Did We Upgrade?

[sflegend89]

It be interesting to see where people think we improved compared to last season. Quote this post and bold your picks. Base it on who you would rather have on the Ravens [u]THIS YEAR
[/u]

Ricky Williams vs. Willis McGahee

Bernard Pollard vs. Dawan Landry

Vonta Leach vs. LeRon McClain

Lee Evans vs Derrick Mason

Torrey Smith vs Donte Stallworth

Tandon Doss vs TJ Houshmanzadeh

Dennis Pitta vs Todd Heap

Ed Dickson vs Todd Heap

Chris Carr vs Josh Wilson

[sflegend89]

EXAMPLE:



[quote name='sflegend89' timestamp='1313457619' post='752037']

[b][u]Ricky Williams[/u][/b] vs. Willis McGahee

[b][u]Bernard Pollard[/u][/b] vs. Dawan Landry
[b]
[u]Vonta Leach[/u][/b] vs. LeRon McClain

[b][u]Lee Evans[/u][/b] vs Derrick Mason

Torrey Smith vs [b][u]Donte Stallworth[/u][/b]
[b]
[u]Tandon Doss[/u][/b] vs TJ Houshmanzadeh

Dennis Pitta vs [b][u]Todd Heap[/u][/b]
[b]
[u]Ed Dickson[/u][/b] vs Todd Heap

Chris Carr vs [b][u]Josh Wilson[/u][/b]
[/quote]

[Natty Boh]

Yes. I feel we have upgraded and also made out well with the salary cap.

[K-Dog]

[quote name='sflegend89' timestamp='1313457619' post='752037']


[b]Ricky Williams[/b] vs. Willis McGahee

Bernard Pollard vs. [b]Dawan Landry[/b]

[b]Vonta Leach[/b] vs. LeRon McClain

[b]Lee Evans vs Derrick Mason[/b] ***draw***

Torrey Smith vs [b]Donte Stallworth[/b]

Tandon Doss vs [b]TJ Houshmanzadeh[/b]

Dennis Pitta vs [b]Todd Heap[/b]

Ed Dickson vs [b]Todd Heap[/b]

Chris Carr vs [b]Josh Wilson[/b]
[/quote]


In some cases I just dont know enough about "The other guy" to make a completely informed opinion, so I am posting my opinion of current knowledge.

[jimmysmith3]

[u]Ricky Williams[/u] vs. Willis McGahee

Bernard Pollard vs. [u]Dawan Landry[/u]

[u]Vonta Leach[/u] vs. LeRon McClain

[u]Lee Evans[/u] vs Derrick Mason

[u]Torrey Smith[/u] vs Donte Stallworth

Tandon Doss vs [u]TJ Houshmandzadeh[/u]

Dennis Pitta vs [u]Todd Heap[/u]

Ed Dickson vs [u]Todd Heap[/u]

Chris Carr vs [u]Josh Wilson[/u]

[u]Jimmy Smith[/u] vs Josh Wilson

That puts it at 5/10 for upgrades over last year, however we got a lot younger and generally healthier so I really like what has happened this offseason and if we could just fix our Tackle position we would be set IMO.

[PuRock]

[quote name='sflegend89' timestamp='1313457619' post='752037']
It be interesting to see where people think we improved compared to last season. Quote this post and bold your picks. Base it on who you would rather have on the Ravens [u]THIS YEAR
[/u]

[b]Ricky Williams vs. Willis McGahee[/b] Push

[b]Bernard Pollard[/b] vs. Dawan Landry

[b]Vonta Leach[/b] vs. LeRon McClain

[b]Lee Evans[/b] vs Derrick Mason

Torrey Smith vs Donte Stallworth

Tandon Doss vs TJ Houshmanzadeh

Dennis Pitta vs Todd Heap

Ed Dickson vs Todd Heap

Chris Carr vs [b]Josh Wilson[/b]
[/quote]

I tried my best. But its too early to tell most of these. Evans is better for us because he finally gives us a vet deep threat.

Doss and Smith is too early too tell. Pitta and Dickson combined are better than an oft injured Heap.

It's probably better to compare the overall facets of the game.
Our WR core is better because its diverse
Our RB core is better because of the FB
OL is still the same OL

[Crabcakes&Football]

Ricky Williams vs. [b]Willis McGahee[/b]

Bernard Pollard vs. Dawan Landry - tied

[b]Vonta Leach[/b] vs. LeRon McClain

[b]Lee Evans[/b] vs Derrick Mason

[b]Torrey Smith[/b] vs Donte Stallworth

Tandon Doss vs [b]TJ Houshmanzadeh[/b]

Dennis Pitta vs [b]Todd Heap[/b]

Ed Dickson vs [b]Todd Heap[/b]

Chris Carr vs [b]Josh Wilson[/b]

Summary: I think Mcgahee is a better back, Leach is a better FB, Evans compliments Boldin better, I believe Torrey will be better utilized and is not injured, Josh Wilson is a better CB, and we knew what we were getting with Housh and Heap.

[Marc2k6]

Well it all depends, if we do not upgrade on our play calling, it will not make a difference anyway!

[Gordo52]

Nice pic.....
But anyways I feel we improved. Everything except for TE. Todd Heap and Joe Flacco was a great combo. RBs I think McGahee and Williams are about the same. Talent wise. But for the money we would have paid Willis, compared to what we give Ricky I think is great. At WR Evans > Mason,and Idk about Stallworth and Torrey and Doss and TJ. We dont know how theyre gonna play. But we got younger which is always good. FB no question Leach is better then McClain. And for CB we lose Wilson & Washington. Keep Carr. Draft Jimmy Smith and get Foxworth back. Plus healthier Webb. So I think CB really improved. But for some reason I was more excited going into last season then this season.

[TrueRaven1327]

yes i feel like we up graded joe has more weapons now to toy with and the defense got better

[joemak]

[u][i]Ricky Williams[/i][/u] vs. Willis McGahee

[i][u]Bernard Pollard[/u][/i] vs. Dawan Landry

[u][i]Vonta Leach[/i][/u] vs. LeRon McClain

[u][i]Lee Evans[/i][/u] vs Derrick Mason

[u][i]Torrey Smith [/i][/u]vs Donte Stallworth

Tandon Doss vs [i][u]TJ Houshmanzadeh[/u][/i]

Dennis Pitta vs [u][i]Todd Heap[/i][/u]

[u][i]Ed Dickson[/i][/u] vs Todd Heap

Chris Carr vs Josh Wilson - tie
[u][i]Jimmy Smith[/i][/u] vs Fabian Washington

[lowrider]

I'd rather take Zibby or Nakamura or Pollard over Landry. Landry was too inconsistent and we have better talent behind him.

Cornerback is much better. Jimmy Smith looks huge at cornerback and Cary Williams is making strides. It will be good to see Foxworth get out there at some point.

D line is better. Replaced old with young, and are seeing glimpses of pass rush from a couple players including Kruger and Kindle

O line is weak, but last year health was a problem anyway and we struggled there.

Wide receiver is much better. Replaced old with young. Young guys won't demand the ball and we can give it to our playmakers and our young guys can compliment.

McClain being gone is for the better so we don't have to worry about our FB complaining about not getting the ball.

But in the end it all depends if Flacco got better. He needs to step up and make the big throws. He doesn't need to put up MVP stats. Just be the MVP of this team.

[KillaBirdTJ]

[quote name='sflegend89' timestamp='1313457619' post='752037']
It be interesting to see where people think we improved compared to last season. Quote this post and bold your picks. Base it on who you would rather have on the Ravens [u]THIS YEAR
[/u]

[b]Ricky Williams[/b] vs. Willis McGahee
[b]
Bernard Pollard[/b] vs. Dawan Landry
[b]
Vonta Leach[/b] vs. LeRon McClain
[b]
Lee Evans[/b] vs Derrick Mason

Torrey Smith vs Donte Stallworth

Tandon Doss vs TJ Houshmanzadeh

Dennis Pitta vs Todd Heap

Ed Dickson vs Todd Heap

Chris Carr vs [b][i]Josh Wilson[/i][/b]/i][/quote]

[ZIBBY28]

[u][b]Ricky Williams[/b][/u] vs. Willis McGahee - pretty much a wash, but i'll take the $

[u][b]Bernard Pollard[/b][/u] vs. Dawan Landry - same as above

[u][b]Vonta Leach[/b][/u] vs. LeRon McClain - no question IMO

[b][u]Lee Evans[/u][/b] vs Derrick Mason - we needed to get more explosive on offense

[u][b]Torrey Smith[/b][/u] vs Donte Stallworth - hard to pick against the rook

[u][b]Tandon Doss[/b][/u] vs TJ Houshmanzadeh - same as above

Dennis Pitta vs [u][b]Todd Heap[/b][/u] - we'll miss Todd, but again, can't blame the FO $ wise

Ed Dickson vs [u][b]Todd Heap[/b][/u] - same as above

Chris Carr vs [u][b]Josh Wilson[/b][/u] - really liked Wilson

[CorvusCorax]

Too early to tell. Let's see how things pan out during the regular season.

[RoflDogs]

We might not have necessarily upgraded our team from last year, but we positioned ourselves so we could look forward to the future a lil bit and have upgrades down the line when our young players improve.

[Shammy]

Time will tell

[Ronthekeys]

Stallworth did little to nothing for us last year. Torrey will do much more for us then what Stallworth did.. how couldn't he. Jimmy is an upgrade over Wilson. He's a 6'2 press corner enough said. I think everyone agrees that Evans is an upgrade from Mason and 7 years younger. The only thing that concerns me about Pitta and Dickson is there blocking other then that they both have the ability to make plays and replace Heap. I see us using both and sometimes even 2 TE sets.. something we didn't do with Heap. Other then the blocking I see them as an upgrade.. younger and faster TE. Ricky knows Cam system and fits better in his system then Willis did. Leach is a true FB and Doss is a younger version of TJ, but is younger,faster and the same height. With all that said we are better and have upgraded from last year.

[Guest I-70WestRaven]

Way to early for me to do anything but speculate. I'll have to go along with the school of thought that time will tell.

[Kwothdaraven]

I think we upgraded the following:

Jimmy Smith will be better than any corner we had last year, including wilson

Lee Evans is 7 years younger, and faster than derrick mason. Actually I could count on my hand wrs faster than lee. Wallace, djax, DHB (lol), julio jones...

The combination of pitta and dickson will get us more than just heap

Vonta leach is an obvious upgrade

Combo of pollard and zibby is better than just landry

Defensie coordinator got a boost

And then lolb with kindle imo is better than jj

[Gtown Purple]

I don't think our FO is done with FA signings. Alot of cuts are still to come and I can see us bringing in some OL depth or a surprise cut on a good deal. Look how late we got Josh Wilson last year.

[Suggs Package]

Ricky Williams even at his age is an upgrade over Willis at a cheaper price. Williams

For all of you who think Landry was bad in coverage, Pollard is even worse. Landry

LeRon was actually pretty good in run-blocking and being a well rounded back, he was horrible in pass protection. Leach is an elite blocker. Leach

I think Mason is a better receiver than Evans even at 37, but Evans is a better fit for Cam's offense. Evans

Stallworth only caught a couple passes so its hard not the say Smith is an upgrade. I'm just hoping Smith doesn't turn into Yamon Figurs. Smith

TJ was pretty underrated last year. He was usually reliable besides the playoff game, but he was also a pretty good run blocker. I don't think Doss can compare in his rookie season. TJ

Pitta looks solid but seems to lose his focus. Dickson also didn't have Heap's receiving ability, but Dickson was actually one of the best blocking TEs last year and Heap was one of the worst. Even

Carr was on the team last year, so I wouldn't include him. Jimmy Smith is a bigger and elite talent at CB so I give him the edge over Wilson. Smith

Also, we still haven't found a replacement for Chester, so he wins.

Better: 4 players. Worse: 4 players. We're about the same in terms of talent level this year, but we've set ourselves up to be good for a longer period of time.

[Runnin Raven]

I have a feeling Tandon Doss will exceed a lot of the expectations I'm seeing here. JMHO

[xxhighriser]

[quote name='Kwothdaraven' timestamp='1313487972' post='752297']
I think we upgraded the following:

Jimmy Smith will be better than any corner we had last year, including wilson

Lee Evans is 7 years younger, and faster than derrick mason. Actually I could count on my hand wrs faster than lee. Wallace, djax, DHB (lol), julio jones...

The combination of pitta and dickson will get us more than just heap

Vonta leach is an obvious upgrade

Combo of pollard and zibby is better than just landry

[b]Defensie coordinator got a boost[/b]

And then lolb with kindle imo is better than jj
[/quote]
that alone is a major boost, with a more aggressive defense.
also Cody>>Gregg

[dt23]

[quote name='sflegend89' timestamp='1313457619' post='752037']
It be interesting to see where people think we improved compared to last season. Quote this post and bold your picks. Base it on who you would rather have on the Ravens [u]THIS YEAR
[/u]

[b]Ricky Williams[/b] vs. Willis McGahee

[b]Bernard Pollard[/b] vs. Dawan Landry

[b]Vonta Leach[/b] vs. LeRon McClain

[b]Lee Evans[/b] vs Derrick Mason

[b]Torrey Smith[/b] vs Donte Stallworth

[b]Tandon Doss[/b] vs TJ Houshmanzadeh

Dennis Pitta vs [b]Todd Heap[/b]

[b]Ed Dickson[/b] vs Todd Heap

Chris Carr vs [b]Josh Wilson[/b]
[/quote]
Hmmm I guess When I look at it this way we didn't have as bad of a off season as I originally thought. Of course this is only skill positions and everyone knows the game is lost and won in the trenches...Good Job Ozzy

[PuRock]

[quote name='dt23' timestamp='1313509616' post='752454']
Hmmm I guess When I look at it this way we didn't have as bad of a off season as I originally thought. Of course this is only skill positions and everyone knows the game is lost and won in the trenches...Good Job Ozzy
[/quote]

Yep. You remember the time, it was about 4 days after the lockout lifted, that a big portion of our fans were freaking out about us doing nothing in Free Agency.

Then a ton of us, who I'll call "voices of reasons" said to give it time.

[ravensfan2430]

Chuck Pagano will be the biggest upgrade in my opinion. Defenses are more scheme oriented now. The Jets, Saints, and soon to be Ravens style D of organized chaos is the future of the NFL. It started to catch on when Rex was here and now more teams are starting to use it.

As far as our players are concerened... overall... id say it has been an upgrade.

[bigZ2222]

okay so this is where i stand

ricky over wilis no brainer, he doesnt mind being a back up, and is perfect opposite rice

evens over mason no doubt, we needed a speed guy we got it with vet exp. also mason ,and boldin are one and the same in style, and i give the edge to boldin

stallworth ,and tj should not even be in the convo at all. we got more production out of figurs ,and d-will at the 3-4 receiver spots, so ill take smith and doss

j-smith better the wilson? ehh bigger yes but time will tell.

i personally thought heap was injury prone ,and slow as a turtle, so im goin with pitta and dickson

and pass rush dont get me wrong, i love jjs motor but, the combo of paul and sergio at rush end is gonna be deadly.

[Alexir]

[quote name='sflegend89' timestamp='1313457619' post='752037']
It be interesting to see where people think we improved compared to last season. Quote this post and bold your picks. Base it on who you would rather have on the Ravens [u]THIS YEAR
[/u]

Ricky Williams vs. [b]Willis McGahee (for the money though, Ricky will be great)[/b]

[b]Bernard Pollard [/b]vs. Dawan Landry

[b]Vonta Leach[/b] vs. LeRon McClain
[b]
Lee Evans[/b] vs Derrick Mason

[b]Torrey Smith[/b] vs Donte Stallworth

[b]Tandon Doss[/b] vs TJ Houshmanzadeh

[b]Dennis Pitta[/b] vs Todd Heap

[b]Ed Dickson[/b] vs Todd Heap

Chris Carr vs [b]Josh Wilson[/b]
[/quote]


I love the youth movement over these older, more injury prone players. If we had gotten Wilson over Carr, then I would be so thrilled about our secondary.

Also,

[b]Chester[/b] vs Cousins

We should of never re-signed Cousins....

[TheSim]

You forgot the most important off-season move we made:

[b]Marshal Yanda[/b] vs. No Marshal Yanda


[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1313514022' post='752516']
I love the youth movement over these older, more injury prone players. If we had gotten Wilson over Carr, then I would be so thrilled about our secondary.

Also,

[b]Chester[/b] vs Cousins

We should of never re-signed Cousins....
[/quote]

We didn't re-sign Cousins, we drafted him in 2009, he's still on his rookie contract.