The preseason can be misleading.

Those who play the most are often bound for another team’s roster – a lesser roster quite often in the case of the Ravens. And with a rookie head coach like Jesse Minter, who comes from a conservative Harbaugh coaching family tree – sitting almost any and every key veteran - it’s going to thrust fringe players into the spotlight.

Saturday’s trouncing of the Eagles, 24-7 at M&T Bank Stadium, was even more unusual in that the defense barely saw the field. They didn’t allow a third-down conversion – Philadelphia went 0-for-9 – and allowed 76 total yards through three quarters and ended up playing just 40 total snaps on defense which limited the sample size for everyone.

Offense was a different story, with 76 snaps on that side of the ball. Minter was obviously happy with the abundance of what he saw, and for good reason. Here is who led the Ravens by snaps played among each position group:

Offensive Line

Gerad Lichtenhan: 76 Snaps

Dude never left the field Saturday despite all that volume. Hmm.

Of the other “starting” offensive linemen from this group, youngsters Carson Vinson and Emery Jones, battling for critical back-up roles, each played 63 snaps, essentially leaving the field when the second quarterback who took part – Joe Fagnano in a command performance – departed.

This is interesting to me, with a 6-foot-8 undrafted kid out or Oregon State essentially playing the entire game at right tackle. This strikes me as pretty revealing and someone they must think has at least practice squad potential. Will he get a full run Saturday at Minnesota against a defense that blitzes more than any in the NFL?

Quarterback

Fagnano: 49 snaps

He was excellent. No other way to put it. Pretty shocking performance and I don’t care about the level of competition. The Ravens were working out a ton of kinks with a coordinator who had never called a play before. He was surrounded by rookies, many of whom were not off to a great start in camp, and he shined.

Even the interception wasn’t egregious, and he was trying to make a play rather than just happy to be on the football field.

Running Back

Adam Randall: 34 Snaps

They clearly want him in “The Joker” role we spoke to Doyle’s mentor, Sean Payton, about at length. Randall’s super power is catching the football, as Payton explained on “The Daily Flock Show” and he barely got a checkdown. This was more about seeing what new he could do.

He ran the ball well when from under center, he scored a touchdown and he continues to make strides in pass protection as someone who only played one year of running back in college. The fifth-round pick is going to see the field.

Tight End

Josh Cuevas: 35 Snaps

He has better blocking traits to start with than fellow rookie Matthew Hibner; Hibner got more targets and made the biggest explosive play in the game, while Cuevas got used to life along the line of scrimmage. He did catch his lone target, but he has the potential to do more than what Hibner likely can do, though it’s not nearly as sexy.

Wide Receiver

Elijah Sarratt: 28 Snaps

This is all rookies leading the way on this side of the ball. He had a fumble he will want back, but led the team in receiving and as we wrote in our preview of this game, with a constricted game plan prioritizing high-percentage passes and high-traffic stuff, he was always likely to play quite a bit and see more of the ball than the more dynamic Ja’Kobi Lane. Sarratt made some nice contested catches.

Lane scored a TD of course and kind of stole the show, and he also got to watch a lot of the second half in a t shirt with pads and helmet off, a rarity for someone so inexperienced.

Secondary

Keondre Jackson/K’Von Wallace: 28 Snaps

This is a really interested second safety coupling. Wallace can move well and has some ball skills and if he can stay healthy, has a chance to show up even in a very crowded defensive backfield. Jackson was used on some third down blitzes and he generated pressures., and he remains an interesting prospect with upside beyond just special teams The Eagles weren’t really pushing the ball downfield, so they didn’t have to do much in that regard.

 TJ Tampa played the most of the corners, as expected (23 snaps), and looked sticky in coverage and was all over the underneath routes.

Linebackers

Dominic DeLuca: 27 Snaps

The Ravens held everybody back here, even Trenton Simpson. The un-drafted rookie out of Penn State was credited with three assists. He played more than expected when “starter” Jay Higgins left the game in the first half with a concussion.

Defensive Line

Aeneas Peebles: 22 Snaps

Peebles needs to show something in year two. Smaller and different body type than most of the interior defenders the Ravens tend to rely on. With so many short drives and the Eagles overwhelmed on third down, the Ravens couldn’t get much of a rotation going up front.

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