RavenManiac#7

You have hit the nail on the head, Rav'n Maniac. From another RavenManiac, I couldn't agree more. Of course, there is Cry Baby Brady, but, as you say, the Real difference between the Cheatriots and the Ravens is the HCs and the rest of each team's coaching staff. As much as it hurts to say it, Bill Belicheater is the best HC in football by a wide margin. And Harbaugh, in this fan's opinion, really has ridden the coat tails of, mainly, Ray Lewis. I don't think that his early success can be attributed to his skills as a coach. How much success has he had since Ray retired? Not much.

I fear our beloved Ravens organization, which was once the model of excellence for the NFL, has become quite the opposite now. The scouting department is far from what it used to be. Ozzie consistently whiffs with early round selections in the draft, and that is devastating to a team. He, also, believes in an unwise strategy of hoarding as many mid and late round selections as he can get, which produces very few starters but many mediocre players. Yes, he hit on Stanley but, goodness, it was at pick #6. And there was C J a few years ago but, again, that was with pick #17. But, what about his other 1st rounders and his 2nd and 3rd rounders. Not a whole lot, except for misses. Remembering that Bisciotti wanted Ozzie to trade up for Matt Ryan but let Ozzie, instead, wait and pick Flacco, with Ozzie saying that Flacco was the one we wanted, really hurts right about now. I have Never been a Flacco basher but I have come to believe that Ryan is the better QB. And, our FO is horrible at managing the Cap and making personnel decisions that affect it. All this, while considering all the needs we have that this article points out surely does not give me a lot of confidence that we will see much improvement next year. I fear Wagner is as good as gone, as is Williams. All I can do is hope that I am wrong about Everything I have just pointed out, and I certainly Do hope that. I just can no longer say "in Ozzie we trust" because I just don't anymore. Oh well, I'll still ALWAYS love my Ravens, though, in good times and bad.

Maybe you should root for another team. Ravens are not far away from contention. We were very close this year. Have we had Jimmy on field against the Giants and Steelers, we would have been playing the Pats last night. So we are only CBs away from contention. OL, OLB only need upgrade. We just need different type of WR and RB. We are not in a hole and will be in the dance next year. Go Ravens That's not fair. Why should Azzi22 have to root for another team just because he/she voices an opinion that you do not agree with? Actually, the last point made is, I believe, a valid one. Honestly now, how many of us had ever heard of our second and third round choices in the last draft Before the draft? I, for one, hadn't. I happen to agree that we are not close to contention, but I love my Ravens and will root for them as hard as ANYONE on here, in good times and bad. Isn't the whole purpose of commenting on here to voice our opinions of our team? Whether or not I agree with Anybody's opinion, I won't question their loyalty to our team. Let's be nice, shall we?

While I would have loved to have had Jalen Ramsey opposite Jimmy Smith I am not ready to call Kafusi a bust. He got injured and may still turn out to be a great pick. While I hear what you are saying... We don't want to start drafting the Randy Gregorys, Shawn Oakmans and Josh Gordons just bc they are talented. We are trying to win the right way.... the teams that do it the other way may find temporary success but they typically run into problems with these guys and in the salary cap era you cannot afford to have these issues too often. With that said -you cannot afford to miss on your top picks either... Elam, Arthur Brown, Upshaw (probably), Kameli Correa.... this is a trend that has to stop and I think it did with CJ and Ronnie Stanley being two of our last three top picks. It is easy to second guess everything in hindsight. I know who I was hoping we would take in round 1 over the last 5 years... some are having a lot of success... some not so much. Realisticaly... every GM is going to have some hit and miss.... What Ozzie and company has missed on in the draft recently they hit homeruns on in the FA market. (Weddle, Mike Wallace, SSS, Elvis, Daryl Smith, and more). Gotta take the good with the bad. All the ones they hit "HR's" on are in their 30's and on the way out. One does not sustain a team long term with that type of signings but it's done by drafting wisely with a view to the future. The Cowboys are a good example of that philosophy. Can you imagine we've gone from "In Ozzie we trust" to citing Jerry Jones' drafting philosophy in a few years time! You are right though. What happened to the Ravens drafting since John became HC? Too much interference by John or has Ozzie lost his magic or alternately, have we lost too many talented scouts to other teams?? This is a very good post and just might hit at the root of our main problem. Until this FO figures out the answers to these questions, and corrects them, I fear that we will continue our downward spiral. Add to this our absolutely horrible decisions on signings in regards to the cap situation. We consistently live in "Cap Hades", and suffer from Ozzie's tunnel vision of thinking that quantity (draft picks) over quality (better players) is better. I, for one, have become convinced that he is wrong. It hurts me to have to say that I no longer believe "in Oz we trust".

So tired of reading how close we were to making the playoffs. 4" to 6" away from beating the Squealers and making it into the playoffs! Read it all the time. But, really, is it Only that one play that made us or broke us? How about all the losses that we should have won easily. The Jets, for Pete's sake! And just how many games did our coaches have such a Huge hand in losing for us? It wasn't that 4" to 6" play. It Never should have come to that. Another thought about something stated in this article. It was reported that the Ravens couldn't change Orr's mind about retiring. Given the seriousness of his injury, after all, I read that the doctors told him he shouldn't play football anymore. Why would the team even Try to change his mind? His quality of life is much more important than him playing football anymore. I believe that he made the wise decision and I pray that he will have a safe and fulfilling life ahead of him. And, finally, I sure wish that Harbs, since he didn't get fired, would have chosen to let our OC go and offered Dennison the job. Just some of my own personal thoughts, that's all.

I tend to agree with you. You know, Dallas was in a much different situation than we are now when they took Ezekiel at #6. Thay already had the best Oline in the NFL, and Elliot was better than any RB coming out this year. Plus, we have SO many other, more important, needs than a RB that it just doesn't seem to make sense to take one so high. I hate to sound like a pessimist, but we are really not a good team right now. Bisciotti says he didn't get where he is today by firing everybody. That may be true in his profession, but I don't think that his decision to keep Harbaugh and his OC and DC was very wise at all. The Ravens did not improve this past year, despite Harbs' spin that we did. The year before was the year of the Incredibly high # of injuries and we went 5-11. Well, thinking that 8-8 was so much better when we did Not have so high a # of injuries is really just that, spin. With so many less injuries we Should have had a better record than the previous year. And the bottom line is that the very bad coaching was one of our biggest problems, causing us some of those losses. Maybe not as a general philosophy, should firing people be the norm. But, sometimes, you just need to pull the trigger and realize that it's time for a fresh start. At the very least, Harbs should have been told that he either fires both his coordinators or he is fired himself, along with them. This team needs a lot of positions upgraded, and perhaps most importantly, it needs a new coaching staff. And that's to say nothing about Ozzie's reliance on quantity verses quality in his drafting philosophy. But, maybe he believes in that because he has whiffed so frequently of late with his high draft choices. Without an improved Oline, a 1st rd RB would probably be a mistake. He wouldn't be able to help hold a lead late in the game, among other things.

Amen. Center, which was a huge strength when Birk was here, has been a weakness since he retired. I, Big time, wanted us to get Mack. I am fast losing faith with "In Ozzie we trust". In fact, I think that I, actually, Have lost faith with it. Just too many high round draft choice misses. That, and what I've come to believe is his failed strategy of hoarding mid round draft choices. I've come to believe that he has to move to a quality verses quantity philosophy in the draft, but with his all too often whiffs in those early rounds, I'm not so sure that he can be successful with that either. I am Not a Flacco basher but, after watching Matt Ryan, I've come to believe that Ozzie should have listened to Bisciotti and moved up for Ryan instead of insisting that Flacco was the right guy for us. After years of denying it, I'm now at the point where I believe that Ryan is the better QB of the two.

I disagree with Williams being over rated. I think he stays if we offer an average salary of 8 mil or so. He won't make more than 10 anywhere he goes. the Wagner part is just hillarious! I'd be dissapointed if the Ravens keep him for that price. Maybe around 5-6mil a year. Otherwise just let him walk. We lose Williams if all we offer him is 8 million and we lose Wagner if all we offer him is 6 million. Wagner would be missed more than Williams. Wagner leaves, we are needing both a center and a LG, IF Lewis can play RT. If Lewis stays at LG, we would ned a center and a RT. Any way you shake it, if Wagner leaves we need Two starters on the OL, not just a center. And that's not even speaking to upgrading our OL depth. Pierce is a good start to replace Williams. Williams is over-rated, unless his fade in the last 4 games was due to being double teamed every play. That IS possible because I think teams saw that we had no pass rush and Did start double and triple teaming Williams and/or Jernigan.

If he is approaching free agency, how would a trade work? Could he refuse the trade to hit FA instead? Just asking, cause I don't know. he's under contract with the Eagles through 2020, and so he could be traded. jacket, I've always respected your opinions. So, if you don't mind telling me, do you think that he is an appreciable upgrade over Zuttah? A comment on here claims that he had more accepted penalties last year than Zuttah. I was surprised to read that. Don't know if it's accurate. I would have certainly thought that Zuttah committed more than the 8 accepted penalties the poster stated. Perhaps, though, that was because several of them were at incredibly bad times during the games. I admit that I am one fan who believes that we do need to upgrade at the center position.

To quote former President Ronald Reagan from a press conference when being heckled, "Aww, shut up". LOL! Just kidding, of course. Hope you realize that. We all have Every right to express our opinion on here. In fact, that's what this is for. Nevertheless, I Strongly disagree with the charge that Flacco is lazy. He worked VERY hard to rehab his knee. I do tend to agree that reading defenses is not one of his strong points. And, finally, yep, he was a 1st rd choice. And, for what it's worth, I really do think that Joe receives Far too much criticism on here. There are a LOT of teams that would Love to have him as their starting QB. Just look at the list of our past QBs. How many, and who, do you think has been better?

I agree. Brady perfectly fits the system he's in. I really don't think he'd be as good under a different system All speculation. With his obvious abilities, who knows whether or not our coaches would have developed a similar system in order to maximize his talents. This kind of stuff might be fun to think about but nobody can ever know how things would have played out. Think about it. How many times have we read on here our fans' thoughts that Belicheater coaches his teams to utilize his players' abilities, while Harbs seems to try to make our players conform to his own system. Well, like I said, perhaps at the time our HC wouldn't have done that. That's why it's ALL speculation.

Well, to be true, Belichick was a lot like Brady: back then it wasn't at all obvious that he would become what he eventually has. Back then Belichick was nothing more than a promising coach. Very true. But he Did go on to become the best coach in the NFL. My problem with him is, as good of a coach as he is, he just didn't have to become a cheater as well. Caught not once, but twice. Taping opponents' practices, and then "inflate gate". Fined twice. Why?!? As great of a coach as he is, he doesn't need to resort to cheating. To me, he's earned more than the honor of being recognized as the best coach. He's earned a well deserved "nickname", Bill Belicheater, coach of the New England Cheatriots. Such a shame!

We simply didn't need a good QB. One would have taken up an unnecessarily big portion of the cap. The roster was consciously made the way it was: a D that would dominate and an O just good enough not to lose the games the D was winning. McNair was just about the perfect level of QB it needed: one that doesn't habitually gives away the ball, can make big throws if need be, and can extend games and move the chains on occasion with his feet. That O didn't need a Tom Brady or a Peyton Manning... Not very often, in fact it's rare, that I disagree with you bio but, on this one, I Totally do. With Brady's amazing ability to elevate his teammates' level of play, I think he would have done wonders with our, or Any, offense. And, for him to be on a team with defenses like we historically had, there's no limit to what the Ravens would have achieved. Of course, as much as I admire Brady's abilities, I must confess, I would have absolutely Hated his cry baby antics. Nevertheless, the thought of the many Super Bowls I believe we would have won had he been our QB all these years is very nice to think about. Sure wish Cavanaugh would have been much more forceful. And all this, despite me Still thinking that Trent Dilfer got one of the rawest deals ever. He remains the Only Super Bowl winning QB to lose his job and, actually, his contract with the team. Talk about no gratitude! And for Elvis Grbac!!! Whew! Differ knew his job and was good at it. He played within himself and gave his team a chance to win pretty much every game.

What you suggest is nearly an impossible task. For every Dak Prescott, there are many, Many 4th to 6th rd QBs that Never become starters in the NFL, let alone very effective ones like Prescott. There's him, Brady of course, and Perhaps Cousins that come to mind. But the list of ones that never became starters is so long that there's not space to list them. Heck, just look at how many First round QBs never panned out. Finding the next Prescott is a Wonderful thought, but it's, also, a Highly unrealistic one as well.

I think that Morhinweg doesn't have a choice in the matter. If he wants to stay as our OC which, frankly, I Still wish he had not been allowed to, he better at least start out with an obviously greater commitment to the running game. I think that he was pretty well put on notice that if that doesn't happen, regardless of his personal opinion about it, he's not going to continue on here. I mean, it was pretty well unanimous, and when the Owner expresses his opinion on it which, as stated, he doesn't usually do, one better listen. After all, it's the owner who signs the paychecks. One might argue whether or not Harbs is on the hot seat, but it sure does seem that the seat is, at least, getting fairly warm. I'm not so sure that Harbaugh's "my way or the highway" mindset is as much in force as in years past. What I mean by that is if Morhinweg doesn't show more of a commitment to the running game, I think Harbaugh would find himself in a position where Bisciotti would mandate to him that either Morhinweg goes or Harbs does. I think that Harbs' much stated loyalty to his coaches just might not be as tolerated as it has been to this point. Many on here have opined that this could be a make or break year for Harbs. I tend to agree.

I read every comment about this article before deciding to write my two cents worth. Everybody seems to be a bit upset, and sure about the fact that the team's decision to draft what the fans like to refer to as "choir boys" over more talented,but possibly players with troubled pasts has caused the team to suffer and have its quality diminish. And, they may well be correct. But, I still think that the biggest losers in all this has been Ray Rice and his then fiancee, and now wife. After all, this is a man of impeccable character who made One giant alcohol fueled mistake, and saw it result in having his entire football career taken away from him despite many players who had much worse, and frequent mistakes of the same variety cause them as little as 4 game suspensions, or even less in the past. Mr. Bisciotti's decision to banish Ray from the team was, I think, rather heartless and extremely harsh and unforgiving as well. As absolutely horrible that I think domestic abuse is, I believe that Ray Rice tried Very hard to take immediate ownership of his actions and did Everything he could possibly do to attempt to better himself as a man, father, and future husband. There is NO excuse for what he did, despite the fact that the video clearly showed that his fiancee first attacked Ray. Still NO excuse. PLEASE, let me make that perfectly clear. But, I will say that despite what Mr. Bisciotti chose to do to Ray Rice, nevertheless, I certainly hope that nobody ever treats him the same way by never allowing him to Ever be forgiven whenever he makes a serious mistake in his own life. Oh, sure, it probably won't be domestic abuse, but I assure you that Mr. Bisciotti will, undoubtedly, make his own share of mistakes in his own life. It just seems to me that Ray Rice should have been treated, and punished, the exact same way that every other player in the league has been treated, and punished, for the same horrible mistake. The truth is he was not, and I think that it was highly unfair to him and his entire family. I don't even like to think of a world where there can never be any forgiveness. Thank you, Jesus, for forgiving me of my sins. Yes, please hold me accountable, but please forgive me also.

That really IS very sad. But, in all honesty, with Brady you're talking about one of, if not, The best 6th round draft choice in history. And, again in all honesty, the jury is still out on Perriman. But it IS undeniable that Ozzie, or our scouts, just do not seem to have the ability to recognize talent in a wr coming out of the draft. So many misses, and not very much talent.

I've always thought that Mr. Bisciotti is the best owner of a sports team that I've seen, and I still do. We are very lucky that he is the owner of the Ravens. But, that doesn't mean that he's incapable of making a mistake. I know that a lot of people will think I'm really full of myself for saying this kind of stuff, but let me at least Try to dispel that thought by stating, emphatically, here that I believe that he is Much more intelligent than I am. That does not change my mind about thinking that he is making a mistake about this though. But, it's His team, not the fans' team. He has Every right to make ALL the decisions. As successful as he is in running the business that made him a billionaire, though, that doesn't mean that Every entity should be run the Exact same way in order for it to be the most successful as it can be. A football team, with it's particular situation within a league that has it's own unique rules to follow, along with a CBA with the Players' Union (which can be vastly different than, say, a more typical workers union, if applicable) may have a better chance for success being run differently than a company in a different business setting. And, I have to wonder if he sees Harbaugh's obvious shortcomings as an NFL HC. All I hear is praise for Harbs from him. No mention at all about his glaring weaknesses. Well, realistically, I guess he doesn't want to air out those things in public, but I sure hope that he addresses them with him at the big meeting. And then, that he holds him accountable for improvement in those areas, just like Harbaugh would, or should, be doing with his players. I Still hope that I am proved entirely wrong in thinking that Harbaugh should be fired. I would Much rather me be dead wrong than for the Ravens to continue to be a mediocre team at best. I truly want to eat crow on this one.

This post is part delusional, part hypocritical... 1. If your plan is to sign quality FAs under the age of 30 to short term deals, then its quite simple... you'll never sign a single one of those players, because they will sign a longer term deal with more guaranteed money on a different team. We aren't the only team in the league. Quality FAs under the age of 30 have a LOT of suitors in FA, and not only do you have to compete on price, but you also have to compete on length. So good luck with that strategy, because its not going to work. 2. Ironically, many of the contracts you bashed also fall under the category of the contracts you WANT to see the Ravens give: Haloti Ngata signed a five year extension in 2011... at the age of 27. Naturally nobody complained about his contract until the very end, because that's what hypocrites do. Didn't hear a peep about it back in 2011. Lardarius Webb signed a six year extension in 2012... at the age of 26. Again, not many complaint about the deal when the contract was signed. Pitta signed in 2014 at age 28. I will agree that this contract was questionable, given his prior injury history. Clearly these kinds of players aren't just available everywhere, otherwise they wouldn't be on the PS or they would be making a whole lot less elsewhere. Heck, the Lions are still paying Ngata $6M a year on average even now. I don't know too many role players or PS guys making that kind of coin. It helps if you do your research and actually understand what the value of these players are. As usual, jacket makes an informed and sensible post. I think that we should appoint jacket as we fans' GM. He Always makes sensible and informed posts. I have Never seen one ranting post from him. I have Never seen one unresearched post from him. He Always backs his statements up with facts and common sense, rather than emotion. And he understands more about rules, contracts, salary caps, and other pertinent information than most other posters on this site. What do you say, jacket? Will you accept the nomination?

In the "Quick Hits" feature of this article, I saw the thank you from the organization to the fans, calling us the "best in the NFL". Well, it seems to me that a better way of thanking us fans would have been a wiser choice in the decision of whether or not to retain, not only our HC, but also, our OC and DC. It just seems highly unlikely that we can, realistically, expect much improvement next season because of those decisions. Frankly, I've been slightly surprised about just how high a percentage of fans appear to share this opinion. Of course, the Only opinion that matters, our owner's, apparently, doesn't agree. Sure hope I'm wrong about how low the chances are that we'll improve significantly, if at all, next season. I'm the first to admit that Mr. Bisciotti is much smarter than I am, so I really hope that he is the one who is right and I, along with many fans, are wrong about his decision.

we need whole new coaching. offense, defense, and head. If it's obvious to the fans, why isn't it obvious to Steve? That is an excellent question that, for the life of me, I cannot come up with an answer for. I Have to believe that this next season will Absolutely be a make or break year for Harbaugh. He Needs to get us back into the playoffs or he won't be getting another chance. It very well could be yet another tough year to watch and be a Ravens fan. And I'm stuck with it because NOTHING could change the fact that I'm a RavenManiac. That's for life. I honestly hope that I am 100% wrong about Harbaugh and will very happily eat my crow if he proves me wrong. I would just LOVE for that to happen. For real. But, I suspect that even if that were to happen, while yes, that crow would be eaten, doubts about Harbaugh would most likely remain for a while longer.

Sorry, meant to type running game defensive FADE, not said.

You're right, Eisenberg, it's Not complicated. It is, also, frustrating. You mention that the team has known about this problem (weakness at cornerback for years. made worse by Jimmy Smith's fragility) yet the only moves Ozzie has made to try to correct it have been feeble at best. I think it's really worse than you imply, because I do Not think that the team should even count on Smith because of his inability to stay healthy. I think the team should consider him as a bonus only. So, I'm of the opinion of Tavon Young locking down the inside CB position and us needing to find Two, not one, true starting caliber CBs. And, again, when Jimmy is able to play, he's a bonus or luxury. It's sad, but I think we have to expect him to continue to miss games due to injuries. History is the best indication of his future. I realize how difficult a task this will be for Ozzie, but it Is the reality of our CB situation. And that's to say Nothing about our totally inferior pass rush. To me, that's just as big a problem. Doom Might have a better year just because it's a contract year for him, but I don't think he's even going to be here. Suggs will be a year older although, hopefully, he will be healthy. He's truly near the end though regardless. I don't expect much help at all from our 2nd and 3rd round draft choices for this last draft. They were whiffs for Ozzie. Too bad too because better pass rush prospects were available. But, of course, Ozzie has to take only choir boys. Bottom line, I think that our pass rush situation is just as important as the CB one is. These are the TWO Top areas of upgrade needed for our defense to get back to being good again. The running game defensive said and the inability to close out games have to be figured out as well. That's a Lot of work. Probably more than one off season's ability to correct. And don't forget, we're only talking defense here. Ozzie Really has a Lot of work to do. And, on top of All this, it looks like Mr. Bisciotti whiffed this year too when he decided to keep Harbs and both his coordinators. I still hold out the tiniest of hopes that he, like he did with Billick, will have a change of heart about that decision.

Glad Ozzie make the picks and not you! so your happy with the bums that he picks I'm not can't wait for ozzie to be fired Most of us are pretty happy with the guys Ozzie picks. We've had some great seasons. And really good guys... I mean afterall, Ozzie did pick Ogden, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, among many others like Chris McAlister, and got guys like Shannon Sharpe, Derrick Mason, Todd Heap... and the list goes on and on.... SMH... I'm just amazed at how people live their lives completely ticked off about everything and everybody now a days. Some people (BiggMack?) insist on perfection - FROM OTHERS! yes I do (johnny-u) if you get picked in the 1st-3rd round of the draft you get payed millions to play football, so I have high expectation for those guys and they should be expected to perform to a certain level and for you to assume that people shouldn't is mind numbing to me but I understand everyone has their own opinions C'mon, BiggMac. I suspect that you're being somewhat argumentative here. Johnny-U suggests you insist on perfection from others, and you say, "yes I do"??? Perfection??? My fellow Ravens fan, if this be the case, I can tell you, with certainty, that you will NEVER be satisfied with Any football player the Ravens will ever have. Let me make this as plain and simple as I can for you. None of us will EVER see a perfect football player because I know that Jesus is Not going to sign an NFL contract.

The best LT in the league (per PFF) is considered "average at best? Dang, its hard to please some people. he hasn't faced a top 10 defensive line man 1-1 so how is he above average? BiggMack, he's faced Every defensive lineman and pass rushing LB that Every team he's faced has sent his way. He's faced some good ones. Anybody's list of their top ten is opinion. If you truly don't think he's above average, I suspect you'll have a very hard time finding that many Ravens fans that will agree with you.