EdTheMythicalOne

TE: Ben Watson S: Eric Weddle WR: Steve Smith Sr. G: Marshal Yanda OLB: Terrell Suggs (though I'm not sure how effective he is now) And at some point Joe Flacco really needs to step forward, own this offense, and be the leader on offense. He can rely on other guys to help, but ultimately this is his team and I would like to see him be a little more front and center even though he is "Cool Joe." There is a time to "lose your cool" a little bit when guys run wrong routes and drop gimme passes.

I think the Ravens press conference stating that they do take a look at Mock Drafts and Ozzie mentioning the people by name was some lip service for the NFL Network and not to be taken seriously at all. Do any of you think that you can gain any insight from a Mock Draft about what any team in the NFL is doing? With all of the subterfuge and gamesmanship about what teams will say and won't say in the media, really? How many of these mock drafts are actually accurate? The experts like to think they know what teams are doing. They try to think about who the best talents are and match them up with what perceived team needs are. It is logical to do that for sure, but these people don't really know what teams think their needs are and what the best way to address them are. If they were so accurate, why are these people releasing multiple versions of their own mock drafts?

Earlier on I was iffy about Myles Jack because of his size and his knee injuries. The fact that he won't run a 40 at all bothers me a bit too. He tore a meniscus in his knee which can be a big deal depending on how serious it was. You don't grow that back and I think micro fracture surgery is the repair for a bad meniscus tear. It usually takes a year just to recover from that and even so you don't really know if it is going to be 100% successful. It is a risky pick. If the Ravens are absolutely convinced he's healthy, then yeah I would go for it if he's there. I think Staley is a reach at #6, I don't think Bosa fits our scheme, so perhaps the logical pick is Buckner even though we do have depth at that position. We don't have Canty anymore, but I actually like Lawrence Guy. Brent Urban so far can't stay healthy and Carl Davis didn't show much yet. I don't like Hargreaves at #6 either, I just don't think he's got what it takes to be a good NFL corner and I don't like Ramsey as a CB either. If the Ravens have to reach at 6, then they might as well trade down and try to get extra picks and more overall value.

If the guys stay healthy we got a good mix of possession (Steve Smith) and outside speed guys in Wallace and Perriman. Aiken is serviceable and if his hands get better might actually make it as a #2, but as is can be useful in the slot. I think Marlon Brown is on the bubble big time. He's done nothing but nose dive after his rookie campaign.

I see the names of Doctson and Sheppard being mentioned but there's a couple of other guys I would add to the list: Braxton Miller: Former QB that had to move to WR due to shoulder issues. Has all the good measureables and hands seem pretty good. Will need to be coached up, but what mid round players don't need this? Charone Peake: Has some focus dropsies issues and had two knee injuries in college, but everything else you'd be looking for in a WR is there. May drop due to iffy hands and teams questioning his health but worth a shot in mid rounds I think. Leonte Caroo: Got into some trouble in college with missing curfew and more alarmingly an assault that the alleged female victim did not press charges on. Doesn't have great speed and needs route work, but if his character checks out and his hands are for real he could be coached up. Alonzo Russell: 6'4'' and around 200lbs. and while his combine 40 wasn't terrific he ran a 4.47 on his pro day. Reading his draft analysis he looks like a guy that needs to be ridden by coaches constantly and needs some structure around him to keep him motivated and to get the most out of him. Guy to take a chance on in later rounds: Moritz Boehringer. Sure the talent he played against wasn't great so you take his production numbers with a grain of salt. But the size of this guy combined with his athletic ability has to make you take a look. Even if he's nothing more than a special teamer and kick returner that's something we can use. Most kick return guys are not 6'4'' and 230lbs.

I don't think the Ravens should select Bosa at #6 because he simply doesn't fit our scheme. I don't believe in forcing a guy to play outside of what he's comfortable with and has shown he can actually do in college. You can't take a chance on a guy like this that you are not sure 100% can drop in coverage with a 1st round pick this high in the draft. They tried this a few years ago with Paul Kruger who supposedly "could" drop back into coverage. At the combine they are both of similar build, Bosa is about an inch taller and about 5lbs. heavier. They both benched the same and if you look at their pro day results they ran nearly identical 40 times. Bosa scores better in the shuttle and cone drills but his draft analysis states he's a bit slow footed in change of direction; which is exactly the thing you need in pass coverage. Kruger might have been able to cover in college, but he was a liability in the NFL. Kruger didn't start to make an impact until he added a bit more weight and switched to a DE. If we ran a 4-3 I might be higher on him.

The middle rounds are what separates the good teams from the bad ones. If you routinely get productive players in those rounds you generally have a good team that you can afford to hang onto for quite some time. The Ravens have also seen quite a number of these players move on for bloated contracts and not live up to the hype on their new teams. This tells me that the Ravens coaches know how to get the most out of these guys and know who fits their system. Conversely if you strike out on these picks it isn't as devastating to your team as if your first and second round guys bust. You are COUNTING on those guys to be major contributors. Having busts like Kindle, Cody, Arthur Brown, Matt Elam (so far), really set this organization back. I'm excited to see what the Ravens can do. If the guy they want isn't there at six I want to see them trade down rather than reach for a guy. The more I think about it the more I think Staley at #6 is a reach.

Taking a snap is taking a snap. Suggs and Dumervil need to take breathers and the worst thing you can have on the field is a tired pass rusher. So yeah, he would sub in on rushes from time to time to keep our pass rush fresh. Remember, we have no proven edge rusher save for Suggs and Dumervil at this time. And even at his advanced age if you don't account for Freeney he will make you pay and that's exactly what we need. We also don't really know how well Suggs will be after coming back from another Achilles injury, so it wouldn't hurt to have some insurance. As far as Webb goes, oh yes they do and they even said as much. They mentioned that he would roam a bit as a safety and in nickel or dime packages you might see him move in as the nickel or "slot" corner. Anthony Levine actually played some corner last season as well and looked fairly good doing it. To me that makes him better than Elam and Lewis. As far as Lewis goes, he should have been a starter. The fact that he dropped down to a third or fourth option should mean something.

If you are referring to the Peter Angelos part of the post, then that is absolutely true. Peter Angelos had his; or his family members', hands in everything that Baltimore did. It stemmed from a time when his regime wanted to trade Bobby Bonilla and David Wells before they became free agents at the end of the year and while the Orioles were not looking like they'd be in contention. Peter nixed the deals and the Orioles went on to win some more games. He then thought he knew more than his braintrust and hired puppets and yes men who would never stand up to him and would simply do as he told them. Many times we lost out on some key free agent signings because the deal would be sitting on Angelos' desk awaiting his final say so. Angelos was also interested in names and not really performance which is why you saw guys like Joe Carter on the roster. It was a shame and cost the Orioles a lot of their fan base. For a long time I was convinced I was the only Orioles fan in my part of town. Nobody wore O's colors or merchandise. It is no wonder why the Orioles have turned the corner recently. He finally got a good baseball mind in Buck Showalter in the house and was finally convinced that after what, 17 years of being a laughing stock of baseball that he didn't know what he was doing. As far as The Browns go, I can't really speak for them. I think it was in the late 90's they had a run with former Baltimore draft pick Derek Anderson when they won 10 games. It looked like the start of a turn around, but then they had a huge injury bug season like the Ravens did last year and they never recovered. They've had a revolving door at head coach so how can they ever expect to create some model of consistency? Make a plan and see it through. You blow it up in year 2 of a five year plan every time and you keep running in neutral like the Browns have done.

Freeney would be just what you said. He'd simply take some snaps in a pure pass rushing situation for either Suggs or Dumervil. I am not expecting him to take a huge amount of snaps away from both, but every breather you can give to Suggs and Dumervil right now is a bonus. Arizona didn't ask Freeney to do anything more than what we'd want him to do here. Adding him would give us a legitimate pass rusher that teams have to account for so they simply can't double Suggs or Dumervil when the other one is not on the field. We need more pass rushers. You wouldn't have three OLB on the field at the same time anyway, so not really sure what your comment means. I think Smith can be a 3 down player in the future if his rookie numbers hold true. I know they seem all in on Webb making the conversion, but what choice do they have? Signing Nelson would allow them to move Webb around the field a bit more and for the right price I think Nelson would take the job as a rotational safety rather than not be playing in the NFL. There are plenty of snaps to go around in the secondary. I doubt it will happen, but I would be happy if it did. I don't know why they'd be happy with Lewis and Elam. Elam got called out for not living up to expectations and Lewis was a flop. Anthony Levine is a better all around player than those two.

Dumervil doesn't tally a lot of tackles and that isn't due to a lack of playing time. Suggs is much more complete as a player. I agree with you that both Suggs and Dumervil need to have some capable depth behind them to start limiting their snaps so they can stay fresher throughout the season as their ages creep past the 30 year barrier. The problem has been that we haven't really had capable depth that can create at least some form of pressure. Za'Darius Smith and the addition of Dwight Freeney might be just what the doctor ordered. I am going to guess that the Ravens will attempt to get an edge rusher somewhere in the draft and if Freeney doesn't become a Raven that they will probably bring in a veteran that gets cut in the off season. I am also seeing Reggie Nelson's name continue to be out there on the FA list. I know he'll be 33 and I know we have a lot of bodies in the mix already, but dang, if you are looking for a back end playmaker who gets interceptions it is hard to do better than Nelson. I have no idea if it is his asking price that is keeping teams away or if there was something on tape late last season that showed he was losing a step or two, but if he's still floating out there for much longer I want the Ravens to call him up and ask him what it would take to get him in Baltimore. Nelson would become our best option at FS because Webb would be playing the position for the first time since his college days. Kendrick Lewis was underwhelming, Terrence Brooks is always hurt, and Matt Elam I see as more of a SS than FS anyway.

I like the idea and I think there is a way something like this can be done outside of the NFL teams so that it can get around that tampering idea. Each team should have an independent counseling program that is available 24/7 to any player should they need to discuss health issues or financial matters, or things about life and nothing about football. This group of people should include financial advisors or planners and of course medical doctors and counselors. It would not contain any team coaches or team doctors. They should be pro-active as well and not simply wait for players to come to them. Every rookie should be contacted immediately and informed repeatedly about the services available to them. Routine calls to the entire roster should be made perhaps once a month at least to just check in with them and let them know these services are still here for them. Essentially this would be an expansion of the NFL rookie symposium which lasts like what, two days? I am sure there is so much crammed in that it is like information overload for most people. I hate reading about players that have some issues and a tragic end befalls that possibly could have been prevented if they just had somebody reach out to them. Walker's death was simply an accident. It was unfortunate that he was not wearing a helmet and his bike had no illumination for night time riding, but perhaps if those two things were in place he might still be here today. If anything, please let his passing be a lesson to other riders out there that you need to be extra careful when riding a motorbike as the bike itself offers no protection in an accident.

I can't understand how people are upset with adding one of the more productive tight ends in the game last season and on top of all of that he's a team leader and won't be an off the field issue. On offense, who is our leader? Joe Flacco has been reluctant to accept the vocal leader role, more of a lead by example. That's fine because Cal Ripken Jr. was the same way. They left it to the coaches to lead. Both Maxx Williams and Crockett Gillmore were banged up last season, Nick Boyle probably will be released after his suspension, and Darren Waller is an experiment. Crockett will tell you flat out he's a blocker first, though he is being modest and selling himself short. Despite his speed limitations, he's a phenomenal athlete. Maxx is more of a receiver than blocker. Watson is apparently good all around. I would have to think Waller might have issues blocking at first, but he will be a nightmare mismatch if he can learn the position with his combo of size and speed. So how many TE's will the Ravens have? 4...like most teams have. How many will be active each game? Probably 3. Waller might also be active as a 4th TE, but he's also good on special teams and could take a WR slot.

Dumervil isn't really stout against the run.

The right thing was letting him go and trying all over again to get another edge rusher. This is a passing league and one of the best ways to disrupt a passing game and to create turnovers is to hit and pressure the QB. We're going to need some young blood in here very soon because we're going to have to find replacements for Suggs and Dumervil soon. Upshaw is certainly not the answer going forward. I fully suspect the Ravens will make a run at Freeney depending on how the draft works out and if Freeney is still on the market by then. I know they won't stand pat with what they've got. Somebody is gonna be added to the roster for sure at most likely both OLB spots.

Great is way too much of a compliment for him. He was solid, nothing more and nothing less.

You are wrong about something. He was drafted with the intention of him being the opposite side pass rusher to take pressure off of Suggs. He was asked to do other things later on when they realized he couldn't do what they initially drafted him for. You don't draft a "grunt work" player with your first pick in the draft (again, YES he was a second round pick, but the Ravens didn't have a first round pick that year, they traded down). You need to get franchise starters or stars with your first couple of picks. Courtney simply didn't live up to expectations. If he was as valuable to this team as some fans think, he wouldn't be in Atlanta right now. He got out performed by Z. Smith. In Smith's rookie season as a rotational player he got more sacks than Upshaw did his entire career. Some food for thought there.

You misinterpret my posts. I never said he was useless or didn't do anything. You can't honestly sit here and tell me he was an absolute gem for being the highest drafted player the Ravens took that year, our first 2nd round pick (we didn't have a first rounder that year). Based on when he was taken and on expectations of him; being the opposite side rusher of Suggs so he wouldn't get game planned against, you have to consider him a bust if you are not being biased. Don't get me wrong, I love the Ravens and Courtney was a solid player. With your first couple of picks in the draft you aren't looking for solid players though, you find them later on. You are looking for franchise type players or stars in the best case scenario. Upshaw clearly wasn't that. I don't agree that Upshaw was a good player. He was an average player that was strictly one dimensional. You can find guys like that later in the draft and on the free agent market for less than what it would have cost to retain Upshaw. I am not acting like he is trash, I am acting like he's exactly what he was. A run stopper only at a pass rush position. He was not a good pick based on where he was drafted. If he was a 3rd or 4th round pick then maybe we got good value out of that pick. Z. Smith got some pretty significant playing time behind Dumervil and Upshaw and even though he wasn't a starter get this...he had more sacks as a rookie rotational player than Courtney Upshaw had in his entire career so far. I think we'll be okay with Smith out there and more than likely we're gonna add some other help either via draft or through FA.

Exactly. In recent years our problem has been covering tight ends or receivers that would come over the middle because our inside backers just didn't have the speed to keep up. Ray had lost a step or so and the other guys we plugged in to play next to him weren't much better. This improved a bit the first season Daryl Smith and Mosley played together, but then Smith lost a step and Mosley was playing hurt last year. This is why we saw Orr get some playing time in the middle and he held his own. As another poster suggested there will be a fairly open competition to see who the other ILB will be unless we draft Myles Jack. If we do not and do not spend a top tier pick at this position, then Arthur "I am the God of misfire" Brown will get an honest look to see if he has anything that made the Ravens draft him so highly. Orr has earned the right of first refusal so to speak in my opinion...it is his job to lose as things stand right now. Lastly, converting a safety to ILB is not a crazy idea and other teams have done it before. One of the best linebackers in the game; Brian Urlacher was actually a safety. I would think the process would be that this converted safety would come in on passing downs to help with coverage and just imagine all the schemes you could run with a set up on defense like that.

I don't think "useless" is the term I used in regard to Upshaw, I just stated he was below average which by the stats and all the things you can actually measure is absolutely true. All of the negative comments on my posts just show how uninformed some posters are. He wasn't a good edge setter or run stuffer. A matter of fact I think Suggs is a better defender against the rush than Upshaw is. As many plays as he might make, he also got exposed and would over pursue and fail to set the edge. If you don't think so or don't know that, you don't watch games like I do. When I pointed out to whomever would read my posts for another sports related website this fact, Courtney Upshaw and a college buddy of his messaged me privately and in some colorful metaphors explained to me what they thought of my opinion. The very next day in a prominent city paper Mike Preston essentially quoted me on how Upshaw stunk up the place. I forwarded his post to Upshaw and his co-conspirator and never heard from them again. So, there's some class for you as well. Just because a player is a Raven doesn't make him good. If you put him in another team's jersey instead of the Ravens, state he was a second round pick (our first pick in that year's draft by the way), you would come away thinking, "Boy, that team missed the mark." They didn't draft Upshaw to be a single-task player that would simply stop the run from time to time. They drafted him with the intention for him to be the opposite side pass rusher of Suggs. So not only did that draft pick bust, but we had to sign Elvis Dumervil who costs us quite a bit of money in order to get the player Upshaw was expected to be. It was quite telling that the coach didn't even speak to Upshaw and didn't even know where he was when he was asked about the free agent. Translation: We're just not that in to him. You don't use your first pick in the draft (again, he was a 2nd round pick, but he was our first pick in that particular draft because we traded down if memory serves) on a guy that can stop the run from time to time. You can find guys like that much lower in the draft. I have faith that somebody else on the roster can step up and be a rotational player on the defense and do just as well as Upshaw did. I am a Ravens fan and support the team just like most of you do. I just don't allow my personal affection for the team get in the way of analysis. That's what a good journalist is supposed to do.

I agree with you and I think I would rather have this Arthur Brown on the team. After all he is "The God of Hellfire" and that would be one sick nickname for a football player. I wonder if he'd be coming on the fire zone hot blitz?

PFF rated him 89th overall and only 20th against the run...and that was in the season he was due to become a free agent. That's far from great. That's below average is what that is. He was a solid player, but certainly did not live up to his 2nd round pick status and wasn't worth a raise. We need to find another Adalius Thomas. I miss that guy. I don't have a youtube channel but I was a featured writer for some other sports pages that I don't think I can mention here. I posted a reply to you earlier and I notice it didn't make it on here and in that post I listed the places I did some work for.

Actually he was worse than average at what he did best. PFF rated him 89th overall as an edge player and 20th against the run. Maybe that will help some fans put things in perspective. He just wasn't that good, certainly not playing like a 2nd round pick should. I am pretty sure we can slide Za'Darius Smith in his spot who has almost the same type of build as Upshaw, sign a veteran back up, or draft somebody in the 3rd or 4th round that can rank 20th in the league against the run if they get enough snaps. If he was not easy to replace the Ravens would not have let him walk. You'd think the team would have actually spoken to him. Did you read Harbaugh's comments about him? He essentially said he hasn't had talks with him and didn't even know where he was. Yeah, that's a ringing endorsement. He certainly knows where Trent Richardson is though. As for veteran MLB spots, there really isn't much out there on the market right now. Lots of 30 somethings or close to it that are past it and are too slow or never really had it. We'll be paying close attention to roster cuts I am sure, but I am also certain we're addressing the issue in the draft.

Yeah, but MLB's are supposed to have range AND in this new passing league NFL, the ability to cover somebody coming over the middle. In case you haven't been paying attention, that exact area of the field was the Ravens weakness for several years now because Ray Lewis had lost a step, D. Smith also lost a step last season. Teams were eating us up by attacking and exposing our LB's in pass coverage. Upshaw isn't fast enough to be a guy that can range around the field and make tackles all over the place. He has no pass covering skills and it would be awful. Even as weak as the Falcons are at LB, they are thinking they might move Upshaw to DE in a 4-3 set.

There is a difference between underrated and just not that good. The latter applies to Upshaw.