With a huge divisional showdown tomorrow night, the Baltimore Ravens have made a few roster moves ahead of their matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football. They included signing quarterback Anthony Brown to the 53 man roster, and elevating wide receiver Andy Isabella and defensive tackle Rayshad Nichols from the practice squad.
The Steelers saw Brown only a few weeks ago when he replaced an injured Tyler Huntley in Pittsburgh’s 16-14 defeat. Brown, an undrafted rookie out of Oregon, did not do much, throwing only five passes , completing three of them for 16 yards, but did enough as a player picked up off the street that week to hold the Ravens lead and help Baltimore win the game.
Isabella has been in the NFL since 2019, primarily with the Arizona Cardinals. He was signed to the Ravens practice squad midseason. In his career, Isabella has racked up 33 receptions for 447 yards and three touchdowns. This season he has two catches for 21 yards, all coming in his time as a Cardinal. Isabella also has experience returning kicks and punts. While he did not do it often, he has returned eight kickoffs for 166 yards, all as a Cardinal.
The final move the Ravens made was by adding Nichols, a rookie defensive tackle to the team. Nichols went undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Stephen F. Austin. Nichols had a super productive senior year, registering 51 total tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, ten sacks, and four quarterback hurries. With the Ravens starting defensive end Calais Campbell being questionable Nichols could see his first ever NFL action.
While these moves may not have a huge impact on Sunday night’s matchup they’re still important to note, especially if injuries cause Brown or Nichols to see extended playing time. In the case of Nichols, if Campbell is out and sees a decent chunk of snaps the Steelers should try and test the undrafted rookie. While he had an impressive senior season, the competition level of college to NFL is very different. If/when Nichols is in the game I would expect to see the Steelers try and target him by running directly at him.
