Jared Gaither

[foreversunny23]

Your thoughts on the replacement for Ogden?

I go to Maryland and got to see him play. He was an essential part of our O-line in 2006, the year we won the Champs Sports Bowl.

Freshman year, "Did not allow a sack in 583 offensive plays (all at left tackle) ... was whistled for just two penalties all year"

I think we have another great LT in the making...

[SupaBwandin]

hopefully..

[MongooseMcGrath]

I think Gaither can be a very very solid offensive lineman for the Ravens for years to come. Unfortunately for him, he will always be compared to Ogden since he is Ogden's successor and b/c he is of similar stature. From what I understand, the knock on Gaither is that he isn't the brightest guy in the world and has trouble learning plays. Hopefully he can overcome what lacks between his ears and dominate like he should for a guy his size.

That said, is he competing for a starting job at left tackle or is he pretty much a lock?

[theFRANCHISE]

It seems as if he's a lock at left tackle, if only because there's no one really pushing him.

Marshal Yanda has versatility and can play tackle and guard, but he's a better fit at right tackle, last I read. And Adam Terry is more comfortable at right tackle as well -- which is technically bad for Terry moreso than Yanda, since Yanda performed better than Terry, at times, playing that position.

However, I could be wrong, as I was paying more attention to Jared Gaither's blocking last season, to be perfectly honest. The kid played well for someone who had dropped all the way to the supplemental draft, and I was glad to see that his off-field academic issues weren't a factor (or so I saw) in helping him digest the playbook.

[geo]

It seems as if he's a lock at left tackle, if only because there's no one really pushing him.

Marshal Yanda has versatility and can play tackle and guard, but he's a better fit at right tackle, last I read. And Adam Terry is more comfortable at right tackle as well -- which is technically bad for Terry moreso than Yanda, since Yanda performed better than Terry, at times, playing that position.

However, I could be wrong, as I was paying more attention to Jared Gaither's blocking last season, to be perfectly honest. The kid played well for someone who had dropped all the way to the supplemental draft, and I was glad to see that his off-field academic issues weren't a factor (or so I saw) in helping him digest the playbook.

Adam Terry has so fare looked much more comfortable at LT. And it includes the few games games from 2006+07. At RT?

[FerrariFan87]

Can't really say... no one can "replace" J.O. but hopefully he can do the job, learn quickly, and excel. I have a feeling he will, but let's not put that type of expectation on this kid, because he is still pretty raw

[theFRANCHISE]

Adam Terry has so fare looked much more comfortable at LT. And it includes the few games games from 2006+07. At RT?

I thought he struggled in relief of Jonathan Ogden at LT, but played moderately well at RT in place of the departed Tony Pashos.

But, again, I paid more attention to Jared Gaither, and well, let's be honest...offensive line play was difficult to focus on when the offense, for a while, went three-and-out routinely.

[berad]

We took Ogden's great play as a luxury too much here. We never had a question mark of consistency at LT until now, hopefully Gaither can step up. I definitely don't expect him to be as great as Ogden was, I just want good, consistent play; but, then again, that can be said for most players on the team.

He's got the talent. He's got the build. He comes from a big-time D-1 school. He's got great coaches and a chance to learn under JO for 2 seasons. He has all the makings and training to do well.

[Marc2k6]

I just hope he is in the weight room!

[foreversunny23]

As we all know, Gaither has the unique combination of size and speed like JO. Unfortunately he went into the supplemental draft due to academics... Hopefully he'll mature quickly and learn fast

[rayvenfan_52]

hopefully he has good footwork like JO did.. He moved around a lot for a man of his size.

[neepo13]

Replace is a strong word. I dont think a team can ever truely replace someone like Ogden. BUT Gaither has the pontential to fill the void very well.

[rayvenfan_52]

He just needs the small tangibles to be complete.

[geo]

I thought he struggled in relief of Jonathan Ogden at LT, but played moderately well at RT in place of the departed Tony Pashos.

But, again, I paid more attention to Jared Gaither, and well, let's be honest...offensive line play was difficult to focus on when the offense, for a while, went three-and-out routinely.

Well Gaither has with no doubt much more potential and size.. than Terry, however if Gaither needs more time to develop, I am comfortable with Terry as backup, at least most teams has worse backups here

[Raven07]

the key here is to remember that both players/people are 2 totally different individual's, yea they share some certain qualities in which they are similiar but they are 2 totally different players in which go about their business in different ways, both of which surely can find or had found success , doing their own thing and not going about with the mindset "im gonna be just like this guy" Ogden never did any of that, and he said that he just went out there and did the best possible job he could be for HIS own team, his own way.

Gaither should and im sure he will, go about doing his own thing, his own way, i mean by doing his own thing his own way....noone is setting themselves up for failure and trying to live up to other or "the Crowd's" expectations. by doing it their ow way, it negates the speed of the game and everything going on around them, they can slow everything down a little bit more so than not, there is no added pressure of people expecting this or expecting that.

if he does or anyone does that (for that matter) there is no possible way they (the players) can set themeselves up for failure based on the oppinions of others.

[RAVEN63]

Good Luck To Him!

I hope he plays well!!!

<mod note--please refrain from posting in all caps>

[Corvus]

It seems as if he's a lock at left tackle, if only because there's no one really pushing him.

Marshal Yanda has versatility and can play tackle and guard, but he's a better fit at right tackle, last I read. And Adam Terry is more comfortable at right tackle as well -- which is technically bad for Terry moreso than Yanda, since Yanda performed better than Terry, at times, playing that position.

However, I could be wrong, as I was paying more attention to Jared Gaither's blocking last season, to be perfectly honest. The kid played well for someone who had dropped all the way to the supplemental draft, and I was glad to see that his off-field academic issues weren't a factor (or so I saw) in helping him digest the playbook.

Yanda is most likely going to be our starting right guard, with Terry or Cousins as the right tackle. Brown and Grubbs are pretty much locked in as our center and left guard as well. This is just what I've been reading on the site and around the web.

I hope Gaither does develop into a great left tackle. He has the assets to do it, he just needs to wrap his head around all of the offense and he should be good for us, and he will only get better with more playing time.

[Raven07]

yea i have to agree here, Gaither has the size, strength and the skill in order to replace the Great J.O. for years and years to come, BUT he must do it in only 1 way......his way, not Ogdens way. play the game to his strengths and always continue to build off of what he's done. whether it may be good or bad, either way, there's always something to be Learned from every single performance out on thr football field. it may be a little bit of a "reeat" at times but a lesson can always be learned and is always there to be learned (whether it be old or new). Gaither has what it takes and has the build and athletisism to do it, but do it in a way that fits only him and him only.

As for Grubbs, he just seems to me that he seems to just click or things just come so naturally for him when he's playing the position of Guard, seems only right for him to continue to do so and continue to thrive year after year, he may get shifted around from time to time like we were doing last season due to all the injuries, but a player will always have a strong point, that goes for any and all players (both past and present) and as they will have that strong point, they will always have a particular position in which they will always really Thrive/excel in.

[Purple and Black Forever]

Prisco picked him to be a breakout player this year. I usually dont listen to what he has to say, but you can read the article if you would like.

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10882613