RavensFanThick&Thin

I understand the obvious exclusions of BPA. QB is one, picking 7 WRs would be dumb, players that don't fit the scheme etc but BPA still applies more to the Ravens then other team's draft strategy. Clearly they never "reach" to fill a need. I assume this is a reason you saw fans scratching their head when Ray Rice was picked, when TEs Dickson and Pitta were picked back to back, etc. Ravens fans always leave drafts with a couple of head scratching moments. Years ago it just worked so people didn't care and chanted "in ozzie we trust." Now Fans and pundits are starting to question recent failures. Years ago I would've said the same thing about signing a FA WR and not needing to use a draft pick. However, now I don't think I'm alone in thinking maybe it's time to stop that strategy and finally spend some high draft picks on offensive talent to GROW with Flacco instead of hitting the offensive reset button on chemistry every 2-3 years.

The Perriman piece would seem to make sense if the Ravens didn't draft BPA. If for some reason the Ravens fell to the middle of the first round due to a trade back or some miracle winning streak this season, is it incomprehensible to think they would skip on a top 5/10 talent wide receiver who slid because they saw what they liked in Perriman towards the end of the season? I don't watch much college football but I've seen the kid (Treadwell) being compared to Dez Bryant in skill set. Would it be a terrible decision to draft someone like him to pair with a healthy Perriman and finally give Joe multiple weapons at WR? One reason the Steelers and Bengals have surpassed the Ravens in explosiveness is exactly the opposite of the reasoning proposed in this article. They aren't afraid to use high draft picks on offense in back to back drafts. Case in point - Bengals - had Gresham picked Eifert, Had Giovani Bernard picked Jeremy Hill. You can argue their production isn't this good this year but stockpiling offensive talent is clearly working out for them (albeit they have yet to get past the first round in the playoffs). Another case in poin't Steelers - They aren't magical evaluators of WR talent. They use consistent high draft picks on WR nearly every draft (Holmes, Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders, Brown, Martavis Bryant, Wheaton, etc). And even with all those WRs they still drafted Sammie Coates with a high draft pick this past draft. You keep throwing darts, you're bound to hit the target eventually especially with Newsome. Yes, I know the consensus is drafting WRs in Baltimore is bad news but (as I saw another poster say), is giving up on it completely really an appropriate answer even with a 1st round WR in Perriman?

Shoot I'll say it if nobody else does. Stating referees didn't lose us the game (or injuries, or cap issues blah blah etc) is just sports politics. Because no one wants to hear excuses. We, in a sense, go along with the official statements because it sounds good instead of like sore losers but if we're being honest those calls were atrocious enough to make any team lose. This year is just Murphy's Law in full effect for our beloved Ravens...

Some of the comments here suggest that players doing a great job shouldn't get praised and because of a poor team cannot be great. By that logic then these players also suck Navorro Bowman, Joe Haden, Adrian Peterson, Demaryius Thomas [broncos D is carrying them to an undefeated record], etc...All players on poor performing teams on their respective side of the ball (defense, offense). I know this is a a first for many Raven's fans to be in this position and an awful thought to know your team has the worst record in the league but this shouldn't be a newsflash but good/great players DO play on bad teams/offenses/defenses. If they were all bad the Ravens would be getting blown out every game not within one play of winning EVERY game...

"Flacco has proven he can lead a team deep into the playoffs and even to a Super Bowl title when given the right weapons." Absolute key sentence here. Flacco is this year what I have always thought he was, an above average/good QB. As much as people think they are cap/money analysts by criticizing Flacco's salary, that is just the going rate for an above average/good QB who can win games in the right situation. When too many weapons are taken away PARTICULARLY DEEP threats to match Flacco's strength (BIG ARM), it shows his glaring weaknesses. Unfortunately, this year the Ravens just don't have the extra 'it' factor in any phase of the game. There are no Jacoby splash plays on special teams, not enough defensive stops, turnovers, or TD's, and no over the top explosive offensive plays other than wearing out SSS again before the 2nd half of the year. The fact the all the games were so close says to me that they are not terrible (as in never getting blown out). However, those 1 or 2 plays in any of the phase of the game that was there last year are clearly missing and making the Ravens a Bad/Below average team.

Speedster + Joe's arm should always give a feeling of excitement. Outside of Steve Smith manhandling his way up sidelines, we have been missing that big play excitement this year without Torey and the possibility of Perriman. Additionally, I must have missed something but when did Ford start sponsoring Ravens Jersey? That is a Ford patch on Given's jersey isn't it?

TBH, its looking like anyone with an arm and a decent pocket can score against the Raven's defense. Suggs is a beast whether it shows on the stat sheet or not but they didn't just collapse because of him. I feel like Dean Peas doesn't adjust well to key players going down. The talent is clearly there to at least not be ranked 29th in the league against the pass.

I feel like I'm looking at an old MySpace wall...

Don't forget that "release" doesn't mean we won't see them again. For those that qualify (who haven't started to many games), we could potentially see them on the practice squad if they pass waivers.

The die hard Demetrius Williams fans can resurrect their jersey! lol. Maxx chose 87.

I understand the idea of having a good FS over bpa but does everyone who doesn't like the pick honestly think the Ravens would have started two inexperienced safeties in the backfield? Elam would have darn near have to learn another position all over again. Yes he was natural FS, but playing in the Nfl is a big step up as evidenced by Jimmy smith's struggles. He got burned because of inexperience on the Nfl level. I would have preferred a lineman myself but cj was available, bpa, and someone who is a better plug and play player than any new fs with the current personnel.