BigUgly

Glad to see John finally came to his senses. It only took 4 years of poor performance by Castillo. So long as Roman sticks to O-Line and Run game and not play calling, and Marty learns how to call a running play once in a while, we should definitely see an improvement in the run game.

Interesting that Harbs cited the need for a game-breaking RB, implying West and Dixon are only average at best, yet Ozzie said the needs were DBs, OL, and WR. I agree with Ozzie.

Firing may not be a good business model, but when your HC has convinced you to to hire one of the largest, most highly compensated coaching staffs in the league and you aren't getting results, you may consider adjusting the staff especially where particular units have underperformed (O-Line, WR).

Flacco is what he is, and likely won't change. He's a largely durable, strong-armed QB that can make about 2 reads, doesn't feel comfortable under pressure (especially up the middle), has better things to do in the off-season than work with his receivers, is not very capable at checking out of plays on the line, needs constant attention to his mechanics, doesn't have touch on a deep ball, can't anticipate receiver's routes or lead them open but can drill them when they are, and needs play action to help his receivers get the clear separation they need for him to feel comfortable to throw. Now, to get the most out of Joe you first need the right offensive scheme (balanced running game with play action passing and more vertical/deep routes), next an effective offensive line (scheme and coaching first, then talent), and finally WR's who have truly elite route-running skills to get significant separation (Mason, SSSr) to complement burners who pull the secondary deep (Torrey Smith, Perriman, Wallace). I'm convinced he went on the tear he did in 2012 is because Caldwell and Boldin told him to throw to Boldin even when he looks covered, and trust Q to win the battle for the ball (so of course we released him the following year, SMH). Since we won't fix offensive scheme or O-Line coaching this year, we should next get a bigger, nastier center and left guard (assuming Lewis moves to RT), and perhaps draft a WR like Davis or Ross, who are the best route-runners in the draft. There's no receiver in the draft like a Julio Jones or Dez Bryant. Davis is very interesting as a #2 guy, and Ross is a slot guy who would make Camp and maybe Keenan Reynolds redundant.

I'm surprised Harbs didn't do his research on the guy before hiring him. We could've had a smoother transition from Kubiak into a similar scheme had we hired Kyle Shanahan, but Harbs was enamored of Trestman's "genius" to retain Kubiak's terminology and "improve" his offense. The result was a shambles, and Marty didn't do much to improve it. Our passing game essentially served as a running game, since the routes were so short and called so frequently. Unfortunately, a short passing game doesn't set up play action, and it clearly didn't set up a deeper passing game. No threat of a deep ball is a waste of Joe's talents, and the speed of Perriman and Wallace. As for the O-Line, scheme is the first culprit, then technique, then talent. With the 8-8 team of 2013, we passed like crazy and couldn't run the ball with an O-Line essentially the same as the SB (and that was with KO). The following year, we turned a journeyman RB into a pro-bowler with essentially the same line. Now, we are back to ineffectiveness. I'd like to see Roman come in and Castillo ("Run Game Coordinator / O-Line Coach") let go, since Juan seems to be the next accountable common denominator in our run game woes. Meet need to sweeten the pot for Roman if the Browns are offering him the QB Coach position.

I could see the Ravens parting ways with Williams, Juice, Wagner, Watson, Doom, Aiken, Wright, Arrington, Zuttah and some "bodies" in order to generate much needed cap space and stockpile comp picks for 2018 (or offset comp-eligible FA talent acquired from other teams in 2017).

This may be Ozzie's best draft since 2008. Not sure why Harbs is calling for a playmaking RB when Dixon has shown so much potential. It does't matter who the back is if the offensive scheme is flawed, if the OC won't call running plays, if the "running game coordinator/senior executive offensive line coach" can't get the line to perform, and if the O-Line is soft in the middle.

I'd like to see the FO not try and prove how clever they are with the 2nd and 3rd-rounders...Hasn't worked to well in the past. I can see them trading back from 16, and then bundling some later round pics to move up / add pics in the 2nd and 3rd. There's a lot of depth in this draft at DE/OLB and CB.

One word...coaching. They are successful even when Brady is out, and even when he's in, he's often had no-name receivers (Moss and Gronk are the exceptions, and Gronk is often out)

We essentially have two free safeties in Weddle and Webb. They are more ball hawks than thumpers. That's what made Ed Reed a freak; he was the best of both before he hurt his shoulder.

It not a good defense but no matter what you can't have the defense play most of the other quarters. The offense 3 and outs is un acceptable. The Ravens had nearly a 10 minute time of possession advantage over the Stillers, so that excuse doesn't wash for that game. Same for the Raiders game and the Giants game, also situations where the defense crumbled in the end.

It's not Joe's fault Webb is paid top corner money, and is now barely serviceable as a safety. It's not his fault that the only consistently productive defensive players to be drafted since the Super Bowl are Brandon Williams, Timmy Jernigan, CJ Mosley and Tavon Young. It's not his fault that the defensive coordinator has the corners play 10-15 yards off a receiver in 3rd and 5 situations, or that he can scheme a defense to play stout for 50 minutes before inexplicably disappearing for the final 10.

Defense cost this team at least 3 games with late 4th qtr meltdowns - Raiders, Giants, and Stillers. It almost cost us another game against the Stillers, and against the Uggles. That's not just due to 1 CB being out. Coaching plays a part too. We've just been conditioned to blame the offense for everything since 2000. The D has become increasingly suspect since at least the SB.

Agreed. I really believe the Ravens could've gotten back to the playoffs in 2013 had they not released Q. He was the only receiver Joe has ever trusted enough to throw a contestable ball to, because he knew Q would bring it down.

McDaniels is a head case. He has significant personality issues that will make him, once again, a failed HC.

This draft is deep in DBs. We could get a viable starter in the second round. I'd be okay if we went WR or pass rusher in the 1st. We may also need another safety, as Webby ought to be a cap casualty (save $5.5M for $2M in dead money). It's conceivable to draft a CB and Safety 1-2.

None of that would matter unless you created an offense and called the plays to go downfield. What we have here is the worst instance of a West Coast offense.

Perriman should have been at least as productive as Torrey Smith ( a 2nd round pick) was. Torrey also couldn't run most routes well, but he could run the heck out of fly and go routes and pick up a PI call if he couldn't catch the ball - usually because Joe overthrew it. I wonder if Joe's arm even remembers how to throw deep anymore - he'd probably unintentionally drill an underneath linebacker in the chest the process. How many such routes did you see called for Perriman this year? I counted none (and am not including the 20 yd. fade route where he only got 1 foot inbounds).

Castillo has been a bad, head-scratcher of a coach since at least 2011 when he was the surprise-announced D coordinator of the Eagles. Inexplicably, Harbs keeps him around even though proven vets like Yanda have commented on the unnecessary complexity of the blocking schemes and Osemele had this to say about an "un-named coach": “That, in particular, had to do with an individual in the organization that I didn’t quite gel with and had issues with,” Osemele explained Wednesday. “That wasn’t the organization as a whole. That was one coach in particular.” Here's another snippet following the disastrous 2013 season, courtesy of the Sun: "There was an emotional meeting with Castillo during which offensive linemen voiced their issues, saying he was too regimented and unwilling to tailor his techniques to the Ravens' personnel, team sources said." So he's too regimented, inflexible, disliked by his players and clearly ineffective. By all means fire his minions. Absurd. Hire literally ANY other O-Line coach, please and have Kubiak VTC in as a "run game coordinator", whatever the heck that is.

after having one of the best drafts in Ravens history last year can you elaborate on that? I'll elaborate on that, no problem. NFL teams are built through the draft. I don't think a single knowledgeable football fan would argue that. Some teams do well and get lucky, and hit on players in rounds 4-7 every so often, which is a serious boost to the team. But the foundations of great teams are built in rounds 1-3. This is obvious and simple. Here is a list of 1rst-3rd round picks over the past 7 years. Elam Perriman Arthur Brown Maxx Williams Cody Kindle KC Kufasi Carl Davis Brooks Jah Reid Upshaw Not only are none of these players even close to sniffing any kind of pro bowl talent, but a lot of them already have or are going to end up not even being able to play in the league what so ever. Because they are not any good. 1rst, 2nd, and 3rd round picks. That aren't even good enough to play in the league.....hmmmm. Drafting is driving the Ravens into the ground. Someone has to answer for that. This year. Stanley is awesome. At 6 overall, you better get an awesome player. After that, let's talk about this "one of the best drafts in Ravens history". We draft KC in the second round. Doom and Mosely are out for big sections of the year and KC isn't even good enough to play. at ll really. But he's a "hustle" player. Whatever that means. So we waste a pick on a guy that might never be good enough to play, instead of players that made an impact the entire year, and will be foundations of their franchises going forward- Sterling, Spence, and Michael Thomas are just a couple. All positions we need too. Then Kufasi. Yeah he got hurt, but bottom line, another high pick with zero production or experience after year 1. Not to mention he was another "hustle" player that didn't have any outstanding traits at all and was someone that "needs time to develop". Our 4th round was good. Finally. But Young is the only sure thing. Chris Moore didn't contribute this year, except for a costly drop. Alex Lewis got a lot of hype, but he was only average when he was on the field. Henry didn't play at all this year. And I am a fan of Dixon. Then Judon looks good but is raw and completely unproven. So this draft was ok, but the only reason it looks good is cuz we're comparing it to our GARBAGE drafts of the past several years. We drafted about 2 pro bowl players in the past 5 years. And one of those was a kicker. It's pathetic and very sad and helpless for the fans. If we don't hit on rounds 1-3 in the next several years, we'll be sitting in 3rd or 4th in the division for years to come. Note that the general downturn in drafted talent in the higher rounds coincides with the Harbaugh era. Could be a coincidence, or it could be his influence to find "high character, high football IQ" guys who were team captains, etc. The result is a lack of playmakers, pro-bowlers, and (unfortunately) no decrease in penalties. This might be doable in New England, where you have elite coaching and QB play, but not here. I would love to know what Ozzie's board would have looked like over the past 5 years without the coach's influence.

We can't afford to release Joe until 2020 without committing CAP suicide, and even then we incur $8M in dead money to save $20M. And that's assuming we have a more viable option. The only answer is to surround Joe with talent on the O-Line (replace Zuttah and Ducasse) and add playmakers at WR. Most critically, it means putting him in the right offensive scheme to be successful, and the West Coast offense of Martyball isn't and won't be it - certainly not while retaining what's left of the zone blocking scheme. It also means the OC needs to have a feel for the game and make adjustments; something we haven't seen from Marty. That's especially crucial because Joe tends to run the play as called - he changes plays at the line far less frequently than his peers. That means the OC had better have the perfect play dialed up, because it's going to be run no matter what. I would've rather seen us bring in Dennison, the OC for Denver who implemented Kubiak's offense, and then possibly entice Kubs to pop in as a consultant as he feels able. Even McCoy would've been a better option.

Rex inherited a Jim Schwartz #5 D in Buffalo, and promptly turned it around into a #25 D. Adding his brother made it worse. I agree, he would be a mistake.

So let's take a stroll down Martyball OC Memory Lane. 2011 - Eagles: 8-8, 280 pts (last in division) 2012 - Eagles: 4-12, 280 pts (last in division) 2013 - Jets: 8-8, 290 pts (last in division) 2014 - Jets: 4-12, 283 pts. (last in division) See any patterns?

I have to get anew TV. I did not see a wide open receiver in 16 games. You need glasses sir, a lot of open receivers but Flacco became the king of the check down. Most of the time he was one read then check down, by the end of the season Smith Sr. And Wallace were being just lazy on routes knowing Flacco wouldn't even look at them. That doesn't happen unless you leave people wide open a lot. The West Coast offense is predicated on timing routes and anticipatory throws - throwing a receiver open or releasing the ball before he makes his break. Joe has shown very little ability to do either. He relies on his arm strength to drill the ball in to a clearly wide open guy (which doesn't last long), and try to err on the safe side by hitting the guy low or outright overthrowing him. Kubiak's offense was a good fit because the commitment to the running game enabled a consistent play action passing that resulted in more clearly wide open receivers as defenders had to always keep an eye on the backfield.

Watching Joe in this West Coast offense is like watching someone haul mulch with a Ferrari - you can do it, but it just ain't right.