As it did throughout the preseason, the Baltimore Ravens’ current depth chart shows Bradley Bozeman as the NFL team’s backup center. But it also lists him as the starting left guard.

Bozeman filled that spot for the Ravens' season-opening game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, and the Baltimore offense produced 643 yards in a 59-10 victory that set a team record for points in a game.

“Bradley played really well and justified the fact that he was in there as a starter,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said.

After two seasons as Alabama's starting center, Bozeman joined Baltimore as a sixth-round selection in the 2018 NFL Draft. He played 214 offensive snaps as a rookie, with 56 coming in the seventh game of the season, when he started at left guard as an injury replacement for an injury replacement.

“For (Harbaugh) and everybody on the staff to put that kind of trust in me is a big deal,” Bozeman told Glenn Clark Radio after his opening-game start, “and I don’t take that lightly and I don’t take it for granted. It was just an amazing opportunity, and I believe that I went out there and I gave it my all.”

Bozeman emerged from a crowd to earn his Game 1 start in the one unsettled position in Baltimore's offensive line.

A 10-game starter at left guard for the Ravens last season, Alex Lewis was traded to the New York Jets on Aug. 5. But Baltimore still had James Hurst, a tackle who played left guard at the end of the 2018 season when Lewis was hurt.

The preseason depth chart showed third-year player Jermaine Eluemunor in the No. 1 slot at left guard. But after he got hurt during practice, the Ravens traded him to the New England Patriots on Aug. 28.

Baltimore also had fourth-round draft pick Ben Powers and undrafted rookie Patrick Mekari available at left guard.

Hurst, Powers and Mekari all made the 53-player roster, but Bozeman got the starting assignment.

“This league is full of pros, guys waiting to take your job,” Bozeman said. “Every week, you’re playing against someone really good. In college, you have this guy or that guy, but it’s kind of spotty. In the NFL, every week it’s like the best guy you’ve ever played against.

“Who knows? I might not be the starter next week. But I definitely say I’m playing better than last year, I’m moving better than I have my entire career and I hope to continue that. I’m not getting complacent, and I’m going to continue to work hard every day.”

After Eluemunor got hurt, Bozeman said he started getting the majority of the left-guard reps, which made him realize “there was a possibility of me starting. But I’ve been in that situation before when I came out on the wrong side of it. My mindset was just go in every day and compete.”

Bozeman said that was a different approach than his early days at Alabama, when he paid close attention to the depth chart.

“My whole thing was I didn’t care if I got beat out,” Bozeman said. “Don’t think I didn’t want to start, but I was going to give my best every single play. If my best wasn’t good enough, then you know what? That’s better for the team, because whoever else would’ve started was the better fit for the team. I just went out and showcased what I could do every day. Continued to work, continued to grind.

"It paid off for me.”

Before Alabama and the NFL, Bozeman was an All-State offensive lineman as a junior in 2011 at Handley High School in Roanoke before a torn ACL wrecked his senior season.

The Ravens will play their 2019 home-opener at noon CDT Sunday, when the Arizona Cardinals visit M&T Bank Stadium.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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