Purple_City39

I'm going to say no. The Ravens may have stated that the size of the WR wasn't important but I don't believe that. They also stated that they were perfectly fine with the WRs they had right? Trestman likes big WRs. When you have no deep threat on a team with a strong armed QB, you take the fastest WR in the draft who is also a bigger WR. The Ravens scouted Perriman hard, according to that one UCF coach. They'd have drafted him regardless imo

2nd and 3rd in the division unless Cleveland surprises folks

Yeah, Flacco does deserve credit here also. How many guys have come in and seemed to have instant chemistry early on in recent years? Boldin, Smith Sr, Aiken, Brown, Campanaro, Daniels, etc. Some times it gets worse as the season wears on (which could be attributed to a lot of things) but initial reaction with most receiving options in recent years has been about how they formed very quick chemistry with Joe.

Expectations are simple. 2015 AFC North division champions. If this team can stay relatively healthy in the secondary at at key offensive positions like QB and WR, we'll win the division. The o-line, RBs, and even TEs can take a hit or two imo, the d-line can probably take 3 (although I pray we stay all around healthy). The secondary, WR, and QB positions will determine how we do imo. Stay healthy there and I can't imagine that we don't win the division

He's a FB that can easily block a defender to give the QB time and he can also sneak out the backfield since he also has good hands. Think about pretty much any of Juice's catches. He's usually wide open and he usually gets a lot of yards after the catch because of it. As a FB, he's almost never going to garner much attention in the passing game so having him catch a pass or two a game is likely going to give you a big gain/first down. And as a FB he's still a run blocker. I'd much rather have Juice on the field than Boyle easily. Waller I like a lot more due to potential but if he can't put that potential together, give me the guy that'll save my QB some pain and probably get me at least 10 yards out the backfield

Manny was successful early on. Flloyd seemed ready to fight it out up until that 3rd round (or was it 4th) hit to the face that stumbled him. After that, Mayweather did things his way. I fully disagree with the many people that say Floyd ran all much. In actuality, he played Pacquiao from early on. Taunted him into punches (like when he kept saying "nope" after 3 consecutively blocked barrages). Mayweather backed himself into the ropes a few times to to let Manny wear himself out only to use the same swing and slide move to get out the ropes. Floyd dominated that fight. Fighters struggle against Boxers

Oh wow. In terms of the bolded, I said the exact same thing on another message board just this morning. That week 2 game turned me into a fan wishing we had big receivers to just dominate corners the way theirs did Washington, Foxworth, and the safeties. It looked so embarrassingly easy as Rivers cruised to the best game of his career, at that point anyway. I still to do day don't get why they ran on 4th and 1. A pass to any WR or Gates probably converts or scores since they were inside the 20 if I recall.

Also add that Brown was injured early in the season and that's why he didn't play as much. Honestly, I also don't get the talk of Marlon being at the bottom between those three. Especially in a Marc Trestman office where a big man is loved the most. Smith Sr. is guaranteed a spot amongst the top 2 easily, along with Perriman, but Brown will have to either regress heavily to be behind Aiken and Campanaro. Either that or the final two need to seriously outshine him. The fact that Trestman is the OC is also a reason I wouldn't count out a 6'6, 240 soft hands catcher with 4.4 speed.

Not only Harbs and Trestman but also think about the WR coach, Engram. Last season we saw 7th rounder, Campanaro look good when on the field, FA Aiken look good when on the field, Brown caught everything thrown his way when targeted also. Name the last time we've seen low round picks or journeyman receivers come into Baltimore and look decent? Engram is a huge difference maker right now and I think he can get something out of a 6'6, 240 WR with good hands and 4.4 speed. Speaking of which, you don't think the Ravens front office and coaches saw what Pittsburgh did with a similar sized WR in Bryant last season? I just can't see them trying to stash him unless he just sucks or truly gets hurt. If he's on IR in 2015 then you might as well right him off because nobody ever comes back from rookie season IR stashing in Baltimore

Harbaugh's statement after the last game about Smitty having "a role" that may not be an every down role makes me wonder if he'll truly still be the number one. My depth chart, pending injuries or a player just plain sucking far worse than expect, would look like this: Perriman Smitty Aiken Brown Campanaro Waller Getting injured last season hurt Butler a lot. I also think that if Aiken, Brown, or even Waller can completely impress the coaches this offseason that Smitty could even end up being used as mainly a slot receiver. It's incredibly unlikely though that Waller wins that battle but I definitely look forward to a day when he and Perriman are the outside receivers. Having two big guys outside that can both go deep would be great for Joe since defenses wouldn't be able to role coverage to one side.

I'm not even worried about it that much anymore (since there's no changing it) but it's not really close. Denver and Oakland are about 1,300 miles apart. The distance from Baltimore to Denver is about 1,660 miles. Clearly it's a little shorter but that's still a long distance. To compare, the distance from San Fran to Oakland is 12 miles. "Please give us a 12 mile week to week commute on the west coast so we don't spend a stupid amount of time traveling". "No, but this 1,300 mile week to week travel is almost as good". That said, hopefully the players can deal with it. They simply don't have a choice. Doesn't mean fans can't be upset about it though

The back to back games with the Bengals and Steelers, the back to back west coast trips twice, 5 of the first 7 on the road. Wow. Those portions of the schedule are ugly. Even the 3 out of 4 home games to end the season aren't pushover games. If/When the Ravens make the playoffs this year they will have earned it

It goes by contract and playing time. Torrey is getting $8M a year so that's at least a 4th. Not sure where it crosses into a 3rd. I know $5M average goes to a 5th so you have to figure Torrey is no less than a 4th IF he plays 70% or so of the snaps

Go on the Ravens facebook page and read the comment there. You'll still find the "We need a new QB" posts and every now and then you'll see the rare, bushy tailed, "start Tyrod, he's the bestest!!!111!" people pop up

Exactly. Romo, Dalton, Kaepernick and Ryan have all received big contracts since Joe. Tannehill's could max out at over $100M also. These 5 QBs combined don't reach Joe's playoff win column and none of them have played as consistently elite in the playoffs as Joe has since 2010 (24 TDs and 4 INTs). At this point, it's safe to safe we got a good deal from Joe.

Don't be too sure. Trestman has a history of passing a good amount more than running. Besides, if Davis comes here he'll be a receiving option. Daniels may not be resigned and Pitta has already dislocated his hip twice, once without contact, so he can't be relied on too heavily. That just leaves Gilmore, who I like a lot

I agree and was thinking this. At 6'2, 217 (I think), he has good size to him. And it's not like he wouldn't immediately become our 2nd or 3rd best CB. The main reason though is that he should come relatively cheap as the Chiefs got him for 5.3M a year average. We could get him for that or a little less

How do people feel about CB Sean Smith? The Chiefs appear to be about 10M over the projected cap right now and they still need to resign Houston. Cutting Smith saves them $5.5M with dead money of only about $2.5M We need CBs and we know Ozzie goes after released players quicker than unrestricted free agents. Not sure where Smith ranks among CBs but I've always been a fan of him

Ok, then this does clear up a few things. For one, anybody that thinks we'll overlook Marshall to keep a comp pick is incredibly mistaken for two reasons. 1. as you said, the talent in a 3rd, 4th, or 5th round comp pick will likely not match that of Marshall. 2. If we get him it's by way of trade or he was cut so it wouldn't affect the comp picks anyway. Also as GrimCoconut stated, neither Smith nor Dumervil actually affected the comp picks due to when Smith was signed and that Dumervil was released by Denver.

I'm not quite sure what your current stance is. Yesterday you were saying you seriously doubt Ozzie has ever not signed a player due to comp picks, now you're saying they don't sign "cheap" free agents because of the comp pic process. The Brandon Marshall concept doesn't apply because if we get him this offseason, it means he was cut or traded for and thus, not affect comp picks. My original stance was that Ozzie does not go after UFAs often, regardless of whether they are expensive or cheap, because of how the affect the comp pick process. You disagreed with that here Do you see how these two bolded sentences contradict? If you're now agreeing that Ozzie does avoid UFAs due to his love of comp picks then we are in agreement. A franchise that has had the most comp picks since 94, while not being established until 96, says a lot

The problem here is that you're only thinking about the big names and higher priced free agents. I only mentioned those names to show Ozzie isn't afraid to spend a little. You're ignoring the fact that we don't even go after cheap UFAs. Just looking at last season, we didn't we go after a proven former Baltimore player who was a free agent like Josh Wilson but go after Aaron Ross? Wilson signed a 1 year deal for under a million. The reason is, Wilson was a UFA and Ross was cut. This is just an example as I know Wilson was an UFA off the top of my head since I had a discussion on it last year. But again, it's not only about the expensive guys. Feel free to name the last 5 cheap UFAs we've signed. Dumervil and the Smith's actually back up my point. Ozzie isn't afraid to go after names and spend a little money......so long as they are released/cut by their teams.

You think it's a coincidence? Who were the last 5 UFAs signed by the Ravens that you recall? In terms of the importance of comp picks, Gilmore, Taliaferro, and Juice are a few examples of what Ozzie can do with comp picks. It's why he'd jump into a bidding war for someone like Dumervil, Smith Sr, etc but you almost never hear about him going after others. For a front office that admittedly loves having as many picks as possible, I'd bet they factor in comp picks when they choose who to go after in free agency right along with price, age, etc.

A few issues with that. The first is what his price tag will be. Might be too much for Baltimore. The second is that he's a serious concussion risk. And 3rd, Ozzie isn't a fan of the unrestricted free agents as it hurts the comp picks in the future.

Ngata is currently a 16M cap hit. Cutting or trading him leaves Baltimore on the hook for 7.5M which is much better. Even a contract extension likely doesn't drop him below that 7.5M mark unless he takes a real cheap deal for about 4 additional years. Everyone else on the d-line should be under contract (I expect Canty to be cut also) and they looked good the last 4 games without the big guy. Didn't miss a beat. That 8.5M saved can go towards a few free agents