bioLarzen

Probably not possible. Players can't just not answer questions - against certain rules.

I don't remember who said the "if you once, for a change, don't preceive things from the money point of view, your choices tend to suddenly seem much, much clearer"...

If both Jernigan and Mosley goes on playing like they did in their rookie seasons, there's a more than fair chance that years down the road the 2014 draft class produces the best one-two punch after 1996 (I don't think the Ogden-Ray Lewis combo can, with any stretch of the imagination, be bettered...). Jimmy Smith and Torrey seemed like a hard-to-beat combo, but these two guys can make it.

As for Koch: not only is he a loyal Raven and a damn consisten punter - he has an immaculate passing average (1/1), and immaculate 1st down pct (1 first down from 1 passing attempt) and a rushing TD Also, I don't remember him ever screwing up a kick hold (at least "well" enough to make the kick any harder to make). Further down the list: no off-the-field issues, no on-the-field issues, no sign of tendency to get injured... ... oh, and he can even throw beanbags excellent Though there may be no real chance of it, I think he would at least deserve some cosideration for the Ring of Honor.

The first mistake was even asking a Browns-guy about who the better QB will be: it's kinda more than ovbvious by now that the people in Cleveland have no idea how to tell a good QB...

Foxboro is also a tough venue for the same reason: "less" air... if you catch my drift

I would think a healthy and determined Ngata is worth that kind of money - but we didn't have it under the cap and had the people to put in place of him - so I think it was the best decision to trade him. He's still a difference maker - but he was too expensive for us, and chose to seek his own interests exclusively over the team's interests... so, good luck for him up north.

Oh, come on, people... Are we really gonna make a fuss about Ngata saying nice things about his new team - even if they're obviously not really true? What should he say? "Yes, I loved being in Baltimore and a cornerstone of the Baltimore D which has almost always been huge, much better than you'll ever see here, in Detroit!"? See? People say obviously false things to please their new teams and fans. We can all remember how Derrick Mason said he chose the Jets over the Ravens because "he felt there was a better cahnce of winning the Super Bowl" there? But we all knew it was meant to be for the ears of the Jets-fans. What Ngata said was meant for the Lions fans.

The Evans "drop" is definitely the saddest moment of recent Ravens-history, no doubt about that. But how come the ensuing missed FG didn't make the list? It was only a bit less painful...

Well, the problem is that according to the reports, the difference between Schaub and Renner is like a ravine, too - just like between Flacco and Schaub... So, Schaub basicaly can't be bad enough to lost the backup job to Renner... Maybe, if a better backup alternative becomes available in the camp-season... But not to Renner.

I know it's more than hard to come up with interesting stories and real worthy stuff here day by day in the "desert period" of the NFL when nothing really happens - but it's kinda forseeable, isn't it? We all know well in advance that this time of year is gonna come - so I don't think it would be too hard to kinda... well... prepare for it during the season? Instead of giving us the rooke camp videos once again in a couple of weeks "in case you've missed it" (nobody has, boys. I guarantee that.) - would it be impossible to just collect two-three stories, interviews or other stuff each week of the season and store it until this time comes? That would be enough to give us something REALLY interesting almost every day for two months - well enough to "survive" until the camps come... The "Team Behind the Team" stuff is exactly that kind of stuff. Great articles, fascinating stuff, something I think I can safely say that everybody is interested in. Heck, I would even lovereading about guys like the water boys, janitors, receptionists, drivers etc... So, guys, do you think it would be a worthy idea to consider "storing" some during-the-season stuff in the freezer and feeding us with it in the heat of the NFL-dead summer? I definitely think we would be a keen audience

Next instalment: Competition 2015: Head Coach About the same level of competition in Baltimore

"The Competition 2015: Quarterback" LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

You think he's not "trying to improve"? That he's comfortable sitting on the bubble and has no desire to become a starter - or at least a regular feature?

That's true - but the fact that Brown has underachieved throughout his Ravens career so far and basically failed to make his case to secure a starting spot on the depth chart makes it seem painfully possible that he has, indeed, been kind of demoted. Brown is absolutely clearly not where he should be at this point of his career. He should be cemented in the starting lineup - but definitely not deeper than second on the depth chart, with a nice amount of defensive snaps. He's nowhere near that. Consequently, if Harbaugh intends to really give him a legit chance to make his case, he would definitely put Brown with the starters. He was a first draft pick while Orr was an UDFA - of course Brown should get the practice reps. That he isn't should definitely indicate something - something that's not good news. But hey, if Brown can really pull this off, I'd be happy to say I was wrong about him. Nota bene, that was the very same thing I said about Jah Reid and Doss...

What I can't forget is how everyone kept praising Elam for his huge camp last season... All the talk was about how he seemed absolutely ready to take the reigns oif the secondary, how he already looked like a true veteran leader and safety... ... and then the season came... Harbaugh said after last season something like Elam's big problem is that he seems to have lost some of his belief in himself - just like Ed Dickson and Doss did. Elam's main focus, Harbaugh said, seemed to be to avoid becoming a bust - he was more and more afraid to fail. I don't know how much it helped when Ozzie singled him out so unusually straight at one of the off season pressers ("Elam needs to be a better player" - I can't recall Ozzie saying such a straightforward criticism about a Ravens player ever...) - but I'm quite sure Ozzie knew what he was doing And that's a mental thing, and so won't necessary shoiw up in the camp and OTA's where there's much less pressure and much lower stakes. So, the question about Elam seems to be not how well he does out on the field in the off-season - we all know he has the skills and physics to be dominant. The question will be whether he can get his head straight in terms of being able to concentrate on the game itself instead of being preoccupied with not messing up. If he can shake that, if he can accepot that he is gonna mess things up, miss interceptions and tackles and allopw TD's now and then - for no NFL safety has ever been immune to making mistakes - he can become what we're all hoping he can be.

I say we are stronger than havng to count on other teams' missing key players Let's beat them steelers and then it won't count

I doubt he would make such a boneheaded mistake, even if he was a diehard pats-fan.

Good that finally the topic of high-picked rookies not starting right away came up at last on this website - but it could have happened much earlier. When some of us said it mkight be unfair to expect players like Maxx Williams to be a starter Week#1 and be an instant Heap 2.0 it was taken as criticism towards the rookies and negged a lot. It's been crystal clear while WR and especially RB has more and more become plug&play positions meaning the rookies often made the transition from college level to the NFL seemingly seamlessly, other positions, most notably QB and TE are still ones that usually takes a season or two for the players to make the switch. Pitta was nowhere near starting caliber in his rookie season - even Ed Dickson wasn't there in the first half of his rookie season. Eric Ebron, the concensus top TE rookie of last season was obviously not there in his rookie season. Does this mean any of them were/are busts? Of course not - it only means TE's need some time to make the transitions. It's the position, not the players themselves. It would be awesome to see Williams come in and be the starting TE Week#1 - but I don't think we should expect that. Not because he doesnt have what it takwes - but because it takes time. That's why I've been saying throughout the off-season that TE is our most glaring hole in the starting lineup - even after we got Maxx Wiliams and Boyle. TE needs veteran presence, and we certainly can't count on Pitta for sure at this point. If he can come back and contribute, that would be awesomne - but sadly we can't count on that at this point. That leaves us with Crockett Gillmore as our most "veteran" TE probably available - and I'm not sure we should plan our TE strategy around him - JUST YET. Once again, it's not about Gillmore's abilities or talent - it's about him being a sophomore. That's why I say we still need a reliably available veteran catching TE. If it ends up being Pitta, that's great. But we need a plan B in case Pitta can't come back and contribute Week#1.

I followed the Gillmore-link to PFF's twitter and started reading it - and found this: Ravens Terrell Suggs has been our highest graded 3-4 Outside Linebacker against the run each of the past two seasons. Not bad

I see the Ravens are having a rather good and uneventful off-season. I mean, it must be, if the press is so desperate to have something to chew on that they're trying to create a drama out a couple of missed filed goal attempts - in the offseason minicamp... That's a good sign... Just think about it: how many NFL teams would be overjoyed if their biggest problem was that the kicker missed a mid-range practice attempt? Come on

"We are working on formations – legal formations, illegal formations, unexpected formations,” Harbaugh said with a sly grin, per USA Today." ... and per to this very website, br.com - Harbaugh said it during one of his minicamp pressers about a week ago - which, as I remember, you too attended, Ryan...

Hands up, please: is there anybody on Earth who's not yet way too tired of this "is Flacco elite/top 10" thing?

Excellent stuff*. Great to see what's going on behind the scenes. Also, these people more than deserve the credit. * Also, excellent staff

Urschel's dad's Chuck Norris tee is priceless