Ozzie Optimistic Kindle Will Be A Raven

[lowrider]

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/blog/2011/05/newsome_optimistic_kindle_will_play_for_ravens.html


Assuming he plays this year. What kind of reasonable expectations can we set for Kindle? Back when we made this pick, I kept hearing about how Kindle was a steal. Are we thinking that Kindle will be a special teamer? Or is the reason why the Ravens addressed everything but pass rush was because they had faith Kindle would play?

[scrock]

How many sacks? That depends on how often he plays and if he is back to the level he was before the injury. If he plays and gets a good amount of play time I could easily see him getting 8-10 sacks, that's at full strength.

If he plays sparingly and isnt 100% back until next year he could end up only getting 1-4 sacks or something. I voted 7-10 because I'm an optimist but more likely is 1-3, 4-6

[AwakenTheDemon]

I'm going with 4-6. If he does play this year, I don't expect him to be to full strength just yet, so he'll see some time in passing downs. He'll notch his sacks and hopefully be back to himself for 2012.

[ravensfan160]

I'm not as optimistic as some of you guys. Ozzie is positive Kindle will eventually play which to me is his way of saying he's not sure about this season. I see Kindle starting out on the PUP list with a chance to return after week 6 like Reed did last year. If he could start to gel by playoff time that would be fine by me.

[Alexir]

Doesn't give a timetable and he is confident JJ will deliver a pass rush. Sounds like you missed the guy you wanted to draft and are trying to make our guys sound like they will have an impact this year...

[Ozzsome]

I dont think he will play... If he does hes not playing a whole lot of snaps, it is tough to come back of a head injury and he needs to "learn" again how to play with pads thats something completely different from working out
i would love to see him this year but i dont think it will happen maybe in the playoffs on 3rd and long

[big hits and ball hawks]

I went with 4-6 sacks. I'm optimistic that he'll return, and even if he's put on the PUP list I still think he'll be able to get at least 4. If he's able to play then I think he'll bring the pressure that we want to see.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1304610391' post='682139']
Doesn't give a timetable and he is confident JJ will deliver a pass rush. Sounds like you missed the guy you wanted to draft and are trying to make our guys sound like they will have an impact this year...
[/quote]

How can he give a timetable? And even if he could, why would he disclose it?

He expressed confidence in J.J. but also said he'd look to sign a free agent.

[PWNEDbyDEANO]

I hope he can play next year, but the main thing is not to rush him back and run the risk of him hurting himself severely.

For that reason I would be surprised to see more than 6 sacks.

[Moderator 3]

Just for the record, Ozzie was "optimistic", not "positive" that Kindle will play.

[Ravensfan23]

I think the first thing is getting Kindle on the field and through camp. Being cleared to play football and getting out there banging heads are 2 different things.

Head injuries are tough to deal with, and with the way the NFL is so protective with concussions, Kindle might not be more then just a rotational guy once he comes back.

I highly doubt he'll play any special teams.

[flynismo]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1304610391' post='682139']<br />Doesn't give a timetable and he is confident JJ will deliver a pass rush. Sounds like you missed the guy you wanted to draft and are trying to make our guys sound like they will have an impact this year...<br />[/quote]

no, it's more of a way of saying 'Ozzie cant possibly be so stupid as to pass up on some of the guys that he did without having a backup plan.'

and one look at this season's potential Free Agents will squash any ideas that we're going to fix our pass rush via FA.

So barring a big trade, either Kindle is the backup plan, or Ozzie screwed up.

[Ravensfan23]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1304615323' post='682192']
no, it's more of a way of saying 'Ozzie cant possibly be so stupid as to pass up on some of the guys that he did without having a backup plan.'

and one look at this season's potential Free Agents will squash any ideas that we're going to fix our pass rush via FA.

So barring a big trade, either Kindle is the backup plan, or Ozzie screwed up.
[/quote]

After Von Miller, this was a very, very weak Rush OLB class, so I'm interested in knowing, other then Chris Carter, who it was next to impossible to trade up for, who did Ozzie pass on exactly?

[flynismo]

Kindle is a superb pass rusher, but he is also agreat assett against the run. I can see us using him the same way we do Suggs, which means neiither Suggs or Kindle would rush as often as we might expect, but when they do, they should be much more effecient

[flynismo]

[quote name='Ravensfan23' timestamp='1304615558' post='682195']<br />After Von Miller, this was a very, very weak Rush OLB class, so I'm interested in knowing, other then Chris Carter, who it was next to impossible to trade up for, who did Ozzie pass on exactly?<br />[/quote]

are you kidding? Nearly every round, starting in Round 2 when we passed on Houston, we passed on at least one guy who could have helped out our rush.
Go back and look, there are plenty of examples.

[-Truth-]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1304616026' post='682205']
are you kidding? Nearly every round, starting in Round 2 when we passed on Houston, we passed on at least one guy who could have helped out our rush.
Go back and look, there are plenty of examples.
[/quote]
I agree. It wasn't the strongest class, but Justin Houston fell into the 3rd when projected as a 1st rounder. Sam Acho fell into the 4th when projected to be taken in the 2nd. That's just off the top of my head.

[flynismo]

There's a lot more than that. I really think we should have considered trading down in the 2nd.

[EnVy_CaLiBeR]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1304616026' post='682205']
are you kidding? Nearly every round, starting in Round 2 when we passed on Houston, we passed on at least one guy who could have helped out our rush.
Go back and look, there are plenty of examples.
[/quote]
Yep. Ozzie's going to have to pull out something out of a hat to find a way to increase our pass rush. There's a couple situational guys out there in free agency but nothing major. I still can't believe we passed on Houston. Unless they trade for someone, I don't expect much of an increase in our pass rush next year.

I hope Kindle does return and makes an impact. He would of been a huge help last year.

[SpeedKills]

There certainly were decent pass-rushing OLBs in the draft, but not many of them were outstanding like Von Miller.

Now, I voted 7-10 because I'm an optimist - but it'll only be that if he plays a full season, unless he's more of a beast than I, or anyone, realizes.

[lowrider]

I just want to see him practicing and playing at full speed with pads on. For me that would be a victory in itself. I believe he has the talent to make an impact on this team. Lets hope he gets his head together, more for his own personal health than anything else.

[True]

I don't know what doctor would clear him to be honest. It is one of the riskiest cases I could imagine allowing a person with a potential life threatening injury to play a full contact sport. The repercussions would be huge.

I'll be honest. I'm VERY worried about the pass rush. If Kindle is cleared, it's great news, but how much of an impact can we expect him to have when he's missed a whole year + never played in the NFL level. The only sure fire guy is Terrell Suggs, but what if he got injured or missed a game? There would be no legit pass rusher. It's a scary thought and I was hoping the Ravens would get some insurance through the draft, but now have to turn to FA. I don't want to have flashbacks of the MNF game against the Texans when the whole defense looked completely gassed and couldn't do much in the 2nd half (in part due to the offense, but still bad..) and let that huge lead blow away.

I think adding Jimmy Smith will be good for the defense, but no matter how great your CBs are, running around for 5+ seconds a snap doesn't help if you let the QB sit in a comfy pocket.

[Ed_Reed20]

They obviously weren't rated as highly as some of the rush LBs the Ravens passed on but the team could still sign productive college DEs like Wayne Daniels, Pierre Allen or Ugo Chinasa.

[Corvus]

Houston was the only guy we passed on that I was a little irked about. He already had a year in the 3-4 at Georgia so his transition would have been a lot smoother than a lot of the draft prospects. It was a weak rush OLB class because most of the guys projecting as a OLB in a 3-4 had been 4-3 DE (Brooks Reed, Chris Carter, etc) most of their career so the pass rush and pressure dividends may not have even showed THIS season. Hopefully Sergio can contribute to the pass rush a lot, because he is the only solution that doesn't involve moving guys back to their more natural OLB positions in a 3-4 (McClain, Kruger) or taking a dive into free agency and seeing if we can't find some help there...

[ravensfan160]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1304616026' post='682205']
are you kidding? Nearly every round, starting in Round 2 when we passed on Houston, we passed on at least one guy who could have helped out our rush.
Go back and look, there are plenty of examples.
[/quote]
Every year it seems there is a major need that the fans want Ozzie to address in the draft and he doesn't. It was WR two years ago, DB last year, and pass rush this year. Ozzie will figure something out like he's always done.

I would have liked a pass rusher too but when I look at our first 4 picks I see not only needs being filled but great value as well. I don't think there's any denying our first two selections so couldn't get Dontay Moch or Justin Houston or Martez Wilson since they went early in round 3. The one guy we could have gotten was Sam Acho. If we had stayed put in the third and selected him over Reid. But we must protect our franchise QB so I can't fault Ozzie there either. Finally, the last guy that could have helped was Chris Carter and the Steelers nabbed him right before us in round 5 and sinse our picks were compensatory we couldn't trade up. We could have drafted him in the 4th round but Joe specifically said he wanted Tandon Doss. Helping your franchise QB is priority #1. Just look at what the Falcons, Patriots, and Colts did this year. I won't criticize Ozzie for sticking to his board and not reaching.

[flynismo]

[quote name='ravensfan160' timestamp='1304622046' post='682294']<br />Every year it seems there is a major need that the fans want Ozzie to address in the draft and he doesn't. It was WR two years ago, DB last year, and pass rush this year. Ozzie will figure something out like he's always done.<br /><br />I would have liked a pass rusher too but when I look at our first 4 picks I see not only needs being filled but great value as well. I don't think there's any denying our first two selections so couldn't get Dontay Moch or Justin Houston or Martez Wilson since they went early in round 3. The one guy we could have gotten was Sam Acho. If we had stayed put in the third and selected him over Reid. But we must protect our franchise QB so I can't fault Ozzie there either. Finally, the last guy that could have helped was Chris Carter and the Steelers nabbed him right before us in round 5 and sinse our picks were compensatory we couldn't trade up. We could have drafted him in the 4th round but Joe specifically said he wanted Tandon Doss. Helping your franchise QB is priority #1. Just look at what the Falcons, Patriots, and Colts did this year. I won't criticize Ozzie for sticking to his board and not reaching.<br />[/quote]

There's plenty of us here who thought taking Houston, Moch or Wilson would have been a much better pick than Torrey Smith, especially when we took Doss later on (and we knew we'd be targeting him heading into the draft).

And moving past that, even in the later rounds we still continued to ignore the rush, instead we drafted a backup (probably even 3rd string) QB and a RB who probably won't even make the roster rather than attempt to help out our rush.

And yes, helping your QB is a huge priority -- which is another thing that pisses me off about the draft. Our offense's biggest need by far was the OL, and we dropped the ball there too, particularly late in the draft.

[FerrariFan87]

I hope Ozzie's right about Sergio... he could have a big impact IF healthy.

[AwakenTheDemon]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' timestamp='1304619176' post='682252']
They obviously weren't rated as highly as some of the rush LBs the Ravens passed on but the team could still sign productive college DEs like Wayne Daniels, Pierre Allen or Ugo Chinasa.
[/quote]

Agreed. I'd be for picking up Daniels, and I believe Friday went undrafted as well.

[XxSizzleXx]

If this crap incident never happened I'd be laughing at how scary our defense would be.

[ravensfan160]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1304623756' post='682325']
There's plenty of us here who thought taking Houston, Moch or Wilson would have been a much better pick than Torrey Smith, especially when we took Doss later on (and we knew we'd be targeting him heading into the draft).

And moving past that, even in the later rounds we still continued to ignore the rush, instead we drafted a backup (probably even 3rd string) QB and a RB who probably won't even make the roster rather than attempt to help out our rush.

And yes, helping your QB is a huge priority -- which is another thing that pisses me off about the draft. Our offense's biggest need by far was the OL, and we dropped the ball there too, particularly late in the draft.
[/quote]
If you didn't think adding speed to our offense was important than we'll just have to agree to disagree. At this point, the biggest improvements to this team will be directly related to the improvements of Flacco IMO.

But other than using our 2nd rounder on a pass rusher, you mention ignoring the rush in the 6th and 7th rounds. When was the last time any team drafted an immediate impact pass rusher in the 6th round? We did get Adalius Thomas in that round but guys taken that late need time to develop.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1304623756' post='682325']
There's plenty of us here who thought taking Houston, Moch or Wilson would have been a much better pick than Torrey Smith, especially when we took Doss later on (and we knew we'd be targeting him heading into the draft).

[b]And moving past that, even in the later rounds we still continued to ignore the rush, instead we drafted a backup (probably even 3rd string) QB and a RB who probably won't even make the roster rather than attempt to help out our rush.

And yes, helping your QB is a huge priority -- which is another thing that pisses me off about the draft. Our offense's biggest need by far was the OL, and we dropped the ball there too, particularly late in the draft.[/b]
[/quote]

Opinions on him seem to be divided here but McPhee isn't talentless. He's not a rush LB but did have moderate success rushing the QB at Mississippi State.

As for the o-line, I felt a legitimate backup to Birk was needed but the team has already said re-signing Yanda is a priority and Reid could very well start this season.

[quote name='AwakenTheDemon' timestamp='1304623808' post='682327']
Agreed. I'd be for picking up Daniels, and I believe Friday went undrafted as well.
[/quote]

I forgot about Friday. He'd be another good UDFA candidate.