Tenacious Faulker

Brooks hasn;t done anything imo to earn the spot and I can;t say if he's bette than Lewis anyways. Pees is not why he sucks - he didn't draft him, but if he feels Lewis is the better starter then who is anyone here to argue? The only thing maybe that Pees could do is tostart him when he thinks Lewis will benefit from being benched then seeing if Brooks rises to the occassion. FS is an incredibly hard position to learn takes and average of 3years to get it whih is why they brought in Lewis ahead of him - to learn. I can't tell if Brooks will ever get it, or not, but it may be too early to tell.

I was a big advocate of drafting Stephon Diggs out of Maryland this year. So wish they would've taken my advice (LOL!) as he's not tearing it up in Minnesota - like an ODB-lite. Given where he was taken they could've used their 4th rd comp pick used instead on CB Tray Walker. I however had expected Diggs to go higher. I think the Vikings struck gold getting him in the 5th, but he was worth using a 2nd or 3rd rounder on which is where I thought he should've gone.

"Massive blunder"? That's quite an overstatement. Given that Nicks has never regained his form from 2011 injuries and Oher was a solid poart of the team even if he didn't live up to a 1st round grade I can't see picking Oher over Nicks this as a "wrong" move. Both helped their teams earn a SB so I'd call this a "push" at best.

I'm going with No. I don't think Ray has what it takes to plan and scheme an entire defense. Ed Reed either. If they had any inclimnation to do so they would've been hired as a DC by now. HOWEVER, if you want Ray as a Linebackers coach and Reed as a secondary coach then maybe that would work out. Perhaps in a few seasons one could emerge as a DC. Just because the man talks a good game in the locker room before games doesn't make him a coach. Motivational speaker, yes, coach....not so much...unless its linerbackers coach.

It's good to see that fans here predominantly want to see wins over losses for high draft picks. I'll never understand that mentiality because 1) there is no guarranty that a top pick (even a #1 overall) will amount to a super star and 2) it breeds a culture of losing that this team hasn't known in the Flacco-Harbaugh era. Fair weather fans who want losses for higher draft picks needs to just stop with that loser rhetoric now. If you can't take it or just have that much more interest in the draft than in the actual season, stop watching now, just tune back in March, then promplty tune back out. All Ravens fans are disappointed. If the team hasn't quit then why should we expect them too?

All these points make sense together. LaFell was not goig to be the gritty focus of defenses. He has skill down field but a double team would wipe him out. He signed a $9M/3yr deal with the Pats and SSS signed a $10.5M/3yr deal here. I don't think they had the room to sign both. By comaprison, Sanders got a $15M/3yr deal which was a no go for Bmore. Now it you're talking "choice" of Panthers receiver to sign it would've depended on need. LaFell certainly learned from SSS. I think they felt SSS could inspire and teach the young guys more here. Doesn;t seem to have worked. Joe relies too much on SSS and he seems to demand the ball too much. The only thing I saw that the other receivers learned from SSS is how to spin the ball after a catch. Still, I don't see LaFell as a gritty teacher nor as a focal piece of an offense. SSS may have been the best option at the time. The comp pick thing I'm getting more abivalent about. I thought it was brilliant for a while, but its only brilliant for as long as you have talent from that plan that ends up producing. I think that's been the case here as the picks have been fair at best. I would like to see Ozzie more agressive in FA but maybe it's more the cap situation getting out of wahck with $24M this year going to players no longer on the team - the biggest of which are Jacoby, Rice, and Ngata.

1) It's a book, bruh. I'm not going to read you a bedtime story. Because it isn't a spoon-fed internet byte or 141 character twitter quote doesn't make it less true, but I undertand that it may to some who are either too lazy to do so or who simply don't have any real argument against it. Remeber, YOU refuted me. I operated under info that I picked somewhere along the line. Because you disagree, the onus is on YOU to (not me) to prove it otherwise. Spend less time online and pick up a book or pipe down until you have something of substance to add. Sometime people need to LEARN TO SPEAK WITH INTENTION, indstead of FOR ATTENTION. 2) The rest is now irrelevant. I really don't care to discuss anything else with someone who's more likely trolling than an actual adult discussion.

Steve Smith has dropped more balls than Little and is always near the top of the league in drops. By virtue of continued passes has Smith should he can still be productive. If drops is such a concern, can we at least replace Aiken or Brown with Little? Drops is not my biggest concer because he's had up and down seasons. A bigger concern for me is willhe be trouble in the locker room? He's worn his welcome out on 3 teams. Can the Ravens be a better fit and help him to reach his potential - even if it's 670 yds and 4TDs.that makes for a better optopn at #2 reciver than what we have AND a great #3 if Aiken steps up.

I don't see Joe has having "great pocket presence". "Good" maybe, and only when the line holds, but until he can make consistent plays while under pressure he is not "great". He is flustered easily when he's been hit or sacked a few times. On top of that, this season he's regressed in terms of his pocket presence and on field judgement.

1) You go look for it. There was freaking' book written about a decade ago that said they did those things. Jerry Markbreit. 2) If the NFL is not at a crossroads then its coming to one soon. I don't know what you think a crossroads is, but this WILL affect their bottom line and not even by 100%. A mere errosion and even a small loss of market share to a nother sporting league is crossroads enough. When the league touts "integrity of the game" as a reason for 8 out of 10 of its decisions, doesn't gteting the call right count? I mean the problem is gettiing worse. It's all over the news each week now. Megatron's catch, Dez's catch, the Fail Mary, Forsett's TD run vs the Lions on T-day 2012, the non-calls on the Pats for players not declaring as eligible last year, and many more that have changes the outcomes of wins. There were 3 controversial calls alone in last week's game against the Cardinals that altered the course of the game - Urschel's catch, Ross's non-fumble and CJ2k's stop. 3) Putting words in other poeple's mouth much? Go back and read it. I didn't say 100%. There will always be room for officials, just in an altered capacity. In a game of inches the refs can't see everything. In a league that demands game integrity the refs are failing because they can;t get all the facts straight. Even their fail-safes in NY failed. The tech is there to apply to the game to help officials with the tough calls. They will alwasy needs a few guys on the field for placing the ball, illegal formations, calling holding and false starts and the like. But when it comes to out of bounds, measuring for a first down seeing if the carrier was actually down, or if the ball was stripped/caught or whatever (i.e. plays that are too fast and getting the most mistakes) then use the tech. The refs will be there to look at the data which will be more irrefuteable than instant replay.

The refs getting it wrong and negating 7 yards was bad enough but had that play ended up in a TD this would've been massive black eye to the Ravens and the NFL. These refs simply cannot know all the rules back to front and its pretty embarrassing to watch when a coach or player takes them to school. And its only getting worse. The NFL is going to have to either start simplifying the rules OR start using more sensor based technology and fewer officials to prevent human error. And, YES, the technology is here today to make the latter possible in season or two.

I also wouldn't mind seeing Monroe traded. He's been horrible and I won;t accept injury as an excuse because he's ALWAYS injured. Boohoo, Eugene! Yanda played most of 2013 with a torn labrum in his shoulder. I'm beginning to feel the same about Jimmy Smith too. If he isn;t hurt, he's definitely lolligagging.

Aiken is nothing more than a 3rd WR on any team at best and he's being asked to be the #2 and #@1 when SSS was injured. I like Aiken, but he's been asked to do more than he's able. Brown is done. I can;t imagine how he goes from 524yds, 7TDs as a rookie to being totally irrelevant and ineffective. I blamed Joe for not using him earlier, but it appears that he just doesnp;t trust him. Not sure if that's on Joe (who also seems to have regressed) or on Brown, but his drops say he's done here. Perriman's status gives me pause about his potential too. Potential is not the question because it is clearly there, but if you never get to use it, it's useless. Whether this extended time out is his PCL or just that he doesn't have the heart to get in there no longer makes any difference. Harbaugh's latest comments cannot be taken at face value and I think the the F.O. is worried about letting the fans know they might've made a serious mistake with Perriman. He could be worse than a "BUST" - a "never-will-be". And trust me, I was thrilled with his pick day one of the draft, I don't make these comments lightly.

True. It's MORE than just suspect though. It's outright horrendous. There have been a number of retired refs in the past who've publically stated that they favored their favorite teams/players. They've said that if they mistakenly penalized a team, they would wait a few plays to make another BS, ticky-tack call to "balance" it out - as if that really works. The main issue is that the tome that is the NFL rule book is so bloated with legaleze to define every aspect of the game that your almost literally have to be a lawyer in order be an official, a coach, or, at the least, a paralegal as a player. Then try and apply ALL of that info at game-speed. It's an absolutely ludicrous prospect. Then there is the who cheating debate. There's always been suspicions of bookies paying underhanded refs to shave points so teams cover the spread or win outright. They are part time employees and could therefore, be easily tempted with the prospect of more money. NOW that these one week fanatasy leagues are spriniging up everywhere there is even more opportunity and motive for them to cheat than before. The NFL has arrived at a CROSSROADS. It is either going to have to dramatically pare back these rules and let the players play and (like the UFC) give the refs more judgement on calls surrounding player safety (i,e, make them a full time NFL employee with a salary that makes them professional and uncorruptable), OR, Start phasing out the imperfect human element in favor of more cameras and sensors to make the calls as absolute as the league wants them to be. In this day and age the technology is there to put them in balls, helmets, unis, pylons and posts and turf down to the 1" lines of every field. Even at an expense of $1-3 million per stadium, that is a trifling amount to the loss of integrity perceived by NFL fans and sponsors who WILL eventually spend their time and money elsewhere if they feel their team lost on poor officiating.

You can support Joe AND blame him too. He is to blame for a number of missed opportunities that would've decided more than a few games this season. With an arm like his there is no reason to have under thrown Givens (or Ross?) on that one deep ball tht would've been a score. The INT that ended the game could've been avoided with Aiken open. Joe is constantly staring down his target usually Steve Smith, although, he did the same thing to Gillmore in the two minute drill. Joe latches onto favorite targets too much and makes it easy for DBs and LBs to determine his target. He doesn;t step up into the pocket very often even when they do make room. Joe has plateaued in his development IMHO. He displays little in the way of game control like his contemporaries - Rogers, Dalton (this season), Rivers, and Roethlisberger. When was the last time he tried to draw an off sides penalty with his count? When was the last time he pump-faked the ball? Why is he not running with the ball more for first downs and scores when necessary considering that he is more than capable of it? He tries to carry the team on his shoulders but FAILS to take the game into his hands...or at least this season anyway. He IS at least caling more audible, BUT that seems to be limited to the first half and disappears in the 2nd. Joe certainly deserves his share of the blame - as much as the coaches and any other player that isn't playing to his full potential this year. If he wants to be one of the greats, if he wants to make it to another SB, if he wants to start getting the credit he deserves he's going to have to be more decisicve, more confident in HIS vision, be more like the latter haf of his 2012-self and take the risks that HE (not his OC) feels is right. I doubt they bench him for it when he makes a mistake too especially if he makes plays that lead to scores.

A foot problem that requires surgery usually ends up being Lisfranc. No surprise there. The bad thing is that thee injuries carry a 20% chance of not healing enough to ever get back to being NFL ready.

I am with you in the Julian Edelman part and Edelman has had problems with injuries early in his career too. Special for me is his ability to "do it all" but there are many guys in the NFL that are built like this and most flame out or limp along - Brian Walter, Austin Collie, Danny Amendola, Welker and Edelman are perhaps the the true success stories for this type of hybrid player. I like a scrappy underdog like Camp because the odds are against him succeeding. Camp is still missing something (conditioning, flexibilty, awareness, ability to abosrb blows - idk) but he's not there yet. He's has thigh, ankle, consussion, and hamstring issue to date. I hope he figures it out, but right now Jeremy Ross could end up taking his role as he has similar skills and perhaps more athleticism. Also Raheem Mostert has those skills even thogh he's perhaps more raw. To me Camp does not quite have that IT factor. He could still develop IT, and I hope he does, but I'm not holding my breath.

Overall Ozzie has usually found 2 gems in each draft that are of use. 2010 was his worst that I can recall, but we didn't really seem to suffer for it. I'm sure though someone might look back on the picks Ozzie traded away in the first round and can insert some other player that could've taken that made it to the pro bowl, but that's revisionist history and N if L. The reality is that there aren't many teams better at drafting overall and most tend to be better at some postions than others. The issue as I see it now is not so much the draft picks, but the free agent pick-ups that have just fallen flat. If you think our team wins because of 2 standout rookies each season then you have another thing coming. The free agents we've signed in the past 3 seasons are mostly desperation move - mid-season replacement players aka the bottom of the barrel. The fact they we seem to be in this mess each year now seems like two reasons - conditioning and salary cap. Our salary cap is getting out of hand and we have like $7-10M wrapped up in personnel that is no longer on the team. That number might not get much better in 2016 especially when Joe's salry is doubled. So I get Ozzie and DeCosta trying to get more for less" and valuing his draft picks, but the low to mid-level talent that they're trying to cultivate hasn't panned out since 2012. In any event players need to be protected from the rigors of the season and conditionin is paramount to prevent injuries. From 2012 to 2014 the Ravens have been ranked the 3rd healthiest team, but our injuries seemed to be concentrated generally by position. This year we've had 26% of the 53-man roster go on IR so far. Therefore, they may need to do better with their conditioning. I'm not sure if the conditioning coach has failed or that Harbaugh as slacked off of that aspect somewhat, but it has to get better. Three out of our four last seasons worth of injury bugs truncating our post season has to stop.

Yeah, been seeing a lot of Mosely haters this year and it drives me nuts. The MLBs have been having to do it all and are spread thin. It's not so much that he's missing tackles (like Elam) as he's a step or two behind making a play. Why is that? Pass rush injuries and the seondary has been playing bush league football and the MLBs are forced to drop back in coverage during screens and play action after the play starts. He asnd Daryl Smith literally have to make a 50/50 call then readjust when the QB decides to throw or the second they see the fake hand-off. So of course his tackle counts will be down as QBs try to through the ball where they are not. Daryl Smith however, has missed some tackles but that's a separate conversation. This is Mosely's 2nd year and is being asked to do it all without much support up front (without Suggs/Dume) and to do the DB's job for them. He has 2 sacks and is on par for 11-12 pass defense. On top of that a few fans have called him to the carpet for poor leadership skill as if he's sudden is supposed to be Ray Lewis in his second season when Ray Lewis himself wasn't the "Ray Lewis" we think of until about 2000. Also I'd add Za'Darius Smith to the 2015 role call for draft picks that work out. He too has 2 sacks on the season in limited snaps. That might improve now with our pass rusher corps needing all hands on deck. Dume returned to practice today, but might need someone like Z to spell him more this week.

If we lose him to free agency then we might a 3rd round comp pick for him in 2017. He's going to ask for (and likely get from some team) more than the Raves are willing to spend on him and they'll retain Yanda. Any player that is still under a rookie deal that people here say should be cut should rethink that. They're cheap talent and don't impact the cap as much even when tey get IR'ed part way into the season. It just doesn't make sense economically speaking unless they need to make rom for another FA. Therefore, Camp and LT will stay a Raven, Elam and Arthur Brown require additional thought since they've been paid their guaranteed money, but have another year (we won't might not get a comp pick in 2017 if dropped), Pitta may end up with an injury settlement for the remained of his $16M guarranty if he can no longer play. Otherwise the team will have his salary in the books as dead money until 2018. They need to satisfy another $7M to make that happen tho and Joe's salary is going to double next season. This is a really bad situation for th team, but had that freak accident not happened would've otherwise been a good contract. Webb has a great relationship with the team. Unlike other "what have you done for me lately GMs" Ozzie will work with the players that have been good for the team, good men and dealt with him in good faith. Webb's contract was a combination of that, inflated 2010 stats in having Ed Reed disrupt plays he could capitalize on and a lack of overall CB talent that year which made Webb more valuable than it should've. Daryl Smith is not a bad contract, and he's an underrated player and leader. If the secondary would do their damn job then the linebackers (including Mosely) wouldn;t be caught in the middle against teama that expose our DBs as the charlatans that they are this year. Smith is a good pass coverage linebacker and not a great run stopper which was known athis signing. If the Ravens had to part ways with him they cold now as he's been paid all his guaranteed money. Canty is cuttable in 2016 if they feel his leadership, waning skills and increasing injury risk are no longer worth their time.

If Forsett's ankle is boarder line I'm for letting Forsett rest a game and giving Buck the rock this game. Obviously its not my cal, but the 49ers are bad enough that we could recover from early mistakes and he needs the snaps to help let the game slow down for him. I'm not feeling as good about LT's long-term prospects with the team. He's too fragile and has made minimal impact when he has played and I don;t see that changing while he's here. Unless they can unload him for a 2016-17 draft pick let him finish his rookie deal and "sayonara". The Harbaugh to USC rumor is just pure comedy. Can't believe that Dan Patrick made a thing of that. Guess that's just another sportscaster to not take seriously now. Regarding the 49ers as favorites over the Ravens, it seems the voting is a bit too overwhelmingly in their favor considering they have the same record as the Ravens (1-4) while playing a less difficult schedule while being outscored by competitors 55-140 compared to the Ravens 123-137. Guess the ravens are back to being overlooked and underrated by the media once more. Maybe that's what they need.

I was a big advocate of Camp when I wrote scouting reports for receivers last year and was really happy with the Ravens trading a pick just to draft him. I don't have anything against Camp, but WHAT other than being a feel good story makes you think he's so special?

He apparently was trying to avoid it. Likely a boarder line injury that he hoped would get better sooner, but didn;t. I'm over LT. Too fragile. Barely any playing time and mixed results at that. Mostert is built like Forsett, but I like his 4.32 40 speed for kick/punt returns. He's in Jacoby Jones territory with feet like that. He also has experience as a receiver so he might be a better Swiss army knife than Campanaro too. We'll soon see.

I think the Lace Curtain would be fitting.

1) Don't forget that the salary cap for 2016 will go up another $8M-$12M. That's been the trend since the new CBA. I'm not sure if Joe cuts his salary in half, but it a generous offer. I was thinking about $10M, but you might be right. $5-$6M for rookie is a bit high. It depends on the size of the draft class but that averages about $4-$.5M. IF the Ravens traded away any of those top picks for Alshon (likely a 1st rounder) then that's ~$2M in cap space. 2) This is why I'm an advocate of bringing him in before the end of the season where his prorated salary is justr $436k and give the Ravens an inside track on resigning. l don't believe teams will see him at the same level as Demaryius and Dez, but even if they did I think I've shown that there's room to spend uncharacteristically high by the Ravens' standards. Certainly there are obstacles, but its not impossible, especially when Ozzie and DeCosta are involved. If they could make the Dumervil signing a reality then there is hope for virtually anything. Not saying they give into my desires or anything, but nickel and diming the team without viable playmakers as they tried to this year can take you only so far - or not far at all.