Bengals
Bengals OL Trey Hopkins said he is recovering well from his torn ACL, which he suffered in Week 17.
“My knee is doing well,” Hopkins said to The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Tyler Dragon. “I’ve been blessed to have a pretty smooth run. It feels good. Everything I’ve been asked to do it hasn’t been an issue.”
“I try to look at it like work. All I know how to do is work anyway,” Hopkins added. “It’s just more work. I go in there and do what’s asked of me. I run on it and push as hard as I can. So far in my career, that’s worked for me and that’s what I’m hoping gets me through this thing.”
Browns
The NFL has made strides in finding ways to utilize players who would have been labeled “tweeners” and discarded in the past, with hybrid defenders who can be used as versatile chess pieces to counter modern offenses. But it does take a coaching staff with vision, and evidently a lot of teams struggled to have a vision for Browns second-round LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who fell all the way to No. 52 amid concerns over his size as a linebacker at 215 pounds.
“Really good player, but nobody really knew where to play him,” an exec said via the Athletic’s Mike Sando. “Is he a linebacker? Is he a strong safety? Not every team had a place for him to play. It’s not to the same extent as the guy the Browns took out of Michigan (2017 first-rounder Jabrill Peppers), but it was a factor in him falling.”
Ravens
- The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec writes that to this point there appears to be a decent gap between what the Ravens are offering and what free-agent DE Justin Houston is asking for.
- However, the market for veteran pass rushers is not exactly buzzing right now, so Zrebiec thinks the Ravens and Houston could still reach an agreement.
- Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer mentions the Raiders thought the Ravens would take OT Alex Leatherwood if Las Vegas traded down and passed him up at No. 17.
- Zrebiec says that’s not his understanding of the situation, however. He believes the Ravens would have been intrigued if Vikings OT Christian Darrisaw had lasted four more picks but they didn’t have a first-round grade on Leatherwood or any of the other tackles, including Teven Jenkins.
- Zrebiec adds the Ravens had both DEs Gregory Rousseau and Odafe Oweh high on their board and considered them at No. 27 in the first round, but took WR Rashod Bateman and bet that one of them would still be available at No. 31.
- He mentions he was told none of the Ravens team officials expected Bateman to be available by their pick and the next-highest wideout on their board was Elijah Moore.
- Ravens UDFA S Ar’Darius Washington was widely expected to be drafted early on Day 3, but Zrebiec points out his 4.61 40-yard dash time at just 5-8 and 175 pounds likely doomed his chances of being selected. He was still a priority free agent for Baltimore after the draft.
- Looking ahead, Zrebiec says the selection of FB/TE Ben Mason in the fifth round has some interesting implications for 53-man roster projections in training camp and preseason.
- Zrebiec mentions about two dozen players have been at the facility for OTAs so far.
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