billiejean

I'm surprised we weren't able to get a 5th or 6th straight up. O well. Maybe there's already a plan in place so it's not another hole to fill in the draft. Maybe they've already been in contact with Mangold.
Are we trying to sign Mangold and/or Zach Brown? Or Carr? Signing Claiborne would be ridiculous.
Still Arrington and Watson to cut
I also heard Joe wants to take a 50% paycut as well.....lol

So i think signing Mangold and Zach Brown is something that is mentioned here and by pundits that say they would be good fits, but as of yet there hasn't been any indication that the FO is thinking about bringing in either of those two guys. Although it is certainly possible that I just have just missed the article that has talked about our FOs interest in picking up those guys.

Urschel was actually drafted to be groomed to be our future center, but due to injuries he was forced to play both RG and LG, and center at times....having played all 3 interior line positions and his smarts i would like him to get the start and the opportunity to be our center...JMO

When he has played it hasn't been pretty. I don't think any team drafts a center in the 5th round and expects them to be the starter at some point, unless a guy that should have been taken earlier has fallen down the board because of some off the field issues. And if anything John was taken early. There is a real good possibility that he would have been a 7th rounder or an UDFA if we didn't take him. We need to bring in other guys either through the draft of FA to compete with him. If he beats them out than he is the starter, but I think even Jensen would be a better option than John. You don't need to be a genius to call out protections as a center. John is overqualified in that regard and those extra IQ points don't make him any better at calling out protections than a guy with average IQ. It is just not as complicated as some people make it seem.

1 hour ago, hen826957 said:

It will be a good signing. He even had decent seasons before even last year. Just by looking at his stats, 2015: 77 tackles, 0.5, 2 ints, 2014: l guess he didn't play, 2013: 91 tackles, 4 sacks, 1 int, 2012: 93 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 3 ints. Between 2013-2012 he got Mosley numbers of this season so l wouldn't say he had one good season. He had a good season in his rookie year with the Titans. 3 years, 20 million will probably be enough to get him. He's a good plug in play to replace Orr. At least he know how to sack the Qb.

Yea your right saying he only had one good season is an exaggeration.  I think 3 years 20 mil is probably a good estimate of what it would take to pick him up.

3 hours ago, hen826957 said:

Yep. I really hope Ozzie listening. I really want them to sign Zack Brown. A 3 year deal would be perfect and will full a hole at LB and he won't be that expensive. As a matter of fact, it might be a huge upgrade over Orr. Sign him Ozzie. 👍

I don't think I would make the assumption that he won't be that expensive.  He had a ridiculously good year with Buffalo.  The four years  prior to that season he did not play that well.  He almost doubled his tackles in 2016 compared to 2015.  He had 149 tackles last year and before that he never even broke the 100 tackle mark.  Now if we sign him to a contract based solely on last season, we could get screwed down the line when he doesnt put up those kind of numbers.  And if that happened people here (even the people that are advocating for the FO to sign him) will say what a terrible move the FO made by signing a guy that has had one good season in his entire career.  He and his agent are looking for that type of contract and that type of contract is not going to be as inexpensive as you are predicting.  But expense is relative.  It will be inexpensive compared to BWills contracts for sure. But it will be expensive for a player who has only had one good season in his five year career.  I like Zach.  I think he would be a good addition, but he is a risky signing, and we are going to have to throw more money to him that he probably deserves at this point.  There is another factor here which the front office would have a better understanding than I do at this point.  And that is what his success last year is attributed to.  I think whatever the answer to that question is will make us either more or less willing to shell out the dough to sign him.

I say Ozzie's surprise will be ...................... OJ Howard! Why?
1. If he's available he is BPA
2. Pitta and Howard would be big headaches for any defense.
3. Max is a bust, Gilmore is a blocking tight end!
4. We will save cap space by cutting Watson
5. This is the next best thing to having a dominate slot WR which we need. Wallace and Perriman will stretch the field while TE's do damage in the middle.

We shall see

I don't think we have to wait to see. I can already tell you that thats not going to happen. Max a bust? He has only played one season. We have spent way too many resources on TE both through the draft and FA to draft one in the first. When Maxx has played he has played well both in the catching and the blocking department. Gilmore is not only a blocking TE either. He isn't as sure handed as Max but labeling him solely as a blocking TE isn't accurate. Keeping Perriman in your future plans for the team but not Maxx is absurd. They have played in the same amount of games. A guy being hurt for the season isn't a reason to label them a bust. Just because you haven't heard a guys name in the last 6 months doesn't make him any less of a player. The opposite is true too (see John Urschel)

Re-sign Boldin and hire Ed Reed as DB coach. Get some old time attitude back in this team. Hire Ray Lewis as introduction leader for the team. I know our present head coach seemed to be affraid of STRONG players but maybe we could get 2-3 wins out of an up beat team compaired to the slow, dull team we presently have.

What does the introduction leader do? Chuckx99 cmon man you aren't fooling anyone. You don't know much of anything about football. Some of the terms you use and the ideas you have are quite frankly, bizarre.

21 hours ago, bigcatfrank1 said:

Get Latavius Murray RB. Without an improved, hard nosed, top running game the Ravens could do the same thing as last year, drop the big games. They need to do everything they can, I think Murray can help immensely, and immediately.

All other FA positions can follow if possible, LB, CB, RT and C. But they are not as critical in my opinion to get a #1RB. Where is the biggest weakness?
lets look at the options:

Corners- Smith (1), Young, Canady- CB ?
O Linebackers - Suggs (1), Za Smith, Judon, Beyer - OLB ?
I Linebackers - Mosely (1), McClellan, Correa, Onwausor - ILB?
(ntm other LB -Locombo, Lewis and Luckett)
O line-
Yanda (1) Stanley (1) Lewis (1) Zuttah, Jensen, Nembot, Urschel- Tackle/G/ C ?
(ntm other OL- Skura, Pughsley, Broxton, DeOndre

or West, Allen, Woodhead ( who is more of a receiver option back) - RB?

Dixon's suspension makes it that much more of an absolute necessity!

There are wonderful prospects in the draft that can most possibly strengthen spots. Obviously we need the top 2 picks to start, hopefully the top 4. However, RB will be the hardest to get the largest return from. Expecting 1000yds from a rookie is a ridiculous expectation and honestly that is what the Ravens need more than anything on this team. Considering that the running game makes up more than 25% of the total game play of the entire team, this position, the load, Its effect on the passing game, yardage, first downs, field position, especially for the Ravens, is critical, critical, critical !

Oz, Solve the Running Game, you solve a huge situation and still leaves many possibilities for the remaining positions. Get Murray, I've got a good feeling about him and the Ravens.

I like Z. Brown too, but only after solving the Running Game.
ps. Take a look at Cordelle Patterson WR, K returner, option back

We aren't going to pick up Murray or Lacy.  We have two fine running backs and I know you think one of them is a "dufus".  It is true that Dixon is no Ezekiel Elliott, and he has flaws, but the term "dufus" does not accurately describe any of them.  Im sure we will add a guy from the draft or a guy in FA that will come cheap.  We DONT need to pick up a 1000 yards rusher.  You are getting to hung up on that stat.  You need to look at the yards per carry.  We aren't going to draft a rookie and expect or need him to get 1000 yards because he will be splitting carries.  This isn't 1995, you don't have to have one workhorse running back to win games.  It seems that you may be new to the game and if that is so, I would ask you to look at the Patriots RBs as of late.  Most of the guys that they have used are cast offs, late rounders, or UDFAs.  They have gone to the super bowl 7 times since 2000 and they have only had a 1000 yard rusher 3 of those times.  1000 yards is just a number.  It doesn't mean anything.

14 hours ago, Crusader said:

21 hours ago, Bruce_Almty said:

I hope this signing doesn't mean they postpone drafting a CB until the 3rd day.

If Ozzie does not draft a CB he should be fired before the 17th pick is called. No excuse everything else would be BS.

That's an absolutely terrible draft strategy. take what the board gives you. When you have as many needs as we do, going into a draft intent on picking CB (or any other position) in the first round is a "BS" move. If the two or three top corners are gone before our pick is up, you don't reach for a CB who shouldn't be taken until the second round. You take someone else or you trade back. If the best CB on the board by the 16th pick is Teeze Tabor and Solomon Thomas hasn't been picked yet, it would be a terrible move to take Tabor. If we did that and Teeze had a rough rookie season you would be on here every day during the offseason complaining about how terrible the FO is because they reached for a second round corner in the middle of the first round.

22 hours ago, steelcityraven said:

Zach Brown...makes our Defense scary. He is fast and athletic.... we have maybe the most stout DL in the game. We have a pro bowler at LB in CJ... we have the grizzled out veteran on the outside in Suggs and the young athletic Judon. We have maybe the best S duo in football. We have Jimmy and Tavon and look to upgrade the CB position.


Zach compliments CJ very well. CJ's biggest struggle is covering the pass.... Zachs specialty. Zach runs in the low 4.4 range and is athletic enough to take away athletic TE's (Ladarius Green) and fast enough to give cut back RBs fits (G. Benard and L Bell).

Plus Zach has grown to be a physical presence who gets sideline to sideline well posting nearly 150 tackles last season. His athleticism along with CJs allows us to really bring pressure from anywhere and keep OCs guessing.

Sign Zach Brown!

If Zach plays like he did last year he would be a good pick up, but last year was the only season where he put up good numbers. He played in a 3-4 the year before and didn't have nearly as much success. And Im not really sure what that could be attributed to. Did he get more snaps? Did Rex use him differently than Horton did? Maybe he just needed a change of scenery? He is the full package though. Great in coverage, blitzes well, and would pair nicely with Mosley. Im surprised that he hasn't been signed yet.  It makes me think that he is asking for a contract based solely on last seasons performance rather than a contract that takes his whole body of work into account.

  6 hours ago, RaRaRavens said:

Why the hell should he?! That's what keeps him hungry, motivated, his motor going and trying to prove everyone wrong. I hope he remains haunted and wants to prove every other 31 teams who we might face that they made the biggest mistake when not drafting him.

This kind of passion is extremely rare sight here in Baltimore ever since 2012, shame on you for wanting it to end.

I think you completely missed my point here lol

im commending him for already proving 31 teams wrong and now it's time he channels that hunger into winning a SB and maybe perhaps contaminating everyone around him.

im not sure if I deserve you telling off like "shame on you" but heck I love the passion it came from and that passion is indeed contagious!

keep bleeding purple brother! Liked...

Yea "shame on you" should probably be reserved for kids, dogs, and politicians.

4 hours ago, ravensnj said:

Well, in order to say it's a bust or not, we should break it down.

Let's start with the players and rounds:

1-Matt Elam (Bust) 2 Arthur Brown (Bust) 3 Brandon Williams (Score) 4 John Simon (Score, but waived) 5 Kyle Juszczyk (Score) 6 Rick Wagner (Score) 6 Kapron Lewis-Moore (Bust) 6 Ryan Jensen (Score) 7 Aaron Mellette (Bust) 7 Marc Anthony (Bust)

Final: 5 Scores vs 5 Busts

Personally, I call this draft a bust, as I wanted "The Honey Badger" Tyrann Mathieu in round 1. He dropped to the 3rd round due to off field issues- failed 10 drug tests and was kicked off the LSU football team. In hindsight, he appeared to be the right choice, as the Ravens safety position has been dismal and he has been a Pro Bowl player.

The right choice? Tyrann Mathieu is a great player but he has never played a full season and probably never will.  There is no doubt in my mind that if we took him in the first people would be criticising the FO for picking such a fragile player.  With hindsight it looks like a great pick because you know we picked Elam and Tyrann would certainly be a major upgrade.  But if we picked TM and Matt Elam wasn't part of the equation the pick would get criticized.  There would be a lot of.... Why in the world did Oz pick such a small safety in the first round knowing how rough that position is?  Did they really think he would be able to make it through the whole season?  One thing i can be sure of ,and that is that if you told someone four years ago that the Ravens would be giving out a big contract to an undrafted Safety rather than the first rounder that we picked in the same class, they would say you were crazy.

7 minutes ago, EdTheMythicalOne said:

Why not compare it to all 32 teams in the NFL and see how that ranking stacks up. I don't have the time or desire to do that. All I know is that if you whiff big on your first two draft picks and at least one of them is a first rounder, then you didn't have a great draft.

I think Juice was a reach at 4th round. We lucked out with Wagner and we didn't keep Simon. KLM, Mellette, and Anthony never did much of anything for this team.

So essentially 3 players panned out for the Ravens. One is a starting DT that is one dimensional. A very good piece no doubt. The other was a starting RT that while healthy did a good job. The last one is a starting FB and like I said, a lot of teams wait to get these guys as UDFA's. Juice was a nice player, but does he really qualify as a player you drool over?

So they had a 33% success rate in the draft. 3/9 players they kept and contributed.

"I honestly don't know how a writer for the Ravens site can get away with making certain cases that appear in this article without presenting the whole truth"

Now come on Ed you've been here long enough to know that there is a slant to the articles that are written here.  This is the RAVENS website.  They made it seem like Correa was the next Ray Lewis before the team started full contact drills.

But, I wasn't disagreeing with your assesment of our draft.  Clearly we have missed too much lately, but when you don't have an accurate assessment of how other teams have fared than you really don't know how bad our drafts have been.  You could assign values to all 32 teams for the 2013 teams but that wouldn't do you any good because it's not a large enough sample size.  There are some interesting statistics in an article that I was reading the other day.  It ranks teams drafting success since 1996, which is too large of a sample size.  But if you scroll past the rankings there is some interesting draft data. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/sports/nfl-draft-history/

I don't think you could ever come up with a system to accurately quantify a teams drafting success but the following links have tried.  I havn't really looked at the methodology.  I don't think I would put any weight behind the numbers. NYP ranking seem particularly unreliable.  They have attributed a grade each year for a teams past 5 drafts and some how we make a miraculous leap from 25 in 2015 to 12 in 2016. Raiders go from 31 to 7.

http://nypost.com/2016/04/24/ranking-from-1-32-the-nfls-best-teams-at-drafting/

http://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2016/story/_/id/15414561/ranking-best-worst-drafting-teams-round-1-carolina-panthers-houston-texans-top-list

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/list/nfl-draft-pick-grades-best-drafting-teams-history-packers-patriots-cowboys-steelers-seahawks-giants-jets-49ers-colts/1l1pnbiucjqpa1812jl4ry152i

1 hour ago, bigcatfrank1 said:

unfortunately- Pitt #1, NE #2, Denver #3 and Ravens #4 against each other. Ravens were definitely in the lower 16 in the league considering 4 really good and 4 plain lousy.

bigfrank my man, you have to know at how the players picked by the other teams have fared for the last 4 years to make an informed decision. And I don't think there is any logical reasoning that would put Denvers class in front of ours.  The only guy that played for them in that class was Williams and he can't hold B Wills jock strap.  And I think you could even argue that our class was better than NE.  Clearly Collins was a good pick.  Logan Ryans first year starting was last year, but he has been a solid contributor.  Harmon was a back up in the four years in NE, but a contributor nonetheless.  But the other guys were misses. Clearly there isn't an argument to be made that our class was better than Pitts, and for the most part that because of Bell.  If Bell was the only guy in that rookie class that made the 53 in 2013, Pitt would have still had a better draft than ours.  But as I said, I think you could make the argument that our class comes in at 2 or 3 on that list.  But Denver comes in at 4 without question.

This is going to be a long post and I apologize in advance for it because there is just so much I disagree with and have to adjust for sake of maximum correctness. I honestly don't know how a writer for the Ravens site can get away with making certain cases that appear in this article without presenting the whole truth. So please allow this novice to take the pro to some school and I will let the fans/posters here figure out who makes a better point. Maybe I should be writing for this site?

First of all, the main premise of this article is to not judge players too soon or to use one piece of evaluation to measure the success rate of a pick. Then the author goes on to use SALARY as the main measuring stick to prove that these players are something special. How many horrible QB's are getting paid crazy money these days? Teams have the ability to throw around crazy money in the days of the increasing salary cap. Poor teams will overpay for marginal talent all the time. Why not use some actual factual data to dictate who was or was not a good player.

Secondly, I think any time a team completely whiffs hard on their top two draft picks that draft is considered a bust. These are supposed to be players that are cornerstones of your franchise for years to come and both Elam and Brown contributed almost nothing in terms of on field production. The Ravens spent a lot of money and other resources in trying to correct those draft mistakes.

Third, the author brings up the lack of playing time for Brandon Williams, Kyle Juszcyck, and the release of John Simon. What the author fails to mention is that in Williams' rookie season he had a certain superstar Haloti Ngata and another second round bust pick in Terrence Cody ahead of him on the depth chart. At DE he had Arthur Jones and Chris Canty ahead of him. Where in that line up do you expect him to get snaps. His snaps came subbing in for Ngata after Cody got hurt again.

In Juice's case he had a superb lead blocker in Vonte Leach in front of him. Can you blame the Ravens for starting Leach over Juice? Juice was also a 4th round pick which is extremely high for a fullback. Most of them aren't even drafted anymore. Then there is John Simon who was behind Elvis Dumervil, Terrell Suggs, and Courtney Upshaw (another high pick bust in my opinion). He just was a numbers game cut plain and simple. Nobody was judging him at the time or labeling him as a bust.

Rick Wagner was a good tackle and I don't think he's worth the insane amount of money he's getting paid. It is just a matter of the current market dynamics. Lack of talent on the market and tons of cap space for some teams. Do you think Rick Wagner is the best RT in the game of football? I certaintly don't but he's getting paid like it.

Last year's draft won't be considered a bust because Ronnie Stanley appears to be the real deal. Any time you can grab a franchise LT in the draft you have to be tickled pink. Our second and third round picks are a bit questionable because Correa did almost nothing coming out of a small school and then Kaufusi is an old rookie who got hurt in his first season and couldn't play. Willie Henry and Carl Davis also couldn't contribute last season due to injuries so nobody is really judging them just yet.

The issue in Correa's case is all the hype he was getting from this site in training camp and in the pre season. He was making headlines more for his after play scuffles than his actual production. To have him wipe out as an edge rusher and then struggle in his conversion to MLB is obviously going to draw some ire, but this season will be his redemption phase. Nobody has closed the door on him yet.

How would you rank these 2013 draft classes

Pitt
1 Jarvis Jones
2 Leveon Bell
3 Markus Wheaton
4 Shamarko Thomas
4 Landry Jones
5 Terry Hawthrone
6 Justin Brown
6 Vince Williams
7 Nick Williams

Denver
1 Sylvester Williams
2 Montee Ball
3 Kayvon Webster
5 Quanterus Smith
6 Vinston Painter
7 Zac Dysert

New England
2 Jaimie Collins
2 Aaron Dobson
3 Logan Ryan
3 Duron Harmon
4 Josh Boyce
7 Michael Buchanan
7 Steve Beauhrnais

Ravens
1 Elam
2 Brown
3 B. Will
4 Simon
4 Juice
5 R Wagner
6 Kapron Lewis Moore
7 Aaron Mellette
7 Marc Anthony

It's funny we mention John Simon because right now we are crying about needing pass rushers and here is a pure pass rusher and we jettisoned him. Not only is judging a draft too early a problem, but judging the individual players of that draft too early ended up as a problem for the Ravens. The ability of our coaches to judge talent comes in to question and where I think we are improving in that area, I wonder if it isn't an result of Harbaugh learning the head coaching job on the fly, on the job training as you will, and his skills are improving. I would think as a special team coordinator, as he was in his previous life, doesn't lend to a lot of analysis for players skills as far as individual positions, as he would be looking from the lens of special teams. I wonder if he wasn't a little green in that area when he took the job but slowly but surely is improving.

Now in his defense, not only do we turn over players and get so many comp picks in return, but we turn over coaches, who get better jobs in other organizations, quite frequently as well. Then you bring in someone who isn't quite as good as the last guy or he would have had the job to start with. By the time the Ravens magic works on him, he gets a better job offer. Talent evaluation and expressing that to the head coach and GM goes to deciding who plays and who stays and if that evaluation is flawed, then the decisions going up the ladder are flawed.

Im not sure what of your definition of a "pure pass rusher" is but it is certainly not a title that I would use to describe John Simon.

13 minutes ago, b93333 said:

We could sure use a real center... Mangold?

The last two seasons Mangold has played pretty poorly. And last year he only played 8 games. But if he is willing to come in with a fair contract that takes those two blemishes into account I think we should pull the trigger. In all fairness it must get pretty discouraging playing for the Jets with all the QBs and regime changes hes gone through. I think a change of scenery would do him well.  There doesn't seem to be a huge market for his services.  The only thing that I've read about him in the last few days is that some teams have inquired about possibly moving him to guard.

  5 hours ago, BigUgly said:

Post June 1 cuts of Pitta, Watson, Zuttah, Arrington and Webb would free up $19.6M.  I don't think all of those guys will be cut, and some may need to go before June 1st if there are a couple of key players out there now that Ozzie has his eye on (Akamura, Claiborne, Mangold, etc.).  Still work to do to transform our 8-8 roster.

Its past 8-8 right now if we draft well
I personally hope all of those guys are cut though
I think Claiborne is a terrible idea
Mangold should be explored
And I think Zach Brown should be a big target
I know a lot of people around here don't like old folks coming in. But different and dominant players are lasting longer than usual these days. I would love to add Peppers or Ware to rush on thirds downs opposite Suggs. And give Sizzle breathers. They can both stop the run and would be great additions in every other way too. We have a chance to really get an A++ this offseason. I give the FO a solid A right now. Have to draft well though. Better than well!

The issue with Zach Brown is the only good season he has had in his 5 year career was last season. Its a risky move and I think there will be other teams out there that are going to be willing to throw a lot of money at him.

11 minutes ago, steelcityraven said:

1 hour ago, budkretz said:

With the pick at #16 it seems that the Ravens will go CB or Edge rusher and there seems to be 2-3 at each position that cold warrant the pick there. The one wild card is RB - Dalvin Cook. Is he the playmaker, the Ravens need to add to the offense? It seems that if we don't go CB in 1st there should be a very good one in 2nd round. Even if we sign Claiborne, I can't see the Rravens not getting a CB in either the 1st or 2nd or 3rd round. Also since we only have 8 picks , I can see Ozzie trading back a few spots 17-22 range in order to get another pick or 2. With 4 picks in first 99 drafted the Ravens need to get 3 solid starters out of those picks. Hopefully one becomes All-pro. Though it may take a few weeks I see the Ravens adding a veteran OL and ILB to fill out those twos positions. Not sure who we add to our WR group. Anyone have any thoughts?

Round 1. Takkirst McKinney- OLB UCLA
or Solomon Thomas- OLB- Stanford
Round 2. De De Westbrook- WR- Okla
Round 3. Fabian Moreau- CB- UCLA
Round 3. Zach Barner- T /G - USC
Round 4. Devonte Fields - OLB Louisville
Round 5. Robert Davis - WR- Ga State
or KD Cannon - WR - Baylor
Round 6. Kareem Are- G- FSU

Provided we land Claiborne if not then we go after TreDavious White -CB LSU in the 2nd round and Ju Ju Smith- Schuster- WR - USC in the 3rd

I wouldn't take Banner unless we picked him up as a UDFA. He looks like a whale out of water on the field. He has come to camp heavy in every single offseason that he has been with USC and not just a little heavy either. He has been up to 400 pounds at some times.  Hes not worth the risk.

33 minutes ago, bigcatfrank1 said:

CB yes, probably 1st round pick

C - I think they should go young and pick the top C in the draft at #2. This will allow the Front line to start fresh and get the reps needed in camp. Elflein or Potic
Having Yanda teamed up with a rookie Center, asap, is probably the biggest asset, waiting only cuts that time down. It is also cost effective.

Edge- absolutely as best player presents himself, however WR,S, OL,
LB all need to be looked at for each draft position.

OL or WR- probably gonna find a decent player at #99.

As far as free agency, Get a #1 Running Back rather than a high paid receiver. The Ravens have receiving weapons with Wallace, Perriman, Moore, Woodhead, Waller, (Pitta if he takes the cut) Boyle, Gilmore, Dixon and West.

Mangold only if he makes himself affordable.
Prior is un-affordable go with a #2/3 receiver if at all

Signings- Williams, Wallace, Mallet, Jefferson and Woodhead are good moves! So far I like what I see.
Cutting -Doom, Webb, Wright and Lewis all good
Not re-signing- Wagner and Juice best move for the money.

Dixon is a Dufus

Dixon is a Dufus?  What does that even mean.  We arent going to be able to make any other big splashes in free agency.  I am not sure if you have heard but B Will and Tony Jefferson cost us a pretty penny.  I know you dont like to bother with the realities that come with the salary cap but unfortunately the F.O. has to take that into account.

21 minutes ago, rmcjacket23 said:

Based on what I've heard from the FO and from some of the beat writers, I don't think the FO views RT as a big issue, at least compared to fans.

I think they like some of the younger guys we have, and I also think the FO feels confident that they could use a mid-round pick on a Tackle and plug him in to compete/win the job right away.

I think too often fans take stock after FA or the draft and say "we don't have a starter at this position defined right now... we need to add somebody". In most years I can remember, there's always at least 1-2 positions where heading into training camp we have no clue who the starter is going to be.

Last year, we really weren't sure who was going to start at ILB with Mosley. Unfortunately, we're in the same predicament this year, but last years replacement was an internal player and was a lot better than most fans could have hoped for.

RT, to me, is the position this year where we will see numerous bodies competing for a starting job in training camp, and the best man wins it.

And while I think they will add an edge rusher in the draft, I also think the FO likes our young guys (ZaDarius and Judon) more than fans do, and are fine with our top 3 rushers being those two and Suggs for the time being. Its not ideal, and I think they know that, but I don't think they view OLB as a critical area right now either.

I think they know they need a complement at WR, and that we need to add at least 1-2 corners.

If I were a betting man, the focus in the draft will be WR, Corner/Safety, and Oline. I think they'll plug ILB internally.

I would be worried about going into the season with those 3 OLBs and an addition of a UFA or late round pick.  But I was also worried about going into the 2014 season with Wagner starting at RT, and into the 2016 season with Orr starting at ILB.  Z is the most concerning for me. He needs to work on some different pass rushing. I have only seen him use the bull rush which hasn't been really effective for him.  A few of his sacks he got his rookie season were due to good coverage.  And two of them were manufactured using a stunt that had him twist inside.  I think the stunt sacks were actually almost back to back in one of the Steelers game.  He did get better at setting the edge last year but that is also a skill that is still a work in progress. Where does the FO think that Correa is going to be spending most of his time this year ?  I haven't heard much about him.  

18 minutes ago, rmcjacket23 said:

Well, realistically, the "BPA strategy" is a modified strategy based on how we assemble our draft board.

So in some years, yes, there are positions that we almost certainly wouldn't target in the first 2-3 rounds or so, because we have quality players and quality depth at the position (though I'll say the depth part is hard to have most of the time).

This year however, outside of maybe QB (and kicker, and punter, and Long snapper), I don't see a position on our roster where we couldn't easily justify using a 1st round, 2nd round, or any round pick on.

WR, RB, TE, Tackle, Guard, Center, Dline, OLB, ILB, Corner, Safety. Could use help at literally every single one of those positions without question.

Most years, I could probably narrow down our 1st round pick to one of about 2-3 positions usually. This year, its as wide open as I can remember in a long time.

Nobody should be surprised if we take a player from literally any position outside of QB. We need playmakers at every single level.

Taking a TE in the first two seems improbable as well.  But there is certainly a much greater chance of us taking a TE early than a QB.  Especially if a guy takes an unexpected fall down the board.  

1 hour ago, sizzlingdoom said:

Really? Sorry but I disagree. While it would always be nice to draft a player to groom at any position, while you have a stud vet already there to learn from, I don't see it.
We would have to spend at least a 4th rounder if we're trying to get a guy for the future. And I just don't see us spending a 4th rounder on a safety when we're set for years imo.
Understandably so, but people get carried away with age at times. SSS is my favorite athlete of all time, and I'll never forget the things the fans were saying about him when we brought him in, cuz of his age.
I'm not saying Weddle is SSS, but he is a special player and one of the most underated ones ever imo. He has at least 2 years left of HIGH quality play. And Jefferson is just getting going. Wasn't Weddle ranked as the 2nd best Safety overall? The guy has not slowed down at all, and our Defense is only making him better. Not to mention I sincerely think he will make a better FS than SS. He's not the most physical tackler at all, and it should help preserve him a little there. And he's super instinctive, a ball hawk, and can lead the back end. Tony is crazy in the box. I was rooting so much for us to bring in a SS so Weddle would move to FS. I think it's gonna be good stuff to say the least
The Safety position is set for years, and once we add a legit corner (hopefully at #16 this year), our secondary will be set for years. And one of the top couple in the league. Menelik is kinda interesting. And yeah Vollmer failed a physical and missed last year cuz of injuries. Rumors he might retire

This is the issue with assigning positions to draft picks before the draft starts.  It is just not realistic.  If you think that Ozzy is going into the draft with a list of positions that he won't take in the first 4 rounds you are fooling yourself.  You say we are set for years to come and than you say that you can only guarantee that he has 2 years of high quality play left, followed by saying we are set for years to come once again.  And I didn't specify what round we would take a guy in.  I am not sure if you realize this but both the safety and cornerback (sometimes converted to safety in nfl... Sean Davis) are the deepest positions in the draft.  There are going to be good safeties available in each round.  But again, if there is a safety that the Ravens covet, that falls in the draft, and represents a good value the FO will not hesitate to take him.  And that applies to ALL of the rounds.  Yes even the first.  It would certainly be more of a need if we let Webb go which is a possibility.  But regardless we are going to need to pick up a safety somewhere.  Even if we do keep Webb.  The only other safety we have on the team is Huff. Its funny because you're a guy that constantly criticized the depth during last season season (with good reason), yet you are ready to go into the season with only two safeties, one of which is 32 years old.  Are you comfortable with a Brandon Trywick or Anthony Levine type guy starting if either one of those guys gets hurt.  And the best part is that you point to SSS to support your premise that age is just a number.  Did you forget that Steve missed 11 games in the last two years.  Injuries happen.  Some young guys would be extremely lucky to learn from TJ or Weddle even if they don't turn out to be Weddles replacement.  

Tony Jefferson, Safety checked off. Brandon Williams, NT/DT Checked off.

Still need- Game Changing Pass Rusher, no.1 CB along side Jimmy Smith, another WR or 2, RT&C

Options
Nick Mangold C
Terrell Pryor WR
I dont know if they have the money but OT Manelik Watson

Of course draft too

I wouldn't check off safety just yet. I think it would be wise to look for a true FS. At this point in his career Weddle is better suited as a SS and SS is TJs natural position. Although those guys are better in coverage than most SS in the league it would still be a good idea to bring in (preferably through the draft) a young guy better suited for that center fielder roll. He would be able to learn from the vets with the hope that he could take over Weddles spot somewhere down the line. Menelik would be an interesting pick up. Does anyone no what Vollmers situation is? Is he recovering from an injury?

I think that the people that are bemoaning the addition of Danny and the possibility that Pitta will be back next year because they believe that the pair will exacerbate Joe's check down woes need to think logically about this for a second. There is always going to be a check down rout. If Danny and Dennis weren't with us next year then you would be upset with Crocket, Maxx, Dixon, or Camp. Joe most definitely checks it down too much. I don't watch the all 22 tape so I am not sure how many of those check downs were thrown when there was a guy open down field, but I am assuming that does happen. Marty is the guy that is going to have to find a way to minimize check down. Both by coaching and play calling. There were also times last year when Joe would throw it down field on a third down, but the receiver would be in front of the first down marker. That is an anecdotal observation though. I am not sure how many times that happened or if it occurred because the WR were working back to the ball in a scramble drill.

Assuming we get a good replacement for Wagner, the offense will be fine. Forget it, this team's defensive needs are staggering.
Jefferson is a great first step. Pay Williams whatever he wants,,,,,he makes everyone around him a better player while eating 2 blockers and closing up the middle of the defense. if we don't resign Williams this team will be lucky to finish 8-8. He is a freakish talent that can not be replaced. Give him a 10 year deal for 80 million..........or whatever.
Last year the defensive front seven was one of the deepest and most talented in the NFL and won a lot of games for us. The secondary let us down especially when the china doll ( Jimmy Smith) exited for his regular stint at polishing the pine. Also accept that Suggs is done...no longer a dominant player and now barely effective. Cut or trade Suggs and Smith. Arrington and Wright were appropriately cut as should be Dumervil and Webb.
Getting rid of these players leaves a lot of holes as does the loss of Orr.
We need 2 top tier corners.
We need a bad butt middle lb to play with Mosely
We need 2 top tier corners to play with Young.
We need 4-5 DL/LB to play with Pierce, Jernigan and Guy.
We have to assume Corriea and Kafusi are busts along with Davis.
Z Smith should be given a chance to show he can dominate or be let go.
To fix this team Flacco needs to restructure,,,,,,,,,if he doesn't cut him and go with Mallett...he can get us to 8-8 at 10% of the price.

The majority of what you have said is either impossible, inaccurate, or unrealistic and sometimes all three. What is the point of posting such an unfeasible agenda for the offseason? On another note, I think you should set up a time to grab a few cold ones with Chuckx99 at some point. You guys seem to be on the same page. There is no doubt in my mind that the two of you would get along famously.