The Raven

Tell me again how many flats turned into 40 yard gains. I have a big problem with how he's used because he's being under utilized. We aren't getting the most of our guys. That's a problem. Juice could probably be used as a number two TE on some teams and we're using him as a traditional fullback and flat route specialist. We're limiting our own ability by not thinking more broadly about how we can use our players. Juice would bring a whole new element to the offense. With Kenneth Dixon and Juice, we have the capability to to give a defense a wide variety different looks. Think about it. We could come out in your standard I formation, or we could even go empty. Not a lot of teams have the capability to run an empty set with their base personnel. We could put either in the slot. Defenses send out their personnel based on the offense's personnel. If we have a 21 personnel set out there, the defense sounds out its base -- a standard seven man front. But the thing is that Dixon and Juice are capable receiving threats. Flex Juice to the slot or as an offline TE. Go empty. Linebackers suck in space. Take advantage of that. Hell, line up in I, motion Juice out to the slot, and then run it to throw the defense off guard. Run a play action off of that later. You could run a hell of a crack play with Juice in the slot. There's so much we could do with that personnel group, and we're shooting ourselves in the foot by not doing it. Hate to make this comparison but Juice is similar in build and versatility to Aaron Hernandez. Both are versatile guys that are a little short to be traditional tight ends but could fill other roles. Sometimes, Hernandez faced safeties in coverage because he'd torch backers. If defenses end up respecting Juice as a receiving threat, they may send out a safety to cover him instead of a backer. Then you still have base personnel out there against a nickel set, which sets you up nicely for a run play. That's a lineman's dream, running power against a nickel set while in base. I may be overselling Juice's ability, but the point is that we aren't even trying to use him in different roles. That's stupid.

The issue isn't about using the fullback position. We know from Juice's 37 catches in 2016 that Marty uses the fullback position in the passing game, but that's not the issue. The issue is using Juice -- the player, not the position -- up to his individual potential. Juice got plenty of catches as a fullback under Marty. That's no secret. But how many were botched screen plays, useless flats, or ball routes? Just about all of them. He's capable of doing more. He's capable, in my opinion, of having a bigger impact than Pitta. His ability to break tackles and get YACs far exceeds Pitta and this stage in their careers.

This is where I'm at. And honestly, I'm not sure Juice is worth the money unless we significantly expand his role. I want to see him used as the weapon he is. I still have the feeling that the Patriots or maybe the Packers outbid us to use him as the down the seams threat he can be. It pisses me off that this guy lit up the seams in college and we don't even give him looks there. I'm not saying he'd be as dominant in the seams now as he was in college but there's potential there. He's just a good match up. He can outrun backers and bowl over DBs. Give him a chance on something other than a flat is what I'm saying.

Maybe he's cheaper because he's not as good. As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to improve the WR position. Legitimately improve it. You don't do that by holding on to guys. And as rmw already said, Kamar is packing his bags to go elsewhere.

The problem is that Aiken probably has an issue with re-signing. I highly doubt he sticks around.

If I could afford those tickets I'd definitely be there! Metallica and Volbeat at the same gig? Yes please.

Yeah Idk if he's a great lead blocker by any stretch but his other abilities make him worth holding on to. Just wish we'd actually make better use of those skills. Why not send him downfield? Why are all his catches on flats and check downs? Use him on some routes, dammit.

Whooooaaaaaa that's bold. You think we can manage it?

Kinda surprising. I wonder what the numbers were. I also wonder if La Canfora has his crap together this time. He was way wrong on the Zach Orr news. Maybe earlier reports were smokescreens, and Wagner was always the top priority. Who knows? Hoping we do keep Wagner. Stability on the line would be nice for a change. Imagine if we had four or five returning starters on the line. When's the last time we did that?

God I wish we could afford him. I'd let Williams and Wagner go without hesitation to have him.

Thanks. I cringed pretty hard when I read that post.

Don't do drugs, kids.

My thoughts are that he's a 28 year old guy who wasn't good enough for the NFL before and is now going to be a camp body and get cut before returning to the CFL. His chances at making the roster are slim. He kinda reminds me of the little league kids who played down because of size limitations at the next age group but dominated because they just had more experience and talent. He dominated D2, went undrafted, got cut by the Chiefs, and then he did well in the CFL. He was never good enough -- I would guess because of size/speed limitations -- to be at the top level in his age level.

Zuttah spent more time in our backfield than an offensive lineman should. I'll agree that he's a solid pass protector -- aside from the many times he simply forgot to pick up a blitzing linebacker -- but it's his horrendous run blocking that remains to be the issue, and that's what his struggle comes down to. Sure, he held his own sometimes, but holding your own simply isn't good enough. When you watch Zuttah and then watch other centers, it becomes apparent that "holding your own" is actually below average. A stalemate is a loss for the offensive lineman. If we keep Zuttah, we need to run the wide zone a little bit more and use more double teams to help him out. I feel like every time he had a one on one assignment on tight zone, he lost.

Well, I mean, if you look at the Patriots, you'll see a team that runs a lot of zone with a line that doesn't fit the typical zone blocking stereotype. It can work. The thing is that the zone we ran this year (tight zone) works really well with less mobile, but more physical linemen. It's the wide zone we ran under Kubiak that we'd have more difficulty with if we had more maulers. Honestly, of the three zone plays (inside/tight, outside, and wide/stretch), the only one that's super dependent on mobility is the wide/stretch. The tight zone is an inside run and outside is a sort of off-tackle run. Both can work with mauler types if they blow up their assignment.

We'll finally get all those alpha male types back. We won't have a locker room full of yes men.

Why not bring Jamal back as OC? We'll finally get that smashmouth running game back! That's Ravens football! Run the ball and play defense!

Here we flipping go. I'm eagerly awaiting the swarm of crazies insisting we fire everyone to bring in Ray and Reed. "Organized chaos is back," they'll say. "Ray will keep everyone straight. Can't wait to play smashmouth, Ravens football again."

I see what the Ravens are saying, but it just doesn't make sense to me. Alex Lewis really struggled with run blocking on the inside. He's too damn tall to be a guard. If he's going to be a guard long term he needs to work on pad level and flexibility. Also, I'm not sure how Castillo's departure impacts that. He has historically preferred mammoths on the line, which would make Lewis a fine fit a guard. But with this new guy in, he might have a different personnel preference. There just aren't a whole lot of 6'6 guards that are actually good.

For future reference, ability =/= role. There is an obvious difference between skill and skill set.

Uh, neither? Just a valid use of a linebacker without the ability to be a full time MLB or a full time OLB. I mean I guess we could say it's sad since we expected him to be a full time outside guy but..

We may still see him in a Von Miller role. Stand up backer in base and 3rd down rusher.

Makes sense to put him there. He got embarrassed on the outside but, in small doses, he showed the range, athleticism, and instincts to play ILB.

I very much agreed with the Clay comparison pre-draft, but Correa severely lacks the functional strength Clay has, as JoeyFlex5 points out here. I worry that his frame is maxed out and that he will struggle to add and keep on bulk, a la Arthur Brown. Hopefully he can add some bulk.

I worry that he'll be a one trick pony on the outside. Guys who can do nothing but speed rush are easy to game plan for. It's pretty easy to stop. To be effective on the outside, you need to be able to do something at least resembling a bull rush, just to keep the tackle honest.