sflegend89

That's probably wishful thinking, far more likely he's the next Dominique Franks. Forsett was more so just a victim of a lack of opportunity. The only 2 times Forsett got over 100 carries in a year (prior to 2014) he put up good numbers for the volume. His first year in Seattle he had 114 carries for 619 and 4 TD's. Totally on par with the numbers he put up last year when he got double the attempts.. 235 carries for 1,266 and 8 TD's. Crazy how well those numbers match up. It wasn't like he was a feature back in Houston or Jacksonville and flopped, he just never got enough touches to produce after 2009 and 2010. A team can only have 1 feature back.. corner is a lot different and Vaughn has had plenty of opportunities to showcase his skills unlike Forsett.

I'm starting to get the feeling Perriman and Waller will be quite the dynamic duo for us. The offense is looking scary and the defense is right there with them, don't think I've ever seen such a well rounded Ravens roster. Now let's just hope we don't get hit with the injury bug again this year *knocks on wood*

Agreed, Ozzie & company have done a great job with the overhaul at cb this offseason. It's night and day from last year. Vaughn reminds me of Franks/Cox from last year, a guy who could end up bouncing on and off the active roster during the season. Thankfully we have the depth this year that Vaughn would never be called on to start like Franks was. The fact that we made the playoffs, beat the Steelers at Heinz, and had the Pats on the ropes in Foxboro (under shady circumstances with what are now illegal plays and likely deflated footballs) with our patch work secondary is nothing short of incredible. I'm just beyond excited for what we can accomplish with the roster we have now. The Pats and Broncos got worse, the Colts got better but I think you can say without bias that we are the most complete team in the AFC if our rookies pan out even remotely like we think they will.

Nobody thought Graham was camp body, he did exceed expectations though. Vaughn could find his way onto the roster but it's already a crowded position. 1. Jimmy 2. Webb 3. Arrington 4. Melvin 5. Asa 6. Walker Could we carry 7 corners.. After what happened last year it's certainly possible. But if we don't the only guy on that list who isn't a virtual lock for the 53 is Asa. Vaughn would have to beat Asa out in camp and that's an uphill battle for him, familiarity with the coaches/scheme are on Asa's side.

Camp body, just a vet who knows his way around an NFL training camp and can push the young guys and keep them on their toes . I think bringing in guys like this is important because it makes guys like Asa and Melvin "earn" their spots. I don't see Vaughn making the 53 though.

I can respect someone taking Green but did you watch AB last year? lol. The guy was arguably the best WR in the entire NFL! Up until last year I would agree with you but AB took his game to a whole other level. The QB argument is valid but tough to account for, if you told me you can have AJ Green or AB on your team I'm taking Brown. I put CJ over Daryl at this point in his career, not only did CJ flash more on film as the playmaker at LB but he trumped Daryl in every single statistical category as a ROOKIE. When you put the game tape together with the stats it's all CJ and he's only going to get better. Timmons is a tough call, CJ did have the slightly better stats last year and I'm also accounting for the fact that CJ was a rookie which gives him the slight edge for me. It's a narrow margin but when you look at where CJ projects heading into next year the arrow is pointing up and Timmons has plateaued. Again, a good way to look at it is who would you rather have heading into the 2015 season? CJ who lit it up as a rookie or Timmons who may or may not be able to play at the level he did last year which was around the same as CJ as a rookie? I have a very hard time believing CJ won't improve even more in his second year so I have to take him. These are some pretty narrow margins though, I can't fault you for your opinion on these comparisons because you can make arguments going either way.

AB > AJ Green Kendrick Lewis > Mike Mitchell CJ Mosley > Every ILB in the NFL not named Keuchly, Bowman, or Wagner

Not a chance. Melvin was solid last year after getting thrown right into the deep end, the coaching staff thinks highly of him and sees his potential. Guys like Chykie and Franks who have been in the league for years couldn't play at the level Melvin did for us coming off a practice squad.

Good luck this season, Packers are an organization I've always respected. Not a bad shout for possible Superbowl match up between these two teams as well.

People over exaggerate Jimmy's struggles his rookie year. His first series in the NFL (pres-season) he was mauling Dwayne Bowe at the LOS, that was coming off his 15 TD season, in his prime Bowe. You could see Jimmy had the ability to be a special player, he had some mental mistakes and blew a few coverages where he thought he had safety help over the top and got chewed out by Ed Reed for allowing his man to release into nothing but green grass. Then of course he got injured and that stalled out his progress for a bit. Melvin was similar in a way, maybe didn't flash quite as much as Jimmy did with his physicality but his only real shortcomings were mental mistakes like in the Patriots game and he was also playing through a shoulder injury. I think the future is bright for Melvin, should end up being a slightly above average starter and that's a great get for an UDFA. As for Walker.. I have no idea what to make of him yet. I think it's silly to proclaim him a stud or a bust so soon. If I had to compare him to someone it would be Cary Williams who was also really raw when he arrived in Baltimore. We had to groom him for a few seasons before he was ready, I see the same type of situation with Walker. Now if he's as talented as Cary... that's still up in the air. Arrington was such a solid signing, now the pressure is off Walker to step into a big role right away so he can spend a lot of time just learning the nuances of the position and has 3 high football IQ corners to help groom him.

Dang 230, I think we'll be seeing him up in the box a lot more like a Kam Chancellor type and will be laying some serious licks this season. The guy has the athleticism and suddenness to support more weight on his frame so I'm all for it.

The last time it still felt like a rivalry was the 2008 divisional round game when Joe hit Heap over the middle on 3rd down to set up Stover's GW. The Titans haven't been back to the playoffs since and the rivalry just lost all it's steam. The Patriots rivalry has taken it's place and then some since we always seem to find each other every year in the playoffs and it's always a tight game outside of the 2009 blowout.

Really want to see Hill get a long term deal, the scary thing is we haven't even seen him at the top of his game yet. We got flashes of what he can do but because he had to jump into the starting lineup for the first time as a Raven after the suspension he didn't necessarily have a whole lot of chemistry/familiarity in actual game situations with our defense. I'm sure Hill is going to bet on himself and not take a deal from us before this season, will probably get a monster pay day after this year. Devin McCourty type money. I just hope it's with us but knowing Ozzie he will probably take that 3rd round comp pick knowing we gave up next to nothing for him in the first place. It's a win-win either way if he has a big year but I would really like to see him remain a Raven.

Go tell Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Jimmy Butler, Demar Derozan and Derrick Rose that it looks like they're wearing a leotard when they wear the same color compression tights and socks.. Those guys could wear anything they want from the shorts down and they've all popularized that look. If ESPN ranked the best dressed players on court how much do you want to bet a guy who uses that same look would be #1?

If you could only choose one which Raven will breakout in 2015? Requirements: No Free Agents (Arrington, K. Lewis), No Rookies, No obvious studs (Flacco, Steve Smith, Forsett, Suggs, Doom, Mosley, Jimmy Smith, ect.) By "breakout" I'm referring to players who have never been a major contributor for us but could take the next step in 2015 (ex. McPhee in 2014)

I don't think the extra point rule change is going affect kickers endurance, the old PAT's already have the power to go from another 15 yds, just a matter of having to concentrate a little more on the accuracy now. Kickers get more down time and rest during a game than any starter by a large margin. It's not like they are sprinting down field on kickoffs either, their role is more of a safety net behind the kick coverage. Guys like Tucker can still boot in the new PAT's on muscle memory alone, I think you will see virtually no difference besides a few mental lapses on accuracy from a couple kickers throughout the year. Overall it might actual benefit kickers on normal FG attempts because they will get more of a tune up under game conditions kicking from a little further back.

In a court of law, Brady's phone records would get subpoenaed, McNally would get called to the stand and get systematically picked apart which is why the Patriots denied his follow up interview after the texts became available, and that is exactly why Kraft did what any logical owner would do under those circumstances and wave the white flag. Do you honestly think Kraft wouldn't follow through with the appeal if he had any leg to stand on? If he even had a remote chance of proving plausible deniability and potentially recouping his highly valuable 1st round pick? Patriots fans claim Kraft didn't side with "the fans", I suppose that's true because he sided with logic, rationale, and foresight instead of denial, ignorance, and naivety.

Hilarious how Pats fans have completely turned Kraft into the scapegoat. The man did what made logical sense, he was fighting a battle he couldn't win and saved everybody the waste of time and money for what is already a forgone conclusion, Tom lied and the Pats cheated. If Kraft had a leg to stand on he would, he called what the Patriots have been doing "rhetoric" and that's exactly what it was. They are seriously blaming Kraft for not carrying out a frivolous lawsuit that would just strip the organization of the last shred of dignity it has left. The amount of Patriots "fans" that have denounced their fandom from the team is one of the saddest and most pathetic things I've ever seen in sports. I guess I would be ashamed too if my team was exposed as the most notorious cheaters in professional sports today. Who knows what other kind of shenanigans they have been pulling over the years that they haven't gotten caught for. As a Ravens fan I feel personally cheated and we very well could have been in the SB in both 2011 and 2014 if it was a level playing field. I would rather win 2 SB's fair and square than win 4 by cheating, bottom line.

Looking at the Pats forum further confirmed to me that they are the bandwagoning glory hunters everyone thought they were. A majority of them said that if Brady left they would root for his new team over the Patriots. What a joke of a fan base. I'm as big of a Ray Lewis fan as there is but if by hook or crook he had left the Ravens I would never switch my allegiances like that. I'm a Ravens fans through and through, nobody is bigger than the team, not even a 1st ballot HOF'er, not even the greatest LB to to ever play the game. I think nearly 100% of you guys would feel the same way, that's what kind of fan base we are. The majority of current day Patriots fans are just glory hunters. The equivalent to the hordes of Yankee "fans" during their big boom periods. To me the way the Patriots "fans" have responded is far more disturbing than the cheating scandal itself. http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/threads/if-brady-went-to-another-team-would-you-root-for-him-or-the-pats.1120391/

It will certainly be interesting to see how the 53 man roster stacks up. The way Ozzie values picks I don't think we would use a 6th on Waller if we didn't fully intend on carrying him on the 53, he will get snatched up immediately on the PS. Two possibilities I see are Carter going to the PS and Camp or Perriman taking over the return duties or Pitta starting the year on the PUP list. Just hard to predict as of right now, really depends on how Carter performs in training camp and how far along Pitta is health wise. I definitely wouldn't count out Waller from being to able to contribute on offense even if it's mostly in the red zone or in power sets. Keep in mind he's probably the best run blocking WR on the roster, he's a lot like a TE in size with the traits of a WR, I think Trestman will be able to use his strengths effectively to help the offense even if it's only for 5-10 snaps a game.

Something I think that sets Waller apart from a lot of big "project" wr's is his intelligence. Watch him on the rookie camp series if you haven't already, he's got a good head on his shoulders. His off field issues in college are very misleading about his character and smarts. A lot of the time it's the thinkers and people who spend a lot of time in their own head who gravitate towards certain substances. Arian Foster is a great example, he's one of the most intelligent and free thinking players in the NFL but he also had his share of substance issues as a young adult. I think Waller is cut from the same cloth mentally as Foster and that bodes very well for his progression as a player.

Pretty much every Ravens fan (including myself) thinks Flacco will have a career year, like I mentioned this poll is geared towards players who are more under the radar (Like McPhee & Wagner from 2014). Flacco would easily get 90%+ of the votes so it doesn't really make for an interesting poll.

Yeah I did consider that, I just thought Jimmy would win by a landslide though. Like you said it makes for a more interesting poll since Jimmy has already shown he's a top tier player at his position when healthy. I guess I should clarify more, my definition of "breakout" for the sake of this poll is: a player who has played for us but hasn't been a major contributor who could take that next step in 2015 and become one (ex: McPhee and Wagner).

What would you want changed about the criteria? To me it's more interesting to limit it to players that don't get hyped up a lot who could potentially turn heads in 2015, McPhee and Rick Wagner are great examples of that from 2014. Guys we have seen in our system in previous year(s) and not been major contributors who we think can take the next step. The expectations of the rookies have been talked about heavily already and a lot of people think Flacco, Will Hill, Jimmy Smith, ect. will have a big year so they don't really need to overshadow the less talked about players, it makes people think/discuss outside the box instead of just going for an obvious candidate. Look at it this way if I posted this in 2014 with big name players and rookies included nobody would even discuss guys like McPhee or Wagner.

I think Upshaw will play at a high level, especially being in a contract year. Definitely made strides as a pass rusher last year and could potentially get even better heading into this season. Za'Darius Smith is still a question mark as far as his pass rushing effectiveness in his rookie year but he certainly has all the tools to at least moderately replace McPhee from the jump and that's really all we need out of him with the improved secondary.