Offensive Lineman

Update 9:52 p.m.: Here are a few quotes from The Castle on the Ravens' first two draft picks tonight. Here are a few highlights from tonight's news conference with Ravens director of player personnel Eric DeCosta, general manager Ozzie Newsome and coach John Harbaugh. Newsome's overall thoughts: "Coming into today, you talk about the two guys that we got, they both were seniors so they bring a level of maturity to the locker room already. They are guys who made their way through two pretty good programs.

Ravens offensive guard Ramon Harewood is spending part of the off-season back home in Barbados, where later this week he will host a football camp for children on the island. The "Big Mon Elite Athlete Development Camp" is set to begin Thursday and will include appearances by Harewood's Ravens teammates, including Ray Rice, Torrey Smith, Michael Oher and Bryan Hall. "The strong academic foundation and diverse athletic training I received growing up in Barbados has enabled me to achieve success on many levels as an adult and it is an honor to share what I have learned with the younger generation," said Harewood, who grew up in the town of St. Michael, Barbados, where he played volleyball, track and field, cricket and soccer before transferring to Morehouse in Atlanta to play football.

They gathered in the living room at their mother's Northwest Houston home the way they did so many times growing up. But for Kelechi Osemele, this April night was all about moving forward rather than looking back. The sibling rivalry he endured with his three older sisters had helped prepare him for this moment. His relationship with his mother was turbulent at times, but he now knew why Imelda Osemele had always been so strict and demanding. His father was not present for his big night, nor had he been around for much of his life.

Five Gilman players, including Co-Defensive Players of the Year Henry Poggi and Micah Kiser, lead the Maryland team that will take on Pennsylvania's best in the 56th annual Big 33 Football Classic on July 15 at Hersheypark Stadium. Poggi, a defensive lineman headed for Michigan, and Kiser, a linebacker headed for Virginia, are joined by Greyhounds teammates Shane Cockerille, a Maryland-bound quarterback, Miles Norris, a Cornell-bound linebacker and defensive lineman Nick Fertitta, who is headed for American International College.

Maryland defensive lineman Isaiah Ross has been suspended for a year for violations of university policy. Another player -- offensive lineman Pete White -- is leaving the team although he remains enrolled at the school. Ross is also still enrolled. Maryland would not offer details about Ross. The only offense cited in the university's "Policy on Conduct and Ethics for Student-Athletes" and the "Drug Policy for Student-Athletes" that specifically mandates a year-long suspension is a third violation of the drug policy.

Baltimore Stallions tackle Shar Pourdanesh, who missed the past four games with stress fractures in both ankles, will start against the Shreveport Pirates Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.Pourdanesh, the CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman last year, practiced for the first time since leaving the Memphis game Aug. 19 with injured ankles. He stayed after practice to take contact drills, and said he felt "a little rusty.""Now I've got something to prove and I have had to refocus," Pourdanesh said.

Near the end of yesterday's draft luncheon, Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome produced the biggest revelation of the day when he said there could be a quarterback that the team would take with the 29th pick of the first round. A few minutes after the news conference concluded, Newsome told a smaller group of reporters: "Nothing I said today will allow you to know what we're going to do at the draft because I said we might take a quarterback at 29." Subterfuge aside, it's more likely the Ravens will take an offensive lineman instead of a quarterback in the first round of next week's draft.

Jason Brown still remembers waiting until the second day of the 2005 draft before the Ravens called the University of North Carolina offensive lineman's name in the fourth round. He carries the responsibility of providing for a large family, which includes a wife who is a dental school student at North Carolina. Most of all, Brown is driven by the memory of his brother Lunsford, an Army soldier who died in a mortar attack in Iraq three years ago. His goal is to prove that he belongs in the NFL. Judging by the Ravens' decision to promote Brown to starting left guard position after Edwin Mulitalo's season-ending triceps injury, Brown is on his way. "With my situation right now, I just feel so humbled," said Brown, who is will make his second career start Monday night against the Denver Broncos.

Former Ravens offensive lineman Jonathan Ogden is considered a strong candidate to be part of the 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. But before that, Ogden learned that he'll be enshrined into another Hall of Fame. The former UCLA star was one of 14 players to be selected for the College Hall of Fame. He'll be inducted in September. Ogden was a four-year starter at left tackle for the Bruins. In his final season at UCLA, Ogden was awarded the Outland Trophy, given to college football's top lineman, and named a unanimous first-team All-American.  He was then drafted by the Ravens with the fourth overall pick in the 1996 draft.

In many ways, Antron Harper personifies what the 2005 Navy football team is all about. He is young, a sophomore who had never played a down for the varsity until last Saturday's heartbreaking 23-20 defeat to Maryland at M&T Bank Stadium. He is far undersized, a 249-pound offensive guard who ranks as the lightest starting offensive lineman in NCAA Division I-A football. And he is feisty, tenacious, intelligent and quick, all qualities that characterize the battling band that threw a major scare into the Terrapins, who finally prevailed with 1:01 to play in the game.

Maryland defensive lineman Isaiah Ross has been suspended for a year for violations of university policy. Another player -- offensive lineman Pete White -- is leaving the team although he remains enrolled at the school. Ross is also still enrolled. Maryland would not offer details about Ross. The only offense cited in the university's "Policy on Conduct and Ethics for Student-Athletes" and the "Drug Policy for Student-Athletes" that specifically mandates a year-long suspension is a third violation of the drug policy.

One man's opinion on the potential of Maryland's 2013 football commitments. Post your takes below. Most wanted: Given to the most heavily recruited Maryland commitments. OFFENSE Derwin Gray - Friendship Collegiate Academy, offensive lineman, 6-5, 305 pounds Florida, Florida State, Ohio State and Oklahoma were among the many traditional football powerhouses hoping to land Gray. The D.C. native, however, pledged to the Terps last summer and immediately became one of their best recruiters and most promising commitments.

Editor's note: Each week, InsideMdSports.com provides this blog with a Maryland recruiting feature that previously appeared as premium content on its site. Maryland's coaching staff continues to make McDonough (Md.) offensive lineman Na'Ty Rodgers a top priority in the 2013 recruiting cycle. “They've been here several times. They were at our game a few weeks ago. I'm in contact with their staff,” said McDonough coach Luke Ehtington. “Their staff has been very consistent since Day One, that he's a major priority for them.

During the 2011 college football season, 79 players from the Baltimore area suited up for Football Bowl Subdivision programs . This year, that number will increase by 10. Eighty-nine athletes from this area - Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Carroll County, Harford County, Howard County - are listed on FBS rosters this fall. The ACC leads the way with 30 local players. Maryland is responsible for the biggest chunk of that figure with 16 players, while Virginia Tech (4)

They gathered in the living room at their mother's Northwest Houston home the way they did so many times growing up. But for Kelechi Osemele, this April night was all about moving forward rather than looking back. The sibling rivalry he endured with his three older sisters had helped prepare him for this moment. His relationship with his mother was turbulent at times, but he now knew why Imelda Osemele had always been so strict and demanding. His father was not present for his big night, nor had he been around for much of his life.

Coaching Division I-bound football players is nothing new for Kyle Hockman . Last year alone the coach at McEachern High in Powder Springs, Ga., sent two players to South Carolina, one to South Florida and one to Maryland. But when it came to a “tall, skinny kid” named Jajuan Dulaney , Hockman wasn't prepared to make any grand proclamations about the offensive lineman's college future.  “As a young kid, you didn't know from the get-go that he was going to be a Division I player,” said Hockman, who played at Bowling Green and had coaching stints at West Virginia and East Carolina.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - On the Maryland football team, everyone has a Lamar Bryant story. Some of them are tall tales, some of them will induce belly-aching laughter, and most of them, according to junior center Kyle Schmitt, probably aren't suitable for publication in a family newspaper. But picture, if you can, Bryant - all 6 feet 3 and 315 pounds of him - standing in front of a banquet hall full of people last year, days before the Peach Bowl. He has a microphone in his hand, and he's part of a select group of players prepared to belt out the national anthem to kick off a comedy show that's part of the festivities in Atlanta.

Only four days after his second operation in one week to treat an infection in his right shin, Ravens offensive lineman Alex Bernstein returned to practice yesterday.A rookie free agent out of Division III Amherst College, Bernstein returned to the field with his leg heavily wrapped. He had missed close to two weeks of practice and two preseason games, recovering from two separate operations.Bernstein underwent the first operation Aug. 10, two days after the second preseason game against the New York Jets, to initially clean out the infection.

Former Ravens offensive lineman Jonathan Ogden is considered a strong candidate to be part of the 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. But before that, Ogden learned that he'll be enshrined into another Hall of Fame. The former UCLA star was one of 14 players to be selected for the College Hall of Fame. He'll be inducted in September. Ogden was a four-year starter at left tackle for the Bruins. In his final season at UCLA, Ogden was awarded the Outland Trophy, given to college football's top lineman, and named a unanimous first-team All-American.  He was then drafted by the Ravens with the fourth overall pick in the 1996 draft.

Lenny Moore can hardly attend an NFL function without some gnarly old linebacker wagging his finger at the 78-year-old Baltimore Colts Hall of Fame running back and telling Moore something he already knows. "Lenny," the old-timer will say, "I had a bead on you so many times out there, I was going to knock the living hell out of you. But then I'd look up and, all of a sudden, here comes Jim Parker - and he'd get me first. " Moore will listen, smile and nod. Then he'll look skyward and thank the man upstairs - No. 77, the big lug with the horseshoe on his helmet - for running interference.