Patrick Mekari is one of the Baltimore Ravens’ best kept secrets. The offensive lineman is quietly one of the most reliable and versatile backups in the league at his position.
Week 1’s victory for Baltimore over the Houston Texans was marred by a flurry of injuries to key starting players. Among them was cornerstone player Ronnie Stanley.
With Stanley out, the Ravens have now turned to Mekari to step up. The 26-year-old has started in a pinch before and, for this reason, coach John Harbaugh is unfazed:
“Yes, Patrick’s our backup tackle [on] both sides. And Patrick’s played a lot of football and so, you know, he’ll play well. He’s not a guy we’re concerned with in terms of how well he’ll play. He’ll play well.”
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Patrick Mekari is Ravens’ Best Kept Secret
How many teams are comfortable despite their franchise tackle missing time? The answer is not many. The truth is that reliable backup offensive linemen are rare finds.
Thankfully for Baltimore, Mekari is just that. Mekari’s career to date has been an impressive one, cementing his value to the Ravens despite his undrafted status.
Truthfully, Mekari is good enough to start at tackle for an NFL team. However, Baltimore have had the luxury of keeping him around to back up Stanley and Morgan Moses. How Mekari’s name has gone under the radar for so long is truly a mystery.
"Swiss Army knife, that's probably a good analogy."
Coach Harbaugh on Patrick Mekari: pic.twitter.com/LTnE4hAhUc— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 13, 2022
Patrick Mekari’s Career to Date
Mekari joined the Ravens as an undrafted rookie following the conclusion of the 2019 NFL Draft. His arrival came with little media attention until he started impressing coaches at camp. The young lineman’s stellar off-season led to him being touted as the team’s starting center as a rookie.
Since then, Mekari has flexed his versatility even more. He has played at center, guard and tackle and is currently listed as Baltimore’s first backup at both left and right tackle.
Since 2019, Mekari has amassed 55 career games with 29 starts. He has never been the most impressive player in terms of physicality. However, his football IQ and strong foundations have made him Baltimore’s top backup lineman.
2022 was a good year for Mekari. The rotational lineman was the Ravens offense’s ninth best player according to PFF. He was given an astonishing PFF grade of 73.1. That is undoubtedly an impressive feat for a backup player that often plays different positions through the season.
Week 2 at the Cincinnati Bengals
In 2022’s Week 5 win against the Cincinnati Bengals, Mekari played right tackle for the Ravens. He was Baltimore’s fourth highest graded player per PFF (77.3) in that game. In 2023’s Week 2 fixture, Mekari will be hoping to replicate that performance.
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Week 1 was quiet for Mekari. He played just 13 snaps on offense and accounted for an average PFF grade of 60.6. Week 2, however, promises to give Mekari more challenges (or, perhaps, opportunities).
In Week 1, the Ravens offensive line looked dysfunctional. Their lack of preseason minutes showed as the starting five appeared to lack chemistry. As a result, Will Anderson Jr. stood out. The third overall pick had the most quarterback pressures of any rookie edge rusher since Nick Bosa.
Against the Bengals, Mekari will face off against some very decent edge rushers. Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson will likely keep Mekari’s hands full. Not to mention Lou Anarumo’s sprinkling of clever pass rush designs. Needless to say, this will be a tough matchup for Mekari in a hostile environment.
Baltimore’s offensive plan must help Mekari out, however. Against the Texans, Baltimore had a slow approach to offense that featured a balanced playbook. Given that Mekari and stand-in center Sam Mustipher are, ultimately, backups, it would make sense to vary the pace of the game more. Quick passes will help Mekari and Mustipher as they will not need to hold blocks for as long.
Mark Andrews’ return should aid the short passing game. On top of that, Andrews is an excellent blocking tight end who could be deployed to support Mekari. Charlie Kolar and Pat Ricard could also be used in this way.
John Simpson won the battle for left guard this off-season. Simpson and Mekari are certainly adequate starters but will not be a major strength. For this reason, expect Monken to direct more plays out to the right side of the offensive line, behind Kevin Zeitler and Morgan Moses. This will take some pressure off Simpson and Mekari.
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