EdTheMythicalOne

Nope, he had a good game. His long TD pass came on a LB completely blowig his coverage assignment and then Campanaro made something happen after the catch. He should have had another legit TD pass to MaXX Williams that Maxx dropped. The pass that was intercepted that was blamed on Butler I also partially blame Schaub too. That was very tight coverage and he was clearly forcing that throw. That's one he should have eaten. The one telling play for me though was that deep bomb he threw to I think Butler down the sidelines. Butler had to dive for it and ultimately couldn't come down with it. That thing I think hit a few clouds on the way down the field and looked more like a grenade toss than a pass. Still, that's a nitpick on my part and I think he did very well. But, that was just one pre season game. I hope he keeps it up and proves me wrong. I don't hate the man, I just thought he was done is all.

The big guy! One of the best road graders in the game in his prime and he did have a long Ravens career. Most people don't think of him when they think of greats like Ogden. He deserves a nod.

I got to see McCrary's whole career and if you ever wanted to see the definition of what they mean by a "High motor" player, he was it. The guy was all out, every play, all the time. He along with Rob Burnett were some of the bright spots on a defense that was spotty at best in those days.

I mentioned them...and a couple of other guys I thought were deserving. I don't think guys that only spent a couple of years here and were known as other team lifers quailify. Like Dilfer, Sharpe, Woodson. Mason is the only one I consider because he spent 8 years with one team, and then six seasons with the Ravens and is our current all time receiving yards leader.

The fact that we can have these 10 players and still have room for some honorable mentions speaks a lot of the talent and kind of players we've had roll through or spend their careers in Baltimore. Here are some other names that come to mind: CB: Chris McAlister: 3 time pro bowler and 1 time all pro. He has his bad moments, but when he was all in he was one of the best in the game. LB: Adalius Thomas: 2 time pro bowler & 1 All Pro Team: Mr. Versatility, played OLB/MLB/DE/DT and even Safety. DT: Kelly Gregg: Aka "Buddy Lee" at 6'0'' 310lbs he was built like a bowling ball and plugged up the middle as a NT before Ngata got here. He epitomized what it meant to play like a Raven. WR: Derrick Mason: Though he split his career in half just about with the Titans and Ravens, he is still that all time Ravens leader in receiving yards and literally played a several games with the use of only one arm. And how about some love for some staff members: Head Coach: Brian Billick: He did take us to and win our first superbowl. GM: Ozzie Newsome: Thanks to his great drafting and shrewd free agent moves the Ravens are a perpetually competitive team with a chance to go to the playoffs almost every season.

A few points here. First, since the Ravens will be using a zone running scheme and a West Coast style passing attack, your shotgun formation is essentially replaced by the play action pass. Of course that relies on a good rushing attack and the adage of using the run to set up the pass. Secondly, the shorter routes and getting the ball out of your QB's hands quicker helps in pass protection. You don't have to sustain blocks for very long while waiting for deep routes to open up. This serves several purposes. It keeps the time of possession clock ticking because at the same time your QB is completing a higher percentage of his passes. It also opens up the possibility of YAC (yards after the catch) which further adds on to time of possession. The great thing about having a QB like Flacco is that while he can do all of this, if the opposition gets completely fooled on something he has the cannon to unleash a deep bomb down the field. Lastly, I don't need more shotgun, but I do desperately need more cowbell. I gotta have more cowbell. I got a fever, and the only prescription is.......more cowbell!

Really....you have to be the starter first to get demoted? Well, he was the starter in Houston and he was demoted. Then he wasn't even good enough to be named the starter in Oakland...or to be named the backup. The Raiders had him under contract and they released him at the end of the season rather than keep him...that's why he became a free agent. What exactly am I making up? I am not making up the statistics. I am not making up what happened to him in Oakland. I am not making up that he had an elbow issue in Oakland. I am not making up that the word around NFL scouts is that his arm is done, that he's lost the zip he once had. I am not making up that he's getting paid low end money for the Ravens. The Ravens signed him to be a warm body. They'd rather have his experience and diminished arm strength sitting in the wings if needed than to hand the ball over to an undrafted rookie free agent QB or to pay Tyrod Taylor more money to do the same job as Schaub. Taylor will make $1.5 this season as a back up, but if he starts; which is a possibility because he's so far out played Manuel and he only has to do better than Cassell now, he can make around $3 million. So what's Ozzie's mantra? "Right player, right price." The cheap price tag on Schaub was right for the Ravens. I've never claimed to know anything the Ravens don't. I'm sure the Ravens know what he is at this point of his career and I don't think it is a coincidence that having Marc Trestman as the OC and running a similar zone run offense that Schaub played in under Kubiak factored into the decision. By the way, did you know that the Ravens are still looking for a veteran backup and are contemplating releasing Schaub if one becomes available because they aren't exactly thrilled with his performance in camp? Harbaugh coming out and supporting Schaub was one of those dreaded "votes of confidence" and a good Head Coach trying to inject a gun shy, shot worn, pop gun armed veteran QB with some confidence that he's obvioously lost if you've watched him play at all within the past two seasons. Here's something you can watch for. The first pre season game is going to be played Thursday night and barring injuries, Schaub is supposed to play three quarters. Now I know pre season stats don't really mean much, but watch how Schaub plays. What are you looking for? When Schaub is in the pocket, watch his awareness and see if he rushes getting rid of the ball when he's really not in jeapordy of getting sacked. Also watch HOW he gets rid of it. The rub is that he checks down to the closest target horizontally next to him rather than trying something over the middle or down the field...which means he became predictable. Second, watch and see if he still is a "check down Charlie" and always seeks to hit his closest target instead of trying something down the field. The scoop on him and why he threw so many pick sixes is that teams scouting him realised he doesn't throw the ball more than 20 yards anymore so they can play the shallow routes and jump them. And lastly, the true sign of a guy that has lost it is when he can see the opening and can't pull the trigger...and like Scaub had in 2013, gets pummeled for sacks. Look for open receievers, Schaub seeing them, and either inexplicably holding onto the ball and/or pump faking, and then checking down to something closer and possibly into coverage. The reason being is that he hesitated too long and that time window to get the ball downfield has already passed and now he's trying to be "safe." Why am I telling you to look at all of this? How do I know what to tell you to look for? Well, I am not revealing all of my secrets just yet. Now if he comes out guns blazing and throwing bombs down the field, then we know 2013 and the parts he did play of 2014 were outliers. Going on 34 and taking all the hits he had over his career, I just don't think there is much tread on the tires anymore. I could be wrong, have been before. We'll see. I'll be watching Schaub and the Ravens closely on Thursday and I hope you do as well. If he does indeed turn back the hands of time and plays lights out for the preseason I will come back in here and post to you that you were right. Got no problem doing that.

Thanks for that reply and to your point about Upshaw I posted in another thread that he could possibly see time at DE as well since the Ravens already have Suggs and Dumervil at OLB, plus they like Zadarius Smith who is supposedly putting on a clinic in camp. We'll see once he lines up on the field and plays in game time situations. I also think Steven Means will flip flop between DE/OLB and he's a guy you could carry as a back up because he could be a special teamer too. None of our other D-Linemen would be good special teams candidates. Something the Ravens have always loved are versatile players. Adalius Thomas was the king of that and lined up all over the place. DT/DE/ OLB/ MLB and he even played some snaps at safety. There is that saying, "Deep Depth." We got that in our D-Line rotation for sure. I am hesitating to say that about the linebacking group because I don't see a lot at MLB behind Smith and Mosley. Arthur Brown has failed to step up. As long as they all stay healthy I like our depth at corner this year. Losing Matt Elam hurt the safety group but I think what we still have left is okay. Too bad we're not going to have Brooks as well. I like Anthony Levine and think he will be a good back up, after that I am not too sure about Trawick. The guy they brought in as an UDFA...Nick Perry I think his name is, is supposedly having a good camp.

If Carl Davis comes on as the Ravens think he can then we'll have a nice group to rotate out across the front 3 if they all stay healthy. Brandon Williams is probably the only true Nose Tackle we have. Despite how large Davis is, he doesn't play like a mauler and pile mover. He's more of a gasher like Jernigan is. That's not a bad thing. He could play DE for a few plays and then on pass rushing downs he could slide over to DT. You have Jernigan playing the LDT, and then veteran Chris Canty is probably going to get snaps at RE. Behind them you've got Carl Davis who can move into NT on pass rushing downs and share reps with Canty, Lawrence Guy who is probably a bit more like Canty at RE, Steven Means who is a "Tweener" as he's a bit too big for an OLB, but a bit too small for a DE, especially a 3-4 DE...and he's a pass rusher. There is Kapron Lewis-Moore and honestly I don't know what his style is because he's never been on the field for me to see him, but the Ravens love his potential. There's Christo Bilukidi who is probably most well suited to be the back up NT...and THEN we've still got DeAngelo Tyson who's shown some flashes. Then there are some camp body that has some beef Micajah Reynolds, and the long and lean DE Zach Thompson. There is no way all of these guys make the roster. I could see the Ravens carrying 6 DL. You know 3 of them are Canty, Williams, and Jernigan. Who are your next top three?

I've been having an ongoing conversation with another poster in a different thread about Schaub. Something to do with camp INT's don't mean anything. In that thread I've been pretty blunt about what I think about Schaub's abilities at this stage of his career. I think he's done. I hope he's not and that if we need him he can step up and do a very good job for us for however long we need him. He might be able to explain what was going on in camp. I can buy that he's probably forcing throws that he normally wouldn't in a game. But how do you explain all of 2013? He only had two games in which he threw more touchdowns than interceptions and those were the first two games of the season and the only two games the Texans won. Sure, Foster was out and the run attack was 20th in the league. But 20th is far away from 32nd and Case Keenum stepped up and posted better stats in his 8 starts; 9TD to 6INT compared to Schaub's 10TD to 14INT. Then Schaub gets traded to the Raiders and he's not even the 2nd string QB. The Raiders have been about as functional as a broken watch and I could understand them trying to go with the future and start Carr. But, Schaub wasn't even his backup. I don't know what Schaub is talking about off the field and whatever problems those were I hope his family is all healthy and whatever the issues were they are in the past. Apparently he was suffering from elbow tendinitis in Oakland per this report; but this report also says that his arm has lost whatever zip it had: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000479358/article/oakland-raiders-release-qb-matt-schaub

I think this is the last post I am going to make in reply to you. If you don't quite understand where I am coming from there is really little else I can tell you to make you see it. Let's clear up what the Ravens are paying him. They are paying him essentially $2 million dollars this season which is actually low end, veteran back up money. He can earn another million in incentives. For comparison the Raven's paid Marc Bulger $3.8 million with a chance to earn up to $5.3 million total with incentives in 2010. So it isn't like the Ravens are paying Schaub crazy money...in footbal terms anyway. To me, $2 million is a ton of cash. Keenum didn't win any games, but apparently he wasn't the reason why they were losing games. Schaub won a whole 2 games. So...let's not act like Schaub was lighting it up and setting the world on fire. Schaube was horrible, Keenum was less horrible. Yeah, Kubiak lost his job, became our offensive coordinator....and he's coaching again. Go figure. He benched Schaub after giving him a LONG leash because he finally realised Schaub was losing his team games and couldn't win any. He had nothing to lose by putting Keenum in there. Keenum might be the future and Schaub certainly wasn't. Yeap, coaches clean house. The Texans knew they had a washed up QB that was costing them a lot of money, nearing the end of his contract, and he had no future there. The Raiders scooped him up hoping he could at least provide stability to the offense while Carr learned from the sidelines. Then camp happened. Carr played his way into the starting role and Schaub played his way to third on the depth chart. This has nothing to do with Carr and I am not and have not ripped on Carr. This has everything to do with Schaub. The Ravens signed Schaub to a deal because they didn't want to re-up and pay Tyrod Taylor. They wanted somebody who might actually be able to do more than just be QB in name only and possibly manage a game in case Flacco goes down. Most teams employ a fairly well paid second stringer no matter who that is. Take a look around the league and see some of the scrubs making nice money to never play. The Ravens did it years ago with Bulger. I don't need to provide you with any credentials. If you can't see the writing on the wall as I see it, then that's your opinion and you are entitled to it. He has a horrible 2013, he gets demoted to third string, not second string, but third string...ON THE RAIDERS. If that doesn't tell you where he's at in his career then I don't know what will. I think the fork is stuck in Schaub and he's done. Hopefully we'll never have to see him on the field in relief of Flacco.

I had a bone bruise on my knee once and that wasn't fun. Essentially a bone bruise is about as much damage as you can do to a bone before you fracture it or break it. I was playing shortstop and running out for a fly ball while the centerfielder was charging in. I was calling it all the way so I never expected him to be there. Right as I planted on my leg he comes sliding in and clips my plant leg out from under me and smacks hard into my knee. One of the worst feelings ever. I thought I really ripped my knee up, but I got away with a bone bruise. That was 6 months for that one before I could actually run around on it again.

Strains do take that long to heal. My back strain required me to be relatively inactive with it for about 6 months and my grade two quad strain needed 8 months to heal. And strains can bruise...something I learned with my grade two strain in my quad. My leg turned all lovely shades of yellow and purple....My leg....was "playing like a Raven" and donning the Ravens colors!

If they keep Yanda around I think he will be a silent leader on offense and I agree that some of these guys getting the long term extensions like Webb or Smith will need to step up. Right now the Ravens have a lot of youth on the field if you take away the few veterans they have. They also have a lot of first or second year Ravens..guys that have played for other teams but have just come here as a free agent. Lewis is stepping up, but I think that is a rare thing for a rather unestablished veteran to do. Flacco is already a silent leader. He won't fire up too much but I recall Mason getting on his case about something and Flacco was firing right back at him. This is an interesting point though. Suggs will probably only be around for another couple of years, same with Dumervil and D. Smith. Who will be the leaders on the field when these guys move on?

It is time for Steve Smith Sr. to leave all the "Blood and Guts" on the field, to "Ice up, son," one last time, and he felt he should retire because he felt bad for being, "an old man and running around on them like they were high school players."

I admire the way he plays and prepares himself, but Smith isn't without his faults. He broke the jaw of a former teammate in practice and has been known for getting into many fights in camp. His first season here he got into a fight with Webb where punches were thrown. So what will the Ravens do? I dunno, probably more of the same. When they lost Derrick Mason, they got Boldin. When they traded Boldin they got Steve Smith Sr. So start looking at veteran wideouts on teams that are coming into their last year or two on their current contracts and have young depth behind them. Chances are one of those guys will be a Raven depending on how this crop of guys perform this season.

Should have referenced the 1953 original film because it was far and away better than the one with Tom Cruise. The special effects for the time were very good and at least the main character in the film was a scientist figuring everything out instead of some dock worker turned savant. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and check out the original movie. I'd prefer Tucker to take aim for dead center through the uprights, but he is a bit of a character and I wouldn't mind seeing a video of him nailing that camera.

Asa Jackson was drafted with special teams in mind as he is rather small even for a cornerback. Campanaro can certainly raise his stock with his ability to be a return man and to be that pesky #3 or #4 reciever that sneaks in under the zone and catch those passes and make a little something happen like he showed the ability to do when healthy...just hoping he stays healthy. I really like our potential red zone offense. Think about this: Marlon Brown, Darren Waller, Crockett Gilmore, with "Juice" in at FB and Maxx Williams in a Twin TE formation. Sprinkle in Perriman or Smith Sr. depending on what you're trying to do. I am not expecting a completely lights out secondary this year. If they get more turnovers this season, great, I am all for that. I just don't want to see scrub wideouts streaking down the field wide open for easy TD's because nobody on defense thought it was a good idea to cover that guy. Eliminate those kinds of mistakes and this defense will be a lot better. Healthy Webb+Smith is a great start. Will Hill at SS with a more capable FS like Lewis I think will help that safety valve a lot. Let's hope the depth at CB also stays healthy. I don't want to see street free agents spot starting for us and us having to use safeties as nickel corners or starting corners again.

Don't forget Dumervil is getting up there in age and his contract is running out, same thing with Daryl Smith. So who will be "the guy" or guys? Some of the guys on the team right now. I am sure Ozzie will be looking for some veteran pressence to help out as well just like he did with Smith. Somewhere some team has a quality veteran that they don't feel like paying because they have a new hot shot rookie. Ozzie will swoop in and sign the guy and we'll get the last 2-3 seasons of good football out of them. But I hear you, time for some young leaders to emerge for this team.

Because he is 6'5'' 320lbs and doesn't play "up" to that size. He's built like a Nose Tackle, but plays more like a #2 DT in a 4-3 scheme. His college play was inconsistent and his motor/drive is questionable. So he is kinda like a "tweener" defensive tackle. Here's his scouting report: http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/carl-davis?id=2552280 Nobody wanted to take a big gamble on a guy that "might" be a pass rusher and might be a bit lazy. It is also worth noting that he was actually much larger in college than he is now in the NFL. It took him three seasons to get into the shape he's in now. I'm not saying this is the Carl Davis we got here in Baltimore. Hopefully we got the hungry guy that feels snubbed for falling in the draft.

Yeah, telling it like it is. In 2013 Case Keenum was the new starter and he threw 9TD and 6 INTs and threw for 1760 yards for a QB rating of 78.2. While that isn't exactly setting the world on fire; it was better than Schaub throwing for 2310 yards 10TD and 14 INT and a rating of 73.0. The team thought so little of them, they benched him and THEN traded their franchise QB away for a 6th round pick because they didn't want him anymore. You bring up the running game, but Keenum had the same running attack that Schaub did and yet he performed better. He didn't turn the ball over more times than he scored it. As for the Raiders...I am not sure how else to explain this to you. Schaub not playing at all and being the 3RD string QB should tell you exactly what the Raiders thought of him. The Raiders....one of the worst teams in the league....didn't want Schaub starting for them. They didn't even want him to be the back up. I don't care what draft pick they used to get him. I don't care what the expecations of Carr were. You honestly don't think they would have started Schaub if he looked impressive at all in camp in order to let the youngster learn the system a bit more before throwing him to the wolves like most teams do with all of their QB's? He wasn't even good enough to be Carr's backup. He was the back up to the backup. 2013 and 2014 aren't a good reflection of the QB you think he can be. I think it is a perfect example of the QB he has become.

If the injury to Perriman is a knee strain, the course of action is to pretty much do nothing with/on the strained area for an extended period of time to let the strain heal itself. Once healed you can then resume activities. If you come back too soon you risk straining the area again or even doing worse damage. I am not a medical doctor, but I am speaking from experience after suffering a back strain and a grade 2 quad strain. I never knew strains could bruise, but that quad strain I got looked really nasty. It took a couple of months for that to heal, but I am no pro athlete and I don't have access to superior sports medicine. I'd rather them just take the time he needs to heal, there is no need to rush him. Yeah you'd like to get him out there for practice reps but what is more important long term? As for Harbaugh not liking personalities, I am not really sure where anyone is getting that. I think the only issue he would have is if this person was taking a leadership role that was somehow infringing on his leadership. This is what happened to Billick. Eventually the team took over. The personalities got too cliquey and it served to separate the team rather than unify it. I can't wait for Thursday. I want to see some of these Ravens that are fighting for roster spots show what they've got. I also want to see Matt Schaub in a non-practice situation. I want to see if bigger is better for Crockett Gilmore and also get a look at Maxx Williams, Buck Allen, Waller, and the new additions to our secondary. I want to actually see Lewis-Moore in some game time and scope out Zadarius Smith, Steven Means, and see what Christo Bilukidi can do to make this roster. The rotation we can put on the front line should be pretty impressive this year.

In a 3-4 an end is not really as crucial as it is in a 4-3. Sure you'd love to have a penetrator that can rush the QB, but since you have an extra backer you use that to "hide" that 4th rusher. What you really need is a guy who can at least hold the line of scrimmage and eat up blockers for your rushers and hopefully he can help set the edge on run plays. I think with the depth we have at the position we'll have people good enough to keep the defense strong. Jernigan being a gasher at DT will help out a lot and you have to remember we've got a pair of pretty good edge rushers in Suggs and Dumervil. Don't forget that we've also got Upshaw that we could perhaps slot into that DE role from time to time. He's a bigger OLB, even for a 3-4 backer.

One of them for sure are going on the IR, if not both. Frees up roster spots to bring in more bodies that you can bring in and play and also don't have to put any pressure on the guys trying to come back too soon. We've got plenty of depth at DL and while I'd like to have Elam in the mix at safety, Will Hill was most likely going to be the starter anyway and we've got some impressive depth. I think Anthony Levine will surprise some people in an expanded role.

As I stated in a post in another thread I think the starters are all figured out. The only thing on the line "starting" job on the line right now is kick and punt returner. Everything else is depth charts and roster spots. The pre season isn't really going to showcase anything new in the playbook, but what you will be looking for are guys simply executing the plays that are called. It is one thing to perform in camp and in controlled conditions. It is another thing to go up against live competition. Anybody else gonna watch the Hall of Fame game tonight? Sure it isn't the Ravens, but it will be one of our division rivals. Be interesting to see how that Steelers defense does now without some of the icons on it. People thought the Ravens defense would collapse without Reed and Lewis. Let's see how the Steelers recover without Kiesel and Polomalu.