sflegend89

It should never come down to getting 1 stop at the end of the game as often as it did last year, if the offense could actually put some points on the board many of those games would've already been over. I'll do you one better, if the offense could actually put drives together and not constantly go 3 and out then we wouldn't have an exhausted defense on the field when we do need a clutch stop. The apologetics for that unit is unexplainable to me. If we want to see a return to form and getting back in the playoffs we should all be in an uproar over how bad the current offensive unit is. We have a unit that was already bad to begin with in 2016, now minus our best playmaker, starting RT, starting C, and starting FB. You know if we were winning games and making the playoffs some of the blind defending of the front office would at least be palatable. The results speak for themselves, missed playoffs 3 out of the last 4 years. The criticism is justified.

Honestly sick of trying to sugar coat the fact that the offense was well below where it needed to be and has lost their best playmaker in SSS and one of the best RT's in football in Wagner. That unit is in a bad way right now and the draft can only alleviate so much. It's very troubling.

1. Round 1, 16th Overall Pick John Ross WR, Washington With the likes of Mike Williams, Reuben Foster, Marshon Lattimore, and Derek Barnett off the board Ozzie & co. deliver with the offensive weapon that fans have been clamoring for to aid Joe Flacco. In the mold of a Brandin Cooks, Ross is smaller WR with some big time playmaking ability. Some of the cuts and maneuvering he does with the ball in his hands is reminiscent of Antonio Brown (See TD against Cal). While Ross will likely be utilized in the slot as a rookie his world class speed and knack for the splash play will put him on the fast track for an ever expanding role on the offense. In addition he can return kicks and provide a spark there while he hones his craft at WR. His assertive alpha personality will be a breath of fresh air in what is otherwise a pretty timid and quiet WR group in the absence of SSS. Ross is a guy who will have his share of doubters at first but will quickly begin to silence him when he steps on the field. (Highlight tapes may contain NSFW lyrics*) Round 2, 47th Overall Kevin King, CB, Washington Here is the pick that leaves quite a few Ravens fans a little taken back at first. The Ravens take a corner from this great DB class however it's not Quincy Wilson, Teez Tabor, or even King's Washington teammate the injured Sidney Jones. King is a diamond in the rough standing at 6'3, long arms, and some pretty crazy ball skills for the position. King is a great complimentary piece to what will be a vastly improved secondary and he has all the physical tools to become the long term starter opposite Jimmy Smith. The upside for this kid is very high and we have the personnel to let him grow into the role naturally. (please give me brownie points for talking about a 6'3 corner without mentioning Richard Sherman lol) Round 3, 78th Overall Erik Magnuson, OT, Michigan Here comes the Michigan pick per high praise from Jim Harbaugh. Magnuson, the first team All-Big-Ten RT takes over for Rick Wagner and provides pretty strong value in the middle of the 3rd. He's also started at Guard which provides some versatility for an OL that may have to be reworked throughout the year as the injuries begin to accrue.

I mean ideally we all want the guy with the Mike Williams build/play style. We look at guys like Julio Jones and Mike Evans and imagine what Flacco could do if he ever had a player like that just once in his entire career here. But I think realistically Williams and even O.J. Howard (Who's stock has been way up lately) are gone and we're looking at Ross/Davis if we want to make a significant addition to Flacco's weapons (Let's be honest, he needs a major addition, the offense has been floundering since 2014 and our best playmaker has been a 36-37 year old Steve Smith ). I think at the end of the day, regardless of his size or where he lines up, Ross is a hell of a football player and he can produce for us and make some plays after the catch that the offense has been sorely lacking. I mentioned it in another thread but if you look at the top 15 receiving yds leaders from 2016 over half of them are under 6 foot. Arguably the best WR in football in AB plays a style not too far off from Ross. Am I saying Ross is the next AB, absolutely not, but I think he can play at a level similar to Brandin Cooks and Jarvis Landry. I think the whole "fit" based on his size/playing style is overblown, the kid can ball. Didn't score 17 TD's last year by accident, he makes big plays.

It's like people get so fixated on Ross' 40 time that it's now a hot take to say he's overrated. The guy is technically skilled and crafty, he's not just a straight line speed player, he has that but he's also very agile and shifty with the ball in his hands. Much like Brandin Cooks' skill set. You can throw a screen/slant to Ross and he can make a guy miss and take it to the house. That's the difference between Ross and a lot of other 40 time studs at WR, the ability to make people miss in the open field and run good routes. Being fast doesn't mean you're shifty with the ball or run good routes, look at Torrey Smith for example. I'm a guy who also really banged on the Odell Beckham drum when he was coming out and while he never got as much hate as Ross, he certainly had doubters and people who didn't want to believe what they saw on film would carry over to the NFL. Ross is a playmaker He also can become a great route runner at the next level

Ross is going to be a stud. This time of year always gets people so obsessed with measurables. If Ross was 6'2+ with the same production/film you would all be drooling over him. All Top 15 in Receiving YDS last year - Antonio Brown, TY Hilton, Brandin Cooks, Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry, Julian Edelman, Doug Baldwin, Golden Tate Over half the leading WR's in the Top 15 last year were under 6 foot

If you hate picking Ross and King in the first two rounds your expectations are way too high for where we're picking. That's a very nice haul. I would love to mock the likes of Mike Williams, Derek Barnett, and Marshon Lattimore to us but I just dont think those caliber of players last until 16. Ross is a stud. If you write him off as a one trick pony you haven't done your homework. Playmaker. One of the best YAC receivers we've seen in a while. Kevin King is a 6'3 corner with ball skills and he can hit. Go watch him close on Juju Smith-Schuster on a screen and absolutely bury him. These are good football players with high ceilings.

-2 for a perfectly reasonable mock. lol you guys are funny.

The OT class just isn't very good this year. With at least one of Mike Williams, Ross, Barnett, Foster, Cook, Humphrey, Charlton, Conley ect likely still on the board why reach for need? I don't feel nearly as safe with say Cam Robinson, drafting for need so high in the draft is never a good idea.

Don't like the lack of WR early, at this rate we'll be going into the season with the a bottom 5 WR core. I think we go with Williams, Davis, or Ross in the 1st.

That hole left by Orr has to be addressed. The hole left by Wagner has to be addressed. The hole left by SSS has to be addressed. The hole left by Zuttah has to be addressed (Not buying Urschel). Whole lot of needs still, I'll be patient but we sure did spend a lot of money on luxury signings when we still had so many big holes to fill... I don't like the idea of putting so much pressure on this rookie class to deliver right out of the gate..

There's nothing wrong with the game. The roster increase is the only viable suggestion I've really heard, Hearing stuff like "get a point for a kickoff through the uprights" is so dumb to me. The game has been played primarily the same way for decades now, stop infringing on the integrity of the game and trying to fix something that isn't broken. There's nothing wrong with the rules, maybe just decrease the commercial breaks. The whole commercial break after a score followed by a commercial break after the kickoff has to go. Have more original content (analysis, interviews, ect.) to fill the lulls in action and keep people engaged instead of flipping channels when those long breaks occur. Lengthening the season is also a terrible idea. I've played college ball and I know what that wear and tear feels like even even at a shorter schedule against lesser athletes. It's easy to say make the schedule longer until you've lived it and can empathize with the players, 16 games + playoffs is already pushing it. We are already seeing players retire early, if we want to see our favorite players on the field for more seasons the worst thing you can do is lengthen the season and put their bodies through even more wear on a year-by-year basis.

Take nothing less than a 3rd for him. I will be so heated if we trade him away for anything less.

It's funny that in the past this front office has let go of good players like Boldin to let the young guys play and it blows up in our face because the guys below him on the depth chart weren't good to begin with (Doss + Deonte Thompson) but we actually have a good young TE group right now and they are all stagnating behind Pitta on the depth chart. Gilmore, Waller, and Maxx have all flashed potential... jeez for parts of 2015 Gilmore was throwing defenders off him like he was Gronk. A combination of injuries and lack of playing time has really hurt that young group of TE's. I would've liked to see us part ways with Pitta and let the new generation get their shot. It's not a money decision so much as it's a personnel decision. We did it at Center with Zuttah even though the depth behind him is questionable at best, but we won't do it at TE where we actually have guys that can play. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy1tyFqvUUA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPgdlTkQiqY

The offense needs a serious makeover and then we turn around and spend spend spend on a defensive unit that was ranked top 5 already last year. The offense was pedestrian last year, then we lose our best WR in Steve Smith, our starting RT, starting C, Juice, Aiken... a terrible unit has gotten significantly worse and we're out here throwing more money at a defense that easily could've just used the draft this year to make additions. This isn't a good offensive draft, we have far more holes than can be filled and yet again our big money QB get's left out in the cold. No alpha WR, no playmaker at RB, no dynamic/versatile TE, OL in shambles. The front office has me seriously concerned, what roster are they looking at? Have they watched the offense the last 2 years? Do they not have the heart to tell the fans we're rebuilding this year because by the looks of things we're looking at a multi-year project to get this offense to a competitive level.

I can agree with that. I just hope the offense get's sorted when it's all said and done. After the last 2 seasons there is certainly reason to be on edge about the lack of help Joe is getting. The Patriots for example have a QB that can make do with limited talent and they are still out here bolstering their weapons, trading for Bennett a year ago and then trading for Cooks this year. Where is that type of initiative in our front office to help Joe? You have to score points to win in this league nowadays. I think we should've chose between Jefferson or Brandon Williams, not both. That money could've gone a long way on the offensive side of the ball where it is desperately needed. We're talking about a unit that lost 3 of it's best starters and was pretty awful to begin with. The defense was already top 5 in the league, I think we could've used the draft to plug some pieces in there instead of ponying up so much money there in FA. Considering this is a defense heavy draft that would've made a lot more sense to spend on the offense in FA and draft defensive help. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Ozzie & Eric have a plan for the offense and it just hasn't come to fruition yet. I sure hope that's the case.

I know there's still the draft and more FA activity coming... but I feel like we should've let Brandon Williams walk and used that money on OL/WR. We all know B-Will is a stud but you have to allocate money better and not leave you're franchise QB out in the cold like this. Grabbing Corey Davis/Mike Williams would certainly be a step in the right direction. Grab a OLB/CB in the 2nd and the hit OL in the 3rd.

As much as I want to get hyped about us adding a corner before the draft... can't help but feel like this isn't much more than a lateral move from Shareece Wright, I hope I'm wrong, I hope Carr ends up being a noticeable upgrade.. but I'm not convinced. Hopefully we snag one of these talented corners early, so many good CB's available in rounds 1-2. But I remember the 2014 draft was stacked at WR in a similar fashion and we didn't take one. We passed on Allen Robinson, Jarvis Landry, and Davante Adams in the 2nd. Really hope we don't do that again this year at CB.

I don't consider that unit anywhere near ready to roll, they were anemic last year and have only gotten worse thus far. Let's really break this down so far: Pros: Retained Marty: Is that really a distinct plus? Many wanted him gone. I'm willing to give him a chance with a full offseason to prepare and build but I think this is more of a question mark rather than a plus as of right now. Greg Roman: This move I like. Going in the right direction of re-establishing a viable run game Cut Zuttah: While his performance was underwhelming, he was a middle of the pack Center, could certainly have had worse. Is Urschel really an immediate upgrade if that's the direction we go, I'm not convinced of that. Could spend a mid-late round pick (Possibly on a Guard who could fill in there) but there but the apparent upgrade at that position remains to be seen right now. Woodhead: Could be a sold contributor but he's 30+ coming off an ACL Cons: - Lost SSS, our best leader on offense, our ball winner in go-to situations, great blocker, brought tremendous fire and accountability to the unit - Lost Wagner, one of the best RT's in football, that's a huge hole to fill - Lost Juice, great lead blocker and pass catcher, super versatile, trending upwards in production We still have more FA opportunities, we still have the draft. I'm willing to give this FO adequate time to make the type of moves that need to be made to actually improve this unit. But as of right now the cons outweigh the pros in terms of significance, the unit is far from ready to roll. They weren't ready to roll when they still had a future HOF'er, elite RT, and best FB in the league.

Apparently we like having a middle-of-the-pack QB with a 24M cap hit and give him no help. Even the truly elite QB's like Brady and Rodgers who can make it happen with limited talent around them have had their weapons beefed up this offseason. This isn't a good offensive draft and an already poor unit has lost 3 of it's best players (Juice, Wagner, SSS)... We can put on the purple glasses all we want but the offense is going nowhere fast. It needed a major injection of talent and instead of signing a high end WR or OL we opt to blow a big contract on a Nose Tackle. I love Brandon Williams, he's an absolute stud... but the allocation of money is questionable at best

I don't entirely get the infatuation with Claiborne. As Ravens fans we know more than anyone how frustrating injury prone players are. It's tough when during the offseason you plan on a certain guy filling a role for you and then the season starts and all of a sudden that player in basically never on the field. We deal with it on a yearly basis at CB as it is. Jimmy is depended on to be the #1 shutdown guy and then once gets banged up the entire unit basically crumbles. With Claiborne we aren't talking about a moderately injury prone player, we're talking about a guy who has played in just 22/48 games the last 3 years. Meaning he literally sits more games than he plays. When do we ever have good luck with injury prone players? The answer is never. I'll pass, he's talented when healthy but we need dependable guys. We're an injury carousel every year as it is.

The offense has been abysmal and it has only gotten worse thus far in FA with the loss of Wagner, Juice, and SSS. If anyone thinks we're fixing whats wrong with this offense in the draft alone you're delusional.

Even if we get Claiborne I would still love to see us take one of these talented CB's in round 1 or 2. Our biggest competition in the AFC is NE/PIT and they both like to spread you out and sling the ball around. Building this defense to beat that style of play is our best bet.

Do we ever have an offseason without an arrest/suspension? Like clockwork every year

Probably Claiborne or B Will. Good either way but let me know when we help the dang offense