Jared Gaither has all the skills to be the heir apparent to Jonathan Ogden at left tackle for the Ravens.
A muscular, 6-foot-9, 350-pound frame that resembles Ogden? Check.
A strong sense of balance to prevent him from being knocked into the backfield? Check.
A powerful upper-body to stop charging defensive lineman from getting to the quarterback? Check.
But Gaither, who is entering his second year after starting six games as a rookie, is still unproven after the former Terrapin was taken by the Ravens in the fifth round of the supplemental draft. Gaither chose to be eligible in the supplemental draft because he was declared academically ineligible prior to his junior season at Maryland.
It appears Gaither is in the Ravens? plans, but just how much of a part remains to be seen. If Ogden retires after 12 seasons ? 11 of which ended with him being selected to play in the Pro Bowl ? it could start a domino effect that causes the Ravens to try to improve their offensive line at the NFL Draft this weekend in New York City.
The Ravens have the eighth overall pick, and they could use it to improve any one of several positions: quarterback, defensive back and yes, offensive line.
Enter Boise State?s Ryan Clady.
The 6-foot-6, 319-pound tackle is considered by several analysts to be an even better professional prospect than Michigan?s Jake Long, who could be selected by the Dolphins with the first pick. Traditionally, the Ravens have drafted the best player available instead of the team?s top need.
But the Ravens also have used a substantial number of draft picks the past four years on offensive linemen. If Ogden retires, the Ravens would have five players with fewer than four years experience, including right guard Ben Grubbs and right tackle Marshal Yanda ? both of whom were drafted last year.
“I have not spoken with [Ogden] since he was here two weeks ago, and I had a good conversation at that point,” Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens general manager, said. “We have an interesting situation with Gaither being here. We have him on campus right now and we got Yanda, so we?ve got some guys that already have been into the wars and are prepared to go ahead and play. That makes it easy for us to just set the board based on who the best players are and don?t have to go out to draft. Jonathan may or may not retire. That doesn?t have to factor into the equation.”
Should the Ravens address other needs in the first round, they would likely would open the season with either Adam Terry or Gaither at left tackle, left guard Jason Brown, center Chris Chester, right tackle Yanda and right guard Grubbs.
“We?re spending more time together than probably any offensive line in the NFL right now and we?re really coming together as a tight-knit group,” Brown said. “We?re only building on what we started last year and it?s only going to get better.”
