 So the 2021 draft came and went for the Baltimore Ravens but in a period after the draft that's just as important was the undrafted rookie free agents and yesterday the Ravens signed nine undrafted rookie free agents one of them being Ardarius Washington and I think he was the one out of the nine that really got the most hype and who fans were like super super excited for so what I did was go watch some film to see exactly why why I was fans so excited about Ardarius Washington from TCU and what I found was pretty good but before we get into that team keep it clean I gotta say that I really appreciate y'all and please do not let anybody tell you just because you didn't come out the pandemic making all this money you're not a millionaire ever since the pandemic then you're not winning don't let anybody tell you oh just because you installed a business during the pandemic then you're losing no man don't nobody want to hear none of that and I hate seeing stuff like that because people try to propel themselves and make themselves like they're greater than somebody else just because during the pandemic they made a nice little chunk of money like no man stop that so people are just trying to get out of the pandemic with their mental intact that's good enough if you got that you're winning right there even if you don't you're still winning man because you're still going so as long as you're still going as long as you're still pushing just keep that man all that oh man oh I mean I got a business in the pandemic that's nice and good for you but you ain't got to try to tear somebody else down just because that worked out for you and it didn't work out for them so y'all keep your heads up man y'all stay up but anyway on to Ardarius Washington um he went undrafted a lot of people thought he would be a day two a day three pick uh but he didn't get selected at all and a lot of people wondered why uh one of the things that I thought which is very it's it's an unfortunate part of the business but I thought maybe it's because of his size his counterpart Morrig got drafted in the second round uh by the Las Vegas Raiders okay so the Ravens will see him week one uh but anyway um Ardarius Washington is about five eight uh Morrig is about six one six two so I think that really just put him up there uh and because there were a lot of people that continued to compare the two instead of the two had a lot of similar traits and characteristics when it came to their play style uh but I think size it made a big difference in him just not being selected but when I watched him he does not play small man he does not play small we've talked about it so many times when there's a their players that they can be the tallest or the tall they can be the biggest or the big but they may not play to their size he is on the opposite end of that spectrum to where he's smaller he's shorter but he doesn't play to his size he plays bigger the first thing that stood out to me when I watched film on him was tackling not hitting but tackling this guy he tackles very well and and that is such an important role for safety because usually as a safety you are the last line of defense when it comes to the opposing offense you are back there on an island all by yourself a lot of times and that this is after a running back or a quarterback or receiver has gotten past the defensive line they've gotten past the linebackers they've gotten past the corners so it's just up to the safety to make that stop and he is very good at just wrap up tackling and the thing about him he would make a tackle whether it's deep whether it's in the box whether it's behind a line of scrimmage he was a very very very very like a very very good tackler a consistent tackler as well so I just I love that about him that was probably my favorite favorite favorite aspect about his game it was the tackling they had him they moved him around he wasn't just a free safety he wasn't just a box safety they moved him around all over the field they had him playing deep they had him playing in the box they had they had him playing everywhere so you know Ravens Raven saw that and they were like the eyes rolled to the back of their head they just not going crazy because that's exactly what the Ravens love they love players that can do different things they love it especially on defense especially on defense man so that gives him a leg up in this race for a safety spot on this roster now one thing about him that I also like was that he is very instinctive and he really trusts his instincts now there were a few times why I did see what his instincts they ended up being wrong but even when they were wrong he he got great recovery speed and he has good closing speed he closes very very well but back to even when his instincts were wrong I love that he trusts himself and he trusts what he believes to be true and you can see that reflecting in his game and what I mean when I say that is that if he felt like the quarterback kept the ball on an RP on a read option then hey he trusted and fully believed it and he was going for it if he felt like this receiver was the quarterback was getting ready to throw this to this receiver on his crossing route then he was like okay let me do what I gotta do to jump it to try to break it up to try to make sure that this receiver does not catch this football and I love that because that's we talk about it all the time that football is a lot more mental than it is physical we talk about it all the time and if you don't you could be the biggest you could be the fastest you could be the strongest you could be all this different stuff but if you don't trust what's up here if you're like if you're unsure of yourself up here then it's going to reflect on the football field people are going to see that players are going to see that coaches are going to see that and they're going to be like no get this dude off the field get him off he's unsure of himself get him out of here because we see it all the time from different players when they're rattled you can tell when somebody's under their skin you can tell so I love that he really really trusts himself because that makes such a big difference in his game such a big difference and with him joining the Baltimore Ravens with them signing him I know they they usually keep one maybe two sometimes undrafted rookie free agents every single year and this year I believe with the 17th game the rosters go from 53 to 55 I believe I'm not 100% sure on that about 83% sure so that other 17% we got to get that confirmed but anyway I do seriously believe and I'm not just saying this because he got a lot of hype around it but I do seriously believe that he has a legitimate shot at making the roster the reason I say that is because when you look around the Ravens roster safety is a position where it's it's a lot of unknowns right now a lot a lot of unknowns in the current but more so unknowns for the future currently you're starting safeties Chuck Clark Deshaun Elliott what's going to happen there especially with Deshaun Elliott uh this is the last year of his deal we haven't heard anything about the Ravens being impossible talks of an extension with him and I don't think that they would be right now especially because of how the first two years went now Deshaun Elliott he has some freak injuries I think the first year rookie year was to his uh he broke his form and then the second year was his knee or maybe it was rookie year was his knee in the second year it was his forearm either way he had those freak injuries and he missed the majority of his first two seasons last year was his very first season starting he did a good job too especially given the fact that he was not expected to start uh the season because we still had Earl Thomas of course Earl Thomas he felt like he wanted to swing on people and he wanted to go to car washes instead of practice and so on and so forth and I really do think the Ravens were just I personally think that they were just looking for an out so I think they started leaking some stories intentionally so they could make a anyway he didn't help the he didn't help himself with putting out the practice tape and swinging on Chuck Clark anyway but that's besides the point Deshaun Elliott did was not expected to be the starter he did not know he was going to be the starter we did not know he was going to be the starter but he ended up being a starter because of the situation and he did a good job and as the season continued on he got better and better but bottom line this is the last year of his deal it is not a guarantee that he's back with the Baltimore Ravens uh nothing is said in stone we just got to see what happens I do believe that they will really just let this thing play itself out see how he does this year and it's all up to them if they trust them it's going to be a lot a lot will factor with trust hey you missed the first two years but then if he can finish this year hey you played the last two years how do you trust him moving forward because we know he can play and the thing about Deshaun Elliott that dude ain't afraid of nobody he ain't afraid to make no tackle on nobody very physical guy but there's uncertainty there for the future and even behind Deshaun Elliott and behind Chuck Clark we have Jordan Richards he signed to a one-year deal we have Anthony Levine he signed to a one-year deal we have Nigel warrior we have Gino Stone he signed to a one-year deal so it's a lot of one-year deal guys at at the safety position there's not much depth there at all well not that there's much debt there's not much future depth there at all so with Ardarius Washington with none of the safeties in my opinion none of the safeties behind Deshaun Elliott and Chuck Clark are safe none of them especially with them all being on not only one-year deals but very cheap one-year deals so there's going to be plenty of competition at backup safety and then they have the draft pick I believe Brandon Stevens or Brandon yeah Brandon Stevens the third round pick was it Stevenson I think it's Stevenson either way my apologies I can't think of his name off the top of my head right now I'm sorry for that but they have their third round pick that they drafted who they said that he he could play some corner he could play some safety they want to have them at free safety so there's that so he's he's going to make the team but again there's a lack of depth there so the Ravens training camp will come and training camp will go and that's where that competition at the safety position that's where it's going to be a lot of competition there and I really do believe that is one of those spots where somebody who you didn't think was going to get cut they could get cut again because nothing there is set in like nothing there set in stone nothing at all there's so much uncertainty at that safety position behind Deshaun Elliott and Chuck Clark after that it's like I don't know I don't know what's gonna happen so he uh he is in a very very good position if he can come in and really show these Ravens like hey yeah I'm with it I'm with it if he can really show those instincts if he can really show that physicality that I saw when I watched film on him if he can really show that he is a great wrap-up tackler on this professional level in the NFL man he certainly got a shot straight up man he he certainly got a shot because again he's not at a position where it's like okay Ravens got that like if it was for a corner position for example in the secondary at corner Ravens already got their locks Marlon Humphrey Marcus Peters Tavon Young possibly Wade they got Jimmy Smith they Anthony Avis in the mix too like they got a lot of guys at the corner back position he got a lot of guys at corner back position so if he was undrafted rookie free agent he was a corner then I'd be like you don't know about that one but the fact that it says safety and they're not a lot of locks there so he got a shot anyway team keep it clean I appreciate y'all I love y'all we will be looking at some more undrafted rookie free agents coming very very soon appreciate you and again remember don't let nobody tell you that you ain't winning man just because I ain't come out to the pandemic I ain't make the pandemic a pandemic shout out to Migos but it's like no no don't worry about none of that man y'all keep your heads up keep pushing keep going I love y'all each and every one of y'all I appreciate each and every one of y'all thank you for what you do and we out man