Getty Former Ravens QB Brett Hundley in preseason game on August 11, 2022.
The first round of cuts around the league mandated that teams bring the amount of players on their rosters down from 90 to 85 by 4 pm eastern standard time on August 16, 2022. A day after releasing running back Corey Clement, outside linebacker Chuck Wiley, and cornerback Robert Jackson on August 15, 2022, the Baltimore Ravens cut veteran backup quarterback Brent Hundley and placed outside linebacker Trent Harris on injured reserve the team announced.
We have placed LB Trent Harris on IR and released QB Brett Hundley.
Hundley was signed on May 26, 2022, during the time that team needed additional depth at quarterback while Lamar Jackson was not attending voluntary Organized Team Activities. That was also around the time primary backup Tyler Huntley was dealing with tendinitis in his shoulder per head coach John Harbaugh.
The seven-year veteran was the fourth quarterback on the depth chart and was mainly serving as an extra arm in camp to give some of the other quarterbacks a rest. He didn’t take the field in the Ravens’ preseason opening and record-extending win over the Tennessee Titans until the fourth quarter. Hundley went 2-of-2 for 42 passing yards which included an impressive deep completion to undrafted wide receiver Raleigh Webb for 34 yards and ran for three yards on two attempts.
Updated Quarterback Depth Chart
Hundley’s release leaves the Ravens with just three quarterbacks left on the roster for the remainder of the preseason with undrafted rookie Anthony Brown out of Oregon being the third behind Jackson and Huntley.
With the former league MVP likely not to take a single snap in the preseason, Huntley and Johnson will likely be the only two signal callers suiting up for the team over the next two weeks. Huntley is firmly entrenched as the No. 2 quarterback after establishing himself as one of the best backups in the league at the vitally important position.
Both reserves had strong showings in the preseason opener with Huntley going 16-of-18 for 109 passing yards and a touchdown and ran for 17 yards on three attempts. Brown played most of the second half in relief duty and went 10-of-15 for 117 passing yards and ran twice for 14 yards.
Ravens Back to Being Razor Thin on the Edge
Harris lands on season-ending injured reserve just three days after signing with the team in August 13, 2022, ending his 2022 campaign has ended before it even began. Since he was placed on injured reserve before the final round of cuts, he will not be eligible to be brought back during the regular season.
This development coupled with Wiley’s release the day before also means that the Ravens are back to being extremely light on healthy edge defenders. With veteran Tyus Bowser and rookie David Ojabo still working their way back from torn Achilles tendons, that leaves second-year pros Odafe Oweh and Daelin Hayes, veterans Justin Houston and Steven Means, and undrafted rookie Jeremiah Moon as the last ones left not on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.
Oweh only played one snap in the preseason opener and Houston didn’t even dress for the game. Neither will likely play much if at all in the team’s remaining two exhibition games so unless they bring in another edge defender, that leaves Means, Moon, and Hayes to play the majority of snaps in those contests over the next two weeks.
Means had a strong showing in the preseason opener, recording a sack, several pressures, and a pair of tackles. Hayes is the top option to hold down the SAM outside linebacker spot until Bowser can return to action and also played well in Week 1 as well.
“I think they’re both doing very well,” head coach John Harbaugh said in a press conference on August 15, 2022. “They’re both very different kinds of players. Daelin is more of a SAM, kind of an outside ‘backer, stand-up linebacker-type guy, with that edge-rush ability; Steven is more of what we’d call a RUSH, more of a defensive end-type, body type. Of course, we mix things up and drop guys, too, but [they’re] two different kinds of guys. They’re both doing well in their own right, and the games are going to be big for those guys.”