Purple_City39

I'd say it was a combo of both. We had some amazing rosters from 2001-2007, minus the QB, and we didn't see the type or results we did from 2008-2014. In just 2008, with a division 3 rookie QB, the Ravens won more playoff games than they did in the 7 seasons prior. John deserves credit just like those players do, just like Ozzie does

I never understood when I'd see post talking about how Jimmy gets beat often, or even at all really. I can't remember the last time he gave up even 40 yards in man coverage and I'm pretty sure the only TD he allowed all season was in zone coverage against Cleveland. Jimmy Smith, when healthy, has easily been a top 3 cover corner since about 2013. Doesn't matter who it's been against, whether A.Brown or C.Johnson, he shuts them all down except the occasional play by AJ Green. The only real complaint that should ever be lobbed at him is staying healthy. Even he seems frustrated by that if you saw his body language after his last injury

I'm most excited about Perriman and the run game IF they can fix the o-line. Dixon and West have proven to me they can play. Give the Ravens an o-line that can run block better than we saw in 2016 and the run game will dominate. And from the little we saw of Perriman sharing the #3 spot and being the 4th option at best on most plays, he put in some nice work at times. His final stat line against Washington and Josh Normal looks bad, but if I'm remembering correctly he abused Norman twice deep for what would have been about another 60 yards and a TD if he 1) catches the first pass, and 2) gets his second foot down for the second pass. Add in some of the great plays he did make (catch in Buffalo, Browns TD catch around the defender, 59 yard crossing route TD) and it's hard not for me to be excited about him.

1. People never see the full scope of the Boldin trade. Boldin was the underneath chain mover. The Ravens traded him knowing (without foresight) that Pitta could take over that job. They knew (without foresight) that Torrey AND Jacoby could handle the outside. Then Pitta fractured his hip in the offseason. Jacoby got hurt week one. Even the backups we had at the time like Deonte Thompson got hurt (not that he was worth counting on though). THEN the o-line and the run game dropped off into oblivion. So whereas the short-sighted can say "see what happened without Boldin", others can see that a whole lot went wrong on that offense 2. Nobody pays a 3rd down pass rusher 7.5M a year to sit on the bench for 1/3 of the snaps or as insurance for an injury. Suggs and Dumervil stay healthy and half the fanbase is complaining about all that money to a situational pass rusher. Keep in mind Suggs and Doom have 24 combined NFL seasons and they only played less than 14 games in a season a combined 5 times. 3. No they didn't only extend Joe and Suggs. You're apparently forgetting Jimmy, Monroe, Yanda, Pitta, S.Smith, D.Smith, Dumervil, Weddle, Wallace, Watson, Tucker, Forsett, and others that have been extended or signed in FAs. For Seattle, they were signing a ton of guys on rookie deals to extensions. That's MUCH easier and cheaper than re-signing a guy on the end of "2nd contract". The Ravens also can't help that some of the guys they counted when they were extended/signed in FA to get injured and simply eat up cap (Pitta, Monroe, Watson, etc). Hindsight is clearly your primary ammo here but but with that you might as well blame Ozzie for not drafting Brady, Sherman, A.Brown, etc also

Same format 1. Why is Hurst the only option you mentioned? Is it because it helps your narrative? Are we done with FA and the draft already? 2. Yes, we lost one of our 4-5 undrafted starting ILBs. It's gonna be impossible to replace him (/sarcasm) 3. NT and CB. Do we have time to replace them at all or are we forced to go into the season with this current roster? Negativity is fun and all I guess

Hmm. 1. Do you really think the 2016 draft was bad? Dixon, Lewis, Pierce from the undrafted pool? The only good player was Stanley huh? 2. Why is ILB added to the list? We lost a formerly undrafted player at the position. In the last decade, do you remember how many undrafted ILBs have started and played well for Baltimore? Not saying it's some guarantee but that's clearly a position the Ravens fill fairly easily. With how much they reportedly liked Onuwasur, they may already have that filled. 3. In one post you say the only way to compare is to compare to playoff teams, then ignore that we beat the Steelers convincingly enough and were an arm stretch away from sweeping them. They were a playoff team, right? 4. So you think you need the a change coaches to change outcomes? Let's go back to those Steelers you referenced. Tell me who their coaches were in 2012 and 2013 when they went 8-8 both years, and then go check out the fact it was the exact same coaches in 2014 when they won the division. Maybe you don't like the Steelers. How about the superbowl team, the Atlanta Falcons? Same HC, OC, and DC this year that they had last year when they were 8-8. I bet they regret not firing their coaches.....

Well, at this stage in the we're simply working on assumptions, right? As of now, I have to assume the front office was honest when they said they wanted more good CBs. We can directly relate at least 1 loss (likely more) to having 1 above average CB who got hurt with no adequate replacement. If they keep their word, we are better than an 8-8 team. We all believe we win at least 1 more game if we simply run the ball more and have balanced play calling. Well, the front office also talked about that plus the o-line. They brought in Gregg Roman to show they were serious about that. We also saw a lot of bad plays due to lack of chemistry between QB and WR. The QB has already committed to working on that in the offseason for the first time in who knows how long. There's really no reason to believe the 2017 team will perform the same or worse than the 2016 if just these things see a slight improvement. Considering Baltimore isn't a team that gets blown out often, little improvement can lead to a big change. For example, a better backup QB, or #2, and we beat the Giants (9-7). A win there, and we still have a shot at a WC spot in week 17 and we don't see the completely unmotivated team that we saw that week. That's 1 small change that potentially added 2 wins. The powers that be in Baltimore have earned some faith imo. People complained about the drafts, then look at the 2016 draft. People talked about the problem of avoiding character risks in the draft, they've changed their stance on that outside of domestic violence. I see coaches, execs, and players that sound like they refuse to not have another season without a winning record and playoffs. I've seen an owner call players out by name for the first time ever. An owner strongly suggest that people at the top and players haven't been doing as great as they should. I'm seeing a completely different approach, verbally so far as they can't do anything else yet, than what the team has done in forever. Since 2000, this team has never had 2 non-winning seasons in a row. I have no reason to believe everyone involved won't make sure that streak doesn't continue. I can't speak for everyone else, but this is what "gives me the right" to believe that this team won't be anything other than improved in 2017

People keep forgetting that if KO would have stayed (at 8.5M a season) he'd have been the LT. So drafting Stanley wouldn't have happened. (KO gave up no sacks but committed 7 penalties btw, 5 of which were holding penalties that prevented him from giving up a sack) And the Ravens didn't just let good-great players leave. They tried to resign almost every one only to be outbid. KO is making elite money for a LT, let alone a LG. Suggs and Dumervil had just dominated the season before KO left. With no reason to expect Suggs to tear his achilles in week 1 of 2015 nor for Doom to be injured most of 2016. You simply don't pay a guy 7.5M a year to be the #3 at any position, but hindsight changes that concept I guess. I am curious, you're saying to let Wagner walk if he wants 10M per year (he's been the #1 RT in two of his three seasons as a starter) but you suggest we should have kept KO at all cost. They've been equaling dominating at their respective positions, so what's the difference?

In 2011 we couldn't beat the Jags. How did that affect our 2012 season?

I 100% agree with you and the other poster about Wallace and I agree with you about Perriman (I got flamed for that already). I don't like not having Waller on that TE list though. Chris Moore also needs to prove he can catch a pass. Getting open wasn't an issue for him, catching the ball was.

I don't really get the concept of thinking ILB is a big need now that even requires any consideration in the first two rounds. We just had an undrafted player there. In fact, since 2005, we've had more undrafted ILBs next to the "main guy" than we've had drafted players. Not saying it's a lock that we'll find another undrafted gem for the position, but I don't see the idea of thinking we need a 1st or 2nd rounder there either

Lattimore does have ridiculous recovery speed, and is probably the most NFL ready CB, but I can't say I'd be upset at the team drafting Davis over him. The old adage of defense winning championships is still true overall imo, but in 2 weeks we'll have an offensive superbowl. Not to mention having a highly paid QB but not giving him the weapons to succeed. Plus I'd be surprised if Lattimore is there at 16

Already said they would, minus domestic violence guys. Woman beaters are still off the radar for Baltimore

^^^ I'm not going to quote the whole post but no, dead cap can't be traded. And no, Joe will not get an extra 24.5M in his bank account this season. I think Joe's actual salary, aka money that will deposit into his account in the 2017 season, is around 6M-8M. And after easy to do research, I see his salary is actually 6M for 2017.

I've been feeling this way also.

This sucks to hear but I wish him the best.

KO played exclusively at RT during the regular season of his rookie year and honestly, he wasn't all that great. He showed serious strength in the run game but was beat often as a pass blocker. Without looking, I think he allowed around 9 sacks with another 5 penalties or so. He was basically Oher. But when they moved him to LG in the post season, that's when he became a dominant o-lineman. Lewis won't be the mauler in the run game that KO was, but he'll be a very good pass blocker and a good run blocker overall

I think it's amazing how easily a few games can make such a huge difference in the perception of a HC. One extra win in 2013 and they were a playoff team even with all the players lost and the worst run game in league history. Mosely doesn't fall against the Steelers and he helps wrap up Brown and we sweep and likely beat the Bengals also since the team would have had motivation to actually play. Just that and Harbaugh makes the playoffs 7 straight years, makes it 8 of 9 years overall, and nobody questions how warm his seat is. Two games play out differently and Harbaugh is the man practically unanimously as opposed a 50/50 split.

I think this is my favorite part of anyone's post. 1. Call Dalton better than Flacco 2. Say Flacco needs a great o-line, stud running game, stud WRs, and an effective defense to succeed 3. Fully ignore the fact that Dalton has had all that practically his whole career

Is it fair to say they aren't talented if they've been injured? Kaufusi is one of those players and I doubt anyone has seen enough on an NFL level to say he's not talented. Maxx was loved his rookie season after he was the last TE standing, but he's been injured a lot lately. Same with Gillmore. Of the 13 picks during your chosen timeframe, only Brown, Brooks, and Elam can fairly be called untalented imo. Now the injuries are another level. I don't know what you'd call those. Now, of the 17 picks in the 4th and 5th rounds over the last 4 drafts, at least 8 are pretty talented which is a big deal considering the rounds in question. These things balance out. For all the praise the 1996 and 2008 drafts got due to the first 2 picks in each, the remaining picks of both drafts weren't that special (except maybe J.Lewis in 96). People really need to start looking at entire draft classes and not just the first few rounds.

So basically Joe and the defense were pretty inconsistent but everyone has their least favorite of the two that they want to put all the blame on?

Okay, how about this. Pitta is garbage as a blocker, both against the run and pass. That means he's purely a receiving TE. As a receiving TE, he was garbage as he couldn't stretch the field, his 1st down per pass ratio was one of the league's worst IIRC, and he wasn't even much of a TD threat. His only contribution was catching the many 3 yard passes Joe threw him that the opposing team gladly gave him because it was rare for him to get yac.

It's incredibly outlandish. I'd love to see an example of CEOs (since they make far more than 50k) giving up their salary to the employees can have more money. I don't get the focus on Joe's contract. How is Ben making about 1 million per year average, and has better talent around him on offense AND still has some decent talent on defense? How did Peyton, before he retired, make 20M per season and STILL have pretty good offensive talent AND a dominant defense?? It gets old seeing people blame Joe's contract yearly if this team doesn't do great.

There you go again, reading into things however you want and calling them fact. I said "which Ravens WR..." and you respond with a TE. Way to prove a point for me In terms of the rest, yes you assumed what I meant and you can stroke yourself as much as you want on thinking you interpreted me correctly, but you'll forever be wrong and wrapped up in your own ego. No backtracking. Perriman should definitely be thrown into the starting mix because that's what you draft a WR in the 1st round for. There is no WR (make sure you read it carefully, maybe twice this time) on the team with a higher ceiling. There is no WR (again, read the two letters) who didn't have issues with drops. There is also no WR currently under contract who made the spectacular catches that Perriman did make. Now if the Ravens go out and sign another starting caliber WR, then maybe the situation goes a different route. But as of now, there's no reason not to start Perriman.

You do know that every team that drafts on a "BPA" system basis it on need also, right? You think it's a coincidence that team's with a young franchise QB in place that draft early never draft a QB in the first or second round? Because it'd be stupid to draft a QB that high who may very well be BPA when all he'll do is sit behind your franchise guy for years. Who knows, maybe it's a coincidence the Steelers spent a 1st round pick on Jarvis Jones the year James Harrison went to Cincy. Or that Cincy ends up with a second round QB after Palmer refuses to play for them. Or....or, maybe every team's BPA board has a metric that includes need.