Whats Next?

[kris21054]

This might get some people mad but its legimate question. what is next for the ravens? do we sign a receiver? trade for one? or do nothing? everyone was complaining when we drafted oher and how we had no upgrade on receiver so now what do we do? i love mason and happy he is back but still need some type of upgrade.

[ZIBBY28]

[quote name='kris21054' date='04 August 2009 - 01:17 AM' timestamp='1249363030' post='214722']
This might get some people mad but its legimate question. what is next for the ravens? do we sign a receiver? trade for one? or do nothing? everyone was complaining when we drafted oher and how we had no upgrade on receiver so now what do we do? i love mason and happy he is back but still need some type of upgrade.
[/quote]
wait til after this year to see who hits the open market or take a WR in the first few rounds of the draft.. thats just my opinion.. the boldin/marshall trades arent going to happen and guys like DJ Hackett obviously arent worth signing because he had his shot and didnt impress the coaches. our WR corps are better than last year simply with a healthy D-Will, and another year for guys like marcus smith and harper.. k. washington is just another addition along with all the UDFA. we'll be alright with the guys we have, but next year we'll need to do something with mason, clayton, williams, and washington all being FAs.. i think that'll be our time to make a move, especially with the expected retirement of mason

[tweety]

What's next is up to the staff. Personally, I believe a Wide Out would put us contenders to Win the division. With our current Receivers we are still competitive for the Division. All we can hope for is good news this late in the game.

[Ravensfan23]

What the Ravens need to do next is capitalize in the opportunities they are given.

Adding a big time WR would be great for any team. But this notion that the Ravens will struggle without another WR is just foolish to me.

Last season we missed plenty of opportunities to score and establish ourselves as a good offense. Heap dropped TD passes, Mason dropped a couple TD passes, Rice dropped a couple TD passes, Clayton and Flacco just missed on several TD opportunities. I can't count the number of times the Oline allow pressure on Flacco in the redzone and that pervented us from scoring.

Everyone makes the WR postion the scapegoat to the offenses failure. That is not the case, every area of this offense must step up.

Flacco needs to be able to locate all of his targets on any given play. That is what will put press on the defense. Look at the Pats, in there 3 SuperBowl seasons they had a combined total of 1 WR that produced over 60 catches in a season(Troy Brown 100rec). So why was their offense good enough to compete and beat the other elite team? Because Brady spread the ball around to all of his receiving options.

It didn't matter if it was a RB,FB,2nd TE or WR. Yea they might not have had a WR catch 60 balls, but they had 4or5 guys catch about 40 balls.

With Mason,Clayton,Williams,rice,McGahee,Heap,Smith, and even McClain, Flacco definately has the weapons around him. He just has to be able to read the defense better and go through his progressions quicker.

If this offense can produce around 20-28 points a game, we will be able to beat any team in the NFL. We still have one of the top Defenses in the NFL, the offense just has to capitalize on the opportunities the present.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='Ravensfan23' date='04 August 2009 - 10:12 AM' timestamp='1249395170' post='214791']
What the Ravens need to do next is capitalize in the opportunities they are given.

Adding a big time WR would be great for any team. But this notion that the Ravens will struggle without another WR is just foolish to me.

Last season we missed plenty of opportunities to score and establish ourselves as a good offense. Heap dropped TD passes, Mason dropped a couple TD passes, Rice dropped a couple TD passes, Clayton and Flacco just missed on several TD opportunities. I can't count the number of times the Oline allow pressure on Flacco in the redzone and that pervented us from scoring.

Everyone makes the WR postion the scapegoat to the offenses failure. That is not the case, every area of this offense must step up.

Flacco needs to be able to locate all of his targets on any given play. That is what will put press on the defense. Look at the Pats, in there 3 SuperBowl seasons they had a combined total of 1 WR that produced over 60 catches in a season(Troy Brown 100rec). So why was their offense good enough to compete and beat the other elite team? Because Brady spread the ball around to all of his receiving options.

It didn't matter if it was a RB,FB,2nd TE or WR. Yea they might not have had a WR catch 60 balls, but they had 4or5 guys catch about 40 balls.

With Mason,Clayton,Williams,rice,McGahee,Heap,Smith, and even McClain, Flacco definately has the weapons around him. He just has to be able to read the defense better and go through his progressions quicker.

If this offense can produce around 20-28 points a game, we will be able to beat any team in the NFL. We still have one of the top Defenses in the NFL, the offense just has to capitalize on the opportunities the present.
[/quote]

Well put man. I would love for the team to have a complete receiver like Andre Johnson but just because they doesn't mean the offense can't run well. If everyone stays healthy, the team could have as many as five players with 40+ catch seasons. As good as it is to have a go-to receiver, it's also good to know there are several players that can be counted on to move the chains.

[12th man]

I agree it all start in my eyes with the offensive line giving Joe time and for Joe to go through his read better ,quicker and on the money. I'm not saying there won't be interceptions but Joe needs to play smarter than last yr I'm hoping he has studied alot of season and is getting at his reads.Heap needs to stop blocking so much, or LJ needs to help alot in this. Rice needs to step up also so for me this is a team offence not just WR. Alot of great WR out there on teams that never made it to playoffs why?? because of bad running I guess so i think we have both, no big wr stars but good wr and good running hopefully with a good QB that'a a winning combo.

[WinnipegRaven]

[quote name='12th man' date='04 August 2009 - 09:49 AM' timestamp='1249400986' post='214827']
I agree it all start in my eyes with the offensive line giving Joe time and for Joe to go through his read better ,quicker and on the money.
[/quote]
Exactly why I was stoked when we drafted Oher.

[Mick0311]

[quote name='Ravensfan23' date='04 August 2009 - 08:12 AM' timestamp='1249395170' post='214791']
What the Ravens need to do next is capitalize in the opportunities they are given.

Adding a big time WR would be great for any team. But this notion that the Ravens will struggle without another WR is just foolish to me.

Last season we missed plenty of opportunities to score and establish ourselves as a good offense. [b]Heap dropped TD passes, Mason dropped a couple TD passes, Rice dropped a couple TD passes[/b], Clayton and Flacco just missed on several TD opportunities. I can't count the number of times the Oline allow pressure on Flacco in the redzone and that pervented us from scoring.

Everyone makes the WR postion the scapegoat to the offenses failure. That is not the case, every area of this offense must step up.

Flacco needs to be able to locate all of his targets on any given play. That is what will put press on the defense. Look at the Pats, in there 3 SuperBowl seasons they had a combined total of 1 WR that produced over 60 catches in a season(Troy Brown 100rec). So why was their offense good enough to compete and beat the other elite team? Because Brady spread the ball around to all of his receiving options.

It didn't matter if it was a RB,FB,2nd TE or WR. Yea they might not have had a WR catch 60 balls, but they had 4or5 guys catch about 40 balls.

With Mason,Clayton,Williams,rice,McGahee,Heap,Smith, and even McClain, Flacco definately has the weapons around him. He just has to be able to read the defense better and go through his progressions quicker.

If this offense can produce around 20-28 points a game, we will be able to beat any team in the NFL. We still have one of the top Defenses in the NFL, the offense just has to capitalize on the opportunities the present.
[/quote]


I understand what you are saying, but I think you backup the argument you are trying to dispel. You talk about all the dropped passes as "missed opportunities", which they were, but I'm pretty sure that one of the attributes of a top-end receiver is the ability to not drop passes. With that being said, I think we will be fine this year. I view the possibility of a top-end receiver coming here as a bonus that I would be excited about.

[Ravensfan23]

[quote name='Mick0311' date='04 August 2009 - 01:36 PM' timestamp='1249407401' post='214881']
I understand what you are saying, but I think you backup the argument you are trying to dispel. [b]You talk about all the dropped passes as "missed opportunities", which they were, but I'm pretty sure that one of the attributes of a top-end receiver is the ability to not drop passes[/b]. With that being said, I think we will be fine this year. I view the possibility of a top-end receiver coming here as a bonus that I would be excited about.
[/quote]

I disagree, i don't think the Ravens missed opportunities because they didnt have a top-end reciever. I think it was more so Flacco and this offense being young and in a new system and the timing was off. Dropped balls and missed opportunities aren't always the result of a poor WR or a QB making bad decisions, sometimes it's just timing.

As for Top-End WRs not dropping passes, it's just not true. They drop just as many passes as anyone. Mason and Clayton combine for a total of 5 drops last year. That compares to Top-End guys like Johnson-11 drops, Steve Smith-9 drops, Fitz-4 drops, Roddy White-14 drops, Marshall 16 drops, and so on. So i don't think a Top-End guy means less drops. I think too many people makes the whole #1 WR thing more then what it has to be. Ward and Holmes combined for 15 drops last year, but they took advantage of more opportunities. Fitz and Boldin combined for 10 drops, which WR tandem walked away with a ring?


So i understand what you are saying, i just think it is up to the guys on this team to step up and connect on those plays. I don't think the whole #1 WR thing is that big of a deal, would it be nice to have one? yes but do we need one? NO