Ravens Are 7th Best In The Trenches In NFL

[Ed_Reed20]

We're all aware of the term "football games are won in the trenches". From their usual pre-season rankings, Pro Football Weekley combined the grades of the offensive lines and defensive lines of NFL teams. The Ravens graded out as having the 7th best trench unit in the league and the first in AFC North(no surprise). Some of the scouts comments were a bit surprising though.

Here's the article([url="http://www.profootballweekly.com/2010/07/19/exclusive-trenchmarks"]LINK[/url]).

[BuckWilds]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' date='20 July 2010 - 02:58 AM' timestamp='1279609123' post='434785']
We're all aware of the term "football games are won in the trenches". From their usual pre-season rankings, Pro Football Weekley combined the grades of the offensive lines and defensive lines of NFL teams. The Ravens graded out as having the 7th best trench unit in the league and the first in AFC North(no surprise). Some of the scouts comments were a bit surprising though.

Here's the article([url="http://www.profootballweekly.com/2010/07/19/exclusive-trenchmarks"]LINK[/url]).
[/quote]

Interesting article. Thanks for the link.

[lowrider]

I think we were underrated a bit but its hard to argue that our trenches is better than the teams ahead of us. They all have great offensive and defensive lines, but the Ravens defensive line is a strength on our team and our offensive line is one year better. Grubbs and Oher could be in the air for pro bowlers this year, and actually Gaither could be too if he is healthy for RT. And Yanda is 2 years out from his surgery and will play better. Our key components to our o line aren't those young untested players anymore. And they will start to prove themselves.

[J-man]

I understand where they are coming from because we have no Pro Bowl offensive linemen, except 7x Matt Birk, however, I do think that will change this year. Also, why do the have Cory Redding above Trevor Pryce? Pryce is better then Redding anyways, and if they graded depth on both lines, I think we might be one of the highest in the league as well.

[PuRock]

All I can say is I hope they rank us after this season, because we should be #1. We have a very talented OL that is held down by pure talent on the ends.

Our DL should see an immediate impact from a healthy and prepared Suggs plus the injected youth of Cody and addition of Redding.

The article sounds like they are holding onto the past too much. The Patriots and Giants use to have dominating forces in the trenches, but both of their D-Lines have fallen to the wayside a bit.

I understand the Minnesota ranking.

[justifythegame]

I disagree with NO and Indy ahead of us. NO got an excellent OL, their DL is not that great, especially with some of next years adjustments. Indy always has a great OL but they have been having some questions on the OL last year and this coming year with some player movement. Indy also has 2 great ends but their tackles in the middle are not good at all, why people can run on them. Compare these guys to Ngata Gregg and Pryce alone with great run stoppers like suggs and johnson playing ends sometimes. Our one issue is we don't have any pass rushers. And talking about new additions to the DL is unfair at this point imo. Our OL isn't comparable to their 2 OLs. Gaither needs a lot of work in pass protection, Yanda still has areas in his game that need improvement. But as a whole i would say our OL and DL is our strongest assest, we should be right behind Ten.

[MorbidSorcerer]

[quote name='justifythegame' date='20 July 2010 - 11:52 AM' timestamp='1279641175' post='434915']
I disagree with NO and Indy ahead of us. NO got an excellent OL, their DL is not that great, especially with some of next years adjustments. Indy always has a great OL but they have been having some questions on the OL last year and this coming year with some player movement. Indy also has 2 great ends but their tackles in the middle are not good at all, why people can run on them. Compare these guys to Ngata Gregg and Pryce alone with great run stoppers like suggs and johnson playing ends sometimes. Our one issue is we don't have any pass rushers. And talking about new additions to the DL is unfair at this point imo. Our OL isn't comparable to their 2 OLs. Gaither needs a lot of work in pass protection, Yanda still has areas in his game that need improvement. But as a whole i would say our OL and DL is our strongest assest, we should be right behind Ten.
[/quote]

I think Indy is ahead of us for the simple fact that they have Freeney and Mathis who are two pass rushing freaks. It's always incredibly hard to grade 4-3 and 3-4 fronts alike because they have so many differences, one holds up blocks and plugs gaps, while the other rushes the passer. Looks like the article took more of the "stat" side of things into account, which means our D-Line obviously lacks in that department due to the lack of sacks it's accumulated over time, but thankfully for us, it isn't there job, there job is to stop the run and they do a hell of a job.

[Ravenmore74]

I personally would put us in the top 5 I mean with a developing Harewood and ready to start Cody.
We are the best ever!

[AllHailSugar]

[quote name='J-man' date='20 July 2010 - 07:13 AM' timestamp='1279631606' post='434839']
I understand where they are coming from because we have no Pro Bowl offensive linemen, except 7x Matt Birk, however, I do think that will change this year. Also, why do the have Cory Redding above Trevor Pryce? Pryce is better then Redding anyways, and if they graded depth on both lines, I think we might be one of the highest in the league as well.
[/quote]

Redding was one of the elite DEs 2 years ago. If our coaches can get him playing at that level again, it will be worth that investment. Pryce at 34 is not getting any better. Regardless, as the article pointed out, Greg Mattison loves to rotate his linemen so im sure they will both get lots of playing time. I think Oz needs to draft a new right de though. If we could get another Ngata quality player next to cody then we would be unstoppable

[Shadowalker]

Trevor Pryce did a lot better as a situational pass rusher last year. Dwan Edwards started just as Cory Redding is going to do with Pryce once again being used more effectively as a situational pass rusher.