January J

yessir

I can't believe everybody was complaining about oz not selecting Wrs in the first. Just read that the patriots haven't selected one in the first since 1996!!

Interesting to know that they weren't going to pick Shane Ray- I thought he would be hard to pass up and thought they really favored him. I'm glad though- I don't like the idea of drafting first round players with off the feild concerns- let alone a lingering toe injury.

Well there you go. Everybody wanted Ozzie to go wr in the first so I hope their happy. Plus he's a big bodied gazelle. I really thought for a minute Shane Ray was going to fall right into our lap, but when I saw Denver trade up I knew. The way the board shook out we almost had no choice but to grab a wide receiver. I thought for a second we might go jaleon strong- or trade back into the early 2nd- but I pretty much knew it would be perriman with who was left. I'm happy. Not thrilled about the concentration drops but that is something that can be worked on. The upside is much greater. All in all I was somewhat suprised with the lack of trades and what not but in hindsight it makes sense. Man how sweet would it have been to be in that war room with Ozzie and Eric though?

thanks man- pretty sweet.

I'm pretty sure bennet could be obtained with only a 4th, but we"d have to increase his contract by about 2 million a year increasing it to about 7- which is a bit pricey. Not out of the question but not too likely either. We will see. The trestman connection is the main reason I could see it happening- or not happening if he knows something we don't know-since he was in the locker room with the guy.

I've never seen one of those- you got a pic?

We're gonna tear San Fran a new one, not worried about them or Denver. Our biggest competition will be Seattle, and possibly Arizona. But the ravens fear no one.

exactly. If the execution is poor what do you expect?

I too wonder if he will really stick to the running game and not get too pass happy. He says he knows we are a run first team- let's see if he sticks to his guns even when the tough gets goin and the running game struggles a bit. It's one thing to say what your gonna do..

What do y'all think about them platinum white jerseys they have on the ravens store?

one thing I do know is that joe and trestman will work together much much better than him and jay. Flacco doesn't get all flustered, he's also modest/ humble and open for new things. But he's also not afraid to speak up if he sees something wrong or if he has an idea. He also knows how to check down if need be. If anything Flacco will help trestman succeed and make him look good, Not the other way around .

exactly. Give the guy a break and give him a shot. Things happen, but a fresh start with a already successful team can do amazing things.

i also watch the nfl network , nfl live and nfl insiders everyday. The ravens are never mentioned unless it involves Ray rice. It's been like that for years, they are never talked About until they make the playoffs and it becomes inevitable. And when they are mentioned, the analysts actually grimace and throw shade at them constantly. Doesn't bother me, and I like that they are always bet against and they always end up winning and making them look like fools. They hate it when the ravens are always in the mix and just won't go away. With the exception of boomer on Sunday nfl countdown, he actually always praises and bets on the ravens , the rest of them always overlook baltimore. Could it be they just have a certain disdain for the city or are they just tired of us knocking their favorite team from the playoffs? Who knows, but it's whatever to me.

In the end it's still all up to execution. If we execute properly we willl do just fine. And that's where the bears failed. Too many interceptions, too many mistakes in general. A good qb and a few playmakers can make or break an OC.

why wouldn't i? I'm one of the believers that Aiken is going to have a breakout year and that Forsett wasn't a one hit wonder. Guess I'm in the minority there huh

All I got from that "warning to baltimore " article is that Chicago fans are extremely bitter. They had a sucky team and a sucky quarterback. Just because they haven't been a winning organization in decades they are mad at the world. Yeah , maybe trestman didn't work out as the headcoach there, but fresh starts in new places change things, and most importantly he is not going to be our head coach!! Harbaugh is still leading the charge- and he doesn't let things get to the point of disaster before they fix the leak. Yes trestman is an unorthodox kind of guy who has had mixed results - but given the right environment (which I think is baltimore ) and given an offense that actually has potential he has a real shot to excel. I still can't believe the bears kept the cancer that has been killing them the last few years. Cutler is never going to be a winning quarterback. You can call all the plays in the world but if your qb doesn't know how to read defenses and call audibles you are constantly going to fail. Players have to have faith in the quarterback , and I just don't see any in Chicago. Blame it on trestman all you want , it's easy to pick out one scapegoat when you have 3 dozen problems with your organization from top to bottom. Thanks for the "warning " Chicago - but some organizations aren't incompetent and can handle their own. Baltimores got this. I do think john fix will do a good Job for them but if they can't move on from cutler they are going to continue being stuck spinning tires.

I think one reason for this, Atleast for me , is I don't want to look like the "stereotypical raven fan"... If that makes any sense? Just seems like fans of most teams always just get the quarterback or star player - which there's nothing really wrong with- I just like to go against the norm

I agree with both. I can see us easily getting 11 wins. For some reason I think it will be the ravens and cowboys in Super Bowl 50. Either them or the packers . This will be a season to remember

sounds good to me. That black practice jersey does go pretty hard too .

This is tough - I don't have the money to be splurging on multiple jerseys so I really have to think this through. Right now id say it's between smith sr. , tucker, Forsett , or jimmy. But damnit I like Aiken too , this is impossible.

This guy gets it. Harbaugh is the definition of what an NFL coach should be. Would love to go to war for this guy. Him and his brother are both class acts, can't wait for him to bring a few more Lombardis to baltimore. I hope he continues coaching here for as long as he is physically able - no-one else I would rather have hands down. Thank you john for writing this and for everything you have done. Keep doin what you do- the rest will take care of itself.

Didn't mean to sound like a jerk if you could hear my tone I was kind of just being funny. I see what you mean though- of the first four games I actually think Pittsburgh is the one we will most likely lose, but I damn sure wouldn't bet on it. For some reason Denver doesn't worry me the least- if manning thinks he's gonna toss another 7 Tds he's got another thing comin. I see us actually shutting him down and their running game doing more against us than the passing game. He will throw a few picks and might throw a td or 2. But flacco will outplay him hands down. I'm gettin impatient man! C'mon September

Yeah I'm glad we're not wasting our time with these free agents. None of them have what we need or are worth what they are asking. The draft is the way to go, plus utilizing what we already have.

that's still 4 straight weeks in baltimore with no travel. I agree with you that I don't think the steelers schedule is any tougher than ours, although the analysts on espn seem to think so. What the hell do they know. Just to clarify once again- we DID NOT receive our schedule request with back to back games in the west. Harbaugh asked for oak-San Fran to be played consecutively so we could stay in the Bay Area. Yes we could have figured who our opponents would be long ago , but that doesn't mean that the scheduling of the games means nothing. There are quite a few "coincidences" that could have worked better in our favor, not saying it was done purposefully but it also could have been made a lot better. Yeah They don't want to show favoritism, seems like we never even have to worry about the perception of that. Anyway- I like it this way- like i said if we make it through the first quarter of games with Atleast 3 wins we should be all good. And we will definitely be battle tested for the playoffs.