Clutch Ravens

He doesnt do that on a consistent basis, he gets driven back in the run game a lot, which is crucial in a 4-3, I dont see him setting the edge

he has leverage, but not a lot of power, and his hands are all over the place a lot

Yeah, I don't particularly like him having to play 4-3 DE and don't think he'll be a 3-down player early in his career unless he sorts out his issues against the run.

He doesn't set the edge in the run game which is why I branded him my favorite pass rusher. From what I've watched of the top pass rushers so far, he has the best hand usage.

I think you mistake technique with speed and athleticism, IMO he is very raw, technique wise, not strong enough against the run, and his athleticism wont help him against the better LT in the League

I'm mistaking leverage and hand usage for straight line speed and bend? K den.

Yeah that's why I was trying to trade ahead of the Giants. I knew they would take Gregory and with him falling I really wanted to get him and put him in the Seahawks Defense. As soon as he was gone, it really wasn't worth moving up at that point.

Elephant would have been the perfect role for him.

there is more to a 3-4 LB then running by people...

Like the technique which Gregory has by the bucket load

The thing that bugs me about Gregory is that he is constantly driven backwards by college OLinemen in the run game, he is far too light and does not possess nearly as much power as you would like from an End/OLB type player. He will be a huge liability in the run game and if he is able to put on weight his pass rush will take a step back because he won't be as quick than before

Hence why he's my favorite pass rusher, not edge defender. Not a 3-down player from Day 1. Not convinced by his slowing after putting on weight. If he manages to put on 15 lbs of lean muscle his speed won't be altered at all.

Was targeting a DE and Scherff before the draft so I was surprised when Gregory was there When i picked. No brainer pick for me.I like him better than Beasley or Ray

Couldn't agree more.

Gregory's my favorite Pure Pass Rusher in this class. I put 0 stock in to the combine.

He'll be fine against the run, but he really doesn't do much as a pass-rusher.

When I watched him he played Defensive End as you'd expect a Nose Tackle to.

An athletic Nose Tackle, but not an explosive pass rusher that's going to be a double-digit sack player.

Depending on player availability, the Colts are looking to trade up.

That's right, I may want to trade UP.

So I KO'd thanks to the flu and kinda missed the end of DL Free Agency.

Anyone with overpaid players, feel free to offer them up to me and my 40 odd star cap space.

Glad to land 4th, 5th and 7th round picks for Arthur Jones who didn't really figure in to my plans.

I was surprised to see an early bid on him as well.

I was surprised to see a bid on him.

Didn't think Pass Rushers/Edge defenders would get quite as much attention given the strong draft class

Free agency this year be like:

You misspelled Cory Beerman's name in the bidding thread too.

You've slipped in my absence.

Yeah for sure. Next year I'm going to takeover a team like the Raiders or Jaguars this year and have a team that finally has cap space and high picks. The first year I did this I had the Titans and actually did decent work with the team. Last year I took over the Ravens for another team and that was tough. This year has been the most fun though for sure

I cri evrytiem

Some owners are throwing around more money than Adam Jones in a strip club.

Not surprised

I may or may not have been consulted on the Wilkerson/Megatron trade.

I've been getting caught up on the entire process and my brain is just fried.

I've been gone a long while, but this Draft game always intrigues me.

If anyone wants an adviser with pretty extensive experience, I'm here if you need me.

Chelsea have sold David Luiz to PSG for £50 Million.

Have fun with your freelancing liability, Parisians.

I hate when people say, "we could have traded back and got this guy." How do you know that? Do you? Doubtful.

Timmy Jernigan, by the way, didn't fail a drug test. He had a diluted sample, and if one believes his story, which I do because nothing says otherwise, it was from over hydration because he had some problems staying hydrated. Also, he's not necessarily a bad scheme fit because you have no idea what scheme the Ravens want to run. He'd be a fine one gapper, and he could play the 4-3. Do you know the Ravens defensive scheme already? Not like they can't change it

On the point of trading back, I should've probably made it clear that I meant I personally think he would have still been there and that it wouldn't have been that big a deal if he wasn't. I obviously don't know for certain whether he would have been there or not, but if it were the latter then you just take the next guy on your board.

I didn't know the full details, but that still likely would have put a few teams off. I was purely referring to how we run things currently. It could always change, yeah, but I don't see him as a Nose Tackle or 5-tech.

I've been mulling this draft over for a while and here's my overall thoughts on each player:

Mosley, ILB, Alabama - I didn't like this pick because I think inside Linebackers, in today's NFL, have a limited impact compared to a lot of other positions. We finally had a relatively high pick and we took a guy I feel we could have taken in the 25-32 range after trading back and loading up on picks. I did have Mosley as the clear cut #1 ILB in the class, to be fair to him, but his medical red flags, the fact that he's an ILB and that I think we could've moved back for him, I don't like the pick.

Jernigan, DT, Florida State - He's a pretty good football player, but he failed the drugs test at the combine and was the only player to do so that didn't fall at least a couple of rounds. I don't like the value, again. I think we took him in the range he should've gone in pre-combine failure. I genuinely think that we could have moved back or waited until the third to take him. He's also an odd scheme fit for us. Quite like the player, don't like the value or fit.

Brooks, FS, Florida State - Good player, right range, good fit and filled a need. There's nothing I dislike about this pick. This is the sort of pick I'm used to seeing from our front office.

Gillmore, TE, Colorado State - Just, blegh. A #3 blocking tight end that we likely could've grabbed 2 rounds later. Completely indifferent on the player, completely disagree with the range. I feel there were better Tight Ends available so did not enjoy seeing this pick.

Urban, DT, Virginia - Another pick I don't like. Pedestrian player who I don't think was the best available at his position, much less the best player available. This, like the Gillmore pick and the following pick, irked me. I felt we were taking inferior players earlier than they should have gone. 

Taliaferro, RB, Coastal Carolina - Haven't seen tape on him because he played for such a small school. I feel there were better backs available if we had the position earmarked for this pick. Nothing I like about this pick, much like the previous two.

Urschel, G, Penn State - Solid value, solid interior lineman, versatile. Solid pick.

Wenning, QB, Ball State - Again, think there were better options and frustrated to see us take a prospect that I was totally indifferent towards. 

Campanaro, WR, Wake Forest - Like the pick. Solid slot receiver prospect. Don't like our receiving corps on the whole and was frustrated this was the only receiver we took.

My overall thought is that we had a decidedly average draft for where we were picking. Likely going to have a limited impact. I feel we could have still left the draft with our likely impact players (Mosley, Jernigan, Brooks) with a MUCH better supporting cast.

The Highland Irn-Bruers:

Offense:

QB - 

RB - 

TE - 

WR - 

WR - 

WR - 

LT - 

LG - 

C - 

RG - 

RT - 

Defense:

LE - 

LDT - 

RDT - 

RE - 

LOLB - 

MLB - 

ROLB - 

CB - 

CB - 

FS - 

SS - 

 

 

Yeah, you're right, inside linebacker has no merit with guys like Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham, or Heath Miller and Jordan Cameron in the AFC North, just to name a few. Not like tight ends are becoming more and more athletic and you need a very athletic linebacker who understands coverage to keep up in this passing league. You're right. 

 

His medical red flags were not only cleared by the Ravens, but the majority of the NFL. I would hardly worry.

 

No, not in this draft. The next best linebacker in this draft was Chris Borland and I won't even get into his concerns. Just consider CJ Mosley is widely considered the 9th or 10th best prospect, but Borland is, at the highest, in the late 80's and at worst in the 100's. I'm seeing a wide gap there, as opposed to how there are still talented tackles (Koundijo, Richardson, Moses), guards (Jackson), receivers (Lee (how is he still available?), Adams, Robinson, Matthews), safeties (Brooks, Bailey, Reynolds, or converts like Exum (who has FS experience) and Mitchell), and cornerbacks (Desir, Aikman, Watkins, Allen). The drop off in inside linebacker talent was MASSIVE. 

 

You're one of the few, or the only one. Every single draft site I had seen had him top 15, if not top 10. 

 

You can't base what Mosley will do on what previous players did. He's CJ Mosley, not Kareem Jackson, Mark Barron, Trent Richardson, etc. The concern with Alabama is who made who? Well, Mosley made that defense. If you watch the pre snap action by Mosley, he directs everyone and gets everyone set and make sure everyone is ready to be in a position to succeed. He made that defense run like a well oiled machine.

 

I didn't realize that Pro Bowls, not Super Bowls, defined how good a player is. 

 

People should not, but it's okay to like the pick and explain why we do.

 

If it's just as much luck as it is skill, then why are we complaining before he's played a snap? What if the Ravens got lucky and got the next Bowman or Kuechly, two players he's heavily compared to.

 

I like this debate (not being sarcastic or facetious, I genuinely enjoy debating with someone who has a contrasting view) , so here we go.

I highly doubt Mosely's, or any Linebacker for that matter, ability to man up on one of those tight ends and remove them. Limit them slightly, perhaps, but not that big of an impact. It's much more likely to get a slightly bigger safety that can go toe-to-toe with these tight ends.

The fact remains that some teams didn't clear him and it's not just him. For another example, I would have hated Easley because of his medical red flags. I just have a general dislike for prospects that are potentially damaged goods before playing a down.

This is more of a personal preference. I don't think ILBs are that important and have a limited impact compared to a lot of other positions. It's nice to have a great one, but it doesn't make a huge difference overall to the team. I'll definitely concede that there's a big drop off, but for me Inside Linebacker is one of the least impactful/important positions. I hope I'm wrong in regards to Mosely, it's just my view of the position.

My last point leads on to this one in why I didn't have Mosely as a first rounder. His position. I think there were at least 32 other players that, due to talent or position, could have come in and made more of an impact from day 1, which is what I'd expect from a 17th overall pick.

I was pointing out that the school has a habit of producing overhyped players that aren't as good as advertised. How much of it is surrounding talent and system is definitely debatable, but the track record for his school is still shoddy at best. I get that he's Mosely, he isn't any of the others, but (again, personal thing here) I don't trust Alabama players to be anything more than solid role players. I'm comfortable taking them in the mid rounds as contributors, but not as star players. As often as not Saban's already eeked every bit of potential out of the player before they hit the pros. It's like Iowa and their offensive linemen.

It's still a valid point. That sort of failure to find a quality talent over that length of time is worrying. Yeah, it means that we've found solid contributors, but that lack of one or two exceptional young talents coming through showed at numerous points last year. It was a point made to show that the front office isn't perfect. They're human, they make mistakes. They're very good at what they do, but they shouldn't be blindly followed.

I agree that everyone has the right to their opinion on the pick, whether they like the pick or not, hence the "You can have a different opinion on players". In context it may have seemed like I was saying "everyone should hate the pick" but I assure you I wasn't, I just didn't know why some people were getting lambasted for having a differing opinion.