WNC-Raven

I see where your coming from. It often seems like rings drive a fan base but other than the bandwagon fans, the facts just don't support it. I'm not going to list all team values across the league but here are a few examples. The most valuable team, the Cowboys havent won a SB in 20 years. For the #3 the Redskins it's been 24. #5 San Fran has been 21 years. #6 Jets have not won a SB in 47 years! Texans at #7, Bears at #8, Eagles at #9 and Packers at #10. You get the picture. The only top 10 team in value that has recently won SB's are the Patriots and Giants. I fully agree with your comment about location. I would say location and market size is the biggest reason for a team value. Nice, new stadiums help but the majority of fans watch on TV so I dont know how much that really matters other than keeping the team happy. Storied franchise and history do play a part but if that really mattered why would baltimore be worth more than the steelers, colts, ect..

Who's to say Biscotti didn't purposely hire Harbaugh because he wanted to change the teams identity? Isn't it more than possible the change in strategy is coming from the top? So many fans are critical of John and his no nonsense, keep your nose clean style but that is who he is and Steve knows that. This is a BIG business and I'm sure Biscotti would like to try and move his franchise up the list of most valuable teams. Only way to do that is to increase your fan base. Heck I still think of the Raiders as a rough, tough bunch of thugs because thats what they were when I was growing up.

We lost that game because an unknown Kirk Cousins came in with 5 minutes to go and marched down the field for a game winning TD. Our entire game plan was designed to stop RGIII and the play action. When a pocket passer came in we werent mentally prepared and didnt have the time left to adjust. Even though it was a close game we were handling RGIII pretty well up to that point by not getting fooled too often and putting his but in the dirt. He was getting beat up long before Ngata sealed his fate.

Maybe Leslie Frazier will make an impact. Plus contract years have a funny way of bringing out the best in players. I'm glad we didn't give up on Jimmy

To add to your post, most of the upset fans are also suffering from name recognition disorder. Most fans only know the names they see on sports center or the team that they watch plus a few others. I dont even watch games and even I knew all of the most popular names by the time the draft came around. So where I have a wait and see approach, others complain because we coulda, shoulda, woulda. They can't believe we took so and so when Spence was on the board. If Spence was that great we would have taken him. The FO obviously took the more well rounded player that could do more than just pass rush.

Concerning recruitment, the US Naval academy is looking for america's best and brightest. Athletes often have the same traits desirable in a military cadet. Discipline, willingness to take orders and carry them through, ability to diagnose a situation quickly and react without hesitation, self respect, a sense of pride, ect.... If you add above average intelligence and a desire to serve you have a shot at being accepted into the academy. Do you really think Annapolis doesn't have to compete with other universities for these students? That at 18 an extremely intelligent and athletically skilled prospect wouldn't be more interested in going to Ohio state or wherever instead of a naval academy even though he has all the talent to be molded into a successful military officer? That's why schools recruit. To convince the prospect that they would have a better experience and life by coming to their school.

What I can't believe is that the draft is over and there are still people trying to guess what we should have done. It's over people. Accept it and move on with your life. I read a post on another topic saying that we would forever be remembered as the team Dallas screwed over and the team that passed on miles jack. Now it's about Tunsil? 12 other teams passed on Tunsil as well and 2 other OT were taken ahead of him. So what if Dallas didn't agree to our offer. It happens all of the time. If our guys say they wanted too much then it was too much. Jack was passed over by every single team and 4 teams passed over him twice. It can't be any more obvious that they are not as great as some posters think they are. You can talk theory all day but results are what matter and we just had 3 days of results to do the talking. The scouts and gm's know what they are doing. We do not.

I completely understand the reminiscing about letting the hungry dogs hunt in the past but the game has changed. Undisaplined players are now costing teams games. Do I need to remind some of you of the complete meltdown from pacman jones and burflict last year that cost the bengals yet another playoff game. Poor character breeds poor decision making and no discipline. I think that our FO is taking us in the right direction for future success. It's kinda hard to be consistent when players are getting injured, suspended and drawing flags all season. I think the team is tired of constantly having to be reactive to new issues when he could be working on other ways to make this team better.

choosing to stockpile picks like this instead of choosing a possible superstar tells me the FO thinks we are in worse shape than believed.

I would think that Jack is gone before we are on the clock but after the top 10 last night it could easy happen. After watching A. Brown, Kindle, Cody, ect.. who were all 2nd rounders do nothing, I would happily welcome Jack with the frame of mind that he will only play for a few years but what an amazing few years it may be. And who knows, he might end up having a long career after all. If not Jack then I would guess Ogbah comes to Baltimore

I love it when top players with poor character drop like a rock come draft day. It sets a good example for our younger generation that no matter how skilled you are, being a good person matters more.

I'm surprised more people didnt neg it. Haha, but I guess that aspect of this site has more or less gone away.

People just love to complain. Same people who would bash our offense next season if the o-line doesn't hold for Joe or create holes for the run game.

Well it's almost time for everyone to be proven wrong just like most years. Months discussing the best defensive talent who will take our defense back to greatness, who fits best. And with the #6 pick in the 2016 draft is Ezekiel Elliott. HaHa

I'm not expecting SF to target a QB at #7 now that the top two are off the board... there's the appearance of a pretty steep drop off there. Also with CLE new roster building philosophy I doubt they would draft a second tier QB at 6 or 8 for that matter. I'm just speculating because anything can happen when teams are desperate on draft day.

Mayock's mock draft last night was "interesting" for the Ravens. He had us trading back to 15 with Tennessee so they could come up and get Tunsil. He ended up having us take Josh Doctson at #15, which I disagreed with, but that's not really the point (I can't see a scenario where this organization ever takes two first round WRs in back to back years). He didn't go into the parameters of the trade, but obviously we would get at least a second round pick this year from Tennessee. The question becomes... which one? They pick at 33, 43 and 45. If we asked for 33, we would then have three picks in the top 36, which to me is a deal I'd be interested in. But what if the offer is for picks 43 or 45? Do we still like that deal. Still have three top 45 picks... good enough to move back 9 spots? The difference here is I'd say a lot of the players we'd be interested in would likely be gone. Top three tackles will surely be gone, Hargreaves is likely gone, possibly miss out on guys like Leonard Floyd or Shaq Lawson if we drop to 15 also, who I'd gladly take in that range. So it makes it difficult to see what direction we would give picking in that spot. I think we would certainly move back into the teens if we get a top 10 second round pick, and maybe even top half. If you like the draft value chart (I'm not a big fan), it says we could reasonably ask for #33 in that deal. If we were to get a pick like #45, we'd probably get a 4th or 5th rounder as well. To me we don't trade back to 15 without getting at least the #33 pick. The more desirable trade back would be with CLE. If they secretly covet a QB a want to jump in front of SF to get him we could trade back only 2 spots and possibly pick up another 2nd rounder. Or someone could try to trade with us to jump in front of both SF and CLE. Ozzie could also package one of our trade able 4th rounders with our #6 and get better value as well.

Relax sunshine and remember we are actually fans of this team. I couldnt agree with you more. I mean, the ability to scramble and make big plays on the run are Flacco's prime skill sets. What ever will he do if he is forced to become a pocket passer? And who wouldnt worry about Joe's injury history? He spends his entire life never missing a single game. Now that he has been injured one time and forced to miss a few games he will probably never play again.

Remember Rice, Kruger, Torrey, KO, Jernigan and Maxx were all second round picks. Our future does not depend on our first round pick like many tend to obsess over. Is it important to choose a franchise type player at #6? Of course but I believe Ozzie will make some good picks and some bad but in the end I have faith that he will remind us just how good he is when picking near the top of every round and with 4 fourth rounders to boot.

Thank you

They are the most valuable team in the NFL being "America's team" and all. All I know is the few years we have missed the playoffs recently makes the whole season feel worthless. I can't imagine being a fan of one of the many teams where that is the norm. The media can slam Flacco all they want, I love being a Ravens fan!

I don't think Jack's a consideration. His knee is a gigantic concern. You're always very level headed so I would like to know why you think Jack's knee is a gigantic concern? It seems like all of the concern really ramped up last week when am "anonymous" GM said it was a time bomb. Before that he was being held up as a top 4 pick. Feels to me like whoever released that statement is getting exactly what they intended if having him fall was in fact their intention. Heck maybe the Ravens said it? Also I read that Tunsil was injured every single season he played in college. How would you rate the concern level between Tunsil and Jack's injury history moving forward? Both appear to have enormous upside if healthy.

I would bet that Ozzie and DeCosta have finished their ranking of players for the #6 pick weeks ago and will just let it play out. What has probably been keeping them working late is the rest of the draft board. Especially what they may be able to find in the 4th with all of those picks.

While I could care less about whether or not Joe is elite because I think he is better than 75% of the QB's in the league, you are exactly right. The only way to gauge a players status is by the opinions of his peers first and then the fans of opposing teams. Redskins fans are a good sample as they are local enough to have knowledge of him while not really caring enough to be hateful. I for instance thought RGIII was way over hyped but still wanted to see him be successful because he seemed like a good person. Big head aside

agreed you'd think with him being a Prime candidate for under performing and being overpaid along with this essentially being a make or break season for him, he would avoid controversy and make waves with his play on the field.. evidently not. It just seems like everytime we talk about monroe, its either in replacing him, marijuana related, or questioning his durability. Hope can be a dangerous thing when you have no control but I have a lot of hope that Monroe's off season surgery will help to keep him healthy this season and we will be pleasantly surprised.

It's actually the Browns that pick at #8 but I still see both the Browns and Titans as likely trade partners. It would make the GM's look like genius's to receive the bounty of picks that they did and then use a couple of them to trade back up and get Tunsil or a top defensive pick.