Dorota

KO is better at guard than majority players in the league and he holds up at blindside tackle too, however, if he wants to be the highest paid guard in the league, then bye-bye, because I still think Yanda deserves more. Yanda is an absolute beast and is more durable, doesn't have back problems and can play through injuries as he's proved in the Super Bowl run. If KO stays, I'll be really happy, but if he really wants top dollar, he'll find it elsewhere.
I'd like to keep Upshaw, if we can and if he isn't more expensive than his worth. He's not flashy, he's not a pass rusher, but he does an important job and he does it well. Provided we either get a fit Sizzle back, Joey Bosa, or ZaDarius Smith transformed to pass rush, Upshaw is the one who draws enough attention to allow them to do it.

PS: I'm heartbroken over Buck (Daryl Smith) leaving. Canty I like too, but Buck is still a beast, while football was taking a toll on Canty these last two years, and he will do great in TV.

6 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

I'm kinda happy with Darian Stewart and Owen Daniels getting their rings... Although both only palyed one season in Baltimore, both players' contribution has been grossly underappreciated IMHO. Yep, Stewart is no Ed Reed and OD is no Todd Heap - but both have had absolutely solid seasons in purple... And man, could we utilize a Darian Stewart... (Owen's - with Kubiak's move quite foreseeable - departure might have been a blessing in disguise, infact, as we would have probably not trade up for Maxx Williams to leapfrog the steelers with OD still with us... so, losing him at least has benefits :D)

So am I. I liked Owen Daniels. In fact, in the short time I follow football it seems to me, that Ozzie is pretty good with selecting the TEs he wants (I wonder why  ), both in free agency and in the draft. Owen Daniels came up solid for us. Dallas Clark was waning physically, but he's been reliable enough, tough enough when on the field and good hands! And Pitta, Gilmore, Williams and Boyle speak for themselves.

If we get Sizzle back in full power, we'll be okay if we take a pass rusher in the draft and develop him and Za'Darius Smith. And I sure hope that's the case. Sizzle commands a lot of respect on the field and is a spectacle to watch. If he's not good to go, it would do us better if we could get a GOOD free agent, but Ravens won't be able to afford one good enough to be worth it. So draft it is!

Flacco is tough as nails. Not sure why Cam didn't dive. Honestly, I've seen the guy and he seems to be quite tough otherwise, not afraid of contact, so I'd put it down to brain glitch rather than sissiness. His OL didn't hold for nothing all day long and it rattled Mr Confident, as well as the nerves from the SB. I like the guy, despite the diva manners, but he's still got some maturing to do.

Team spirit is important in winning. And being submerged in collective emotion to build a collection. Whoever's been on a team and spent the night before a game as a team, it can be pretty powerful.

Von Miller would be nice, but dream on!

Awesome!

Hahahaha, Flacco seems so low key, but he knows how to wind up his friends for fun Tucker is awesome, he's a good player, a good teammate, but he also IS a football player. I remember probably last season a time that Harbs told him off, that he's too valuable to make tackles. That was after he did and I think tore his ear a little in the process?

Marshall Yanda would be deserving of a HOF inclusion. He's not a meteorite player that burns out, but consistently the best or one of offensive lineman in the league.

I pray every night That Bosa slides to us like Leonard Williams did for the jets. That motor of his is supercharged on every play he is on the field.

So do I and I say that as a Wolverines fan. Bosa is the guy to have on your roster. He's a freak in the best possible way.

I doubt we'll add an OT in round 1. My guess is, if they are on board, either Jalen Ramsey or Joey Bosa. Knowing Ozzie, if at this spot there isn't anyone he considers to be a talent worth the spot, he's not afraid to trade back for benefits.

And there is no way we draft a RB in round 1 as someone mentioned. We have a truckload of them, although most finished on IR and I think we have good ones. There will be some broken hearts, because we can't possibly keep on the active roster that many - Justin Forsett, Lorenzo Taliaferro, Buck Allen, Terrance West.... how many RBs is it you want to keep?

The kid's exciting and has been on an upward performance curve.

I'm happy for Ray Rice to get to coach the RBs for the NFLPA game. Good on you! What's got me worried is Ed Reed's kid. Did he get hit in the head?

Congrats, Morgan! Also, thanks Andy, for acknowledging him Long-snappers go under the radar most of the time.

I just wish he would use some of that "wise decision making" in the draft nowadays.

Whether it is or isn't won't show immediately with most guys. Of course, I'm glad we have C.J. Mosley, he's awesome. At this point you just don't know. I'm wildly fabulating, but it could turn out, that Breshad Perriman is the best WR Ravens have ever drafted and he'll be here for the next 12 years, Elam might train hard, and master one position so that he can become a solid starter and we'll all forget his sophomore year, except for those few guys in five years who'll go "I told you not to quit on him!" Maxx Williams is already looking good. Some of the 3-5th round guys will become fan favorites.

Same way, you could argue, that what looks like an epic draft turns out rotten. OBJ is a great athlete, but has sub-zero sportsmanship and could cost his team games, yellow flags are a pain and suspensions for bad behavior are worse (look no further than Burfinct, who by the way Ozzie did not draft when he could have). C.J. Mosley might have another great season and then decide he wants to become a lobster farmer instead. Timmy Jernigan still can turn out both ways.

From 2012 we still have Courtney Upshaw and Kelechi Osmele, both are impact players. From 2011 we have Jimmy Smith and had Torrey Smith, as well as Pernell McPhee, and Tyrod Tylor, who went on to become a starter. 2010 was Dennis Pitta (you can't predict such an injury) and Art Jones. Wait till contract year to evaluate the more recent drafts.

The first ever Ravens jersey that I'll get my hands on will be a #57.

I expect that Sizzle will play next year and to a high level, the way we expect him to. However, Za'Darius Smith is a potential replacement for him when Sizzle decides to call it a day in the future. That is, we can't expect the same, because Sizzle is exceptional, but Za'Darius has good speed, great wingspan and can get at the QB and can be a threat that Courtney Upshaw just isn't. It'll take some work and lots of experience, but he's promising. Also, if we can get to keep Courtney, it'll work to our benefit. He does a lot of under-the-radar stuff, that helps out pass rushers do their job.

As to attitude guys, we have those. The stars of this, masters of making people go mental, without being cheap are of course Terrell Suggs on defense and Steve Smith Sr on offense. Another guy with an attitude that I've noticed is Timmy Jernigan. He can wind people up bigtime and he's a showman. However, he has to mature, because he did cause us penalties with at least two cheap shots this year, the first one being the late late hit on the QB, the other I can't remember. If he can keep in check, he's got the attitude to prove a showman for us and a pest to fans of all other teams. You have to have guys that other teams' fans love to hate!

What's that about wearing sleeves? Is that a macho thing or a football thing?

And Saturday night is why Burfict is not part of the Ravens' roster.

With repeated dirty hits, a dozen a season, he shouldn't be part of any roster. If it was an accident here and there, that happens, but he gets in trouble for dirty shots at least 2x a season.

No one more deserving of this honor than him.

I think you're basically wrong on some instances...

 

1st of all...this year we didn't have 6843 CBs going to the IR, that was LAST year's excuse for Pees...

 

only CB gone to the IR worth mentioning was Will Davis who was playing pretty good in a short amount of time...

 

other than Suggs, and until the season was basically lost, no other high profile players got out on D...

 

Yet we're still here defending pees? and the DB coach? 

 

SMH

Oh, so it was only 6841? Sorry, my bad. Yes, it was a problem last year and it still was a problem this year too. Only high profile one might have been Will Davis, but there were several others, that were taken on as replacement and when you have to make contingency plans every week, instead of developing the player you just acquired in FA, it does rain on your parade. Fact is, there is no continuity in the secondary. How many players are there at CB and S that played most of this season as well as last season? How many of them were on the roster/starters the year before? Jimmy Smith, Lardarius Webb and Matt Elam are the only ones I can think of that are here that long. Elam was floated around recklessly last year and didn't play a snap this year at all. Jimmy Smith got his lisfranc in the first half of last season and was still impeded at the start of this one. Lardarius Webb had no season ending injury, but he did miss playing time last year and take almost until Dec'14 to get back on form.

However, if someone on defense is to take the blame, I'd put it more on Spagnuolo than Pees.

"Bisciotti spoke about how the Ravens underestimated the debilitating domino effect the loss of Terrell Suggs had on the defense." - I don't think they didn't take it seriously enough, or underestimated anything. However, because you realize something is BIG trouble doesn't automatically relate that you can overcome the hurdle with a snap of your fingers.

It was week 1, we lost Sizzle. It was also the first week of regular season without Pernell McPhee on the roster and trust me, if he wasn't such a big hit on salary cap money, the FO would never have let him go. Let's face it, we had Doom, who's a great pass rusher, but, no one experienced on the other side to take some of the attention and double teams off him. We had Courtney Upshaw, who is a very good OLB, but more of a trench work guy than a stat & highlight reel guy. He enables others to get the work done, but there was no "other". Za'Darius Smith was a rookie, with zero season starts, who showed good upside, and I believe he'll develop, but NFL experience as well as Ravens weight conditioning program one year down is something he didn't have at that point. No underestimation, just bad luck.

As to Ozzie being committed to Lardarius Webb - do you really wonder? Sure, he cannot be an outside CB anymore, because with two torn Achilles' he just doesn't have the flat out speed for man2man on speedsters like AJ Green or Antonio Brown (which are unfortunately both in our division).

However there are these things that he does have NFL experience as starter; team spirit - last year he did not renegotiate his contract, he accepted a LOWER salary to help the team; played safety in college; good communicator; he attacks the ball, not the player; soft hands. Apart from him, we have no one seniority in the secondary. On all positions you need a mentor, someone who is both willing and capable to help the young guys transition and develop. For secondary it's truer than for most, because the amount of judgement calls is higher than at most other positions.

PS: You're right, Kapron Lewis-Moore, I can't take Steve Smith Sr seriously with that barber job either. I want handsome Steve back!

I've never been a fan of Pees bend dont break style and have always thought we needed to get back to our big bully history. Obviously Bisciotti likes what he sees and is changing our team to be more in line with the "new" high scoring offenses with a defense that tries to keep the opponents from scoring too many points. Basically a weekly shootout is what the league is becoming. I prefer the older defenses that try to keep teams from scoring ANY points but it is really his team not ours and he will do what he wants to do. Can't blame him for that. Our defense has been hobbled all season and we were still ranked #2 in a few catagories over the last 8 games. Add to that Pees did help us win a superbowl and I'm not sure why we all dislike him so much. I guess we just want a dominating defense again but those days may be history.

I agree will all you are saying. The jury is out next year for Pees. Ravens fans are so spoiled from being in the play-offs year in and year out, that when it doesn't happen, many get really critical of everything and everyone. In the time I'm following football, Ravens have missed play-offs 2x - 2013, when Juan Castillo was the scapegoat and all the discussion forums here were filled with "Fire Juan!" "Castillo shouldn't be here!" etc etc. In the end, we replaced center and all is well with the OL, last year and this year and no one is riding his behind here anymore. This year it'd Dean Pees. And that's regardless of the fact that we lost Suggs week 1 and about 6843 CBs to the IR, and still managed to be in the top 10 defense at the end of the year. There is definitely room for improvement in defense. If there wasn't, we'd be playing this coming Sunday. However, it wasn't near as tragic as it looks.

I hate to see him go, but congratulations on the promotion! All the respect to Harbaugh for being supportive and motivational of his staff. He tends to promote from within, when there is a vacancy. If someone is offered a promotion elsewhere, he lets coaches take it. On the one hand, it's scary and sometimes heartbreaking when someone does leave, on the other, it motivates the talented coaches to come to Baltimore, because they know that if they earn it, they have a career here. Who's next up?

I think that it was a failure of the organization to best utilize Williams. His hands, along with Juszczyk's hands are phenomenal. I have never figured out why we didn't use Juice more in tight end, H-back and split formations with the hands he has. Williams and Juice proved they don't have to be open to make catches as was obvious in the last game. I am very very concerned about this organizations inability to recognize talent and use it or the inability to recognize talent and then turn around and give them extensions and they become cap destroyers. That I think is more troubling than the draft picks because who is to say that Cody, Elam and company all would have been busts had they had been better integrated into the team. That means it was a bust of the coaches not of the front office. I know the front office is getting beat up on draft picks but I'm not convinced that people who we say are failures, who are starting now on playoff teams, were actual failures.  Is that true of players who didn't get that second chance to play with another team and are drummed out of the league.  Remember when Mark Clayton was a bust then went to St Louis and led the league for almost half the year in receiving until a career ending injury put him down. Too many questions about coaching and player development for me to feel comfortable about anyone we draft.

Kudos to Trestman for recognizing that Juice can be a weapon and using him that way. He's better at catching bubble screens etc than being the 3rd-and-1 bruiser. Hope to see Williams' start ascending too. Can't really comment on much of the coaching, except the secondary this year and last year. Elam was a definite upgrade over Michael Huff in his rookie year and won the starting position by week two. Obviously, there was space for improvement, but he was not too shabby. His second year they played him all over the place, at nickel, in the box, at free safety... It's alright to move Webb around a little, he's been in the league for a while and knows what he's doing, for the most part. However, you don't do that to a player that's new. Instead of developing him on one position and deepening his understanding of his responsibilities there, getting him more comfortable to make the right calls they made him do a bit of this and a bit of that and obviously, instead of making progress, he went backwards by miles. Does anyone even wonder? As well, secondary was our weakness last year and this year also. And least durable. How can injuries affect one position so much more than any other?

move webb to the starter role and get rid of kendrick lewis, that guy was a disaster all season

I thought he was a disaster at the start of season, with a couple holding penalties and plenty errors, but he HAS gotten better towards the end. I think Webb is the better player though. He seems to split fans between those who dig him (like me) and those who think he should get cut. If there's anyone who outcompetes him for the free safety position in training camp, then we should obviously go with the guy who's the biggest asset, however, I think there is an upside to him in experience and leadership. Even in points, when he's banged up and could do better, if he's willing to mentor younger and more physical players who will eventually grow to take his position, he could be helpful for us. Without him in the secondary we truly have no seniority at all.