EdTheMythicalOne

And then there is this. "Strengths Has an honest father as a coach who has been up front about Bronsons weaknesses and what he needed to work on. Plays with the motor expected from a coachs son. Quality hand work and is able to redirect with them. Good back­side presence in running game and charges hard down the line of scrimmage. Comes out of his stance and into his pass rush with good pad level and forward lean. Never quits on plays and will pursue way down the field. Has a long frame that may be able to carry more muscle. Posted productive totals in most categories. Blocked a field goal and punt in 2015. Weaknesses Too easily caved in and washed down when blocked on angles. Tries to bend but pad level still ends up higher than he would like thanks to his height. Play strength is an area of concern. Thin legs lose their base when he is redirected with power. Tight-­hipped pass rusher that has a prolonged corner turn to the quarterback -- even on wins. Much of sack production came on extended plays or with effort over skill. Unable to generate consistent penetration when slanting into gaps. In 2014, lost weight and attempted to play outside linebacker but experiment was a failure. Draft Projection Rounds 4 or 5" The article you mention does not state any of his weaknesses, which is actually literally weakness. He doesn't have elite upper body strength nor does he have strong lower legs. He has a high motor and is a gamer so that usually translates well. The thing is that for an interior lineman that plays in a 3-4 is it more important to run a better 40 time when taking off from a sprinting stance, or to be explosive off the ball? The numbers in that comparison show that the other player in question had a better vertical, broad jump, and 10 yard split. That article also states he could be a first pick overall for Seattle and this NFL.com scouting report projects him as a 4th or 5th rounder. The Ravens then reached by that measuring stick by taking him in the third.

Here's a little something if you feel like having your brain melted in trying to determine comp picks. Here's what I boil this down to: 1) Your team has to lose more qualified compensation pick players than they gain. So far we've only lost Wagner and Juice and our gains have been Tony Jefferson and Danny Woodhead. Wagner certainly qualifies after his monster contract and should be our highest rated player which would net us a third round compensatory pick. Thing is, he is sort of off set by Tony Jefferson. Considering the process takes into account the new contracts the player signed and post season awards, Juice might qualify since he's now the top paid at his position and also was a pro bowl player. Danny Woodhead on the other hand may not qualify due to back to back injury prone seasons. 2) The level of the pick you get depends on the amount the player gets paid on their new contract as for Average per year. It also takes into account any awards the player earned. So it sort of depends on what the rest of the other qualifying players get, but I am not clear as to whether that is every player, or just players at the same position. We've still got some time to let things all play out depending on players that get signed and for how much, and then how many more qualifying players the Ravens sign.

Start all of your sighs and groans now, I have registered for Bold's new site.

Remember that Webb was actually a safety in college. He was considered too small for that position in the NFL and he had the ability to play corner as a pro. At one time he was playing better than Jimmy Smith and was our best corner on the team. He was never given as much credit for being a sure tackler for a guy of his size at the CB position. The one season where Webb was locking it down and Jimmy Smith finally hit his stride it seemed like the Ravens had two of the best corners in the game. Then injuries happened to both guys. For Webb it was both legs and then a lower back injury. He couldn't move like he did before and perhaps he should have moved to safety back then, but with the personnel already on the team the move just didn't make sense at the time. In his first season back he was raw, as to be expected. He hadn't played the position in about 7-8 years. Over the course of the season he got better. We had Weddle playing out of position as a SS IMO and the Tony Jefferson deal was writing on the wall. Always enjoyed Webb as a player and thought he always played like a Raven. Never saw him taking a play off or shying away from a tackle no matter what was coming after him. Who knows what his future in the NFL is, but I am sure some other team will be happy to add him to their roster. Maybe if his market isn't too crazy he comes back to us for depth. We still need another safety on the roster behind Jefferson and Weddle. Levine is already here and maybe Marqueston Huff is the other guy for now? Thank you for all of your time as a Raven Mr. Webb!

There is also the comp picks for any of our RFA's that got tendered and might be signed elsewhere if the Ravens do not match the offers. That list includes: RB Terrence West (3rd round) OL: James Hurst (4th round) S: Marqueston Huff (4th round) WR: Michael Campanaro (7th round) I think they also tendered DB: Jumal Rolle

I think he means hickory stick players...which doesn't really explain Graham's style of play. That term is usually used to define players that "lay the wood" on hits, thumpers like Pollard and Ihedigbo and most likely what Tony Jefferson is.

I've done my part and contacted the people through "contact us" about 3-4 days ago and I have yet to hear a reply. I did more than just say, "this is a stupid decision and please don't close the boards." I offered them the reasons why I thought this was a poor decision. I offered up the experience I had with the ESPN message boards and what has happened to them since they closed their boards down. I don't go to ESPN for my sports information anymore. I would log into the boards first and see what people were talking about, THEN move onto the articles/news. To me this site doesn't offer any more information than any other outlet out there. If they think this is the go to source of Ravens information they are sadly mistaken. Just because this is the official Ravens site doesn't really seem to make much difference. There is really no insider information coming from anyone on this site. It is just the same news coming out at the same time; or later in most cases, than other outlets. So again I come here to look at the boards first, then I might check out the articles and "breaking news." Since ESPN closed their boards they are dead to me and for a lot of the other former posters there. It was a double whammy for ESPN since they also covered the other major sports in Baltimore.

No disrespect intended here, but how can you really judge Willie Henry or Bronson Kaufusi? They haven't had any time on the field to show what they can really do. Carl Davis didn't impress me very much in his rookie season and of course he was hurt last season. He got some hype earlier on in the pre season when he was playing against the backups. When he was promoted and started going up against the ones, he disappeared. He has something to prove and this is the season where he has a chance to do it. It would be nice to find an interior guy that can rush the passer consistently that fit a 3-4 scheme but those guys are pretty rare.

I think Pryor was a product of being the only viable threat on a team lacking any true impact players. We saw the same thing with Kamar Aiken. Aiken had a very good season when he essentially was the only healthy body on the field. Would you pay him $8 million a season based on that performance? Pause for a moment and let that sink in and before you say, "Kamar Aiken ain't no Terelle Pryor," allow me to post their stats and you will see just how similar they are. Pryor: 140 Targets 77 Receptions, 1,007 yards, 4TDS, 13.1YPC, LONG: 54 Yards Aiken: 127 Targets: 75 Receptions, 944 Yards, 5TDS, 12.6 YPC, LONG: 48 Yards Keep in mind that Aiken also had Matt Schaub, Jimmy Clausen, and Ryan Mallett throwing him the ball for a majority of his games. Arguably they are pretty much the same player and they are the same age.

I've said it before and I will again. I always liked what Lawrence Guy gave this team on the field. Other players commended him for doing the grunt work on the interior line and he was a fine player. I think he was trying to do a little too much in his free agent year to cash in and got outside of himself a bit. I agree that his market will probably price him out of being a rotational piece along our line. Combine that with the fact that Pierce deserves more snaps next season, hopefully a healthy Carl Davis, Willie Henry, and Bronson Kaufusi come back, plus Brent Urban being in house....and the draft...I think it is time for Guy to move on. I thought the same of Webb. Good player, but even if he restructured it would not have been a very affordable contract for a depth move.

On another note, I see this author graduated from the redundant school of redundancy. Does anyone proofread/edit the posts before they get posted?

If he can stay healthy I can envision him as a quality player for us. He is versatile and can offer some interesting play call options. We didn't sign him to be "the guy" as a runner, but more of the aggregate kind of player the team was hoping Campanaro could be and Keenan Reynolds might be. If he proves he can't get it done or isn't healthy the team can always cut him.

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.

1) Pryor is not worth $8 million dollars and he is not the answer. He's new to wideout and has some red flags around him and that's why the Browns...even the Browns didn't want him. It is very telling that the equally as train wreck franchises the Redskins signed him. 2) I made this point in another thread about Flacco. First of all in his first five seasons in the league the team went to the playoffs, never were one and done in the playoffs, and they won a Superbowl. While Flacco may never have gone to a Pro Bowl (so what, it is a popularity contest) he did win a Super Bowl MVP and to me that means a whole lot more than making 10 pro bowls. 3) Pollard was cut because he was an extreme liability in pass coverage. Ed Reed turned into Deion Sanders towards the end of his career because he couldn't tackle anymore due to his neck. It was clear he was a shell of himself also due to some hip injuries. What exactly did he do after his Ravens career? He went to the Texans and got cut...the amazing Ed Reed got CUT. Then he went to the Jets and barely hung on. It was clearly time for Ed Reed to go, he just wouldn't admit it to himself. 4) The market for starting QB's certainly matters. Take a look at what some entirely mediocre QB's are getting that have never made the playoffs and then get back to me. You will be astonished. The bottom line is that Flacco is better than most of the starting QB's in the league and just because he's not Brady shouldn't mean he's not worth what a starting QB in this league gets these days. In a couple more seasons Flacco's contract will be dwarfed by others. 5) Is it any coincidence that Tom Brady's and Aaron Rodgers best seasons came when they had elite receivers and/or a good running game? Blount's breakout season this year is clearly a reason why the Patriots were so good again. Brady went turbo mode when he had a healthy and motivated Randy Moss. The whole stop the run thing is a common blue print for any team. Force a team to be one dimensional and you can game plan against it. If you stop the run, put your own points on the board, and the other team is forced to pass you can blitz all day long and try to get after the QB. Ray Rice in his prime was something special. Part of stopping him was also making sure you didn't sleep on him in the passing game. 6) Good, glad you're done because a lot of the points you are making have very little merit and just are not backed up with many facts.

Perhaps it was the fact that the Titans also wanted Butler?

Wow, a lot of hate on Pitta and Flacco here. The comment that Flacco is not a championship QB is...looking for a kind way to say it...not exactly correct. Under Flacco this team has made the playoffs 6 times in the 9 seasons he's played. In fact in his first five seasons this team went to the playoffs each season, never were one and done (in any of the six times they went to the playoffs), and won a superbowl. That run to the superbowl and the win would have never happened without Flacco. It is amazing that Dennis Pitta was able to come back from not one, but two devastating hip injuries. Keep in mind he was a hero in that super bowl run as well. Obviously he's not quite the same guy he was before the injuries. As I stated before he is still the guy with the most reliable hands on the roster and he seems to be the only one that understands how to get open in zone coverage. It isn't his fault or Flacco's that none of his other targets can't separate from defenders. As I stated before as well I don't think the team is planning on Pitta being the #1. I don't think that was the plan last season. It is just what happened along the way. Boyle was suspended, Gillmore got hurt, Watson got hurt, and Williams got hurt. We were down to Pitta and Waller as our only two active TE's and then the Ravens were just rotating guys on and off the roster every week just in case something happened to those two. I think moving forwards Maxx Williams will be the #1 until he proves he can't be or gets hurt again. I think with the loss of Juice that one of our TE's will be used as a motion H-Back/blocker role. On running downs you can put in Gillmore, then whomever you want as the 2nd TE, and then have Boyle as the lead blocking H-back or perhaps Waller. We could really get creative with a three TE package in this way.

This thread has certainly gotten more colorful lately If this team was in blow it up mode I don't think they would have bothered picking up Wallace's option, signing Tony Jefferson, and bringing back Brandon Williams. They are getting rid of some older players like Webb and Dumervil and I think a few more are in the works. They say more FA moves are on the way. If they make a deal for Claiborne and Mangold that is further evidence that they are restocking the team and trying to make another run while we still have a window with Flacco at the helm. I get the Flacco hate. He obviously isn't an Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady...but look around the league and tell me how many other guys are? But he has proven that when he's healthy, he has a decent ground game, and has some legitimate targets he can be something special. Let's not forget that it was this team's terrible 4th quarter collapses that cost us many games over the last couple seasons. I think last year is an anomaly. He was in his first season back with a surgically repaired knee w/brace that he obviously didn't trust. He had a shoulder injury for a few games as well that he played through. His line was porous at times as well. I think he's better than that when healthy.

Corey Graham had a great time as a Raven and he was very good with the Bills, but there is a reason why he moved to Safety and if you looked, we are kind of okay with that position now. We just let Webb go and he could do all the things that Graham could have. I don't think Graham would sign for backup money either. So I don't think it is really about the decision makers trying to protect their egos. I think it is about football/cap related issues.

Levine is a bit small to play that hybrid safety/linebacker role. If you look at those guys they are usually over 200lbs. Maybe if it is in no doubt passing downs only it could work.

Ben Watson is aging and now coming off of a serious leg injury and when I think of a vertical threat TE, Ben Watson does not come to mind. I think more of Ed Dickson or Darren Waller if they both could catch. It is one thing to do it for one game. Watson is a very good TE so please don't think I am saying he stinks. He gets open, he can catch well, but at this stage of his career I don't think he's got much left in the tank, especially after the injury. In fact if you look at Pitta's numbers before his injury they match up with Watson's. I am speaking of YPC. Pitta also has a longer longest reception (61 yards more than Watson's best (46). Pitta also had a 7TD season prior to his injury which is a touch under Watson's best of 8. I think we signed Watson because nobody thought Pitta would ever be healthy and Watson is a quality target. I am sure he was available because other teams wondered what a then 35 year old TE would have left in the tank. Now he will be 37 next season coming off of a serious leg injury. If he gets a job it might have to come somewhere else. It is a shame though, I would have liked to see what he could do here last season.

No worries. He was supposedly in the conversation of the possible trade but somehow the Pats managed to get him taken out of the conversation. Brady now has a speed demon threat...sheesh.

People should do a bit more searching before they make a blanket statement post. I mean the article on Webb and the posts about it are pretty easy to find. In another thread I had somebody claiming that "everybody" is complaining about Correa, but there were "no posts complaining about the Kaufusi pick." I know for a fact that I have made some posts about Kaufusi not being a great pick. Correa is just getting more attention because he was drafted higher, he was hyped to death on this site, and he didn't get injured early in camp like Kaufusi did. Sort of an out of sight out of mind thing. At any rate, I would like to know from the powers that be what would have to happen to save these boards. The argument about people following the team on other social media outlets doesn't really hold water to me. We've all proven that most of us hate these other suggested modes of conversation...mostly because they actually do not allow a conversation. If it is money some people have expressed a willingness to donate. If it is manpower heck, I would offer to learn how to do something to help run a site and there are others around in our community with experience in the field that I am sure would help if they knew it would keep this place around. So what's the deal Admins? I've contacted the site through "contact us" and have heard nothing but crickets. I would like some attention paid to the message I sent and get some personal one on one conversation time with the person who made this decision to find out what is really behind it and try to have this person convince me that the decision is a good one. I can't shake the feeling that the writers for this site have something to say about it. A lot of us don't really value their offerings and aren't afraid to say so. Maybe instead of taking it out on us posters they should look for better writers?

If I let other people dictate my personal opinions and let that impact what I post here, I would never post anything at all. I don't always go with the group think. I have my own observations and thoughts which I feel are no less or more warranted than any other fan's opinion. We're all fans. None of us are Ravens coaches. I simply try to be as educated on something as I can be and make my decisions on that.

The Pats get to keep Butler, he is not part of the deal.

Maybe it is a personnel thing? What if the admins and powers that be would allow volunteers to run the boards maintenance and such? Heck, we have people offering to do that right now by making their own sites. Why not tap that resource and keep something all us hardcore fans enjoy? I would offer to help in that aspect if I had an IT background, but alas I do not.