doyle?

Here’s where it gets fun. Dwayne Ledford didn’t build his reputation in Atlanta running power-gap bully-ball — he’s an outside-zone man who wants linemen who can get out of a phone booth and hit landmarks in space. That scheme prizes athletic movers and versatility over sheer mass, and versatility is precisely Adeniji’s currency. He’s a tackle by trade who’s survived at guard, which is exactly the flexibility a zone room covets when the injury bug bites.

Pair that with new coordinator Declan Doyle — a Sean Payton and Ben Johnson disciple — and the marriage makes sense. Per ESPN’s Matt Bowen, Doyle’s Baltimore offense will lean into more play-action, and play-action lives or dies on the line selling the run and holding up in protection. Depth that can execute zone concepts and not get Lamar Jackson killed on bootleg counters is worth its weight in LJ jewelry.

Bottom line

Don’t circle Adeniji as a Week 1 starter. The first five appear largely settled with Ronnie Stanley and Roger Rosengarten bookending the tackle spots. But behind those two, experienced tackle depth at The Bank has been thinner than the list of Steelers playoff wins over the past decade. Adeniji is a proven vet who’s started a Super Bowl, can kick inside to guard, and grades out clean in pass pro is exactly the kind of camp competitor who can work his way onto the 53.

Low risk, real experience, scheme-friendly feet.

A late July signing that could pay dividends in a pinch come January.

Welcome to Baltimore Hakeem!

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Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2026/07/27/street-talk/adeniji-joins-the-ravens/