Ravens view tight ends as ‘positionless’ players capable of making plays anywhere

With the NFL’s deepest depth chart at the position, the passing game could be funneled through them in 2024.

There is no questioning who has the most talented tight-end duo in the league following the emergence of 2022 fourth-rounder Isaiah Likely down the stretch of the 2023 season. After three-time Pro Bowler Mark Andrews suffered a severe lower-leg injury in a Week 11 primetime bout with the Cincinnati Bengals, he helped the offense not miss a beat on their way to making the team’s first AFC championship appearance in over a decade since the 2012 postseason.

Likely proved he is more than capable of being a full-time starter who is featured in a prominent role. The third-year pro would likely be just that on more than two-thirds of the teams in the league but instead, he is part of a tandem with Andrews that could be lethal and too much for opposing defenses to handle.

One of the biggest questions about the Ravens offense heading into the 2024 season is how offensive coordinator Todd Monken will go about getting two of the team’s top three pass catchers on the field at the same time in year two of his scheme being in place. Up to this point, the only time Likely has been able to showcase his impressive playmaking ability on a consistent basis has been when Andrews has been ailing or out entirely with an injury.

With some of the Ravens’ offseason departures at wide receiver that saw multi-time Pro Bowlers Odell Beckham Jr. and Devin Duvernay sign elsewhere, it seems the team is poised to deploy both Andrews and Likely in more creative ways that could include lining up in the slot or isolated receiver spot on any given play.

“[Mark is] capable of a lot of things,” Ravens tight end coach George Godsey said Saturday. “He’s really a positionless player, and that’s what we [say] about the [tight ends] room, really, because we can play outside, we play inside in the slot, [and] we play attached – we have a lot of different roles. All [of] those guys are capable.”

Godsey raved about the nightmarish mismatch Likely presents when going up against defensive backs and linebackers alike. The Ravens are loaded at both of those defensive position groups this year which helps sharpen the all-round skill of every tight end on the roster.

“[Likely is] a guy that goes out there, [and] he challenges safeties, he challenges corners – he’s inside obviously working against our [linebackers],” Godsey said. “We’ve got a good group, defensively, that we’re going against every day, so we’re getting challenged, but Isaiah’s so flexible – you saw it last year, and that’s going to continue to improve. Our group that we have is so versatile, and [I’m] really excited about the group; really from top down.”

Leading the position group alongside Andrews is four-time Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard who is a converted defensive line that now spends most of his time with the tight ends as his role on offense has continued to grow over the course of his career.

Rounding out the position group is Likely’s fellow third-year pro and former fourth-rounder Charlie Kolar who carved out a role for himself as a blocker last season and is slated to be even more involved on offense in 2024.

“I think you’re going to see a big jump from him,” Godsey said. “He’s made a huge [stride] from, not only just Year One to [Year] Two, but now [Year] Two to [Year] Three. I think you’re going to see a big jump – he’s working extra, again he’s another guy that’s capable of taking in a lot of information – both in the run game and the pass game. He’s going to make his mark physically at the line of scrimmage controlling the defender. I’m excited about what he’s doing.”

A developmental young player at the position that the Ravens are excited about and would likely want to continue flying under the national radar is an undrafted rookie and franchise legacy, Qadir Ismail. The converted wide receiver who was once a quarterback is the son of former Ravens wide receiver Qadry Ismail. Just like his dad during his days in Baltimore helping the franchise its first Super Bowl, he has been making plays in practice and catching the attention of reporters, spectators and—more importantly—his coaches.

“He’s a big body, he can run, he can catch, [and] he’s learning the position,” Godsey said. “He’s flexible; he’s played quarterback, [so] he knows kind of what the quarterback is looking at. He’s young, he’s learning, he’s eager and he has a big capacity to learn, too, so [I’m] excited about him.”

One of the keys to Likely’s late-season breakout in Andrews’ absence was the chemistry he built with and the trust he earned from the Ravens’ two-time MVP-winning quarterback Lamar Jackson. While the two of them don’t quite share the Vulcan mind meld level of cerebral connection as Andrews and Jackson have on the field forged by over a half-decade of playing together, their rapport is strong nonetheless. It stems from all the work they put in during practice.

“Everybody brings up the Texans game, when I told [Lamar Jackson] to throw it up; I mean, that was just what we do in practice,” Likely said. “I’ll be in practice and say, ‘Man, Lamar, put some more air on it; I promise you, I won’t make you wrong.’ So, having those situations in practice where he trusts me – where he does that in practice – so in [the] game, it’s not the first time. So, in [the] game, when I’d say, ‘Lamar, throw it up. Throw it up. I’ve got you. I promise you,’ he nods his head and lets me know, ‘I’ve got you next time. I’ve got it,’ and when it’s completed, it’s always a good thing.”

Likely looks forward to showcasing his improved football intelligence and becoming a versatile “chess piece” who can line up inline, off the ball, in the slot, out wide and even in the backfield.

“I can be the nightmare that everybody wants me to be,” Likely said.

No matter where he begins a given play, if he is running a route and the ball is up in the air anywhere near his vicinity, his mentality is to come down with it no matter what.

“There’s that next-play mentality, [and] things happen, obviously, but in my mind, it’s my ball and nobody [else’s],” Likely said. “I try to make it 100 versus [defensive back] to nothing. That’s the way I take the ball, whether it’s a good ball, bad ball – anything. If I feel like I can put my hand on the ball, I can catch anything. So, just going up to the ball [with] the mentality of, ‘It’s mine or nobody’s,’ and I feel like if I have that mentality, then I can give my quarterback any type of window to throw the ball and always make them right.”