TheSim

The youth/substitute thing is definitely a factor, but I don't think enough attention is paid to the sharp drop-off in both run-game and pass protection since Juan Castillo was hired, first as an O-line consultant and now as the O-line coach. Part of being in that position is developing young talent, and I just don't see him doing that. James Hurst and Ryan Jensen were both talented guys when we added them several years ago, but neither of them seem to have improved much since they started with the team. Contrast that with other positions, like D-line (RIP CB) and I/OLB, where we've had lots of young talent come through and go from raw to polished in a few years. I don't like to call coaches out, but in this case with the O-line, that's probably on the coaching staff. If you're not making your young players better, then you need better coaching.

But those problems aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. When your offense struggles, especially against a team like the Jags who are LOADED with speed at the wideout and TE positions, your defense has to play more snaps, and it's more likely that your DBs get overworked chasing after thinner, faster guys. And so people get open. So if the offense can get even a mediocre run game going, I think we start to see our DBs having less trouble keeping up over the course of the games. Also, it's worth mentioning that every QB, not just Blake Bortles, has trouble with accuracy beyond 20 yards. Even Joe, who everyone always says has the best deep arm in football, frequently struggles to hit wide open receivers way downfield, because it's just that hard to do, even at the highest level of football. That doesn't mean that you should make a habit of leaving guys open, but it means that the chances of a team regularly beating you that way are small compared to other potential weaknesses, like a porous run D or not being able to keep up with TEs/slots on crossing routes.

Thank you, I've been saying this for years. Harbaugh, as good of a coach as he is, clearly doesn't like reporting anything close to the truth about injuries and worse, he clearly encourages players to rush back onto the field after an injury, making them more likely for future injuries. We have too many guys that come out of injuries and get injured within a few weeks trying to compensate for what's clearly not a healed injury.

No it's not. If it's simultaneous, it's a clean block. Now if Iguadola lays it up and it's coming off the glass and Lebron touches it, then yes it's goaltending. Actually that's not totally true. You're right that he can't touch it once it hits the glass, but if it's truly simultaneous (ball, hand, and backboard), it's called a trap and it's also considered goaltending. The reason this isn't goal tending is if you watch it full-speed and from different angles, you can see that he slaps the ball against the glass, then his momentum carries him into the ball again, but his hand slides across it. It's close, but he never actually traps the ball against the backboard.

I'd be surprised if the Ravens draft Tunsil given his injury history (especially that knee injury in 2013). He had three major injuries in three 13 game seasons. I know a clean college injury history doesn't mean they are necessarily always going to be injury-resilient (see: Perriman last year), but his history will probably make them too nervous to invest a 6th pick in him. Maybe he is just that great of a talent that he's worth the risk to some teams, but given we've already got an injury-prone LT, you've got to figure they're going to use a later round pick on a reliable guy with a lower ceiling instead to fill out that backup LT role for now.

This schedule is fantastic. Opening at home, a weak first half, playing the Steelers after our bye, one Thursday night game against our weakest division opponent... plus, we get the chance to ruin Christmas in Pittsburgh!

Those teams had very good secondaries (Revis...) most of the time and a weak pass rush without blitzing, so that kind of undermines your point.

That's not really true. He had lots of guys open yesterday that he couldn't get the ball to because he was hesitating on his throws after getting hit too many times. It was exactly how we beat him in 2012, and that secondary wasn't exactly all-world, but that defense held them scoreless over the entire second half because guys like Suggs, Arthur Jones, McPhee, Ngata, etc, were getting in his face and knocking him down all the time. The same was true in the 2012 Denver game, which without 2 special teams TDs by Trindon Holliday, would've been a blowout win due in part to a frustrated Peyton Manning. The mistake people make is confusing natural pressure with blitzing. Lots of teams (like Rex Ryan's Jets and Bills teams) try to beat him with blitzing, but he just recognizes it and hits a hot receiver for 6-12 yards. That's why we couldn't ever beat him or Manning while Rex was our DC (and one reason I was fine with not making him our HC in 2007). Exotic blitz packages are great against mediocre and new quarterbacks, but Brady and Manning just take advantage of the empty middle of the field and make you pay.

He's a really good, versatile back with a lot of upside, but he just keeps his body too upright when he runs. He's going to keep having fumble problems if that continues.

Not sure how to follow this argument. Why would you expect more from Za'Darius than McPhee, if you admit that McPhee had a better team around him? Of course "they couldn't hardly bring any pressure to save their own life", because in 2015 they had a majority of their sacks from 2014 either at home in a walking boot or playing for the Lions and Bears. It's easier to pile up sacks and tackles as a rookie when your opponent has to put guys on Suggs, Ngata, and Arthur Jones.

Definitely the difference between his and McPhee's rookie PFF grades is the fact that for McPhee's rookie year (and really for his first 2.5 years), he was only really put in on true pass rush situations (3rd and long, usually), catering to his strength. Due to Suggs's injury, Z. Smith was rushing the passer in far more difficult circumstances than McPhee was. With that considered, a -3.8 grade (that's cumulative, not average) over 15 games, for a 4th round rookie is pretty darn good.

Normally I agree with you, but last year that team couldn't get pressure with 4 or even 5 guys... except in the Steelers games (thank you Za'Darius!). Without Suggs, Pernell, or Haloti in there the QBs had way too much time, and the only way to get pressure was to blitz. The solution is to get more pressure without having to blitz, and once you can do that, you can stop blitzing; not the other way around.

"He allowed just 124 passing yards and one touchdown in the next 10 games" That's really impressive for a guy we picked up off the street mid-season.

This is silly. He never missed a game in 3 years of college. Maybe relax a bit before going off on some of the best FO people in all of sports.

Be extremely surprised to see us take a CB so high. Ravens tend to think of CBs as guys you either get in free agency, or draft low and develop over time. Jimmy Smith was an exception, but even he was picked really late in the 1st, and only because they believed he was a top 10 talent that fell to them. He still took 2 years to develop into a starting-caliber corner, so they may be reluctant to make that kind of risky investment again. Just my 2c, based on history. But who knows, maybe they saw how quickly Patrick Peterson (drafted 20 spots ahead of Jimmy) made an impact, and they go the other way if they feel like Ramsey is that level of talent. If I know Ozzie, though, he's going to go O-line or D-line first, or trade back. And don't be surprised to see them draft an OLB/DE at 6: I don't think they're confident in Zadarius Smith, this is probably Suggs's last year (sigh), and Doom is getting older and isn't a 3-down OLB. They have to know they need Suggs's replacement this year or next.