Plenty of sixth-round draft picks don’t make the 53-man roster. Ravens sixth-rounder Trace McSorley apparently will.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of whether Trace has earned a place on the team,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said after the team’s preseason finale, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com. “He would have a role for us. It’s just a matter of strategy right now. It’s something Eric [DeCosta] and Ozzie [Newsome] will talk a lot about over the next few hours.”
DeCosta, the first-year G.M. in Baltimore, has been intrigued by the former Penn State quarterback from the get go. In the days after the draft, DeCosta told #PFTPM that McSorley could fill numerous roles for the Ravens.
“I think he’s a football player and everything that entails,” DeCosta said. “His skill set is varied and multiple. He’s fast, he’s strong, he’s tough, he’s a playmaker, he’s a football player. We’ve seen teams, for instance the New Orleans Saints with Taysom Hill, we’ve seen other teams find ways to play with players like this and they can help you win football games. He fits our defense, he fits our offense, he fits special teams.”
For any player, the more that he can do, the more likely he’ll win a job. Playing quarterback on Thursday night, McSorley completed 15 of 27 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown.
With the Ravens keeping their new offense tightly under wraps, McSorley could provide an element that will give defenses more to worry about as they prepare to face Baltimore. Regardless of what he’ll do, the coach seems to want McSorley on the team. Given Harbaugh’s accomplishments and standing, that probably is more than enough to ensure that McSorley won’t be visited by the person responsible for asking the players who don’t make it to bring their playbooks to the principal’s office.