balfan23

I still think we end up moving Lewis to RT and what we're looking for is a plug and play guard, which will likely be easier to find that a plug and play tackle. Of course, we also need to find a plug and play starting center. One of these will need to come from FA, I believe. Filling both with rookies seems unlikely. 

I don't know that we're in a good position to get Lamp, but I do like the sound of some of the talk around this guy. Unfortunately, feels like he's a reach with #16, but will not be around when we pick in the 2nd. 

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2017-nfl-draft-meet-forrest-lamp-the-nfls-next-great-guard-prospect/

Welcome back, Webby! 

If he goes top 10, I'll be stunned. Honestly, if he does and at least 2 QBs are also taken ahead of us, I'll be pleased. That just pushes some of the tier 1 defensive talent down to us. 

2 hours ago, stuckonaboat13 said:

I have faith in Urschel. Call me crazy but I think he can handle it. The guy is clearly smart enough to understand the mental demands of center. Physically he is slightly undersized at 300lbs but intelligence and quickness can counter that.

Had you talked to me last offseason, I'd have said my expectations would be that Urschel would get time in the o line rotation during the course of the 2016 season and that we'd be ready to replace Zuttah with him going into the 2017 season. 

However ... he did get time in the o line rotation during the course of the 2016 season and gave the team little reason to view him as anything more than deep depth. Both he and Jensen had ample opportunity to prove they belonged in the starting line up and neither one distinguished themselves. The starting center position and the starting RT position (or LG position, if we shift Lewis to RT) is likely to be filled via FA or draft and not internally (at least that's my hope, given there is IMO no back up from last year's roster that is starter worthy). 

It feels like when a guy is brought in like we did with Mangold, they either leave with a contract or are never signed by the team that let them walk away without a deal. Based on that, my assumption is the odds of us signing Mangold are not good. Not saying it couldn't happen ... just that the odds are not in favor of a deal being made. 

6 hours ago, Dedicated Raven said:

No one knows how this trade will pan out until we hit the middle of the season.

Don't you realize you are supposed to take a position on these boards and defend it beyond all reason? JK :-)

I'm leaning toward not liking the deal, but it could work out if we get a significant upgraded player in the draft with the move up in the 3rd, if our young players on the D line stay healthy and are effective and if Timmy doesn't blow up and look like a stud. I just worry that some of these D linemen have seen little or no action or have had injury issues. I also worry that Pierce will wear down if we significantly increase his # of snaps. 

Finally, Timmy has always had great potential and whenever you get rid of someone like that, there is the fear that the light bulb finally goes on and they turn into a stud. I will not be that surprised if that happens with Timmy. 

I'm surprised. When pressed on whether or not the trade rumors were real, we talked about moving him, but that we "weren't going to give him away". For me, that meant more than moving up in the 3rd round. I guess giving him away would be swapping 4th round picks. 

So much for this 1st round talent that we got in the 2nd round. Just another 2nd rounder with limited impact on the team's success. 

The mocks I'm seeing are all over the place. A number of them have us going OL in the 1st round and in almost every case, it is the first OL player off the board. That indicates to me that consensus is there isn't any OL player worth #16 and mockers have us reaching for need. Do other think there really is an OL player that will be actually be the BPA at #16? 

I would be extremely upset if we get another TE. We honestly don't need one at this moment. We have too many as of now on our roster and we may have to cut at least two TE's before the season starts. The only reason we have that many to begin with was because of Pitta health.

I know. I've said before that if we draft a TE I'm going to stroke out. That is anywhere in the draft, let alone our 1st pick. The BPA concept goes out the window when you already have 6 players at a position where you normally carry 3. We've drafted a 2nd rounder (with trade up) a 3rd rounder and a 5th rounder over the past 3 years. We picked up another FA, converted a WR and cling to the guy we signed to a big contract (albeit with numerous pay cuts). That's an extraordinary amount of team capital expended on one position. There simply has to be someone available who is going to be a playmaker at #16 that we actually have a need for. Praying someone picks O.J. in the top 15, allowing a playmaker at a different position to fall to us.

Is it my imagination or are the national mocks more disjointed than normal? The top 8 or 9 guys seem pretty locked in, but deviations after that seem really significant. Lots of mocks have Williams sitting there ... and us not taking him. The kinds of deviations normally assigned to QBs are at about the same level for other positions. For example, Along with Williams, Corey Davis is all over the place. 

The only edge rushers that are feasible for us seem to be Reddick and McKinley. 

This trade makes no sense to me, if we can't get at least a 3rd for him- which I seriously doubt we will. If we think we'll not be able to sign him, which in and of itself assumes he's going to have a good year, he'd go and likely get a 4th, maybe 5th round comp. To lose his services for what could amount to nothing, or only a jump from a 5th to a 4th round pick doesn't seem worth it. 

If they make a trade for a 4th or 5th rounder, then there is something else at play. At that point it would seem the team simply doesn't want him around this year, which would be a little surprising. 

On 3/22/2017 at 11:36 AM, Edgar said:

Starting to feel to me as if Reddick will not be on the board at 16.

 

He's definitely gone up the boards, but most projections I'm seeing, he's still in our range. Seems it could go either way. 

Just now, The Mom Gene said:

I think most teams do that anyway.  It's a crap shoot most times.  Ummmm, Brady at 199???  Come on, there are no guarantees anywhere.

Of course ... high draft picks and big contract FAs can be busts and cap casualties and mid-low draft picks can surprise. But it is the law of averages. We've committed the majority of our resources so far on the defensive side of the ball. I think we're all interested in seeing how we're going to address our offensive shortcomings, either via draft or low-end FA. 

7 minutes ago, The Mom Gene said:

I think the front office is well aware.  Just remember, we are not done yet.  Offseason is barely started.  But you are right.  It's just that some people have a very difficult time comprehending that.  They just WANT to pick on Joe.  It's their mantra.  And we will continue to hear the very same garbage until he wins another SB.

Understood that we're not done yet. However, thus far the majority of the teams available resources have been expended on defense. Sure, we're going to try to address the obvious short-comings of these O line and WR positions, but we're going to end up having to do that somewhat on the cheap. The team does still have available resources through the draft, but by all accounts, the draft is very defense heavy and is short on offensive talent in the trenches. We could shock the world and go high at the WR position, but I'm not sure we can adequately address both areas via the draft. 

No doubt, we've seen this team pull off the "diamonds from the rough" moves in the past, but counting on that is a risky proposition. I still think the O line is the greatest area of worry. 

Its not the receivers job to "strut his stuff" or be a loud mouth, crying for the ball all the time. Its the coaches job and the QBs job to recognize the talent that's there. Aiken only had 12 yrds per catch cuz he was used mostly as a 3rd down option and the short over the middle throws don't get you much more. ( what was Pitta's YPC this year?) We underused a really good talent. He proved to be a reliable receiver and we just tossed him aside.

Yeah the YPC is a pretty unfair evaluation of Aiken. I also agree that John's characterization of what we need at WR is a little off, but I do understand what he's driving at. Rather than a soft spoken talent, we need a guy with fire, passion and attitude - who just refuses to get beat, who will not back down against anybody. That's the kind of guy we had with Boldin and SSS. That is different than being a drama queen who wants to show up his QB and his team with in game theatrics. Problem is, I'm not sure where we're finding this guy.

4 hours ago, berad said:

Gilmore's a beast but he's been banged up and it hurt his playing time. Same for Maxx. The other young TEs, Waller and Boyle, were busy getting suspended.

Who's to say they won't employ more multiple-TE sets? It would be a shame if they didn't, a waste of talent.

Did Gilmore really have the excuse of being banged up this year? I know it was his excuse 2 years ago. I don't know ... he was a big time disappointment last year, so it is getting harder to get excited about him. Still, I'd like to see us try and work more with the young TEs. I grow weary of hearing about how Pitta led the world in receptions when it felt like 1/2 of them were generated in the worst game of the season last year v. the Bengals when it felt like he caught 20 balls for a total of 50 yards.  

Agreed, we likely will employ more 2 TE sets, especially with Juice gone. However, 6 TEs? Something has to give. No doubt the most confusing position group on the team. 

1 hour ago, AnthonyGames said:

I like Alex Lewis better at RT than at LG. He seems like an athletic guy who protect the edge. To me he doesn't seem much like the mauler type at guard, who can open holes for the run game. I think center is number one priority. I remember to the year before when Jensen played LG while KO played LT. Jensen looked amazing at guard - although being next to KO.

I agree - I think Lewis will not only work well at RT, but moving him there should make it easier/cheaper to find a replacement. Fundamentally, guards are cheaper than tackles. 

Unfortunately, Jensen looked anything but amazing last year. Huge disappointment. I honestly was surprised Lewis took what I thought was his job to lose. After seeing him last year, I'm extremely reluctant to see us planning to have him be our starting LG and I'd think the Ravens would be too.

Lost a center, lost an RT and no one has come in to replace. The draft is weak at that position, so it is unlikely that we'd be getting a stud in the 1st round and unlikely that we'll find a late round gem if the overall class is weak. Sure, we might add a camp cut late, but right now this position group is very, very scary. 

Personally, not nearly as concerned about stoppage in play from commercials, as stoppage in play due to constant yellow flags ... especially ones involving two players who are out to kill each other saying something unkind after a play.

He deserves every penny.

6 minutes ago, bigcatfrank1 said:

I think more like; Stanley- Lewis- Elflein (rookie draft)- Yanda - Hurst, Use Urshel, Jensen and Skura as a back up plan to Center and Guard , Nemobot and DeOndre back up to Tackles. Still have to look hard at
Pughsley and Broxton.

Time to get a top Center from the Draft. Elflien or Pocic are both really good Centers.
Sandwiched between possibly the 2 best guards in the NFL will be the key.

Hurst is a starter? Well, I suppose at RT at least Joe will see the unblocked edge rusher before he gets drilled. At least that won't result in a strip sack. 

IMO we need more help on the O line than just getting a rookie center. 

15 minutes ago, budman said:

Maybe not. Don't be surprised if Ozzie decides to go with Urshel to start the season. Not saying it's a great idea but releasing Zuttah and not being in the Mangold dealings as of yet, says that they may use in house or wait to see who shakes out when cuts start .

So, our current O line would be Stanley, Jensen, Urschel, Yanda and Lewis - with Hurst and 3 potted plants as backups. 

Ozzie better be up to something. 

6 minutes ago, ravensforlife said:

It's good we are upgrading the defense. Not sure what will be done to improve our wide receivers. They are in the bottom five of the league and probably not going to improve

Worried about WR - perhaps more worried about O line 

7 minutes ago, allblackraven said:

Lang is a Lion next 3 years

Thanks for the update. Based on what I'd heard already, though, I'd already written him off. 

On 3/11/2017 at 10:26 AM, rmw10 said:

There's not too much quality left out there

Sebastian Vollmer (who might retire), DJ Fluker (who apparently wants to play G), Austin Pastor (better at G), and I guess Andre Smith at RT are the best names left.

C still has Nick Mangold, John Sullivan, and Joe Hawley although you'd be hard pressed to prove any of them are actually better than Zuttah at this point.  Mangold if healthy but that's a big question mark as well.

I would have thought Fluker would be a target for us ... not just because of the Bama thing. While we've lost an RT, my expectation is that we're going to move Lewis to RT and try to fill the guard slot via FA or draft. I'd have thought he'd be well worth bringing in. 1 year $3M is all he got paid by the Giants. Think we could have pulled that off. Perhaps he hasn't lived up to his college reputation, but man, who would he have to beat of for a starting job? Jensen? 

I am really anxious over this position group. Unless Roman is bringing a magic wand with him, that group is going to struggle badly if we don't bring in help. 

Yeah - there's a long way to go before camp, but limited options are dwindling. 

19 hours ago, allblackraven said:

Still free agents:

LB: Dont'a Hightower, Zach Brown, Kevin Minter
OL: TJ Lang, Nick Mangold,  D.J. Fluker
Edge: DeMarcus Ware, Connor Barwin,  Erik Walden
DL: Jared Odrick, Mario Williams,  Chris Long
CB: Morris Claiborne

Still waiting for this bigger more physical O line we heard about:

Lang - Rumored to 3 teams, none of which are us

Fluker - Gone to the GIants (for a measly 1 year $3 M contract) 

Mangold is still in play, it would appear