Ravenous_Ravens

Stanley was a home run hit, not just a step in the right direction. It is too early to say what his ceiling will be, but as far as his play and consistency through his rookie season, it is easy to see him as a more than adequate LT for many seasons. IMHO he will earn some Pro Bowl recognition in time as he has the talent and ability and good leadership from Yanda who is a model of hard work and consistency. K.C. has not been given enough action for anyone to have a fair assessment of his skills. The fact they moved him to a new position takes time to learn, to adjust, and to adapt your instincts. It was unfortunate, in the fact K.C. did not see as much action. Given the recent news that Zachary Orr had to retire, it could very well pay dividends this next season. Even if they draft another LB having one that has experience in the system and is ready to step in is huge. Kaufusi, I am optimistic about. I'm not expecting much as this point and will hopefully be pleasantly surprised. I wouldn't even have an idea of what to expect. I mean here is a player that most people had not heard off, but at least from size perspective looks to be disruptive. Back problems can be pretty serious so hopefully he is fully healed and ready for camp with no setbacks.

After watching Budda Baker, he looks likely to be valued as a first round tender. I think I would prefer Budda Baker over a Jabril Peppers mostly for how well is able to see the field, as he rarely ever has difficulty locating and adjusting to the ball. Definitely worth a hard look as eh is a ball hawking safety with great instincts, open field tackling and angles of pursuit. His size is pretty average, which is not a bad thing, and he is will challenge bigger ball carriers and make tackles. Also has a great name to cheer for when he's making plays. Only thing I disagree about is Budda Baker being available in the second round, baring bad testing or other concerns, etc. Not necessarily a bad thing. Could always draft him first round and go corner in the second, as it is deep this year. Play makers in general in the secondary is a good thing.

Brandon Marshall is a good player, IHMO. A single season removed does not mean he's done. It was mostly a situational effect. Still, I would prefer the Ravens to roll with the talent they have. They desperately need to get the young roster of WR's firing on all cylinders and that doesn't happen without snaps. Also Joe needs to throw the ball with them, lots, ahead of spring camp. Need more crisply timed passes that the WR's can run through instead of them having to slow down to locate the ball. Better to address a chain mover in the draft, IMHO. Take the WR that is closest to a big body sure hand WR. Would be real nice if Waller upped his game and filled the role, it is possible.

IF they do draft King, my guess will be to play Safety. Corners playing outside need to be able to cover speed or get exposed/rely heavily on the back end to keep a lid on things. A ball hawking play maker added to the secondary with a great vet in Weedle and Webb to learn from could be a big positive moving forward. It's not the easiest position to play, as a good QB will get the best of you, pulling you out of position and baiting you. Not much point drafting King to play any other position really. Young is a great young talent to play nickel and sometime flex outside (because of his speed). Still like the idea of a Quincy Wilson, who is at least physically another Jimmy Smith type player. That would greatly help on the outside and solidify the secondary opposite Smith.

Just wondering if we might see some trades during the off season trying to accrue additional picks/talent for perhaps TE, where the numbers exceed to roster capacity? Might get lucky and end up with another 2-4 rounder..

If BW gets a big offer elsewhere, I'll be sad to see him go but keeping a a manageable roster and salary cap is most important. That being said, not all teams use a NT and have a need. I say this is a 55/45 (Ravens/other) chance of retaining the big man.

Funny all those commentating on "pats" and "respect". To be respected you have to first have and display honor. Cheating is not honorable and never will be. There is no debate to be had. They should have asked is Brady honorable? I think I can guess why they did not ask. But in case a pats fan comes across this, consider this. Brady is supposedly one of the best to play qb ever so people say, yet the teams he was a part of have been in more cheating scandals than any other team i can remember. Most of all of these scandals all had to do with the offense having some edge, as if helping brady out. I will never have respect for cheaters, not limited to brady/pats, especially when they try to hide the fact after being caught. Had he actually just been up front about it, i would be willing to look past it, people make mistakes. There is however no free pass, for anyone who blatantly and deliberately goes about undermining the integrity of the game and of themselves.

You have the right idea, but backwards. They have pass rushers, plenty of them actually. Secondary cannot force the QB to hold the ball long enough for pass rush to have reasonable amount of time to get home. When WR's are not open you can expect many more hurries, sacks and even turnovers. Also at this point ti will be easier to upgrade the talent of the secondary versus the pass rush. The really good pass rushers will either be gone inside the top 10, or in FA will command too much to justify without some major roster moves. That being said, to those who keep saying move on from Dumervil you are delirious to think you can just replace him. He was banged up after a long season when Suggs was out and he got all the attention. Now that he is healthy again with no more lingering issues, people start the non sense talk.

Simple. Get a shopping cart and place it behind the uprights. However can hit the longest kick through the uprights and land the ball into the cart so that it remains in the card, wins a gold star.

Rookie's are not what they used to be. Some can walk in and contribute early. Look at Tavon Young, even as a fourth round pick he played extremely well and saw plenty of snaps. Say they draft a solid first to mid second rounder. There is a strong chance they could be starting, maybe week 1 but even if not, mid season is not at all out of the question with lots of snaps in the between time. Whoever they get needs to be strong playing the ball and locating it it the air. Some of the current corners play the WR more than the ball and it does not pose much of a challenge.

If B Williams is not locked in on earning top dollar, with the added caveat of playing elsewhere, the Ravens will have a suitable chance of re-signing him. He is, like Eric said, an A player and a big piece of the puzzle. As good as he is though, it has to be at a reasonable, not necessarily cheap, price, now and moving forward. If not you handicap the roster by re-signing at too high a price. Basically his contract would need to be affordable and not prevent building the rest of the roster over the length of said contract. Maybe they can work it out so there are lots of reasonable incentives as bonuses, with less upfront guarantees. Let him earn a fair guaranteed amount, just for showing up and then keep him motivated through the incentives as bonuses. I just think back to Haloti's contract, which he certainly earned. However, the Ravens also paid him more than his play suggested he was worth towards the tail end. A highly incentivized contract might be a better way to ensure not overpaying and provide consistent motivation all the same. Only trade off I can think of is perhaps paying a bit more in the early years of the contract, which could very well be trimmed off the tail end from aging. Just my 2 cents.

Really? It's you can never have enough cornerbacks. It used to be pass rushers, but face it in today's pass happy league a good secondary affords teams more time to get home to the QB. Stop the nonsense about any position but secondary in the early rounds please. The Ravens added pass rushers last draft and most have yet to see significant snaps. Unless some generational talent falls into their laps outside the top 10, which in itself is laughable, no pass rusher will be taken in round #1.

Pats are a good club, not that I am a fan. However they also have greatly benefited from being in a division where the competition is not great enough to really challenge for the division. IMHO this accounts for 3-4 wins every season, which is also the difference of making the playoffs and not, as well as having home field advantage versus not. My point is, while a good club, they have a lot of outside factors that also play a big role to their success. Any team that can win their division so many years in a row, pretty much uncontested does not play a very competitive division. Competitive implies the skill/talent level is roughly the same (overall). The reality is the Pats division is so far from competitive, and to be a team involved in several rule breaking scandals only adds salt to the wound and sullies the reputation, rightfully so.

Perriman, your new hobby is to watch and study Julio Jones. You are both relatively the same type of player as far as speed, size and athleticism. Biggest difference at this point is Julio has been working on his craft longer. Learn everything you can from him, how he makes his breaks, how he gets separation, etc. I don't expect you to be the same player as him, but to get better you gotta learn/study the best and right now he is the best. If you can improve your routes and separation even just a little, those little changes will lead to big plays and more consistent success. His 73 yard TD was very similar to the big forty something yard play Perriman made on a crossing route (same route). No point in looking for a #1 WR this draft, IMHO. You will give up too much to justify the selection and prevent addressing other needs with high draft picks. Really there are already a lot of different receivers on the roster and just like the RB they were not being fully utilized. The offense more than anything needs refinement over this off-season to really extract the most of out his group.

Hey remember when Putin was gifted a SB ring from Robert Kraft? YEAH!!! Great times.

Ravens will not draft a RB in the first round of draft. There are many more important wholes that need addressing, like secondary (CB/S). Could even argue another solid LB may be needed now. Hoping Zadarius Smith steps up his game this next year, after a bit of a sopomore slump, he has game, just has to take care of things on the field. I'm still not 100% sold on him but Jabriel Peppers is an interesting thought as he could help fill a number of voids. He could play LB in coverage downs, Safety, return punts/kickoffs and even run the ball on occasion (specific packages or trick plays, etc). My biggest concern on a player like this is whether the Ravens have the coaches in place to really get good use and mileage out of a player like this. His biggest upside is versatility, so keeping him on the field and rotating him around so opponents do not know what position he's playing play to play is key. I almost prefer the Ravens to draft a more prototypical CB with great ball awareness. All ball hawking secondary players tend to have a knack for finding the ball before it arrives allowing them to play the ball and have a chance to make some big plays. Too many times I've seen secondary basically allow the WR to catch the ball before engaging and making a play, not on the ball but cleanup tackles. Need to be able to challenge WR's to even have a chance to catch the ball more often.

Bitter sweet about Zach Orr injury/retirement. Best of luck in your next chapter. Keep stacking days. If there is one position I don't worry about the Ravens filling it's LB. Might not be another Z Orr stepping in, but whoever it is will be ready.

What about every other round? Your comment may bear truth, but it omits the fuller picture. There are also many reason why players get the start, sometimes being out of necessity as in trial by fire. All my point is, it is not such an simple comparison without looking more closely at the details. One should always keep in mind, identifying what is not working is the only the first step. You also need to consider what options are available and really do your homework, before making any moves. You can get rid of what "does not work" and have no better alternatives, just something different. This is more often the case in professional sports and why knee jerk reactions seldom pay dividends down the road. It is mostly chance things go well when making such reactionary decisions. Getting caught up in the heat of the moment is natural, making hasty decisions is a fools game.

I really liked what Juan Castillo did for the pass protection along the offensive line in his time with the Ravens. However I find it difficult to see how 3 straight years basically at the bottom of the barrel in the run game did not draw more attention say after year 1? Going from 8th overall to 28th overall in a year is not just a slight issue to iron out. John Harbaugh is a great coach, but needs to learn to become more objectionable in his performance evaluations. This issue could have been dealt with 1-2 seasons ago. Harbaugh's biggest downside, is he will sometimes be too lenient with players or coaches, even though he does know what the issue is. Time he makes a good habit of setting hard expectations up front and stick to them. When everyone understands up front what is expected, they have no excuses when you gotta do your HC job. It makes that "friend" zone much easier to navigate without destroying the relationship.

Yes they had one of the most successful offseasons and drafts in recent memory. Certainly up there for best in franchise history. Funny how the perceived success of a draft is directly tied to draft order, meaning that the years they did poorly and received high draft order, they draft the best. I say funny because the majority of people writing comments on this forum about draft success fail to take into account this basic principle and fundamental for how the draft is supposed to work in essence.

Just curious as to why you want them to let Juice leave? Cannot say for this guy, but this decision is easy.Either he will be used gong forward, more than in the past, or you cut him. It comes down to how much you actually use him. Unless Morningweg flips the trend on his snap count in a meaningful way, it is a lot of cap space going to a player that while very good for his position,would end up being paid more than he's bringing to the table. Other questions come out too such as if you use a FB more often do you really need to go get a "complimentary WR", etc.

powerhouse? lets beat the jets 1st Quality of the talent on roster is a different matter than the coaching. We all saw first hand what a good offensive scheme can do for this team. When Kubiak came it it was a night and day transformation, with very little having to do with the roster. It's how you use those tools in the shed.

Agree. A serious pay cut for Flacco is in order, but it won't happen. The front office just was taken on that deal. Flacco is an advantageous position. There is too much guaranteed money in the contract that we are stuck with him for about 2 yrs. all FO want to do is find any way possible to get as much out of him as possible. I think though they finally realized that he is not who they thought he is. Flacco has a way of playing well nearing his contract year. Next time around, my guess is that the FO won't be quite as generous. This happens to many players who get big pay days. It is the simple fact when your giving it your all working for peanuts (comparatively) and then take/earn that big payday the motivation somewhat goes away. Except for rookies, on rookie contracts, most players play their best football in the back half of their contracts.

This could really go either way and IMHO the Ravens are set to deal with it and not come out any worse for ware. Both are rated high among FA, but how many other options are there really? Both B.Will and Wagner played well but it's not like they are clearly the best at their position league wide. They will command reasonable contracts, not cheap but not milestone contracts either. IF worse comes to worse, M Pierce looks to be a solid NT ready to step in and Alex Lewis was a Tackle in college and handled his business well. Filling some interior line for depth isn't asking too much. Best case they retain both players with modest and fair contracts, that reward performance to keep that carrot dangling for motivation. If it comes down to keeping one, I pick B Williams. Who else is going to do the Carlton dance after beating the Steelers!

Of all the places to move the Chargers they go and pick a city that already has a team. What a waste. Another tell tale sign that the NFL isn't all that concerned with the long term success. I guess they forgot there used to be teams in LA and they couldn't maintain... NFL wisdom: If your going to make mistakes, better to make the same mistakes over and over again. At least you know what to expect and can act surprised.