balfan23

I'm confused by the players, who on one hand hated Goodell for wielding too much power over them in terms of suspensions and fines, but now are happy to pile on him because he didn't levy a harsh enough initial punishment on Rice and now are upset about him going the "double jeopardy" route, because of the outcry (which includes their own protests). You can't have it both ways. So what course of action does the NFL take on AP? It is called a no-win situation.

Different people have different philosophy around discipline. These philosophies have gradually changed over the years. The old adage. "spare the rod, spoil the child" sounds incredibly archaic today. My upbringing is different than my children. My wife and I agreed long before having children, that under no circumstance will we use physical punishment as a means to guide our children. I was raised in a home where physical means of discipline were applied. However, this never involved use of an implement that could cause harm. In almost all cases, it was an open hand. That is a far cry from using a switch to break skin on a 4 year old. I don't think there will be any way that AP escapes some significant punishment from the league, given the backlash from the Rice incident. But the league office will take a hit no matter what they do, because they have become such a despised entity.

This is why "set in stone" punishments don't work. Rulings like "3 strikes and you're out" make for nice public relations sound bytes, but ultimately turn draconian, where the punishments applied in many cases clearly overreach the crime. The same goes for mandatory sentencing guidelines for drug offenses, which have swelled our prisons to the bursting point and caused the need for violent offenders to be granted parole to make room. That's what happens when you take "judgement" out of the equation. One would assume that judgement was used in the initial ruling by the league, but Goodell has felt backed into a corner. He decided to bow to the shrieks of a reactionary public, who are fueled by a sensational media, and came to a conclusion that the safest way to deal with the problem from a public relations standpoint was to take the approach that all domestic violence cases are created equal (which is obviously not the case) and that penalties must be made uniform.

Good article ... but his logic is not going to be shared by the fan base he writes for. I've popped out on ESPN's site and sure enough, virtually every post from a Browns fan is about Ray.

Can't wait for all the shrieking from Browns fans about this - particularly as they will drag up the Ray Rice suspension ... since that is the suspension that will be talked about for years, when people think their player was too harshly punished by the league.

Did they increase the number of defensive holding, illegal contact and illegal use of the hands penalties by 40% in the 2015 version? Now THAT would make this game realistic ... If I hear one more announcer tell us that this is "a point of emphasis" again, I'm going to lose my mind.

Thank goodness Torrey seems to be OK. The league is really moving from penalties to fines to game suspensions. Now comes the tirade from Redskin fans and other Ravens haters as to how domestic violence and what they will view as an errant hit can draw the same suspension.

Huh ... I lived in Germany when they won in 1990. I rooted for them then because I wanted to see the pandemonium. I continue to root for them, simply because of my having lived there for 5 yeas and having made good friends that are still there and who are ardent supporters of their national soccer team.

Beachboy - we'll just have to see how it plays out. I know it is a disappointing to not have us get guys you've hoped for. I would have loved for us to have gotten West in the 3rd, but not at the expense of Brooks. I wanted us to get Lattimer in the 2nd and was a little disappointed to see us take Jernigan, but in the end, I see their line of thinking. Hopefully he turns out better than you anticipate. And yeah, I don't know what the deal was with Nix. As far as Mosely vs Dix/Pryor. Apparently the FO didn't think the separation between Dix/Pryor and the guy we got (Brooks) was significant enough to warrant passing on a guy like Mosely - who they apparently believe will be the QB of our defense for years to come. If that doesn't happen, a few years down the road this draft will not be getting good grades ... but I hope for our team's sake they are right and we come up roses.

Yes - each draft is different, but all of the variables you stated (talent, your draft position, # and type of picks) are known going in. You spend months preparing. There is a fine line between reacting appropriately to changing market conditions and panic. Anticipating how the market will change is a part of the planning. You don't react to those changing conditions by throwing the plan out the window. Which of our picks would you have given up? Jernigan, to pick up either Sankey, Hill, Hyde, Sims or Mason; or Brooks to pick up West, McKinnon or Archer? Which ever your answer, it really comes down to player evaluation. Clearly our FO ranked our selections over these RBs and you did not. It is your evaluation vs. theirs - and not their process that you are finding fault with, it would seem.

If the FO thinks that ... then I would be concerned. That seems like a pretty high risk bet. I just don't think we're going to stand pat after the draft. Once the dust settles, we'll know where the remaining holes are and we've left ourselves enough dry gunpowder (cap space) to go get some help. Will it be pro-bowl level help? Of course not ... that's not available at this point. But quality help at the O line should be available. As the article states, I expect we go after Winston ... who I do think will be a solid stop gap to future additions or potentially the development of Wagner.

Doesn't it seem that, if so many teams are drafting offense, that some of those teams ahead of us are reaching? When there is a "run" on a position, inevitably those late to the party are drafting someone based on their position and not their relative skill. The Ravens don't do that - it is called discipline. In any market type scenario (which the draft is a super high stakes market) the importance of discipline is paramount. We are staying true to our process. That's a good thing.

I wonder if Kubiak has created a login and is venting on this thread. "Hey guys, remember me?" :-)

Welcome Mr. Jernigan. Great to have you on board. Looking forward to you helping the Ravens continue their tradition of defensive excellence. Play like a Raven!

I'd love for it to be Moses, but I just can't see him making it past the first 16 tonight. In my attempts to mock this draft, I never had him available to us mid-second round. I assumed James would still be there and that's a guy I thought would be a legit target for our 2nd rounder, but wow - taken #19 overall.

If Kouandjio falls to us and we take him, the Bama bashers will blow a gasket.

I had been hoping for Juwann James in the second. I posted that before the draft and got lit up by some who said taking him mid-2nd round was a reach ... If mid-2nd was a reach ... how about mid-1st round?

I think he's a player, but I think the item I bolded is the real difference ... it is what made us place him at 10 on our boards. Many will say that ILB is a devalued position, but those who play the position that can effectively take on the role of the "QB of the defense" - they have great value and are absolutely critical in terms of reacting to what the opposing QB is doing. This move is not a complete dismissal of Brown and his viability as much as it is probably a recognition that we don't see him as taking on that specific role after Smith moves on. That is likely what we have in mind for C.J.

Garrett had an interview with Ozzie a few days ago: http://www.baltimoreravens.com/videos/videos/OneOnOne_Ozzie_Reveals_Ravens_Draft_Plans/375ccc8e-b15c-468c-9d9f-901687beb2f2 I didn't pay much attention to it, because it just seems like you don't know what is truth and what is smoke when listening to GMs just before the draft. However, there was a comment early on in the interview that was telling ... I just didn't know it at the time. Garrent named 3 key positions of need (saftey, O line and WR) where we've added players during the FA period. Then he asked, "when you look to the draft, what positions do you say we need to address" The answer "inside linebacker" came out of Ozzie without a moment of hesitation. I was shocked, with Dix and Pryor on the board that we didn't take the best of the 2. If I only listened and could filter smoke from truth, I would have known. This was not smoke.

Suffering now from a shallow FS class.

Mayock knows his stuff. I was surprised by his mock taking CJ over Dix. But Dix AND Pryor? Staying true to the BPA

I'll be interested in hearing what the outcome was of his planned talk with Ozzie this past Friday (if this meeting indeed even took place). If he impresses the brass that he's sincere about making a comeback the question is ... can he walk the walk and not just talk the talk. He'll need to prove that he's willing to pay some serious dues. No matter what he does, he'll not see much of the field in the early going and will need to be willing to be primarily a ST player. If he makes the team, he'll have to realize that he may work his butt off during the week and may still find himself on the inactive list for game day. No matter what he says, that is going to take a serious swallowing of ego ... and having been a top prospect and #8 overall pick .. that could be a lot to swallow. For us, it is probably worth giving it a shot, but that is a lot to overcome.

“I’ve got two little boys that look up and depend on me every day ..." If that isn't motivation to get your act together, I don't know what is.

I have a feeling they are not going to wait to see how he does this year to make a commitment - I think they made a commitment by trading for him. He's carrying a $4.5M hit to the 2014 cap and that is substantial for his overall pay grade. I foresee us working out an extended deal sooner, rather than later.

I know there has been a great deal of talk about getting Eric Winston to come in and be our RT. Just saw the news that he has been elected as the NFLPA union president. I don't know about you, but to me that's a red flag. I really think that the job is extremely demanding and takes away a players ability to focus on his game and generally helps wear them down. I don't think Foxworth did himself any favors as a player being in the position just as our team rep. Of course, for him it was especially bad, because they were in the middle of negotiating a new CBA and he was coming off a season where he needed to be rehabbing his knee. Not sure what our FO will think of that, but I think it would raise questions.