billiejean

Yea. If Osemele would have stayed we would make it to the playoffs and probably then Superbowl, even without Mike Wallace (wouldn't be able to keep Osemele and bring in Mike). Believe it or not it is a terrible idea to make both of your guards two of the highest paid people on the team. I am not sure how anyone could logically come to that conclusion.

I am sorry that you are unable to dictate the going rate for QBs in the league. There seems to be a misunderstanding of even basic Economic concepts here. And unfortunately, that is not surprising.

You must not be paying attention. He has some rough spots in the beginning but so does every LT. Ogden played guard his first year in the league. But in his last 6 games he had the best pass protection grade of EVERY single OT in the league. I dont thing you are as adept at accessing talent as you thought. Being number 1 in the game for the last 6 games is pretty remarkable for a rookie. And if you were wondering in those same last 6 games he finished 4th in run blocking. There is never going to be a rookie LT that is going to play like Ogden in his prime and its ridiculous to think that they should.

That's not going to happen. From a previous article: "Harbaugh said he’s excited to move forward with all three coordinators, including Defensive Coordinator Dean Pees and Special Teams Coordinator Jerry Rosburg." We are all excited as well ... I'm not excited. I'm very disappointed to learn that it appears Harbaugh will be retained. I'm even more disappointed that he's keeping our OC and DC too. I was so hoping that Mr. Bisciotti would move on from Harbaugh or, at the very least, if he just refused to fire him, put him on notice that the only way he could stay would be to replace Both coordinators and, also, show tangible improvement with the team next year. I was hoping for, at least, that. Harbaugh has succeeded in taking a lot of the fun out of watching the Ravens these past few years. I love my team, so I'm sticking with it through thick or thin. But, my goodness, does Harbaugh ever make it painful to watch. Whats more fun than a 28-27 game? you want Raven blow outs- I get it that at some point for some NFL teams, totally gutting an organization needs to be done. I do not see that for the Ravens for 2017. You make a point but then contradict it by an ultimatum which makes no sense. If you want to give a coach a timeline to "shape up or ship out" you don't tell him who he can use to do it. That is the point of why you tell him -its his job. Furthermore, its not Harbs fault that the OC's have left, if anyone as far as the final decision It is Bisciotti's he is the owner. He makes the deals and decides who stays and who doesn't as far as the front office and major releases such as Kubiak. The Ravens are an organization that promotes growth for their staff. It can work both ways. Some teams like the Patriots..not so much. Its just the nature of the Ravens way. As far as Harbs leaving, I think it will be a mutual thing. I expect that the Ravens will have a winning record next year or Harbs will not be feeling too good about his performance himself. But to rip out what staff has taken hold over this year, I think would be a mistake. Obviously so do Harbs and Bisciotti, and they are who count. As they see on the grid iron, "we will see". Go Ravens! PS I like the idea of moving some assistant coaches around. Also after visiting a few of the practices this year I might make comments; -a little less of the broken particle/regiment practices -and increase practice the following; suggestions; more Full team- work the line schemes- Defensive drop zone coverage- multi schemes from the same formation both sides of the ball- audible- play action - audible - play action, did I mention - audible - play action also cut out some more of the goofing off- this team was too nonchalant at camp to be 8-8!- I am not sure if you meant to say this or not but Kubes wasn't released. He was offered the HC job in Denver.

I agree with you, merryjman. All of these people crying for certain people to be fired have never been to a practice or a meeting and yet claim to know more than the head coach. With just a couple more defensive stops we could have been in the playoffs. Getting a new assistant coach with new ideas will help. Keeping the same OC and OLC will keep some consistency, something our offensive line and offense really needs. I played organized football for 5 years Im pretty sure I know what im talking about and I have actually been to a ravens practice there are lots of fans that know as much as some of these coaches and consistency can be good or bad Pees has been consistently bad for years and as for marty look up the offenses that he coordinated they all ranked in the bottom of the league Is this satire? "I played organized football for 5 years Im pretty sure I know what im talking about " If you are being serious that line is the most absurd thing that I have read on this site (and people say some pretty absurd things here).

Why would you think that Castilo has anything to do with play calling, Im referring to the #27 draw play reference,

Castillo's coaching strength is in teaching pass protection. His run schemes are more complicated than they need to be. IMHO this best serves his own interests, by making it more difficult to replace him by making himself the key to its success. Case in point the zone run scheme (under Kubkiak led-offense) we saw first hand players able to play fast and less decisions to have to make, which reduces chances of making mistakes/errors. There was still shuffling along the offensive line, but you couldn't tell mostly because the drop off was minimal. There's an acronym that seems fitting that comes to mind: KISS "Keep It Stupid <-> Simple" Castillo doesn't decide what blocking schemes are going to be used. That depends on the OC and what type of offense he is trying to run. Obviously he has some input but the blocking scheme for the most part is determined by what type of offense is being run. It not as if the OL are an autonomous entity on the field. They cant just do there own thing. That said I would love nothing more than to see more of the zone scheme that was used with Kubes. Not only did it help in the running game but Joe also seemed to be more decisive when Kube was here because of the correlation between reads and his footwork.

I still say Ben is incredibly overrated and has had great talent, either offensive or defensive, around him his whole career. Until last year he never made the playoffs without a top 5 defense. I am going to have to disagree with you there. Have you ever watched the guy play? Its ridiculous to think his success is based on the defense. Hes a lock for the HOF. He has been behind some pretty awful offensive lines. And they didn't always have Bell. For a while It was a mix of journeyman like Dwyer, Redman, Mendenhall, Moore. They do always seem to have a pretty a good receiver. I think your Ravens fandom has clouded your mind. I don't think you would be able to find a lot of people that would agree with that statement, even here in the Ravens forum.

Z Smith needs some legitimate pass rushing moves. I know this says "back" on track, but a lot of his sacks last year were twists; where he would come up the middle unblocked. Judon could use a few movies himself but over the season he proved that he was a better option than Smith. He has ridiculously heavy hands and when he uses them the right way he can be dangerous. I also hope Carl Davis is hungry. It was clear even before he was put on IR that Pierce jumped him on the depth chart and work ethic was one of the reasons he fell in the draft. Him not being able to play for a prolonged period of time worries me.

You have to be joking..... McCoughans had a terrible 2016 draft and offseason in general. Where have you been? And it wasnt just this year either. In 2015 they draft a GAURD with the number 5 pick. The olb they drafted in the second had a great rookie year with 8 sacks which was cut in half this year. The running back they drafted in the third who had a promising rookie season has been demoted to third string. The grass is not always greener. http://washington.cbslocal.com/2016/12/14/redskins-16-draft-class-questions/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/as-the-redskins-prepare-for-crucial-week-17-test-their-draft-class-is-marked-absent/2016/12/29/9e0fcf6c-ce00-11e6-a87f-b917067331bb_story.html?utm_term=.e938c50ce34b http://www.hogshaven.com/2017/1/4/14164524/why-scot-mccloughan-set-the-redskins-back

Friends dont fire friends.... Unless youre are B. Billick and you're OC is Jim Fassel.

Yea I know, I think I am just envious. Not of the franchise, but of the draft picks

Dude.... You're too funny. Man, The Browns would give up just about anything to have a guy like that on their team. Just remember the Browns have only one way to go and that's UP. They do have the first pick which they could turn into more first round picks, with some seconds and thirds sprinkled in. Its a nice spot to be in.

While that all sounds great.... We had them until the very last play. So, they deviated, or we did. I am not entirely sure what you are trying to say. The article wasn't intended to be a play by play prediction of what the Ravens were going to run. They're just tendencies. But the part that does hold true is that we never gave up on the run, which opened up opportunities in the passing game. And in turn we were able to stay in it till the very end. Its not like the Steelers were going to use this article to predict our plays. The guy has no affiliation with the team and is basically a blogger. You have to also keep in mind that it was written in November. I just though there were some point that rang true.

While I totally agree with what you are saying there is so much more that goes into how the oline performs than simply the linemen themselves. Many QB's do a better job helping out their oline by scrambling when needed, stepping up in the pocket and getting rid of the ball quickly. It's not like all of the teams that made the playoffs have great olines either. Another aspect of good oline play comes from the play calling. If the opposing team knows you pass 80% of the time they are going to come at you harder which really wears down those big linemen. Maybe thats why the OC's called so many short pass plays this year. I don't know. Point is you will almost never have a perfect oline. There will always be a weak link and the Ravens need to do a better job of managing that. So to get back to your original post, there is a reason so many fans place the blame on Joe and the OC. Joe does tend to get flustered under pressure but I think as the year went on he got a bit more comfortable (not much though). I totally agree with you about the play calling though, the line did have some issues, but the play calls were so predictable. When we give up on the run no one bites on play action and the lineman can pin their ears back. I read this a few months ago and I dont agree with everything it says but most of it rings true. Trigger Warning - its from the Steelers SB nation site http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/steelers-2016-preview-regular-season-news-updates-roster-depth-chart-salary-cap-tickets-baltimore-ravens-how-to-watch/2016/11/6/13538156/steelers-film-room-ravens-live-die-by-play-action-passes-preview-joe-flacco-steelers-secondary

If the OL is the problem then what changes would be made? Stanley stays, Lewis stays, Yanda stays, Wagner could stay. Is Zuttah really the one to blame for all of Joe's issues? I read somewhere he actually graded out pretty well the second half if the season. We had 7 different Offensive line configurations in 5 games due to injuries. Guys moved all over the place to fill in. Once Stanley came back the left side was fine. Lewis never did make it back. Zuttah had more penalties than anyone on the line also. And sacks allowed up the middle??? Those are missed blocks by the Center or RB. I'm just saying... Watch a Dallas game. Prescott has ALL DAY LONG. Br*dy does as well. Look at teams with good O-Lines, and you'll see better performance out of the running and passing game. Stanley had more penalties than anyone on the line this year. That does't make his rookie year any less impressive though. He is only going to get better from here

Does anyone know how strong the FB group is, in this years draft?

Not so sure about that. I would go with the same plan but run everything through Rick. Give Gary a light weight consultation job for a year - overall game planning the offensive direction and long term progression plan for both Joe and the offensive side of the ball. Make sure if he comes in that he stays sitting with Ozzie for the first year and only works part time with mandated minimum 4 days per week off. Give the reigns to Rick and make sure he brings in the same staff Gary had here especially the line coach and TE coach. And for the love of god lock Rick and he Joe in a room before the season starts and get them on the same page about chunk plays instead of waiting until half way through the year when Joe gets so fed up that he has his argument with the OC that chunk plays are needed. Yes, he even did this with Gary and the difference was that Gary actually listened and that is when the offense really started taking off. Also please make sure we game plan really speedy two minute drills and for receivers to get beyond or at least to the sticks in 3rd downs. Please. Not so sure about that?? Do you have a direct line to someone in Kubs inner circle? This is crazy, a 2 year plan and a schedule for the guy. Why in the world would Gary agree to do that. This is a pipe dream. Its not like Gary has this secret formula that Rick doesn't know about. Getting all of the same positions coaches is pointless and probably not possible. Everything doesn't have to be exactly how it was when Gary was here. Even if we were able to get all of the guys that were here in 2012 it doesn't mean that we would be just as successful as we were then. Whoever the offensive coordinator is should be able to hire the guys that he wants to hire. Whether its Rick or someone else. And I am pretty sure about the fact that Kubiak is hanging up the whistle. While were at it we mine as well hire Marvin Lewis to be our DC and bring in all of his assistant coaches that were apart of the 2000 team. Because he said as much in his press conference. And part of why it went so well here was because of the extreme loyalty that Kubiak and his crew have for each of the and I see Rick doing something similar as what Gary did. Hell, the reason Gary even came here was because of Rick's loyalty to him. If Rick wanted to take over and run the show without Gary, fine, but I suspect he would want Gary involved. The schedule for Gary would be to protect him from himself by giving him a mandated year off that would allow for exceptions if he wanted to come back early while still maintaining the needed r&r. The line to Kubiak inner circle is pretty transparent if you consider their behavior, decisions, actions and words over their career. Well I listened to the press conference (got a little misty eyed at the end there) and I didn't here anything even remotely close to warrant speculation that he will continue to coach in even a small capacity. Maybe there were two press conferences. If you get chance throw me a few quotes from the press conference you saw that made you think that he would still be interested in coaching. I do hope you are right though. The guy was the best OC that the Ravens have ever had and to get him involved in some capacity would be great. But, Garys health is not the only reason that he is retiring. And that seems to be the only angle that you addressed in the comments above. But I think a big part of this is his family. Here is a quote from an article written by Adam Schefter.... "The move might come as a surprise to many around the league, but there have been whispers throughout the year that Kubiak's family wanted him to leave coaching and move to their retirement ranch in Texas?".... Ive seen that mentioned in a lot of articles. And its just hard for me to believe that he would want to have a role as an offensive assistant in Baltimore of all places. The guy doesn't have anything to prove and he most certainly doesn't need the money. I think you may have been listening to that press conference with purple ear muffs my friend. Hes hanging up the old whistle. There hasn't been any indication that Rick is coming here. But if he did there is no reason to think that he would need Gary to be involved. Rick is a big boy. I mean the guys are obviously close friends and I dont think Rick is going to try to force his buddy, whos health is in question, to come out of retirement against his families wishes. Again, maybe there is something that I missed in the press conference. If so enlighten me.

Not so sure about that. I would go with the same plan but run everything through Rick. Give Gary a light weight consultation job for a year - overall game planning the offensive direction and long term progression plan for both Joe and the offensive side of the ball. Make sure if he comes in that he stays sitting with Ozzie for the first year and only works part time with mandated minimum 4 days per week off. Give the reigns to Rick and make sure he brings in the same staff Gary had here especially the line coach and TE coach. And for the love of god lock Rick and he Joe in a room before the season starts and get them on the same page about chunk plays instead of waiting until half way through the year when Joe gets so fed up that he has his argument with the OC that chunk plays are needed. Yes, he even did this with Gary and the difference was that Gary actually listened and that is when the offense really started taking off. Also please make sure we game plan really speedy two minute drills and for receivers to get beyond or at least to the sticks in 3rd downs. Please. Not so sure about that?? Do you have a direct line to someone in Kubs inner circle? This is crazy, a 2 year plan and a schedule for the guy. Why in the world would Gary agree to do that. This is a pipe dream. Its not like Gary has this secret formula that Rick doesn't know about. Getting all of the same positions coaches is pointless and probably not possible. Everything doesn't have to be exactly how it was when Gary was here. Even if we were able to get all of the guys that were here in 2012 it doesn't mean that we would be just as successful as we were then. Whoever the offensive coordinator is should be able to hire the guys that he wants to hire. Whether its Rick or someone else. And I am pretty sure about the fact that Kubiak is hanging up the whistle. While were at it we mine as well hire Marvin Lewis to be our DC and bring in all of his assistant coaches that were apart of the 2000 team.

I agree, add the O-line coach in particular. Our line is terrible, they get pushed around. We need some of those Midwestern farm boys, they throw bales of hay like paper. Im not sure what team you have been watching. The o line had a rough start with all of the injuries but once everyone got healthy they have been doing pretty well. During the second half of the season, when the line started to solidify the our O lineman have been consistently graded as the top 5 Offensive players on our team. In fact there hasnt been a game where at least two O linman made this list. And there were two games where four players were in the top five. I'm not convinced, sorry...different inj's happened at different times causing unconventional alignments...A list is just a list and no better than the author...The weakest on the line was center. AND, lost the best left guard in football. You passed judgement on something that you dont really no a lot about. This isn't just someone who made a list based on who they thought played best in the game. Its an analysis of every single play that the player was in the game for. Each play is given a numerical value by someone who zeros in on that player for the entire game. There is more to it but ill just put a link down there that spells it out. PFF isnt perfect but there are 15 teams in the league that pay an awful lot of money to get their analytics. Zutah has been playing well for the last ten or eleven games. He has been able to carry out his assignment on a consistent basis and in the last 11 games he has made it into the top 5 eight times. He doesn't have a problem carrying out his blocks, but he has had some inopportune penalties that have hurt us. And once again he put up a solid performance for yesterdays game and was the second highest graded player on the O. The weakest link on the line is Ducasse by far, and there will be plenty of competition at that spot next year. It would be a terrible decision for the Ravens to have beat out Oakland in the KO sweepstakes. You have got to spread the wealth. Having two of your highest paid players practically next to each other on the interior line would hurt financially. What happens then is that we wouldn't be able to sign any play makers because all of the money is tied up. If we kept KO it would be hard to imagine that we could afford bringing M Wallace in. LT Ronnie Stanley, 83.4 C Jeremy Zuttah, 77.0 G Marshal Yanda, 76.9 Link below gives you more in depth explanation as to how they grade. https://www.profootballfocus.com/about/how-we-grade/

I agree, add the O-line coach in particular. Our line is terrible, they get pushed around. We need some of those Midwestern farm boys, they throw bales of hay like paper. Im not sure what team you have been watching. The o line had a rough start with all of the injuries but once everyone got healthy they have been doing pretty well. During the second half of the season, when the line started to solidify the our O lineman have been consistently graded as the top 5 Offensive players on our team. In fact there hasnt been a game where at least two O linman made this list. And there were two games where four players were in the top five. We have to stop making injury excuses. How many sacks have the Ravens given up. We let a good guard go because we couldn't or wouldn't pay him. He's on a good, young playoff team, the Ravens, wait till next year. Then why do the Ravens lead the league in sack given up, first or second half of the season. I very seldom see a pocket the quarterback can throw from. Lead the league in sacks????? why would you make that up. Where do you get your stats from. We are nineteenth in the league. http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=2&offensiveStatisticCategory=OFFENSIVE_LINE&role=TM&d-447263-n=1&d-447263-o=2&d-447263-p=1&d-447263-s=PASSING_SACKS_ALLOWED "He's on a good, young playoff team, the Ravens, wait till next year" Is that statement implying that if we had KO we would have made it to the playoffs, Cmon man thats just ridiculous. And we didn't resign KO because you cant spend all of your cap space on two interior lineman it just doesnt make sense. We made the right move

The O line has played extremely well for the second half of the season. I am not sure if you have noticed that Marshall Yanda is the best gaurd in the league. You cant justify giving huge contracts to two interior lineman. You have to spread it around.

Sign Ray Lewis in some capacity, not a rah rah speech. A defensive coach would be nice. Someone needs to kick butt for non performing players. Only problem here is that Ray has said on multiple occasions that he doesnt want to coach.

Is this your first season following an NFL tream? Every single team has signed "another teams castoffs" this season. T west was a castoff as well as Kelly Greg and Cary Williams. I could go on for days listing all of the successful players that were other teams castoffs, Tyran Mathews was drafted three years ago and there is no way that you would know if we passed on him. I am assuming "passed on him" means they took him off their board. "its been proven it works" Really? For every time that it has worked there is a time where it didn't work. Here are a few examples. Josh Gordon, Titus Young, Johnny Manziel, Justin Blackmon,

I agree, add the O-line coach in particular. Our line is terrible, they get pushed around. We need some of those Midwestern farm boys, they throw bales of hay like paper. Im not sure what team you have been watching. The o line had a rough start with all of the injuries but once everyone got healthy they have been doing pretty well. During the second half of the season, when the line started to solidify the our O lineman have been consistently graded as the top 5 Offensive players on our team. In fact there hasnt been a game where at least two O linman made this list. And there were two games where four players were in the top five.