Left Tackle

No matter who else the Ravens picked, this will be forever known, for better or worse, as the Joe Flacco Draft. Which is too bad, because if the Ravens' draft follows the usual pattern, it should produce a wealth of productive players from the final five rounds yesterday. However, it would greatly enhance Flacco's chances to make the legacy of this draft a positive one if the Ravens also came out of it with their next left tackle. And it's no more clear that the Ravens did that than it is that they came out of it with their quarterback of the future.

The Ravens decision to re-sign Bryant McKinnie reverses an offseason trend that has seen the roster get younger at several key positions. Before agreeing to a two-year deal with the 33-year-old left tackle, the Ravens were without eight of their nine oldest players from the team that beat the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 3 to capture Super Bowl XLVII. That team had 10 players 31 and over. Even with the return of McKinnie, the Ravens now have only three players 31 and over - McKinnie, cornerback Chris Johnson (33)

When Chad Slaughter was signed by the Ravens a little more than a week ago, the veteran offensive tackle was viewed as a stopgap after Jared Gaither and Adam Terry were sidelined with ankle injuries. The stopgap could turn into the team's starting left tackle by opening day against the Cincinnati Bengals. Gaither and Terry are still recovering, and the 6-foot-8, 340-pound Slaughter has done a more than respectable job in practice and played well in Thursday's preseason win over the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass.

The Ravens still have holes. They need to find a starting left tackle, and they could use a No. 2 receiver and add depth at the linebacker and offensive line positions as well. But as the NFL draft ended Saturday night and the Ravens walked out of the auditorium at the team's training complex in Owings Mills, the defending Super Bowl champions appeared to be potentially as good as last year. Because of retirement and free agency, which led to the exodus of several important veterans, the Ravens are lighter on experience but bigger, stronger and faster than a year ago on defense.

They are respectful of each other's Pro Bowl talent, so much so that neither would say much except how good the other player is. Ravens left tackle Jonathan Ogden and Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor will square off during Sunday's wild-card playoff game at Pro Player Stadium in Miami. When speaking of Taylor, one of the league's fastest pass rushers, Ogden, as he usually does, took the high road. "He's a good player," Ogden said. "I've just got to go out there and get it done.

For Ravens offensive tackle Tony Jones, his consecutive games streak could not be continuing at a better time.When Jones lines up at left tackle for the Ravens' first regular-season opener tomorrow at Memorial Stadium, it will mark his 100th straight, regular-season start.Since Jones moved into the starting right guard spot for the Cleveland Browns for the final three games of the 1989 season, no player on the team has been more durable. In 1990, Jones started every game at right tackle. He moved to left tackle in 1991, and has remained a fixture there.

The Ravens, currently third in a three-team race for the AFC's two first-round byes, might be forced to play against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday without one of the game's best offensive tackles. Left tackle Jonathan Ogden, who earned his 10th Pro Bowl invitation Tuesday, has been hobbled by a painfully sore big toe on his left foot, and coach Brian Billick said the anchor of the offensive line is in danger of missing a game for the first time this season. Ravens@Steelers Sunday, 1 p.m., Ch. 13, 1090 AM, 97.9 FM Line: Steelers by 3

COLLEGE PARK - Downtime is scarce these days for left tackle Stephon Heyer, who spent three years trying to earn playing time in high school but seems to be playing his way into a starting position on Maryland's offensive line. With sophomore Kyle Schmitt developing more slowly than expected at center - and backup Ed Tyler out for the next four weeks - Heyer could move into the rotation. Sophomore C.J. Brooks could move to left guard, and Todd Wike, an All-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team at left guard last year, could shift to center.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The prognosis appears promising for Jared Gaither. The starting left offensive tackle returned to Baltimore with his Ravens teammates after suffering what appeared to be a head or neck injury in the second quarter of the team's 27-21 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday. X-rays at Massachusetts General Hospital on Gaither's neck and shoulder were negative. He collided headfirst with quarterback Joe Flacco's back while trying to block on a passing attempt. A magnetic resonance imagining is expected today on the 6-foot-9, 340-pound Gaither, who was too big to fit into the MRI machine at the Boston hospital.

Mike Kracalik is ready to be reviewed. In the NFL, quarterback and offensive tackle might be the most dissected positions on the field. With the Ravens losing Jared Gaither and Adam Terry to ankle injuries in a span of four days, Kracalik - an undrafted free agent who turns 26 in September - immediately steps into the spotlight as the team's starting left tackle. Kracalik (pronounced KRAH-cha-lick) said the scrutiny won't distract him. "I don't pay any attention to that at all," he said yesterday after practice at McDaniel College in Westminster.

The Ravens will be keeping an eye on Oklahoma left offensive tackle Lane Johnson. He is rated the third-best at the position in the draft, and a lot of the experts have predicted he will go in the top 10 picks, but the Ravens might trade up for him at a reasonable cost. The Ravens have some options because they have 12 picks. Johnson is athletic, durable and the pro scouts like his demeanor. He plays with the nastiness of a defensive lineman. After investing so much money in quarterback Joe Flacco during the offseason, the Ravens need a top player to protect his blind side.

If the Ravens started the season today, they would play Kelechi Osemele at left offensive tackle, and that would be a problem. Osemele, who started at right tackle and left guard last season, could be a left tackle down the road, but he has to improve his foot speed during this offseason. He struggled with speed rushers on the outside as a right tackle and it would be worse for him on the left side if there isn't significant improvement. Osemele is a tremendous talent. He is athletic, has good bend and punch and the ideal torso to be a left tackle.

The Ravens are entering another offseason with a sizable question mark at the left tackle position. That has often been the case since the days of Jonathan Ogden, whether it was Jared Gaither's mysterious injuries, Michael Oher's inconsistency, or Bryant McKinnie's unreliability eliciting that feeling of uncertainty. This time around, McKinnie is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent and Oher, who will be one next offseason, is probably better off at right tackle , the position he manned during their run to the Super Bowl.

The improvements in the Ravens offense during the past two weeks can be contributed to the play of quarterback Joe Flacco and the play-calling of offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell. But the most significant improvement has been the addition of left offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie. McKinnie has started the past two games, forcing tackle Michael Oher to the right side and Kelechi Osemele to start at left guard. Since then, Flacco has rarely been touched and getting more time to throw.

Ravens veteran offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie was convinced he had assumed permanent residence inside coach John Harbaugh's doghouse. Between frequently facing concerns about his weight and conditioning, reporting late for training camp after saying he hurt his lower back in a fall at his South Florida home, grading out poorly as a run blocker and facing multiple lawsuits from creditors, McKinnie experienced a year filled with nightmares....

Jonathan Ogden stood in the hallway at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, his Afro nearly scraping the ceiling. The towering former offensive tackle fiddled with a tiny new phone in his massive hands, nonchalantly describing one of the toughest positions in football and how Michael Oher was faring at it. Ogden, the first draft pick in Ravens history, could soon become the franchise's first homegrown player to be enshrined in the...

The impact of Ravens left tackle Jonathan Ogden starts before the snap. When the Ravens play at Miami on Sunday, Ogden's intimidation can be measured by counting how many times the Dolphins' top pass rusher avoids him. Jason Taylor has 6 1/2 sacks this season by primarily coming off the right edge, but the Ravens don't expect him to line up against Ogden very often. Few players have conquered Mount Ogden, and fewer want to try. "I can imagine Taylor flopping over to the other side a whole bunch because he knows he's not going to get anything done against Jonathan," Ravens coach Brian Billick said.

Adam Terry, the Ravens' second-round draft pick in 2005, has always been a big offensive lineman, but the 23-year-old said he feels stronger this summer after losing 15 pounds from his listed playing weight of 330 pounds as a rookie. "I feel like I'm back where I was coming out of college," the 6-foot-8, 315-pound Terry said. "I gained a little bit of weight to fit the whole persona of `bigger is better,' but to me, it wasn't. I'm not a Jonathan [Ogden, the nine-time Pro Bowl tackle who is 6-9 and 345 pounds]

ASHBURN, Va. - For the first time this week, inside linebacker London Fletcher practiced with the rest of his Washington Redskins teammates, working on a limited basis inside the team's indoor bubble Friday. Fletcher, who has been hobbled by a sprained left ankle, is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Ravens at FedEx Field in Landover and sounded unsure about whether he'll be able to extend his streak of 236 consecutive games played -- tied with Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Ronde Barber as the longest active streak -- and 195 straight starts.

Saturday's print edition included an article on Cleveland Browns left tackle Joe Thomas, who will attempt to ward off outside linebacker Terrell Suggs and the rest of the Ravens when they visit Cleveland Browns Stadium this Sunday. Thomas is generally regarded as one of the best left tackles in the NFL, and Matt Williamson, a NFL scout for ESPN.com and Scouts Inc., didn't disagree with that sentiment. Williamson, who ranked the top 50 players in the league at the midpoint of the 2012 season in a list that is scheduled to be published next week, put Thomas at No. 40. The only other offensive tackle ahead of Thomas is the Houston Texans' Duane Brown at No. 31. Williamson, whom you can follow on Twitter at @WilliamsonNFL, discussed his reasoning for ranking Thomas at No. 40 and his perspective on Thomas' strengths.