EdTheMythicalOne

If you don't know that people are complaining about the Kaufusi pick then you aren't looking hard enough. I didn't like the pick in the first place, he's an old rookie and will be one year older before he even gets to step on the field. Orr hardly played any ILB before last season, so don't really come with that argument. He was simply a better player than Correa. Correa had a whole season to learn and he was on the field. I don't need to chill out on him, I am simply calling it like it is right now.

So you are saying that the most important position on the field is not a big deal and you can win and turn a franchise around with a poor QB, not even a decent one? That's what you're saying. Of course you need a decent QB to turn a franchise around. You at least need a game manager that won't hurt your team and gives you a chance to win. Then once you get your team in the right direction you get that franchise guy. But you can't keep relying on career journeymen backups and injury prone has been starters to try to turn it around. Their line is not all that incredible. They got nothing going on the ground and they got every starting QB for the team hurt last year...or don't you remember that? Hue Jackson will only stay for as long as the front office lets him. If the Browns are smart they will not pull the plug too early. Let me remind you of the history of Joe Flacco and how he came to be the starter. 1) Kyle Boller got injured. 2) Troy Smith was supposed to be the starter and essentially had the job handed to him. He got a severe tonsil infection and missed most of training camp and almost all of pre season. 3) Joe Flacco was the only healthy body on the roster. It was not the plan for him to be the starter. He got the job by default. We just lucked out in that Joe is actually a pretty good Qb and in the right system with the right players he can be special.

There are of course multiple versions of the story and one of them includes him putting his hands on the medical worker. This is why the Ravens need to do their homework on him and make sure they are comfortable with the version of the truth they believe. There's his and his agent's version and then I am sure the medical worker has a version. But here's something after the fact that includes some quotes from Rueben himself: Gems like: "Y'all, stop asking me what happened, for real," Foster said in the video, according to AL.com. That sounds like a guy that really wants to clear up the air, right? And: "I'm chilling with my people right now," Foster said in the video. "My agent backs me. I'm staying low. When I get my chance, I'm taking advantage of it. I'm telling you. That's all I know." Oh, I think he knows a lot more than that. But at least he is chilling with his people, his agent backs him (shocker there). Then there is this nugget: " Foster said teammates were with him at the time of the incident and could verify what happened. " When asked about Foster on Saturday, his former teammate Jonathan Allen said he didn't know what had happened but called the situation "surprising" and "disappointing." Tim Williams, a defensive end who was at the Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital at the same time, said he was in a different group and couldn't say exactly what happened. "We were all waiting for our names to be called. He was with the linebackers and I was with all of the D-line," Williams said. "I was in a different room." So no, Rueben's teammates can't verify what happened, or are selecting not to. This just screams headcase. Out of all of the people there in the same situation he's the only one to behave like this.

They really need to do some legit homework on Foster. That kind of incident to me is a big red flag about his character. No way I am touching him in the first round.

I'm actually pulling for Hue Jackson and hope the Browns do well. Their fans deserve it. I just hope they don't do better than the Ravens well

They really need to do some legit homework on Foster. That kind of incident to me is a big red flag about his character. No way I am touching him in the first round.

Orr was a special teams player who was fighting for the starting job and won it clearly hands down because he was playing like a champ the whole time. Mosley was obviously going to start but the spot next to him was wide open. Orr won it and ran with it. He was never beating Orr out at any point and time last season and I have no idea why you think this. Training Camp snaps do not mean a darn thing. People are being hard on him because he was a second round pick that we took instead of taking some other useful players. All draft picks have some sort of upside and since he is a Raven I am hoping he does start showing us why the Ravens thought so highly of him. I am just not betting on it. People are also being hard on him because we drafted him to be an edge rusher and he didn't seem to be able to get the job done and lost out to Matt Judon and Z. Smith. Then he moves to MLB and he didn't look tremendous there, albeit it is a somewhat new position to him. Nobody has written him off yet, but nobody is reinventing history with him either to believe he's a stud.

You need a decent starting QB to have even a chance and a ground game to go along with it. These are things the Browns don't have. While the Browns have added to the O-Line, they lost Alex Mack and Joe Thomas is not getting any younger. By the time the team (if) turns around Joe Thomas won't be a part of that and there's a franchise LT to replace which don't exactly grow on trees. I don't knock Barnidge at all, he's good. Britt got way overpaid and is very inconsistent and with who knows at QB he probably won't have a great season. I don't know about Pryor coming back but that would probably help a great deal. I am not underestimating the power of the draft picks. More is generally better. I am basing my opinion on the recent track record of the Browns drafting which has been pretty poor. My case in point is that they had 13 picks either last year or the year before and where did it get them? They've had a top 5 pick in the first round for what...like a decade now and where has it gotten them? I know it won't take one off season to rebuild the team but the Browns front office doesn't seem to think that way. They fire coaches after 1 or 1 and 1/2 seasons and get new front office pieces and they never get an established system in place. It would be nice to see them keep Hue Jackson around for several seasons and try to implement his system and see how it goes. I mean, they aren't getting anywhere with the previous way they have been doing business.

Nick Boyle popped twice. I thought Elam got popped for a game as well? Just looked it up, it was a substance abuse suspension and not a PED violation.

I like Hue Jackson and I think he's a good coach but there is some sort of curse over the Browns. Their front office never sticks with a plan for very long and there is just a dark cloud hanging over the team. The Browns are looking up? Last time I checked they don't have a starting QB. They traded for Osweiler but everyone thinks he will be cut or traded, the Browns just wanted the draft pick. They might be able to get a Jimmy G trade done...and even if they do is he really a legit franchise QB? They don't have a real #1 running back, they have some holes on the O-line, they don't have a great WR, they have a good but rather old TE in Barnidge, and their defense has a few nice pieces but overall it is pretty bad. They have a ton of draft picks, but didn't they have like 13 picks last year or the year before and how did that work out?

The Browns actually had a 10-6 season a while back with former Raven Derek Anderson at QB. It looked like they were ready to turn it all around. Then they had an injury plagued follow up season that was like the Ravens a couple seasons ago...then they had a staph infection outbreak. Then they had some bad luck big name free agent signing blow ups like Lecharles Bentley who was a legit center before he blew out his knee in the first day of training camp and never played again.

I agree, training camp means nothing. He was running with first team because a lot of the actual starters weren't in camp and were also being given a lot of days off. And of course he was getting playing time in the preseason games. That's what it is for is to take a look at your rookies and recent signings. You don't need to run your #1's out there for four full pre season games because you generally know what you've got already. He was relegated to back up duty as soon as the real season started and that's what counts. He didn't win anything other than the hype machine.

I'm not really worried about losing any of these guys. Aiken was the product of being the only healthy guy on the roster and I don't think he was as good as the player rating sites had him for that season. I think they only attributed two dropped passes by him that whole season and I recall it being a whole lot more than that. The same site also said Steve Smith Sr. hadn't dropped that many passes and in his very first game as a Raven he dropped five. He'll get way more than what he's worth. I like Lawrence Guy and think he's a decent player, but we've got younger guys in behind him that should step up and be able to replace him. Anthony Levine is another decent player but you can find new special teams aces in the draft. Chris Lewis-Harris is interesting and might be back. He performed pretty well in limited action. Jerraud Powers didn't play up to expectations and if the Ravens can get a starting CB, have Tavon Young at nickel, and then draft a guy for depth I think we're fine. Elam...yeah, good riddance.

I think Claiborne would be a big signing. I think we all need to thank Eric Weddle for this off season. Tony Jefferson was the first chip to fall to us and I; and probably the Ravens, didn't think it would really happen with the money the Browns were tossing around. First Tony, then to a lesser extent Woodhead, and then Brandon Williams. If Claiborne's name comes up next and then maybe a Nick Mangold....we're cooking with some fire now. I think the Jefferson signing was the domino for the rest of what happens in free agency.

I agree. It is looking like just another off season from the guys inside 1 Winning Drive. I explained why I started this thread in my previous post. This is why while it might be frustrating at times, it is still good to be a Ravens fan. It could be a lot worse, we could be the current Browns.

Before free agency began I thought this team was going to let Williams walk and I didn't think they'd be able to get Tony Jefferson. The Jefferson signing might have jump started everything else the Ravens are now doing to put this team back together again and make another run at staying a competitive team for years to come. This has been the way of the world with Steve Bisciotti at the helm. As for the Bengals they did lose two big pieces, but they've still got a good core of players to replace those positions. With the Ravens it was; at the time I made this, looking like they would be losing a lot of big players due to FA and simply age/salary cap cuts. I didn't think they would bring in Tony Jefferson or resign Williams so that would mean going with the guys you got or drafting their replacements. What the front office has done so far is give this team a chance again. If some of the draft picks of the last two years finally deliver and they hit a couple of home runs in this year's draft we could be looking at a very good season provided everyone stays healthy. If the Ravens can bring in Claiborne or Akamura for CB that could be a very big deal for the defense.

That holds true for every player on the roster. Even the practice squad guys "practice with the starters." Maybe in minicamp he was going with the ones but that is when he got into scuffle with Dennis Pitta and Pitta broke his thumb. He made more news with his antics than his play. When he finally did suit up he was a special teamer and then he got in on a few snaps and the one play that came right to him he dropped.

The reason why the NFL and MLB don't test for HGH is because in order to detect it you need to draw blood and that is something both unions will never agree to. And while to normal every day people like us with morals would look at my next statement and shake their heads, this is the thing: If they don't test for it it ain't cheatin'. Steroid use in the US is illegal. But MLB's argument about it before the current rules were put in place was, and I am paraphrasing but this was actually their argument..."There is no rule in baseball prohibiting their use." I am assuming MLB thought that it being illegal nationally was enough to carry over to baseball but you know how loopholes go. What I see a lot of these PED busts coming from is amphetamine use. Within the last decade or so a lot of high level athletes have come down with "social anxiety" for which they need a prescription which just so happens to use amphetamines...which is a banned substance in the NFL/MLB UNLESS you have a doctor's note stating you need the medication. This happened with Chris Davis of the Orioles a couple seasons ago. Which begs the question, if you don't have a prescription and a note for this drug, how exactly are you getting it?

Yeah, he wasn't even in the conversation at MLB. It was Orr's job to lose and he never lost it.

Damon Harrison is a notch above Brandon Williams. He logs more tackles and sacks. Harrison turned around a Giants defense and the team he left got much worse on defense. I am not so sure that would have been the same case with Williams. He would make most teams better on defense, but I don't think the Ravens would have fallen off that much without him. We were all dreading the day Ngata left and we found Williams to replace him.

I think they will compete along with Brent Urban and Bronson Kaufusi for the LE/LDT spot vacated by the what I think is impending loss of Lawrence Guy. One of those guys will be the winner and the rest will all be rotational depth behind Williams and Jernigan who will be the other two starters.

And now they "rebuild" by signing their own free agent DT: Brandon Williams. I honestly didn't think this was going to happen and I am still in a mixed bag with the move. The best interior lineman we had because he's steady. Timmy Jernigan is too inconsistent but if he ever turned it on for a full season I think he could be special. Pierce is a bit too young to know exactly what you've got there but he looks promising, and then Willie Henry and Carl Davis haven't been able to show much of anything yet. Problem is that he is too one dimensional to be getting that kind of cash. He's not Ngata in his prime. Even Ngata would get to the QB more often and he engulfed other players. Williams does take double teams but he's not as dominant and he's not a good rusher. Kind of hard for a leopard to change it's spots now, but it would be nice if that part of his game emerged. It is also a lot of money tied up in one position and the Ravens also plunked down $9mil/per for Jefferson. There are a lot of holes left to fill on this team: C: Zuttah is serviceable at best right now and that is if he is healthy. Other options: John Urschel, Ryan Jensen, Matt Skura. RT: Losing Wagner hurts quite a bit: In house options: Alex Lewis, Stephon Nembot, James Hurst (via the Ravens...they think he can be a good RT?) RB: West isn't the answer and Dixon might be, but he just got popped. Woodhead is not the bell cow and Buck Allen and Lorenzo Taliafero still need to show up. FB: I liked Juice, but he gone. Ravens don't really need to find another one and could just use a TE here. WR: Retained Wallace, but the team is all speed burners now with no real tough over the middle possession guy. OLB: Suggs is old, Dumervil gone (could be back?) and the slew of youngsters in behind them haven't shown much other than Matt Judon. MLB: Losing Zach Orr was really tough and I don't think Correa is the answer. CB: Jimmy is hurt annually now, nobody to line up across from him. If the Ravens are going to get Claiborne and address other spots in free agency, there is a lot more house cleaning that will need to be done to free up the cash.

I was thinking the same thing but apparently whatever he did in Houston (which wasn't the only thing he did, there were other reports about him being huffy and puffy about losing the starting gig) is enough to convince other teams he doesn't deserve another shot yet. Pretty good situation for us because I think he's a capable starter if anything should happen to Flacco, but on the other hand I hope we never have to see that. Mallet's best case scenario is something does happen to Joe and he comes in and plays well for 8-10 games and gets some new tape built up on him.

Should add in this measuring stick: Matt Elam SS: busts for trying to sell drugs: 1 Tony Jefferson SS: busts for trying to sell drugs: 0 Talk about stupid. What in the world does Matt Elam need to be doing that for? Didn't he already make millions of dollars off of his 1st round deal?

I certainly didn't expect the Ravens to top the market for Williams and he wound up getting more than Damon Harrison got and I think Harrison is a better player. I am kind of 50/50 with this deal. I like Brandon Williams and I think he's a good player, but on the other hand that is a lot of money to pay out for his position and he doesn't stay on the field all the time. We have other players behind him showing promise. Does this mean that Micheal Pierce moves over to take Guy's spot? We've got a lot of bodies to play 3 positions still: NT/DT: Brandon Williams, Michael Pierce, Carl Davis, Willie Henry, Timmy Jernigan DE: Timmy Jernigan, Brent Urban, Bronson Kaufusi.