A fully healthy 53-man roster forced the Baltimore Ravens to list six players as healthy scratches for their Week 10 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.
Rookie defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles was deactivated for the fourth game in a row in favor of practice squad elevation Taven Bryan. Despite flashing in limited reps to start the year, Peebles has disappeared from the Ravens’ game day plans.
Defensive coordinator Zach Orr referenced a need for “bigger bodies” when asked about Peebles this week, presumably to bolster a run defense that was unusually porous to start the season. In Baltimore’s first five games, they allowed an average of 146.5 rushing yards per game. In their last three, that number has dropped to 85.7. The “bigger bodies” seem to be working.
However, the Ravens’ run defense rebound can also be attributed to the return of linebacker Roquan Smith from his hamstring injury and the deployment of safety Kyle Hamilton in a nickel/star role closer to the line of scrimmage. Defensive tackle Travis Jones turned in an excellent performance in Miami, and rookie linebacker Teddye Buchanan has shown plenty of development over the last month.
Peebles’ size and speed would actually appear to be a good fit in Orr’s new pressure packages, but it’s hard to argue with his unit’s results over the last three games. After such a rough start to the year, every possible edge needs to be exploited, even if that comes at the cost of developing young players.
Here is the Ravens’ full inactive list:
Here is the Vikings’ full inactive list: