Rob Long: Something's Brewing
When we last saw the Baltimore Ravens play, Bryant McKinnie was the team's starting left tackle. By that, and the fact that the team just gave him a $500,000 roster bonus back in March, you would assume that would still be the case in 2012. Right?
During the team's mandatory mini-camp, McKinnie was not on the field. Michael Oher, the team's 2009 first-round pick, was starting at the left side. This seams to be shades of 2010 when the team made the switch from Jared Gaither to Oher, during the off-season, while Gaither was in the training room. Sound familiar?
The question is, what's really going on with Bryant McKinnie? He started all 16 games last year and while he wasn't brilliant, he was solid. Well, at times he was.
Is Michael Oher better at left tackle? By all accounts, he is and it looks as if he will be the team's left tackle in during the regular season. Where does that leave McKinnie? Again, they gave him a $500,000 bonus in March. Would they part ways with that guy? Certainly he isn't going to be the right tackle. He's due $3.2 million this season and that's pretty expensive for a back-up for a team that's cap strapped.
My prediction, Bryant McKinnie will either play his way back into the starting line-up or he will not be on the roster at all. To be completely honest, it's starting to look more and more like Oher is going to be the starting left tackle for the Baltimore Ravens.
Rob Long
