CorvusMagnus

Harbaugh is a good head coach (top 5 at least) in doing the specific things a head coach does (motivate, discipline, build culture) but probably not among the best in terms of contributing to personnel selection and offensive of defensive play calling. That said, apart from Bellichek (which is a completely unreasonable standard) no HC in football does all of those things at a high level, including Mike Tomlin, who I consider one of the other top coaches of this generation. Hop on the Steeler's boards sometime, Tomlin messed up clock management at least as often as Harbaugh, but is still one of the best of the best. The issue with replacing Harbaugh with most of the candidates mentioned in this feed is that we are essentially rolling the die on whether a young coordinator can successfully do the things Harbaugh is already great at either now or in the near future. Overall what we get in return from offensive/defensive performance wont matter a bit if we turn into the pre-Gase Miami Dolphins. Plus, even if that young coordinator can foster such a culture, it may be 2+ years before we see positive results. In my experience immediate success after a HC change is generally preceded by multiple years of losing records and high draft picks and we don't even come close to qualifying. In short, its a lot like replacing a QB, something a franchise only does when they have no other choice and they're going to lose the fanbase either way. Basically I agree with the more moderate posters on here, Harbaugh isn't Marvin Lewis who saw his team crumble after a few free agency losses and utterly implode after 3-4 injuries, in fact it took the most injuries in team history (including the franchise QB) to knock us down to a losing season for the first time in Harbaugh's tenure. He gets at least one more year.

I realize its probably way to early to be putting out positive signals but lets face facts, we just almost pulled off a road upset against one of the hottest teams in the country and marched on to the playoffs. At the end of the day the Steelers are most definitely a playoff caliber team and came within seconds of pissing all over their parade. That said, I was genuinely scared for this team longer term if we made it into the playoffs. While the Raven's have gotten the most of out a hodge-podge of old and new talent, the Steelers appear to have done a better job of building a corps of blue chip players to retain and form their veteran core of late. I'm especially concerned with the pass rush where we really have no plan to deal with Suggs retirement and no reasonable hope to land a replacement without decent draft position. As for Harbaugh, I actually think he did pretty well considering the offensive issues caused by personnel discontinuity and an injured QB, or problems with the pass rush. That said, Joe Flacco still outplayed Ben Rothlisberger on the road with inferior weapons and protection even without taking several critical drops into account. Plus the difference between a rusty Flacco with 4.1 seconds of protection (1st half of season) and confident Flacco with 5.0 seconds of protection (2nd half of the season is all it would have taken to push us into the playoffs. Hit the draft for OLB and OL, with a good possession receiver and some CB depth sprinkled in, we'll be right back into the thick of things.

I think its safe to say that with each game we are seeing more and more signs of mobility (roll outs and scrambles) from Flacco on designed and broken plays (I saw a season high against the Bengals). I think this is a very encouraging sign given that our OL probably isn't going to get better then "OK" in pass defense this year, so we need all of the wrinkles we can muster to slow the rush and buy time for the deep bal. That said, my question to the board is how much of this increased mobility comes from the changes at OC (I definitely noticed an uptick post-Trestman) or a change in attitude at the QB position (Flacco gaining trust in his repaired knee).

In terms of overall impact I'll probably go with Stanley. A rookie being "OK" starting at LT in the NFL is something you can go several years without seeing (as several people pointed out the last one I can think of is Tyron Smith). If he starts for the rest of the season I don't think it'll be much of a contest. In terms of value my head says Young, he's been our no. 1/2 corner in several games and held his own, which is more then we have any right to expect from a 4th round rookie at the CB position. The most important thing about Young is that he has a head for the game that can compensate for his physical limitations, and can ride the razors edge between physicality and aggression (he reminds me of Sherman in that regard). My heart says Pierce tho, even with his snaps seeming to shrink each game. Personally I REALLY want to see what he looks like after a season of professional nutrition and physical training. As an experiment I'm interested in how he would play at somethign closer to Aaron Donald's weight (300-310 lbs) given his explosive lower body.

Joe Flacco will either get it together or he wont, personally I think he's been here before and he will find a way to turn things around. That said, at the end of the day it comes down to opportunity cost and there is no way it makes sense to move on from him at the end of the season, no matter how irate the fans get. As for the draft I think 2016 may go down as one of our best ever top to bottom, and one more like it (preferably not as high, with another pro-bowl player picked) will put us back in business.

Three positive things I saw on the last game that I think need to continue: -Continue to build Correa and Judon by using them in a specialized manner, adding more diversity to their responsibilities as you go. Using Correa as a run stopper, Judon as a pass rusher in tandem worked well, and it helps both of them develop as two way players. -Emphasize stop routes for Perriman, Wallace and Flacco. Ironically the play everyone criticizes him and Flacco for in the Jets game is a sign of things to come. Corners have to turn their hips early with Perriman or eat dust, if he comes back to the ball and Flacco hits him in stride, he's got positive yards and a chance at YAC. -More Dixon on short passing routes a la Ray Rice. While I love me some Terrence West his catching limitations mean that he often has to stop and be floated the pass in order to secure the ball. Dixon can take the ball in stride, and once you get that kid in space, good things can happen.

From the perspective of inexpensive role players this is the best Raven's draft I've seen as a fan (which isn't terribly long, 2010), and that's really the most encouraging thing about it. I think there is some indication that Ozzie can do a considerably better job on the other side of the round, and I think we can reasonably expect that this year unless we blow up against all odds. In terms of playing rookies, Correa is my biggest concern, since he desperately needs playing time but he's not seasoned enough to be anything but a situational rusher, and the vets aren't playing well enough to put him in those positions without becoming a liability.

The irony is that other then winning, player development is my passion when watching the NFL. I'm almost looking forward to the season becoming a forgone conclusion because we will see our rookies get piles of playing time and hopefully develop more quickly as a result. At the end of the day we are a team that has a done a good job at drafting quality complimentary players (especially in specific positions like defensive line) with high picks for years to supplement truly great picks we made years ago (IMHO Suggs and Yanda are the last truly league leading player drafted by the Ravens). At this point we can limp no further, and it is going to take a couple of high draft picks an a little luck to get us back on our feet again. Nowhere is that more evident then OLB where we are asking journeymen (McLelllan, Smith) and grass green rookies (Correa, Judon) to do the work of a future HOF (Suggs) and a top dollar veteran (Dumerville). The thing about rookie OLB is that you can get production as long as you keep things simple/situational, unfortunately our ability to do that was predicated by Suggs ability to do everything all the time. I honestly think a lot of the run defense issues in the last game were the rookies pinning their ears back and making mistakes on playing the run.

You do realize the kind of dead money you're talking about would require crushing our cap for at least a year and cutting a pile of much needed veterans to get rid of a QB we can't reliably replace? And that the biggest reason Prescott is able to do what is doing is a first round RB and a another 4+ first round OL, which we don't have? And that Wilson is probably the biggest quarterback draft steal since Tom Brady? I understand the sentiment but you're insane.

I'm kind of wondering if foot-injury = turf-toe and they're trying to avoid naming it to panic the fans. The only reason I can think they would hold him back so long is if the issue is something they are worried could become chronic and career ending.

Tough loss, plenty of blame to go around, but for me the biggest losers are the Raven's LB and OL. On offense when you go max protect and DEs are still landing in your QBs lap before he even finisher your drop, even Brady is going to look like hot garbage. Plus we couldn't run and we don't have the receivers to dink and dunk. We DESPERATELY need a YAC monster with good hands, and it just doesn't exist on this team right now. As for the Raven's D those big run plays were as uncharacteristic as they were devastating. I think the LBs and S took turns blowing assignments, there's a lot of young guys and a lot of shuffle going on back there.

I agree that part of Correa's issue is that he came into the league a ILB/OLB tweener, and doesn't necessarily have the godmode athleticism (i.e. Clay Matthews, Troy Polamalu) to win across multiple positions. I agree that choosing and tailoring his body to ILB or OLB would be a good first step, but the bigger problem is his technique, especially in hand usage. Correa is small for an OLB both in height and weight, he simply isn't going to win in a match of strength against an NFL OL. I like the example of Bud Dupree, because for both of them most of their production came from cleanly off the line and that simply doesn't happen consistently in the NFL no matter how fast you are. If you don't have an understanding of how to absorb a punch, or fight through a block when someone gets inside your pads, you basically get taken out of a play even when you play to the whistle like Correa. Once the light turns on for Correa (and Dupree for that matter) I think he has plenty of physicality to execute even with a tweener body.

That is my observation as well. Perriman is catching fine when he is able to put his eyes on the ball and follow its trajectory in flight. If you look at his stats, his drops tend to come on very short throws where there is limited time to adjust to the ball in flight, and very long bombs where he is trying to keep his eyes off the ball until the last second to avoid tipping the DB. The key is having an internal clock synchronized with the QB which allows you to position yourself based on where your memory knows the ball will be, rather then where your eyes say it will be. In other words these are the most "chemistry" dependent throws, and require the QB to be consistent in their execution as well (I actually think this is no. 1 secret to Brady's success). To me the most encouraging thing about Perriman is that his best work has been on contested throws where he hasn't been schemed loose, beat his man and Flacco isn't throwing him open. What separates a no. 1 from a no. 2 like Wallace or Torrey is the ability to produce when the other team is planning their whole backfield around keeping you covered, and I think Perriman is showing flashes of that.

Ed Reed is in Buffalo because Rex Ryan is in Buffalo. Ed wants to work for Rex, Rex was willing to pick Ed over a more experienced secondary coach. Frankly I think Rex is welcome to it, being a good player is far from a guarantees that someone can coach, he may as well be the one taking the chances. Throw that in with the fact that Ed and John have historically not gotten on (Ed never forgave John for taking the HC over Rex) and the fact we already have a more then qualified secondary coach this year in Frazier (an elite player and former HC), and I'm not sure why we're even talking about Ed Reed right now. Our secondary issues are partly a lack of depth beyond Jimmy but mostly a lack of pass rush, plain and simple.

A head coach has three basic jobs: create the culture of the team by motivating/disciplining player, selecting top coaching staff (OC, DC, STC, etc.) and top level game management (timeouts, challenges, etc.). Yes there are head coaches who are also their own OC/DCs (ex. Payton, Ryan), but the vast majority follow this model. Note I do not include personnel selection through the draft, because on most teams the head coach is just one vote among many, and generally not even the biggest one. That said, I challenge you to find another coach in the league who crafts and preserves team culture better then John Harbaugh. Whatever the talent level of his teams they play their asses off no matter how far in the hole they are and that is by no means a given even in the NFL (see Browns, Jaguars and other bottom feeders). Can you question his performance in the other two areas? Maybe, but pop over to any team with a "top 10" coach and you'll see them bitching just as hard as we are (over at the Steeler's forums they have this same discussion after practically every loss despite being a perennial play off team just like us). The chances of randomly promoting a college coach, OC or DC and expecting John Harbaugh or better is laughably small. The new ones are a crap shoot (HC is NOTHING like OC and DC) and the old ones usually have at least one issue or they would still be HCs. Firing an HC is something a club goes to great lengths to avoid because it can trash your franchise just as fast as a bad QB pick. Plus, do it too many times (like the Redskins) and the best candidates wont even apply. We just drafted high for the first time in nearly a decade and by all accounts did a spectacular at it, if it happens again at the end of this year it'll suck but I expect a similar influx of talent. 2018 is the earliest I expect a serious conversation about replacing Harbaugh given the team's current trajectory.

Not sure if you were using me as a source for the above, but I agree with everything except Perriman actually has a SLIGHTLY (5%) higher drop rate, but its pretty negligible considering the huge difference in snap count. Julio and Amari are bad comparisons because they were day 1 starters, and both were drafted in the top quarter of the first round. Dez is actually a great comparison to Breshad because of their similar snap count (72 v. est 69) and so far Breshad is actually having a better year in terms of yards per game/catch and YAC. Dez does have a small advantage in terms of catch rate (58%) and a BIG advantage in terms of TDs (0 v. 6). Both get spanked by the blue chips. If you really want to feel better about the pick look at these: Nelson Agholor, Kevin White, Laquon Treadwell, Corey Coleman, Phillip Dorsette and Josh Doctson. As depressing as this sounds, Breshad is currently outperforming the rookie season of every first round receiver in the past two years not named Amari Cooper and Will Fuller through some combination of availability (several of these haven't played a down), touches, and per touch performance. If Breshad is a bust then every team in the damn league has no idea what they are doing.

Will Fuller is an interesting comparison and one worth exploring. Similarities: ~Rookies, burners Low catch rate (50 v. 45%) Differences: Fuller is a starter in a stable of rookies (except for Hopkins) and pretty much the only deep threat on his team, Breshad is second string on a team with three veterans including another deep threat Fuller has been targeted over 30% more (40 v. 30) on 30% more snaps (300 v. 200) Fuller fell off a cliff in 2/5 games, while Perriman has been flat throughout YAC is a BIG part of Fuller's edge in production (2.5 v. 12.5!!) http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/29255/splits/ http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/28414/splits/ The Texan's own pundits admit that a lot of Fuller's production is coming from teams scheming to shut down Hopkins (whose production spike in the same games Fuller's crashes). http://www.battleredblog.com/2016/9/12/12884066/incompletions-texans-v-bears Bottom line, is Fuller a better player right now, yes, but a lot of his advantage could be explained by the type of throws and catches he is getting each game. Plus the Texan's are putting up with a TON of drops because they have nowhere else to throw right now. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/5521/splits/

There's a lot more to getting behind a defensive backfield then simple speed, especially when the DB is pressing or has the luxury of safety help. However keep in mind, even if all Perriman does is draw an additional safety off coverage, he is doing the job of a #2 WR as long as someone else can beat their man. Perriman's biggest problem right now is that he is trying to adjust as a rookie and build up his confidence after his confidence from college was trashed by a year of disappointment and injury; plus a preseason that threatened more of the same (I might add the fan base was not helping this process at ALL). He is pressing and freezing in situations where he has to react quickly (such as short routes and over the shoulder throws where he has to react at the last second to avoid tipping off the DB), but his best moments come when he has the ability to spot the ball early and fight for it. More then anything that last point is what makes me optimistic about him. The ability to attack the ball with his hands and make contested catches far from your body is what allows a receiver to survive when father time takes your speed away. Steve can do it, Torrey and Mike W. couldn't, and that is what makes him a potential no. 1.

This is just my personal theory but I think for someone Flacco's size throwing off the back foot takes a heart beat longer then throwing with an abbreviated motion and that is why he is doing it more often. Being able to throw off your back foot means not only having the time and space to set your feet, but that you have already decided where you're throwing and where in time and space that target will be at the point of release before you even begin the motion. Unfortunately with Steve gone our no. 1 and 2 receivers are new to the offense and Joe. Throw in the fact they are deep threats which requires even more challenging calculations in terms of space and time. Get Flacco comfortable in the pocket and keep building cohesion with Breshad and Mike, you'll see a lot more of those Jacoby/Smith type long bombs.

Been afraid to post in the other feeds, a few things to add: If last year proved anything it is that this team will fight for Harbaugh to the last second of the last game, we've been in worse, we can find a way out. The majority of penalties on O in the last few games have been OL holding. If you're beat and have to choose between a free shot at the QB or holding, you hold. Health and stability will fix these issues on their own. As disappointed as I am with KC so far, I believe he will find a way at OLB by the end of the season. We stunted his growth cross training at ILB, Boise clearly didn't teach him squat, but I think he will develop enough to be serviceable. Pierce just makes me smile, he is a young Brandon Williams with pass rush upside we got as an undrafted player, it doesn't get much better then that. If the run game continues as it has and the OL protection improves even a little, I think Breshad will explode. He is already beating people regularly at the perimeter, give him a steady diet of unhurried rockets from Flacco and we'll see our own version of the Rothlisberger/Bryant connection

There is so much to love about Sterling but he is this years Lockette. If he can stay healthy 5-10 years in this league I have no doubt in my mind he will be a success, that said, his size makes his long term health a chancy proposition.

I'll say Jack/Ramsey and Spriggs. Jack, because he has HOF upside in a position of current weakness that will become an even greater weakness next year (ILB coverage). Ramsey, because he has a similar upside to Jack in several positions of weakness. Spriggs because our EDGE and CB depth are nowhere near as thin and injury prone as our OT depth. Any draft that starts with those three names will be alright in my book

Football has both an intellectual and a physical component, and no player can be good (let alone great) without at least a basic measure of both. Watching Nkemdiche anyone can see his physical gifts as an interior penetrator, and anyone who watches Aaron Donald knows how much of a game wrecker that kind of interior pressure can be. What people don't get about Donald is that in addition to his athletic gifts he is also smart and instinctive enough to make the most of that initial penetration. In situations where Donald is schemed against, he identifies the ball carrier quickly and works his way through traffic to put himself back in the play. Nkemdiche has some freakish plays in college, but he also has plays where he becomes a non-factor because he is unable to grasp the situation quickly enough. I think of him as a defensive version of Cordarrelle Patterson, someone whose athletic gifts are too great to keep out of the league, but will probably never have a grasp of the game sufficient to realize more then a fraction of his potential (assuming he can even stay in the league). Personally, I wouldn't touch him until the second or some crazy scenario where we traded down to the bottom of the 1st.

Treadwell is one of the few receivers in this draft with the resume to play these kinds of games with the combine and keep his draft stock intact. Either way it certainly doesn't come across as a vote of confidence. It doesn't help that 40 times typically get padded at pro-days, but every professional scout in the league probably has their own way around that. My question now is how he proposes to make any serious improvements to his 40 time and splits in the remaining month or so before his pro day and what it really means if he succeeds. If he can't get faster without dropping weight then he probably isn't going to help himself much, his physicality is a much bigger part of his game then his speed.

Seriously When long time draft evaluators are struggling to find a comp, past or present, because a player is too good at something (Jack in coverage) and other player is being described as a "better version" of a pro-bowl player (Buckner and Calais Campbell) who exactly are you holding out for?