[Baltimore Sun] Ravens’ Ben Cleveland lands full-time role on kick blocking unit: ‘Whatever it takes to get on the field’
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Ben Cleveland has a new job for the Ravens.
After appearing in 43 games, including seven starts, in his three-plus seasons in Baltimore, the oft-maligned offensive lineman will be on the Ravens’ field goal/extra point block team going forward.
“I think he’s earned himself a full-time role,” special teams coordinator Chris Horton Jr. said Friday. “It’s an opportunity to get him out there and let him play.”
The move comes after Cleveland blocked a field goal attempt in the second quarter of the Ravens’ eventual 30-23 win over the Commanders at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday.
The idea first percolated about two weeks ago when Cleveland, once a possible candidate for the starting right guard spot in training camp, approached Horton with the idea of joining the field goal and extra point teams. With defensive tackle Broderick Washington out of last week’s game with a knee injury, that helped clear the way for the 6-foot-6, 360-pound lineman’s heroics.
“That’s cool to be put into a position to possibly have an impact on this team and give us a chance to win in a tight game,” said Cleveland, who got the news after Friday’s practice in Owings Mills. “Seeing it pay off that quick with the turnaround has been awesome.”
He also had a feeling the block was coming.
“I told [defensive tackle] Travis [Jones] after the first one. I came off the field, I was like, ‘Travis, we’re gonna get one of these kicks,’” said Cleveland, a 2021 third-round draft pick. “I don’t even know what happened. I blacked out. I was just excited. It wasn’t something I’d done since high school.”
It turns out it was also something he’d done well for Stephens County High School in Toccoa, Georgia, where he estimated that he blocked about “10 to 15” kicks during his time there.
After his block against Washington, Cleveland said one of his friends FaceTimed him on his way home from the game asking if it was indeed him who’d gotten a piece of Austin Seibert’s 52-yard attempt with the Ravens up 17-10 in the final seconds of the second quarter. Text messages from family and friends started pouring in as well.
“I felt it hit my finger, and as soon as I turned around I saw it twirling to the side and thought, ‘That thing ain’t going in,’” Cleveland said. “It wasn’t a good block-it-and-take-it-back-for-a-touchdown block. It was just enough.
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“I didn’t even come off the ground. I thought I did, but I didn’t. It’s a lot of luck at the end of the day. It’s about having your hand in the right place at the right time.”
The same could be said about Cleveland’s circuitous route to unexpected defensive darling and his new role.
Horton said he’d never used an offensive lineman in that capacity with the Ravens, but Cleveland’s mammoth size made sense. Then the 26-year-old did the rest.
“I absolutely did not expect it to be that way,” Cleveland said. “But whatever it takes to get on the field and help this team win. Whatever they want me to do, I’ll do. Hell, I’ll go out there and kick the field goals if they want me to.”
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