There aren’t too many roster battles for the Ravens to truly sort through.

The one getting the most attention, by far (starting center), is one that was basically settled the moment that Ethan Pocic was cleared to play coming back from Achilles surgery. There’s been some chatter lately about how deep this defensive line group is, but I don’t think the Ravens are going to be all that pressed to sort through that position on the initial 53-man roster.

But with the preseason finale nearly here, there is one position group where things could come down to the last few snaps on film. There are some young linebackers who have flashed and popped, but they are doing it at a time when the Ravens are deeper and better at EDGE than they have been for a long time. After this defense was a joke last year, with no semblance of pass rush, the Ravens threw $30M a year at Trey Hendrickson and took Zion Young in the second round and they invested day-two draft capital on Mike Green last year and they love the way Tavius Robinson anchors and they can’t stop gushing about linebacker Trenton Simpson, who might be better out in space, too.

It’s a lot.

All of it is quite healthy right now. And with an abundance of quality defensive backs, there is always a chance that the Ravens want to keep more depth there if they can’t get trade value – they should trade Marlon Humphrey and eat money to do it – which could cut into this group. Either way, there are three players at the OLB position who are going to have quite a bit at stake against the Commanders.

Ethan Burke

The undrafted kid out of Texas just kind of looks and feels like someone they would keep on this roster. And they love keeping an UDFA on their roster, as much as general manager Eric DeCosta feigns no idea of their stats doing so. This kid arrived out of Texas in a situation where you could have seen him not really getting repped at all, and instead he plays with verve and passion on special teams and defense when given the chance to get out there.

Ultimately, I would think true pass-rushing upside might be a carry trait in how they sort out the fifth OLB, if you will. But he has played his way into the equation. Burke got a much longer look in the second game – 33 snaps – and logged two pressures, a tackle for loss a forced fumble and a pass breakup. And he is a demon on teams.

He’s raw and, again, are you ever going to look at him as someone who develops into a thing off the edge? He had just 10.5 sacks in his college career. At 6-foot-6, 267 pounds, it’s a body type they are drawn to, but he is all effort for now.

He was asked to drop back in coverage five times on Saturday, didn't look out of place doing it. Four of those five instances were winning outcome for the Ravens, including a sack and Burke's forced fumble.

Weaver was asked about the big bodies who can drop back on this defense and said: "As coaches, I think for us, it is about imagination, and thinking how we can best utilize all these chess pieces that we have to be complex — have the illusion of complexity — but not stifle our own guys. So, that is always what we are chasing."

Adissa Isaac

He has the upper hand on being on the roster, because he’s been on the roster and has a better understanding of the defense and the Ravens also invested a third-round pick on him in 2024, and its not uncommon for these kids to need time to develop.

But he’s had trouble staying healthy and he hasn’t exactly created a lot of buzz this summer and, comparing where he is going into this game with someone like Simpson, who hasn’t even had to dress yet despite his production being limited to this point in his career, and it’s night and day.

I’m not sure he gets claimed on waivers and maybe they could get him on the practice squad if they wanted. If he can’t make something happen against the dregs of the Commanders roster, that’s going to be problematic.

"In the limited exposures we have had out here to him, he has played well," Weaver said of him this week in an answer that was short of the hyperbolic rhetoric we often get from him. No way Isaac can feel great about where he is.

Kaimon Rucker

I get the sense they see something in this kid. Probably has more upside than the other two. Spent in a year in their building on the practice squad. Doesn’t have the size and strength of some others, but he could breakthrough as someone who could some natura pass rusher as a DPI in sub packages.

Hendrickson is older and has an injury history. Young is developmental as a pass rusher no matter how high he was drafted. Is Green absolutely going to have the breakthrough many are projecting, most notably defensive coordinator Anthoy Gorman? He’s not going to set the edge and be a jack-of-all-trades type, but you can never have enough pass rush and this franchise hasn’t had much natural rush in a long time.

Could be that all of these guys could get to the practice squad and the Ravens are willing to take their chances. Maybe they think Burke can do enough on special teams right now to mandate a spot.

Friday is going to matter for all three. That much is certain.

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