Stacked At WR? Think Again...

[Milton145]

This is just something I've been noticing lately. People have been saying that we are "stacked" at the WR position. We certainly have a lot of players at that position, but not exactly quality players at the position.

After our first 3 WRs in Derrick Mason, Anquan Boldin, and Donte Stallworth, we have a lot of question marks. Clayton and Williams might be on their way out (though they didn't make an impact here to begin with) and our other WRs have either not seen time on the NFL field, or still out to prove themselves as quality pass catchers.

I wouldn't say that we have are "stacked" at the position, but just a lot of players at the position. Throw out Clayton and Williams, and our quality at the position behind our 3 starters have big question marks.

[Ngata92NT]

[quote name='Milton145' date='23 May 2010 - 10:31 AM' timestamp='1274628702' post='413323']
This is just something I've been noticing lately. People have been saying that we are "stacked" at the WR position. We certainly have a lot of players at that position, but not exactly quality players at the position.

After our first 3 WRs in Derrick Mason, Anquan Boldin, and Donte Stallworth, we have a lot of question marks. Clayton and Williams might be on their way out (though they didn't make an impact here to begin with) and our other WRs have either not seen time on the NFL field, or still out to prove themselves as quality pass catchers.

I wouldn't say that we have are "stacked" at the position, but just a lot of players at the position. Throw out Clayton and Williams, and our quality at the position behind our 3 starters have big question marks.
[/quote]

I agree to an extent, but I don't know of any teams who have higher quality players that far down the depth chart (fourth and fifth receiver). I think Clayton might be the best #4 WR in the NFL haha

We're not as stacked as say, the Cardinals were. But we now have a true #1, two great compliments, and reasonably good backups.

[gilgamesh]

You have to keep in mind that teams don't have 4 good starters at WR. I would use "stacked" to mean good/great starters and quality depth. Clayton is one of the best 4th WRs out there. If we don't have a stacked WRs corp, then nobody in the league does. You said throw out 2 guys and behind the top 3, we have nobody. You just excluded 5 players. We might not even carry that many WRs heading into the season because of Dickson and Pitta.

Look at our receivers relative to their depth:
1 & 2- Q and Mase(that sounds like a good moniker):Both can beat #1 corner,
3-Donte:Could beat #2 corners in the past
4-Clayton:Could not beat #2 CBs, but who knows how he'll do against dimes and safeties, I like his chances, but doubtful that he even gets on the field. We don't really play 4th and 5th WRs unless someone gets injured.

If we go 4 WR sets, I think every guy can beat their man, so I would call that "stacked".

[omar586]

we should cut d williams and resign kelley washington, williams is fragile and unproven and washington is the opposite

[omar586]

mason, boldin, clayton, stallworth, washington, reed will be the WRs this season

[theFRANCHISE]

As stated before me, even the best teams don't have more than three good WRs. There's two proven starters in Boldin and Mason, there's a veteran who's shown flashes of ability in Stallworth, and then you have guys hungry to get on the field in Clayton, Williams, and Reed -- that's in addition to guys like Marcus Smith, Justin Harper, and Eron Riley, who have shown flashes during preseason but suffered setbacks that prevented them from seeing action.

For a team that has been WR-starved for years, that's certainly not a bad lineup to carry into this coming season. I'd argue that this WR corps is comparable to the Saints' stacked corps; you have a proven starter in Marques Colston and capable guys in Devery Henderson and Lance Moore, and then you have a former first-round pick in Robert Meachum who specializes in the slot and as a returner, and then a bunch of guys fighting for the #5 spot.

The only WR corps that I would argue is the absolute best overall package in the league is the Colts, but part of that credit has to go to Peyton Manning. However, Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon, Austin Collie, and Anthony Gonzalez are definitely talented in their own right.

However, when you factor in the Ravens' other proven receiving targets in Todd Heap, Ray Rice, Willis McGahee, and Le'Ron McClain, there's plenty of reason to be excited about the Ravens' passing attack. The fact that the Ravens are returning those four guys along with Derrick Mason is promising enough...but throw in Boldin and Stallworth, and you suddenly have an upgraded offense, regardless of who's getting the ball.

[BuckWilds]

The theory of relativity applies. 'Stacked' when compared with past seasons.

[T-ray]

If you look at the definitions of stacked and great, you would see the difference. Stacked means having depth (whether good or mediocore), and great means having all Superstars at recievers. I have seen people saying that we're great at the reciever position, and its true when you look at who we had last year. But thats a different story. We're definitely more 'stacked' at reciever than we ever have been, because there's about 7-8 recievers who can make impacts, whether small or big. I'll name them:

1) Boldin
2) Mason
3) Stallworth
4) Clayton (again, I did not say we were great at every reciever spot, just stacked)
5) Williams (read the above)
6) D. Reed
7) Justin Harper
8) Marcus Smith
9) Eron Riley
10) Rodelin Anthony

Last year we had:

1) D-Mase
2) Clayton
3) K. Washington
4) Williams
5) Harper
6) Smith

See the difference??

[flynismo]

What more do you want?

We have an ELITE #1. By definition, that means very, very few teams have a #1 who is as good as Boldin.

We have a terrific #2. I can count on one hand, and probably have a couple fingers leftover, how many #2 recievers in the league are better than Mason.

We have a #3 who would be the #2 on most teams.

#4 and #5 are guys who would be #3 on most other teams, and are fringe starters.

Additionally, we have Heap and Rice.

Now I'd love to add Megatron to the mix as well (hey I hear Randy Moss is unhappy and coming up for FA), but we have much bigger fish to fry.
Besides, if Flacco continues progressing as expected, he'll do what all great QB's do--make the weapons he has even more dangerous.

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

if we are not stacked, or even great then who is?

colts? collie and garcon arent as good without peyton.

saints? same applies to all of them. with a worse qb none could be a standout #1

id say maybe green bay, but they even have aaron rodgers.

maybe eagles with jackson and maclin, but who after that?

minnesota?? we'll see when favres gone.

Baltimore - our former #1 who was very effective drawing double coverages is now a #2. boldin is one of the best. stallworth has been an effective #2 before (and pretty much a #1 in philly) and now clayton who wasnt great, but not terrible either as a #2 last year. throw in heap/ray rice and account for the fact that we have 2 young, athletic, pass-catching TE's who could both split out as WR's in 2 or 3 TE sets.... we are looking like one of the most diverse and stacked aerial attacks in the league. it's just a matter of whether we can exploit everyones strengths and spread the ball around effectively

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

i did forget to mention the cowgirls with austin, williams, crayton and now dez but dez is unproven, craytons probably on the way out, and williams hasnt dont anything since moving to dallas. big names dont mean big production.

our depth makes our chances great. we may not have much behind the top 3, but who does? not only that behind the top 3 WR's we have 1 great TE with 2 youngsters who are great pass catchers (dickson basically an oversized WR). we have 2 of the best pass catching RB's in the league, lets not forget rice led the team in receptions last year. so all we need is for 1 of the youngsters behind the top 3 to step up or for clayton to shine in his reduced role. hell, we dont even need 1 guy to step up, we could have 4 different guys step up at different times and still be in great shape.

the odds of 1 guys stepping up out of a group of 7 is quite good, especially since they will all be pushing eachother to get there. for once there is some serious competition just to make the roster, with 3 top notch talents and leaders at the front of the pack showing the youngsters the way to greatness. No one else has that going on...

[FerrariFan87]

[quote name='flynismo' date='23 May 2010 - 02:03 PM' timestamp='1274637794' post='413365']
What more do you want?

We have an ELITE #1. By definition, that means very, very few teams have a #1 who is as good as Boldin.

We have a terrific #2. I can count on one hand, and probably have a couple fingers leftover, how many #2 recievers in the league are better than Mason.

We have a #3 who would be the #2 on most teams.

#4 and #5 are guys who would be #3 on most other teams, and are fringe starters.

[b]Additionally, we have Heap and Rice.[/b]

Now I'd love to add Megatron to the mix as well (hey I hear Randy Moss is unhappy and coming up for FA), but we have much bigger fish to fry.
Besides, if Flacco continues progressing as expected, he'll do what all great QB's do--make the weapons he has even more dangerous.
[/quote]

... and Pitta and Dickson

[XxSizzleXx]

Mushin Muhammud was on NFL total access and he thinks we have the BEST receiving corps in the NFL.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-total-access/09000d5d81841a01/Film-Study-A-Team

[RavensAllTheWay]

I'd be more than willing to go for a WR with our first round pick next year, unless a glaring need pops up over the course of this season.

[Milton145]

Yes when healthy we have a great passing game, but 2 of our top 3 receivers have been injury prone their whole careers so who's up if they go down to injury which will most likely happen going by history? That is the point I've been trying to get at is that if 2 of our main starters go down, we don't exactly have quality depth and we are right back where we were last year.

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

anyone interested, visit my TO topic to discuss... i see bringing him in a ok solution to the injury problem, but feel free to agree or disagree.

on next years draft, we may not need to burn a 1st round choice on a WR to get a dominant young guy. mark my words, the 2011 draft will be the DEEPEST and BEST draft for WR's in memory. there are so many guys that are the type we're looking for: big, fast, and with great hands. theres atleast 5 guys who are 6'4" or taller, run in the 4.4 range with soft hands... all could be 1st rounders but some will probably fall into the 2nd as most teams are wary of taking recievers in the 1st. we could use a 1st and 4th or 2nd and 3rd on recievers next year and be set for the future.

however, i think at some point we need to start looking for rays replacement and a dominant CB. both lines, RB, QB, TE, and OLB we're set for a while. even safety we should be good as Zibi looked more than capable when Reed was out. we do need a young, sure-thing reciever, ILB, and a corner.

[DocMartin]

[quote name='flynismo' date='23 May 2010 - 02:03 PM' timestamp='1274637794' post='413365']
We have an ELITE #1. By definition, that means very, very few teams have a #1 who is as good as Boldin.

We have a terrific #2. I can count on one hand, and probably have a couple fingers leftover, how many #2 recievers in the league are better than Mason.

We have a #3 who would be the #2 on most teams.
#4 and #5 are guys who would be #3 on most other teams, and are fringe starters.
[b]What more do you want?[/b]
[/quote]
Agreed.
Are these the same people who would suggest to bring T.O. to make things "better"? It doesn't make any sense to me.
I would consider our WR corps Stacked, yes Stacked. As listed above by Fly, those are the reasons we should be excited about. Do we have a WR depth like Saints or Colts? No. But are we better than 12-13 teams in AFC? Absolutely. And we have very promising young WR's who could fill in when injuries happen, and plus we have
TE's Heap, Dickson, Pitta
RB's Rice & McGahee
That's a powerful combination there, what team can compare to that? Probably none.

[Dan The Man Ravens #1 Fan]

I actually agree with Romo Ravens and Doc Martin. If I were a fan of just about any other team and saw what the Ravens have to work with at wide out. Man that is way more than enough talent at the top 3 spots not to mention all the depth behind it. As mentioned it is all up to Flacco now. He will be the deciding factor as to how well this all pans out.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='Romo Ravens' date='23 May 2010 - 09:02 PM' timestamp='1274662933' post='413541']
Lol, we're not stacked? If I was on the outside looking in, I'd say the Ravens easily have one of the best WR corps in the NFL. Not because I'm a homer, but because it's true. Anquan Boldin [i]is[/i] elite. We all know about Mason. He plays 5 years younger than his age. Donte Stallworth is looking awesome in camp. After that, Mark Clayton was a former first round pick. We all know how that goes, but maybe he can strive in his new role. David Reed looks very promising. If Williams can say healthy, he's another deap threath. Marcus Smith has loads of potential, so I don't see the point.

[b]The QB makes the WR, so it's up to Flacco to put it together this year, which I know he will.[/b] We're not any different than the Saints or the Patriots. After Colston and Moss with Welker, the casual NFL fan wouldn't know who else is catching passes.
[/quote]

I disagree. A WR's ability to get open quickly and bail his QB out with tough catches is just as important as how accurate the QB is throwing the ball.

Look at Roddy White in Atlanta. He was putting up numbers catching passes from guys like Chris Redman and Joey Harrignton.

[Milton145]

And Brandon Marshall

[DocMartin]

[quote name='Milton145' date='23 May 2010 - 09:17 PM' timestamp='1274663853' post='413553']
And Brandon Marshall
[/quote]
Hmm, makes a lot of difference. Just curious - did Broncos make Playoffs? Or any of the other teams? Not to mention even try to win a Playoff game.

[Milton145]

[quote name='DocMartin' date='23 May 2010 - 09:25 PM' timestamp='1274664332' post='413555']
Hmm, makes a lot of difference. Just curious - did Broncos make Playoffs? Or any of the other teams? Not to mention even try to win a Playoff game.

[/quote]

It still doesn't take away the fact that Brandon Marshall is a great WR...he isn't the only person on his team.

[DocMartin]

[quote name='Milton145' date='23 May 2010 - 09:26 PM' timestamp='1274664407' post='413557']
It still doesn't take away the fact that Brandon Marshall is a great WR...he isn't the only person on his team.
[/quote]
I agree that he is a very good WR, but without the supporting cast(aka other good WR's besides him on the same team)and consistent QB play, he doesn't stand a chance to win. For example -
Did Buffalo get any better with T.O.? Not really.

[Nobi]

I think we are good this year... the real question is where are we 2 years from now? I think we will be in a terrible state worse than where we were last season because we've been relying heavily on vets since our prospects havn't panned out for us.

[Clutch Ravens]

[quote name='Nobi' date='24 May 2010 - 01:50 AM' timestamp='1274680204' post='413666']
I think we are good this year... the real question is where are we 2 years from now? I think we will be in a terrible state worse than where we were last season because we've been relying heavily on vets since our prospects havn't panned out for us.
[/quote]

I have to admit, I'd like to see us draft one of the 2011 receivers. We need a guy for Flacco to grow old with.

[BloodRaven]

[quote name='Give it to Clutch Clayton' date='24 May 2010 - 04:29 AM' timestamp='1274693361' post='413671']
I have to admit, I'd like to see us draft one of the 2011 receivers. We need a guy for Flacco to grow old with.
[/quote]

True, it's just hard trying to find a superstar receiver with a late 1st round pick.

[AZravensfan]

[quote name='Milton145' date='23 May 2010 - 06:26 PM' timestamp='1274664407' post='413557']
It still doesn't take away the fact that Brandon Marshall is a great WR...he isn't the only person on his team.
[/quote]


He is a good WR. He has a lot of off the field issues and I for one am so glad we got Boldin instead. Even though he is "injury prone" he really only missess like 2 or 3 games a year so I would take that over that headache Marshall any day. Who knows how Marshall will react this year after having the other side of his hip operated on.

[Perfekt]

its way to soon to say what position we have needs at or not for next year. we have to worry about this season 1st an see who steps up then we can go from there. im still really high on harper getting his chance to play. sure he may drop a few but really what wr catchs everything????

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='Perfekt' date='24 May 2010 - 01:14 PM' timestamp='1274721264' post='413747']
its way to soon to say what position we have needs at or not for next year. we have to worry about this season 1st an see who steps up then we can go from there. im still really high on harper getting his chance to play. sure he may drop a few but really what wr catchs everything????
[/quote]

Every WR drops passes but Harper's were just criminal. Even though it was just a pre-season game, I remember him dropping a deep ball against the Falcons. He showed good speed to behind the DBs and tracked the ball well but just let it slip out when he tried to cradle it.

We'll see how he does in a few months.

[lowrider]

I think it is hard to say we are "stacked" at WR. I would say we are talented, and have potiential but not stacked. When I think of a stacked position, I see depth and talent up and down. I would consider linebackers for the ravens as "stacked". Or I think safety or running backs for the ravens are "stacked". Let me explain:

Boldin-29 or 30 years old. Great talent, one of the top ten receivers in the league. But has played all 16 games in a season twice out of 7 years.

Stallworth-29 or 30 years old. Great potiential, never gone above 1,000 yards in a season. Has played played all 16 games in a season 3 times out of 7 years.

Mason- 36 years old. Consistent, Flacco's safety net. But is slowing down.

The rest- The rest are not enough to make a consistent impact unless David Reed the rookie steps up and makes an impact, because the other receivers disappeared last year when they had an opportunity to shine.

I'm not saying the potiential of talent isn't great, because we have so much talent at wide receiver. But I think people are overestimating how fragile we are at receiver. If Boldin and Stallworth go down we will have the same problem we did against the Colts, and not be able to move the ball. If I still didn't convince you, imagine if Boldin gets hurt. How do you feel about our receivers then? Because I'm not so sure about them. And if we were "stacked" I wouldn't be worried about the next man up. "Stacked" at wide receiver would be the Colts, Saints, and Cardinals (at least of last year).