runcontrol

I was really hoping Tandon Doss was going to turn things around. He seemed to struggle during practices but I don't remember him dropping too many passes during games. And even though i know it was technically wrong I liked the way he caught punts. He would be building up speed when he caught the ball, while other kick returners would be at a complete stop, so it was a lot easier for him to beat the first guy. He had decent stats his last year with the team, but nothing good enough to keep him on the team. I know last season he got injured before he was able to play an actual game with Jacksonville, but I have no idea if he is still with the team.

Maybe I am being too optimistic but maybe Perriman and Williams won't need to do much this season. Flacco will just need to spread the ball out to all the other receivers. Until Graham was drafted Brees got by without a dominant receiver by spreading the ball out. And no, I am not expecting Brees like numbers, especially since Flacco won't be playing in a doom most of the season, but Brees is probably the best example of a qb succeeding without that big receiver. Lets just say we are expecting Flacco to have 4,000yds this season. First and foremost, Steve will be the number one receiver and will most likely have close to 1,000 yds. Than you have guys like Brown, Aiken, Camp Butler and Carter(depending on who wins the other 4 spots) who should have over 1400yds. When it comes to the tight ends you have two big ifs, if Pitta is healthy enough to play and if Gillmore is actually more than a blocking TE we could easily get over 700 yds from them. That leaves 900yds for Juice, Williams, Perriman and the running backs. Sure some of these numbers will be a little higher and a little lower, but i think this that's pretty close to how things could go.

Am I the only one who is surprised they haven't honored Bettis before now? I was going to joke and say he hasn't played for 10 years, but then I looked and saw that his last season in the NFL was 2005. TE Maxx Williams: I' m not worried about a rookie player having troubles keeping up with the speed of the NFL. This will only be a concern if Pitta isn't able to play and Gillmore doesn't live up to the hype people are giving him this offseason. CB Asa Jackson: This really isn't surprising. Last season he won the number 3 spot by default because Chykie Brown looked terrible. I thought he had a chance of making the roster by making plays on special teams, but that seems unlikely right now. WR DeAndre Carter: I think if Camp is healthy Carter ends up on IR or on the PUP list, If Camp isn't healthy Carter is probably the 6th receiver and will only be active to help on special teams. There was a lot of hype around this guy last week, but if he doesn't live up to it he won't make the 53 man roster. WR Marlon Brown: He's a big target that has a good hands so the Ravens will utilize him in the redzone, but considering he in his third season and he still isn't using his large frame to beat corners I think this could be his last season with the Ravens. But even that depends on what Waller, or another draft, can do next season. ILB Arthur Brown: I don't think anyone is surprised to see his name on the list, but is it really fair? The only knock on him is last Thursday Orr was playing with the starters while he was playing with the second team. We have no idea if that is a knock on Brown or if the coaches wanted to see what Orr could do when playing with the first team. Brown looked decent during his rookie season but last season he was beat out by two very talent guys. Even if he has improved his understanding of the defense that doesn't mean he has improved his play on special teams(people forget how bad he was on special teams during his rookie season) and that is his way onto the 45 man starting roster on a weekly basis. So he will need to show he can block for Koch this season, because he couldn't get it done two years ago.

Its not even July, I think its a little early to say Orr has clearly passed Brown. At the beginning of the offseason there was talk about Brown playing with the first team, and now there is talk about Orr playing with the first team. Did Brown struggle, and they replaced him? Sure that's a definitely a possibility. But it is also possible that they are just trying to give different guys a chance to show what they can do. The thing that gives me a little hope is the author didn't call Brown out for having problems while playing with the first team, while Jackson and Carter definitely have issues they need to work on when the team starts making cuts

You have a valid point but who actually meets your criteria: First and foremost, if you make it to the playoffs, somewhere along the way your qb won a game you were supposed to lose and won some games that you were supposed to win. So I don't know what that is even brought up. Especially since the Ravens were given no chance to go into Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers yet offensively and defensively the killed them. I don't know if you are basing your list off of last season or a qbs career but countless times we have seen Flacco put his team in position to win games. The win in Denver is probably the most famous simply because no one thought he had the time to forge a comeback but he did it. But there were diffidently others. The Housh TD in the last minute of the Pittsburgh game sticks out in my mind. And some of the other top qbs are known to choke on an annual basis. Romo is probably the most famous for choking during the regular season. But guys like Ryan and Manning seem to do it ever year in the playoffs. But if we are going off of last season alone there are a lot of examples of other qbs falling apart when the pressure was on. Manning completely fell apart at the end of the season. Luck looked terrible against the Patriots, and Rodgers had the Seahawks beat, and failed to hold that lead. And if we are going to call out Flacco for his questionable throw you have to call out Wilson for his pass right to that corner. At least if Smith had a chance of catching that ball. There was no way Seattle was going to win with that pass.

Because the team is probably keeping 4 tight ends, I can't see them keeping 7 receivers. I think this quote is very telling of who will make the team. "A lot was made of Breshad Perriman's hands yesterday. Much bigger issues with fellow rookies DeAndre Carter and Darren Waller in that realm.". I think Waller goes on IR and if Camp is healthy Carter goes onto the PUP List. Everybody is all about Aiken, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Butler pass him some time this season. They are similar in size and both have received rave reviews all offseason, but with Butler having decent speed he could be more of a weapon.

Considering when Camp was healthy he was arguably the best receiver after Steve and Torrey, I think it's a little early to claim that Carter brings more to the table. Right now I feel like Smith and Perriman are the only two receivers guaranteed a spot on the team. And we probably have to wait until the 3rd preseason game before we see who is really standing out in the crowd. Sure, the fans and the media have latched on to Carter and Aiken, but when you read these articles it doesn't seem like one is playing better than the other. To have 8 guys that could legitimately make the roster is a good problem to have and it should make the preseason very exciting.

Matt Elam, Author Brown and even Jimmy Smith were early draft picks and most analysts saw them as defensive gems of the draft, yet Elam is the only one that started his rookie season. Elam was decent playing out of position is rookie season, but lost his starting role last season Brown seems to have potential as a linebacker, its just the two in front of him are better. Usually a guy like this would still play every game on special teams and as a backup, but during his rookie season he struggled blocking during punts and nearly got Sam Kock killed. Jimmy Smith struggle with injuries and when he was on the field he had issues finding the ball when it was coming towards him. But year three he turned things around and became one of the top corners in the league. You can even look at Ray Rice. The guy had the potential his first season to be the teams number one back, but because he was the third string back because the team felt more comfortable going with a veteran like Mcgahee. With the rave reviews of Perriman right now I think he will start, at least some of the games this season. But your right, a player's draft position doesn't give a starting spot on any team.

Why is it a big if? I think it's a little early to say Lewis Moore is injury prone. And unless Urban had health problems in college I think his injury was more bad luck than anything else. Yeah, they might not be 100%, that doesn't mean they can't stay healthy.

I think you need to switch Hurst with Urschel. Urschel played good enough to start, while Hurst showed he had potential, but needs to pick his game up if he wants to start.

Like everyone has said, Gillmore was drafted to be a blocking tight end, so any receiving yards he got was a plus. And he really didn't play that many snaps. He only played 34% of the offensive snaps. Considering Pitta played 15% of them it's easy to see how little Gillmore was in the game.

When I read "Defensive Coordinator Dean Pees is impressed by the younger Ravens defense, but some issues must be resolved" I thought that was a quote from Pees, but it was just Preston trying to get people to read his column. It's actually a good article, but it's things any fan that regular visits this site would know. The only thing I didn't like was he said Suggs and Dumervil played well last season. Well? These two were two of the most feared pass rushers in the league and they played well. I know he is just trying to push someone's buttons when he writes things like that, but it's still annoying.

This must be a new Tedy Brushi. For years all you ever heard him do is praise the Patriots. Its good to see that has taken the blinders off and is being more truthful with his analysis.

The Broncos play a different style, but to start the season in the Denver is scary. It didn't go well for the team in 2013, but this is a completely different offense. If these young players are as good as advertised it could be one of the best games of the season. Arizona is dangerous because they have such a good defense and we have to travel to the west coast to play them. At least we are playing Seattle and Kansas City at home. And if our secondary is healthy they should beat both of them.

Personally, I would be shocked if all four weren't with the team all season. Someone might have to spend the season on IR or someone might be put on the PUP list. But none of them are leaving.

Yeah, I don't think anyone really likes Mike Preston. But I feel like that has become his personality. He is there to get the fans fired up. I just hate that he does the pregame show on 105.7. His voice is the last one I want to hear while I'm trying to get into game mode. Russell Street Report is kind of hit or miss. I usually like some of the stuff Tony writes, and he is known to reply to some of the comments. And his son Tyler will post links to other articles, similar to LFW.

Yes, I believe most of us understand that the LFW article is made of up articles that were found from other sites, but considering the one quote in that part of the article is from Arron Wilson I tend to believe that right now its a close battle. Arron is hired by The Sun to be objective while guys like Ryan Mink are hired to hype up the team. Sure Mink has to be truthful but I am going to believe an outside source like The Sun than a guy that gets paid by the Ravens. Sami makes a great point. Elam struggled a lot with his tackling technique. If he hasn't fixed that Hill will be the starter and the Ravens will probably have to draft another safety next season.

If he has a chance to play this season Camp could be put on the PUP list when they need to get down to 75 or 53 players. That way, if another receiver underperforms or gets injured Camp can be brought in to help.

This was in June of 2012 "The Patriots were 31st on the waiver priority list — the last team Ballard had to slip past — but they foiled the Giants’ plan to re-sign Ballard and place him on the Physically Unable to Perform/Reserve list where he wouldn’t count against the 90-man limit."

I believe the only way Camp isn't counting against the 90 man roster is by being put on the PUP list, but also think, at this point in the offseason he would have to clear waiver before the team could do that. There is an unwritten rule that a team won't go after a player that is going on the PUP list, but a couple of years ago the Pats grabbed up the Giants tight end like that.

I kind of feel bad for Tray Walker, but that is hilarious

Maxx Pain. I guess would work better if he was a defensive player, but it's all I could come up with.

People seem to forget that a lot of fans were saying the same thing about Jimmy Smith when camp started in 2013. I can't say Elam will make the same turnaround, but it has happened before. The main difference between the two is Elam had a decent rookie season, playing out of his normal position, while Smith was either injured or struggled to find the ball when it was thrown in his direction.

Yeah, after Boldin was traded away Thompson, Williams, Streeter and Doss were supposed to help fill the gap. Williams, Streeter and Doss didn't even make the 53 man roster, but Doss was brought back to help out on special teams when Jones went down. And like I said earlier, Thompson got hurt, but I doubt he would have been any help considering he never played another snap in the NFL after 2012. Even with those guys underachieving Smith, Pitta, Jones, Rice, and Brown, in that order, should have been Flacco's top 5 targets. Anybody else would have played limited snaps.