The "Uh-O-Line"

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

Maybe we just make ngatas contract even larger but hes gotta play LT too. Bet he'd be one of the best in the league

[KillaBirdTJ]

[quote name='JO_75' timestamp='1313181504' post='748761']
Question... Is Jah Reid RT only? The reason I ask is that it seems Reid has the size(6'7) to be a LT over Michael Oher(6'4) and it would be interesting to see if Reid can play LT, because if he can, we can move Oher back to RT.
[/quote]

This suggestion I like! Maybe it could work?

[acranfor]

[quote name='JO_75' timestamp='1313181504' post='748761']
Question... Is Jah Reid RT only? The reason I ask is that it seems Reid has the size(6'7) to be a LT over Michael Oher(6'4) and it would be interesting to see if Reid can play LT, because if he can, we can move Oher back to RT.
[/quote]

Ha just asked the same thing in the other thread (Lee Evans thread). I thought the same thing. Reid seems to be more physically geared towards the LT position.

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

[quote name='acranfor' timestamp='1313181680' post='748774']
Ha just asked the same thing in the other thread (Lee Evans thread). I thought the same thing. Reid seems to be more physically geared towards the LT position.
[/quote]

I agree... and even if Oher is a better LT than Reid, we know Oher is a much better RT than either is on the left. I'd rather only have guys flying around one end of our line (albeit Joe's blind side) than burning us on both.

BUT I think theyre going to be stubborn about Oher playing LT. Im sure he can do it, and im sure one day he'll be a serviceable LT... but hes a PROBOWL RT, just put him there. Stop trying to put a square peg in this round hole. Accept it and lets solve it

[itscbm5042]

[quote name='BOLDnPurPnBlacK' timestamp='1313181937' post='748792']
I agree... and even if Oher is a better LT than Reid, we know Oher is a much better RT than either is on the left. I'd rather only have guys flying around one end of our line (albeit Joe's blind side) than burning us on both.

BUT I think theyre going to be stubborn about Oher playing LT. Im sure he can do it, and im sure one day he'll be a serviceable LT... but hes a PROBOWL RT, just put him there. Stop trying to put a square peg in this round hole. Accept it and lets solve it
[/quote]

OKAY, MOVEMENT TO MOVE THE OL DISCUSSION TO THE UH OH THREAD WHERE IT IS ACTUALLY ABOUT THE OL. ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE?!?

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

[quote name='itscbm5042' timestamp='1313181983' post='748794']
OKAY, MOVEMENT TO MOVE THE OL DISCUSSION TO THE UH OH THREAD WHERE IT IS ACTUALLY ABOUT THE OL. ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE?!?
[/quote]


This is the O-line thread. The "uh-O-Line" thread.

[RavensAllTheWay]

[quote name='GeneralZod' timestamp='1313169855' post='748014']
Im still dying over the title of this thread, lol. Pretty ingenious
[/quote]
Oh-no Cousins.

[PuRock]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1313175964' post='748467']
Have we not learned anything with the recent acquisition of Evans. Give Ozzie some time. Wowee wow!!
[/quote]

In 2008 we were able to sign Willie Anderson late on Sept 4th. I doubt we have seen the last of the great and powerful Oz. They'll get this deal down with Ngata eventually. Cut Cousins and bring in another Vet for some help.

They saw the same thing we did last night.

[PuRock]

I just got finished re watching the first quarter of last nights game. Replaying each play several times.

And I was wrong about Mattison. I blasted him a bit last night. But he actually looked decent. Didn't get pushed back by the bull rush, held his own, pointed out coverage. If he can do a better job of directing the O-Line he might be a viable backup to Birk.

Also the starting line wasn't too bad in the first quater. It was more so the tight ends blocking off the edges. Cousins got beat a few times in the first quarter but got worse as the night went on. Oher had some bad blocks. But Philly was bringing some guys. Drew and Pitta both missed some blocks which led to pressure.

Grubbs mauled on the running plays.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='PuRock' timestamp='1313188323' post='749044']
I just got finished re watching the first quarter of last nights game. Replaying each play several times.

And I was wrong about Mattison. I blasted him a bit last night. But he actually looked decent. Didn't get pushed back by the bull rush, held his own, pointed out coverage. If he can do a better job of directing the O-Line he might be a viable backup to Birk.
[/quote]

I was definitely encouraged by his play. He'll be facing another talented d-line next week. Hopefully, he can be solid again.

[Ravensfan23]

[quote name='itscbm5042' timestamp='1313178401' post='748610']
Cut a deal for Flozell (best name in the world) Adams. He got cut because he wouldn't take a pay cut and now he gets nothing. He will want to stick it to the Steelers and was actually a pretty decent RT for them - Ozzie could bring him in for a few mil, nobody else is offering anything. Sign a back up C/G in O'Hara, Andrews, or a healthy Rabach. Pray that Oher was just shaking off the rust and the OL is in good shape.
[/quote]

I could still this as a high possibility. Much like the Willie Anderson signing. The Ravens would bring big Flozell in for a 1 year rental. It'd actually be a really solid pickup.

I think far too often people panic too quickly. It seems like a short time, but the season is still a ways away. A lot can happen in the next 1-3 weeks. All it takes is one young OG/C or OT to look like a stud and a veteran gets cut because of it. The Ravens were one of the first teams to even play a preseason game. Moves will start to happen real soon.

[RavensAllTheWay]

I'm worried that the false starts would come in even greater numbers if we had Flozell playing. That said, he'd be the best on our roster at RT.

[Yurtle]

Everyone on this forum disagrees with me, and has since I brought this up a while ago, but I still think McKinnie is the best option out there at RT. He has a month to get into shape. He's from the U, and played on the same team with Ed Reed actually. Ed and Ray could motivate a guy like that to lose some of that weight in the next month. He's not too old and he's a really solid blocker. Anyone who has actually seen him play knows that. Playing on the right side against smaller and usually less skilled pass rushers, McKinnie would swallow them up. They should take a chance on this guy, as his asking price is already lower than Flozell's, and could probably be negotiated even lower. You can't reduce the number of penalties Flozell will get. He's got them his whole career and will continue to get them if he comes here. You CAN get McKinnie into shape. Not phenomenal shape, but you can get him into playing shape. And if he's in shape, he'll probably be the best tackle on the roster.

[jaege]

[quote name='Yurtle' timestamp='1313190118' post='749074']
Everyone on this forum disagrees with me, and has since I brought this up a while ago, but I still think McKinnie is the best option out there at RT. He has a month to get into shape. He's from the U, and played on the same team with Ed Reed actually. Ed and Ray could motivate a guy like that to lose some of that weight in the next month. He's not too old and he's a really solid blocker. Anyone who has actually seen him play knows that. Playing on the right side against smaller and usually less skilled pass rushers, McKinnie would swallow them up. They should take a chance on this guy, as his asking price is already lower than Flozell's, and could probably be negotiated even lower. You can't reduce the number of penalties Flozell will get. He's got them his whole career and will continue to get them if he comes here. You CAN get McKinnie into shape. Not phenomenal shape, but you can get him into playing shape. And if he's in shape, he'll probably be the best tackle on the roster.
[/quote]


Reasonably good, and cheap, just the way that Oz likes them.

[PuRock]

[quote name='Yurtle' timestamp='1313190118' post='749074']
Everyone on this forum disagrees with me, and has since I brought this up a while ago, but I still think McKinnie is the best option out there at RT. He has a month to get into shape. He's from the U, and played on the same team with Ed Reed actually. Ed and Ray could motivate a guy like that to lose some of that weight in the next month. He's not too old and he's a really solid blocker. Anyone who has actually seen him play knows that. Playing on the right side against smaller and usually less skilled pass rushers, McKinnie would swallow them up. They should take a chance on this guy, as his asking price is already lower than Flozell's, and could probably be negotiated even lower. You can't reduce the number of penalties Flozell will get. He's got them his whole career and will continue to get them if he comes here. You CAN get McKinnie into shape. Not phenomenal shape, but you can get him into playing shape. And if he's in shape, he'll probably be the best tackle on the roster.
[/quote]

I like the idea in theory, but his track record isn't very good. He seems to like being a distraction. This Fox Sports article nailed it pretty well: [url="http://www.foxsportsnorth.com/08/12/11/Frazier-unlike-Childress-is-in-complete-/landing_mnvikings.html?blockID=547120&feedID=3697"](LINK)[/url]

[quote] But McKinnie showed up for camp some 60 pounds overweight with an off-the-charts cholesterol reading — this after the Vikings had asked him to trim down from 360 pounds to 340.

It was just the latest in a long line of McKinnie's transgressions that included brushes with the law, a key role in the infamous "Love Boat" incident in 2005 and his being kicked off the 2009 Pro Bowl roster because he preferred to spend his time in Miami partying rather than attending practices. The Vikings' patience finally ran out and they cut their nine-year starter, a move that resonated in the locker room in the first week of camp. Yes, Frazier is a player's coach, but he's not going to give star players special treatment and risk losing credibility with his team.[/quote]

So I do worry about his drive to become a better player at this stage of his career. He can't rely upon his natural talents anymore. He needs to put in the work.

With that being said, we still need help. But he would need to come to the Castle and prove that he wants to play some football. And look trimmer. All in all, I'm not totally against this idea.

[Yurtle]

Yes! Thank you guys. I agree that he should visit and get a physical, etc. They need to lay out a plan to get him in shape if he signs. But he'll be cheap, looking to rebound, and among friends. I think it's a good situation for him.

[omar586]

the line needs a lot of work, birk is old and weak, need a tackle, and cut cousins please

[PuRock]

[quote name='Yurtle' timestamp='1313192266' post='749123']
Yes! Thank you guys. I agree that he should visit and get a physical, etc. They need to lay out a plan to get him in shape if he signs. But he'll be cheap, looking to rebound, and among friends. I think it's a good situation for him.
[/quote]

He does need to lose some weight pronto or else guys could just speed rush him. His playing weight has been around 335. So he's ballooned to nearly 400 lbs if the reports of 60 lbs is true.

He's got a lot of work to do, but if he's serious he's got a few weeks to show improvement. Wouldn't be surprised if several teams have called his agents making these types of remarks.

[SecretAgentMan]

[quote name='RavensAllTheWay' timestamp='1313189292' post='749062']
I'm worried that the false starts would come in even greater numbers if we had Flozell playing. That said, he'd be the best on our roster at RT.
[/quote]
I would rather have a false start, than a sack being allowed by cousins on every pass play.

[Yurtle]

[quote name='Mr. Irrelevant' timestamp='1313193264' post='749146']
I would rather have a false start, than a sack being allowed by cousins.
[/quote]

deleted

[SecretAgentMan]

Flozell Adams is old, but proven. Bring in Nick Kaczur, give him the Veteran minimum

[ed.s52]

I really dont understand why everyone hates on Oher so hard.

The whole line had a down year. Oher had one year of adjusting to the LT spot against more premeir pass rushers and held up, even if he wasnt the greatest LT.

This season should be a lot better even without the offseason. He'll likely get better as the season goes on, but he'll definitely be better than last year.

[Ravensfan23]

[quote name='Yurtle' timestamp='1313190118' post='749074']
Everyone on this forum disagrees with me, and has since I brought this up a while ago, but I still think McKinnie is the best option out there at RT. He has a month to get into shape. He's from the U, and played on the same team with Ed Reed actually. Ed and Ray could motivate a guy like that to lose some of that weight in the next month. He's not too old and he's a really solid blocker. Anyone who has actually seen him play knows that. Playing on the right side against smaller and usually less skilled pass rushers, McKinnie would swallow them up. They should take a chance on this guy, as his asking price is already lower than Flozell's, and could probably be negotiated even lower. You can't reduce the number of penalties Flozell will get. He's got them his whole career and will continue to get them if he comes here. You CAN get McKinnie into shape. Not phenomenal shape, but you can get him into playing shape. And if he's in shape, he'll probably be the best tackle on the roster.
[/quote]

I wouldn't say everyone disagrees with you, because I don't. You bring up a good point about McKinnie getting into shape, Willie wasn't in prime shape when we brought him in a few years back and he played as well as you could expect for us.

The only thing I can think about with the Oline right now is, to think back to 2008. Remember that year, a lot of the same things were said about the Oline that are being said now.

Gaither had poor work ethic and play too tall. Grubbs was a young guy trying to find his way, Brown was a promising young talent, but was entering his first year as a Center. Yanda was play RG for the first time in the NFL.

People thought our QBs would get killed that year, no matter if it was Smith, Boller or Flacco.

Then Willie Anderson was signed around September 6 and the season started with the Oline playing really well against a divisional opponent.

I can only hope that history repeats itself.

[Ravensfan23]

[quote name='ed.s52' timestamp='1313197819' post='749294']
I really dont understand why everyone hates on Oher so hard.

The whole line had a down year. Oher had one year of adjusting to the LT spot against more premeir pass rushers and held up, even if he wasnt the greatest LT.

This season should be a lot better even without the offseason. He'll likely get better as the season goes on, but he'll definitely be better than last year.
[/quote]

Yea, Oher actually didn't play as poorly as people think last night. I just think it's a case were he struggled last year, so unless he just dominates, people will still be cautiously optimistic about him.

Ray Lewis says it all the time. IT's a 60 minute ball game, and we are a 60 minute ball club. Yet we as fans make definitive statements about what a guy will do this season based off of 1 quarter of play.

It doesn't seem right, but I guess that is apart of being a fan. Especially when you aren't afforded the resources to watch game film like the coaches and get a real appreciation of how well a guy did or didn't play.

[PuRock]

[quote name='Ravensfan23' timestamp='1313200493' post='749379']
The only thing I can think about with the Oline right now is, to think back to 2008. Remember that year, a lot of the same things were said about the Oline that are being said now.

Gaither had poor work ethic and play too tall. Grubbs was a young guy trying to find his way, Brown was a promising young talent, but was entering his first year as a Center. Yanda was play RG for the first time in the NFL.

Then Willie Anderson was signed around September 6 and the season started with the Oline playing really well against a divisional opponent.
[/quote]

That's what I keep saying. After the 2007 season, Flynn and Ogden retired. We had a bunch of young guys and everybody thought our O-Line was going to be horrible. It was in PS. Then we signed Willie late. The young guys stepped up. Pow! Best rushing team in the league.

We have those young guys. Oher, Reid, Mattison. Those guys all have a ton of room to improve. Plus we could add another name late in PS.

And who knows maybe we have another Pow!

[Ravensfan23]

[quote name='PuRock' timestamp='1313200969' post='749396']
That's what I keep saying. After the 2007 season, Flynn and Ogden retired. We had a bunch of young guys and everybody thought our O-Line was going to be horrible. It was in PS. Then we signed Willie late. The young guys stepped up. Pow! Best rushing team in the league.

We have those young guys. Oher, Reid, Mattison. Those guys all have a ton of room to improve. Plus we could add another name late in PS.

And who knows maybe we have another Pow!
[/quote]

Yea and another good thing is, that 2 of those guys from 2008 are still major parts of our oline. So they have been here before.

Hopefully that are taking that veteran role of leadership and letting guys like Oher, Ried, Cousins, Mattison etc, know that, we've been here before, we just gotta keep pushing through.

It's only been about 10 days since they've all been together. Actually less then that, because Yanda and Cousins wasn't able to practice until Aug 4th and Grubbs didn't come off the PUP until like the 2nd or so.

So there is still a lot of hope for this oline.

[T3hRaven]

The personnel problems are obvious, Cousins is not a starting caliber anything in this league, but could part of the problem be the blocking scheme? I remember reading something, I think on the forum, about last year we switched to a zone blocking scheme and that could have caused some issues last year. If we're still using that perhaps we should switch back to what we did in 2008/09.

[PuRock]

[quote name='T3hRaven' timestamp='1313201514' post='749406']
The personnel problems are obvious, Cousins is not a starting caliber anything in this league, but could part of the problem be the blocking scheme? I remember reading something, I think on the forum, about last year we switched to a zone blocking scheme and that could have caused some issues last year. If we're still using that perhaps we should switch back to what we did in 2008/09.
[/quote]

The blocking scheme was part of the problem last year. We did switch to a zone blocking which was suppose to open up the run game for Rice. Only problem is Gaither went out and we had to shuffle. And we just couldn't execute the scheme with the personnel. It failed us.

Not sure what their plans our this year.

Preston wrote this in an article last week:
[quote]Right now, the Ravens are toying with a lot of different blocking schemes — zone, gap, man-to-man — and Cameron said a final decision will be made a week or two before the regular season begin.[/quote][url="http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-08-04/sports/bs-sp-preston-column-0805-20110804_1_joe-flacco-ravens-todd-heap"](LINK)[/url]

I would have to think we'd be going to a simpler Man-to-Man. Let Leach pave the extra way.

[Ravensfan23]

[quote name='T3hRaven' timestamp='1313201514' post='749406']
The personnel problems are obvious, Cousins is not a starting caliber anything in this league, but could part of the problem be the blocking scheme? I remember reading something, I think on the forum, about last year we switched to a zone blocking scheme and that could have caused some issues last year. If we're still using that perhaps we should switch back to what we did in 2008/09.
[/quote]

The Ravens have different blocking schemes, and it all pretty much is determined by the team they are playing and what they are looking to accomplish.

We actually have a very flexible offense, it just takes a tremendous about of focus and attention to detail to have the type of success we want. Unfortunately right now we don't have that.

But we did seeming use a lot of zone blocking last year, I think the addition of Chester and Oher(LT) to the lineup had a lot to do with it.

While Oher has a mean streak and can be physical, his style is seemingly more finesse. He wants to use his quickness and athleticism to defeat the defense. All Chester has is quickness. So straight up blocking wasn't an option for him.

I think we'll go back to a more physical still on the offensive line. Especially with the addition of Leach and Williams.

[T3hRaven]

[quote name='PuRock' timestamp='1313202048' post='749415']
The blocking scheme was part of the problem last year. We did switch to a zone blocking which was suppose to open up the run game for Rice. Only problem is Gaither went out and we had to shuffle. And we just couldn't execute the scheme with the personnel. It failed us.

Not sure what their plans our this year.

Preston wrote this in an article last week:
[url="http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-08-04/sports/bs-sp-preston-column-0805-20110804_1_joe-flacco-ravens-todd-heap"](LINK)[/url]

I would have to think we'd be going to a simpler Man-to-Man. Let Leach pave the extra way.
[/quote]

I thought I heard something about it this week, I guess I don't pay attention to what Cam says.

Anyway, I think it's safe to say that whatever we used last night will not be our blocking scheme.