[#1 D]

As we all know, Jonathan Ogden is contemplating retirement. He's made all the accomplishments that any man with a dream would want to, from being a perennial pro bowl player to winning the super bowl to being labeled as one of the best LT's ever. Now, when Jonathan retires either this season or the next, Jared will have to step up and play to his potential, which is as great as JO himself.
Jared says he's ready to step up when time comes for him.
http://www.baltimore...rts/footbal...0,2588517.story
thoughts?

[justifythegame]

Gaither is definately not the next JO. I think size is only one thing, skill is the other. I believe Gaither will be a good starting T in the future with some development, experience and good coaching. The only thing comparable to JO is his size.

JO is pretty much done now, i'm pretty sure he won't be back, nor do i think he should be back because he will only slow the development of the young OL. To replace JO, we need to draft a first round top 5 OLman just like when we drafted JO. As of right now we don't have a starting material RT or LT. Terry and Yanda can fill in temporarily since we may have no choice unless we draft Jake Long, Clady, Williams or Otah. Gaither is not ready to be a starter just yet. Injuries to the OL had forced him to start last season and he was terrible, it was funny to see a man of his size get manhandled by people half his size while our QBs took rediculous hits. We need a center too, it would be fantastic if we grabbed Pollack, who would be an instant starter. With only Chester there we have no depth and Chester is unproven and undersized to begin with. The key to making the Ravens an actual offense is to fill the OL with talent, not just 1 person like JO.

[smashmouth]

JO is a once in a lifetime player, You wont find another guy with his Talant. Remember JO is considered the Best LT to ever play the game.

[Bullrush]

At this point i don't even think he could be a solid starting tackle in the NFL. He's way too soft, he doesn't have any upper body strength, his run blocking quite frankly sucks. He's a solid pass blocker, that's about it. And whoever came up with the numbers (6'9, 350 lbs) must have been wasted at that time or something. Gaither is more 6'7 and 320 pounds. If you have ever seen a 350+ pound player you would know that. Put Ngata next to him i bet Haloti's arm is bigger than Jared's torso.

Gaither reminds me more of D'Brickashaw Ferguson. A nice pass blocker who will get overwhelmed by bigger DEs and who will always struggle to run block. Jonathan Ogden was a complete player, he was a perfect run- and pass blocker.

This post has been edited by Bullrush: 19 April 2008 - 12:03 PM

[neepo13]

#1 D, on Apr 19 2008, 10:53 AM, said:

As we all know, Jonathan Ogden is contemplating retirement. He's made all the accomplishments that any man with a dream would want to, from being a perennial pro bowl player to winning the super bowl to being labeled as one of the best LT's ever. Now, when Jonathan retires either this season or the next, Jared will have to step up and play to his potential, which is as great as JO himself.
Jared says he's ready to step up when time comes for him.
http://www.baltimore...rts/footbal...0,2588517.story
thoughts?

Thats a pretty tall order. Ogden is one of the best ever. Gaither can and probably will be a solid player for a long time but only time can tell if he is HOF material.

[PuppyPuncher]

Jared Gaither has a lot of upside.

[smashmouth]

Bullrush, on Apr 19 2008, 01:01 PM, said:

At this point i don't even think he could be a solid starting tackle in the NFL. He's way too soft, he doesn't have any upper body strength, his run blocking quite frankly sucks. He's a solid pass blocker, that's about it. And whoever came up with the numbers (6'9, 350 lbs) must have been wasted at that time or something. Gaither is more 6'7 and 320 pounds. If you have ever seen a 350+ pound player you would know that. Put Ngata next to him i bet Haloti's arm is bigger than Jared's torso.

Gaither reminds me more of D'Brickashaw Ferguson. A nice pass blocker who will get overwhelmed by bigger DEs and who will always struggle to run block. Jonathan Ogden was a complete player, he was a perfect run- and pass blocker.

Gaither is 6'9 350 lbs. http://www.nfl.com/p...le?id=GAI786653

[Bullrush]

Again, those numbers are not correct. College teams like to throw out some impressive looking numbers to make their players look bigger than they really are. Florida State had Timmons listed at 6'4 and 250 pounds. Meanwhile he's barely 6'0 and 230 lbs.

They measured Gaither at his pro day in 07 and he was 6'8 and 324 lbs.

[neepo13]

Bullrush, on Apr 19 2008, 08:41 PM, said:

Again, those numbers are not correct. College teams like to throw out some impressive looking numbers to make their players look bigger than they really are. Florida State had Timmons listed at 6'4 and 250 pounds. Meanwhile he's barely 6'0 and 230 lbs.

They measured Gaither at his pro day in 07 and he was 6'8 and 324 lbs.

He's still a big boy. I'd hate to stand next to someone thats 6'8. I'd probably feel shorter then I already am.

Anyway, back to Gaither. I dont think lineman being short is a bad thing now aday's. It seems like the D-Lineman are getting shorter and shorter. Look at the problems that J.O. always has against a guy like Dwight Freeny. No matter how hard he tries he just can not get down that low.

[#1 D]

neepo13, on Apr 19 2008, 08:48 PM, said:

He's still a big boy. I'd hate to stand next to someone thats 6'8. I'd probably feel shorter then I already am.

Anyway, back to Gaither. I dont think lineman being short is a bad thing now aday's. It seems like the D-Lineman are getting shorter and shorter. Look at the problems that J.O. always has against a guy like Dwight Freeny. No matter how hard he tries he just can not get down that low.

Kinda reminds you of someone on this team, namely Kelly Greg, eh? I mean, He's not really that tall for a Nose tackle, but he definately plays at a high level.

[PuppyPuncher]

neepo13, on Apr 19 2008, 08:48 PM, said:

He's still a big boy. I'd hate to stand next to someone thats 6'8. I'd probably feel shorter then I already am.

Anyway, back to Gaither. I dont think lineman being short is a bad thing now aday's. It seems like the D-Lineman are getting shorter and shorter. Look at the problems that J.O. always has against a guy like Dwight Freeny. No matter how hard he tries he just can not get down that low.

Long arms are one of the things scouts start to value the most.

[rayvenfan_52]

But its a little hard to use your long arms on a shorter person that can just swim their way around you. Kinda like what Freeney did. Ogden and Freeney were always fun to watch whenever the Colts faced the Ravens.

[BAL_Hawk]

I read somewhere that Gaither would have been a first round pick had he stayed in school but bad grades forced him out. I don't remember where I read that, but I'll try to find it.

I think that Ozzie stole him.

[Bullrush]

Ogden had some troubles against Freeney just like any other tackle because of how many moves this guy has. Combine that with an explosive first step and it's almost impossible to not give up at least a sack to him. You never know what he's going to do next because he's so well rounded. Spin moves, rip/swim technique, bull rushes, he does everything well.

I think Gaither could handle him because of how athletic he is, but he really needs to work on his upper body strength and become more physical.

[Bullrush]

BAL_Hawk, on Apr 21 2008, 09:06 AM, said:

I read somewhere that Gaither would have been a first round pick had he stayed in school but bad grades forced him out. I don't remember where I read that, but I'll try to find it.

I think that Ozzie stole him.

He's a better prospect than Jake Long, i think he would have been the no.1 pick if he had stayed in school for at least another year.

[neepo13]

BAL_Hawk, on Apr 21 2008, 08:06 AM, said:

I read somewhere that Gaither would have been a first round pick had he stayed in school but bad grades forced him out. I don't remember where I read that, but I'll try to find it.

I think that Ozzie stole him.

I heard more of a 2nd round but at least a first day pick. But yeah, to get him for a 5th rounder was a big steal.

This post has been edited by neepo13: 21 April 2008 - 09:13 AM

[Bullrush]

You're mixing things up. He would have been a late 1st or early 2nd round pick in 07 had he entered the NFL draft. He didn't, then he was forced to enter the suppl. draft because of his poor grades. That was the only thing that kept teams from drafting him early, plus he was incredibly raw.

[justifythegame]

u gotta be kiddin me, no way would he have been a first round pick. 2nd round makes more sense and still i would think thats a bit high depending on where in the second round.

[Bullrush]

Well now that you officially cleared everything up...

[BAL_Hawk]

I know that it doesn't matter, but I finally found that reference. It was Rotoworld that said it:

"Newsome says Ogden's situation won't affect any draft plans. The Ravens say they feel good about their tackles, with Marshal Yanda, Adam Terry, and Jared Gaither on the roster. Gaither may have been a first-round pick had he stayed at Maryland in 2007 instead of entering the supplemental draft."

It's exciting to see gaither already getting recognition. They called him the "suprise of training camp" last year. Here are some more cool links about Gaither:

"The Surprise of Training Camp"

It's Only Been a Week, but Jared Gaither Is Opening Some Eyes