RavensAllTheWay

Mods should merge the two identical existing threads.

I'd give him a shot in a flash.  Almost nothing to lose for either side.

Don't know much about Zuttah, so I can't say much, but any upgrade is a win for us.

Let me guess....this had nothing to do with Harbs because he can't handle big personalities   

Anyway, three years is longer than I expected, but he certainly brings an attitude to the team and offense more importantly.

Yeah he only played a lot in the Denver game and he gave up 3 sacks. Still, he showed flashes in spot duty. besides, everyone sucked that game

I'm not saying Rick will never improve, and I think the team has high hopes and expectations for him going forward.  They probably just thought he wasn't ready last year.  My guess.

Wagner, a mid round rookie played better when given the opportunity, thats how awful Oher was last season. He should have been benched.

I know Oher was awful last year, but Wagner only took his spot when he went down in the opener against Denver, and he struggled that night.  

They probably view Wagner as more of a project, even with Oher struggling.

If Monroe leaves I hope Oher goes with him, I'm tired of watching Harbaugh field poor players because they're his "guys".

I hope Oher is gone too, but Harbs fielding him because he's one of "his guys" is far from the case.  When we had better tackles on the roster, they were lazy, unmotivated or injured (McKinnie, Gaither).  Not much choice but to field Oher.

Does anyone else have a faint feeling that if Monroe is given a big contract (by anyone, not just us) that maybe he'll become lazy and underachieve?  Kind of like Will Beatty?

I don't think this is going to happen, and I still want us to resign him, but it's just a thought that I've had.  

This whole situation is really pissing me off.  Are we really going to let him test the open market?  We gave up two picks for him.

Monroe is worth every penny. He's GOOD, and for once in our lives we have a potential franchise LT on our hands.....

JO says hello, but I get your point.

Apparently, former star Big Daddy V just passed away.  R.I.P.

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2014/0218/570360/former-wwe-superstar-nelson-frazier-big-daddy-v-reportedly/

I agree that McClain is making too much, but has there been any word that he's at all likely to be cut?

I think an important question is, how will this hiring affect Pittas value to the Ravens?  Part of me thinks that since Kubiak was so successful with TEs in Houston that we can kind of just plug and chug and make no name TEs into key components, but the other part of me thinks that the sky is absolutely the limit now for Pitta, and that he could potentially be really dangerous for us.

If you ask me, Pitta just became an even bigger priority.

It's the match up I wanted!!

Let me say this about the defense this season.  Yes, they failed to make a lot of crucial stops in a lot of games. I can't tell you that they didn't; they did. 

However, the 22 points allowed per game is misleading by the fact that the offense gave up four pick sixes and a fumble return for a TD, not to mention putting the defense in more bad situations by turning the ball over more than usual.  

Well let's break it down - we've released no one (namely Caldwell) which means (because anyone worth anything will be hired by the end of the week) it can be deduced with pretty high accuracy unless he is offered a job elsewhere, we aren't letting him go.

 

We basically just promoted Castillo.

 

The RB coach left on his own - probably because of Castillo, and I only say this with the current info that Castillo will be the OL coach next season and because the RB coach has been with us for a while.

 

Not to mention - the entire "no wholesale changes" quote. Pretty much - we aren't making any coaching changes unless outside forces make it necessary.

 

I guess you didn't hear about bad route running when Mason was here. Why would you? The man was a consummate route runner. Housh was decent and Boldin was good. All of them were veterans that came here with those skills already in place. Their skills in that area were not learned and/or developed here.

 

I already said the play calling was an issue but - Caldwell's still here isn't he?

 

I call bullycock on the creative part. Massive fail in the run game and we did not even attempt to scheme our way out of it. Sure we saw a play here or there, but there was no consistent creative play calling, not even within one game.

 

No they aren't the same guys.

 

Hostler - joined in 2008

Caldwell - joined in 2012

Castillo - joined in 2013

Moeller - joined in 2008

Washington - assistant OL coach joined in 2011

 

The only guy who has been here is Wade, the TE coach. Hostler has been here since 2008 - what WR has developed under him? Torrey - who still cannot run crisp routes and has tracking issues. Something that seems to be issues with all our receivers.

 

When Castillo ran the scheme in Philly they only had 2 years when the sack totals were under 30. I don't call that "working". They only had 3 years where the run game was in the top 10. Not an impressive resume.

So what can we do in replacing Caldwell if everyone else is up for a HC job?  You basically just told me that we can't replace him, so he has to stay, which is true to a certain extent.  That's different from choosing him over any other prime candidate.  When we replaced Cam in the middle of the season, we had to hire from within.  We couldn't bring in someone from outside the organization for him to instill his system with three games left in the season.  In hindsight, we picked the right guy because the first thing we did after we promoted Caldwell was win a SB.  I wouldn't trade that run for anything.

I first read numerous sources that said Montgomery was just not coming back.  They didn't say he was being fired or he was going elsewhere, but now I see that he is going elsewhere.  Just to clarify.

Then I guess by your logic, we can't hold Jacobys bad route running against Hostler because he was in Houston before coming here.  But take a guy like Marlon.  First, he was only a rookie who had a serious injury in college before that.  So he hasn't had much time to develop NFL route running yet.  Secondly, even if he isn't a great route runner or never becomes one, he's still a threat in the redzone, and he still had 7 TDs last season.  I'll take that production from an UDFA rookie any day.  

I guess you missed the part where I said all of these issues in terms of play calling are fixable without having to fire the guy right away.  Don't tell me they aren't.  We didn't have these issues when Caldwell was calling plays for our SB run.  And as far as "not even attempting to scheme our way" out of running game issues, yes we did.  How many times did we go 3 or 4 wide to try and throw our way out of stacked boxes?  We just weren't able to for the most part.  Just because plays didn't work, doesn't automatically mean they weren't creative.  They look bad when the don't work, and they look masterful when the do.

What do you mean "they aren't the same guys?"  

Hostler - 2008.  We had a way better passing game in 2009, 2010 and 2012.  2011 was arguably better also.

Caldwell - 2012.  So who was the coordinator for our SB run, plus the Giants game at the end of the regular season?

Castillo - 2013.  Doesn't count.  I already said "minus Castillo."

Moeller - 2008.  We had a damn good O line in 2008, and we were on our way to having one in 2009 before Gaither went down.  The O line was average in 10 and 11 from my perspective, but noticeably better then than in 2013.

You just proved my point.

And as far as Hostler not developing receivers, I'm sure you can say that about 90% of wide receiver coaches in the NFL. You really think if we traded WR coaches with the Patriots, Marlon and Torrey would wake up tomorrow morning having perfected the route tree?  This is a PLAYERS league far more than it is a coaches league.  Players are paid to produce.

So that's all on Castillo?  It had nothing to do with the players they had?

Myth: Letting all of those FAs on defense walk last season was a huge mistake.

Strong opinion: Most of those guys were overpaid, and the ones that weren't either retired or had nothing left.

Fact: This was a transition year for the team.

What do guys think about Group D (England, Italy, Uruguay, Costa Rica)?  Another crazy draw.

So I guess we're hoping for 3 points against Ghana, and maybe 1 between Germany and Portugal, putting us at 4?  That may very well not be enough, but I think it's the most realistic chance there is to make it out of this group.

What a murderous group.  Ghana has eliminated us in each of the last two tournaments as well.

This is true for me as well... because I'm broke quite frankly lol. If you already have millions saved up though? Not sure how Ed was financially, but if I had a nice stack I might think differently.

One of my friends randomly told me that the last game Ed won was the Super Bowl, is this true!?

At the moment, yes.

I just don't think Ed is a play maker anymore.  He excelled here by using his instincts and freelancing, but many who watch the tape of him this year agree that his hip is seriously limiting his speed and range, so I don't think he can be an effective freelancer at this point because he isn't getting from point A to point B as fast.  

If he were still in Baltimore, his hip wouldn't magically be better, and he would still not be the old play maker we've come to expect. 

I mean, how much better a situation can he be in than playing for a team that had SB hopes at the beginning of the season, playing for one of the best defensive minds in recent football memory?  I'm not using HOUs collapse as an excuse, I just don't think he brings anything to the table anymore.

I understand your position.

 

My allegiance is not absolute, but neither are my criticisms.  The F.O. can win me back by managing to get this team to the playoffs.

 

There's plenty of fans in Cleveland, Detroit and Jacksonville that never question.

 

We had a very good team and key pieces were tossed away and questionable pieces were added.

Dumervil > Kruger

Webb healthy > Cary

Monroe > McKinnie

Two of those key pieces were Ray and Birk, who retired.  No one else who we let go is making us look bad right now.  Our secondary isn't missing Pollards penalties or Eds missed tackles.  Marlon already has more TDs than Boldin did all of last year in the regular season.  

This is one of the best FOs in the league, period, end of story.  That holds true even if we do miss the playoffs this year.  We'll be back long term.

I'm fine if he doesn't come back.  His hip is hampering him way too much, and even fully healthy, he's not nearly what he used to be.  I also think the whole "emotional spark this team needs" thing is wishful thinking more than anything. There are a lot of new players on this team, many of which have never played with Ed before, so how would they be sparked? 

Of course I fully expect him (and want him) to sign a 1 day deal to retire here, and I hope it happens really soon because I don't want to see him play for another team either.  

HA.  Trent Boyett has been arrested once again 

This was a nice pick. I really like Moore as your back up to the uncertain locker. He is a very nice back up and I believe better than several starters as you point out his strong starting campaign when given the opportunity.

I actually tend to think Moore is better than Tannehill.