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Offense:
Left Tackle: Bryant McKinnie (contract). Incumbent left tackle, currently signed with the team for another year. He has a big salary but played admirably last year. Jah Reid is listed as his back-up. Ramon Harewood is also on the roster, but he was on IR last year.
Potential Players: Jah Reid, Ramon Harewood.
Left Guard: Ben Grubbs (free agent). Great left guard, played fantastic, a key part of our line. A lot can be said about Grubbs. When he was out (a rarity since he took every snap in his career until that Titans game) we missed him. Who's his back-up? It was Gurode, but he's also a free agent. After him it's Boren, an UDFA. We also signed Howard Barbieri (UDFA from Rutgers) formerly off of the Texans practice squad to a reserve contract. He could be nothing more than a camp body. There's also been talk about Jah Reid moving to his position.
Potential Players: Justin Boren, Howard Barbieri, Jah Reid.
Center: Matt Birk (free agent) was the starter. His back-up, Gurode is also a free agent. That leaves Boren as the starting center. Yeah, that's scary. This is a position we need some help. The roster page also has Cecil Newton, and I have no idea who he is.
Potential Players: Justin Boren, Howard Barbieri (?), Cecil Newton.
Right Guard: Marshall Yanda (contract). Incumbent right guard for now and for a while, hopefully. Plays through injuries. I believe we're stable here.
Potential Players: Marshall Yanda, Justin Boren, Jah Reid
Right Tackle: Michael Oher (contract). Love him or hate him, he's the starter. His back-up was Jah Reid, who did pretty decent in the Patriots game. Got beat once and mauled the guy the next play. His penalties were down this year after last year & so were his sacks, though he had a lot of sacks & penalties last year. He showed improvement on the right side.
Potential Players: Michael Oher, Jah Reid, Marshall Yanda
Quarterback: Joe Flacco (contract). The starter and franchise quarterback. He's going to get paid. Tyrod Taylor will only play in garbage time or in other situations I am not mentioning (on purpose). Flacco's tough as nails, and is well-suited for our division.
Potential Players: Joe Flacco, Tyrod Taylor
Runningback: Ray Rice (free agent). Ray Rice is going to get paid, and he will be back on the team. The real question is who will be his back-up. Ricky Williams (contract) wants to come back, but there's some speculation that he could get cut. Behind Ricky Williams was Anthony Allen. After Anthony Allen, we have Matt Lawrence (IR) & Damien Berry. A lot of people like Berry. Lawrence has been here a while, and he is a restricted free agent. There's a good chance he's cut.
Potential Players: (Ray Rice), Ricky Williams, Anthony Allen, Matt Lawrence, Damien Berry.
Wide Receivers: Anquan Boldin, Torrey Smith, Lee Evans, Tandon Doss, Patrick Williams, Rodney Bradley, Philip Livas, & David Reed. It's a position Ozzie wants to get more talent. The question here isn't who is the starter because anyone can play, but rather who do we keep. Anquan would be a surprise to go. Torrey is staying. Evans has a big contract and hasn't produced much last year, but we gave up a 4th round pick for him. Doss was selected by Flacco & we just drafted him; I doubt he goes anywhere unless they see something we don't. LaQuan is a popular player & performed OK when he played. David Reed fumbled multiple times and has been injured a lot during his tenure here, but adds a lot to the return game. The other guys are all practice squad guys. Who stays and who goes will be a big question. Philip Livas is listed as a return specialist. I don't expect us to have more than 6 wide receivers & I only think Anquan & Torrey have safe jobs. I would probably include Doss in there, too.
Potential Players: Anquan Boldin, Torrey Smith, Lee Evans, Tandon Doss, Patrick Williams, Rodney Bradley, Philip Livas, David Reed.
Tight End: Dennis Pitta (contract), Ed Dickson (contract). Both are under contract. Their back-up Kris Wilson is a free agent. I expect to see Pitta & Dickson competing in camp for the starting role. Pitta needs to work more on his blocking, and Dickson needs to become friends with the jugs machine.
Potential Players: Dennis Pitta, Ed Dickson.
Defense:
Defensive Tackle/End: Haloti Ngata (contract), Terrence Cody (contract), Cory Redding (free agent). Arthur Jones, Bryan Hall, Pernell McPhee, Michael McAdoo are the back-ups. We also have Brandon McKinney as a free agent as well. Pernell McPhee may be able to replace Redding if he walks since he showed great playmaking ability when he played, and was also taught by Redding. Redding is an experience vet, and had a great presence on the defense last year. Ngata is definite and so is Cody. It's Redding's spot that is in question.
Potential Players: Haloti Ngata, Terrence Cody, Pernell McPhee, Arthur Jones, Bryan Hall, Michael McAdoo.
Inside Linebackers: Ray Lewis (contract), Jameel McClain (free agent). Ray is under contract, but who plays next to him & eventually replace him is the big question. If McClain doesn't come back, then the other options are Cody Glenn, Dannell Ellerbe, Josh Bynes, Chavis Williams. A lot of people likes Bynes in the preseason. Cody is a new addition in the offseason, and linebackers with the name "Cody" bring back bad memories. Williams we had on the practice squad. Ellerbe just looked terrible in that Patriots game.
Potential Players: Ray Lewis, Cody Glenn, Dannell Ellerbe, Josh Bynes, Chavis Williams.
Outside Linebackers: Terrell Suggs (contract), Jarret Johnson (free agent). Terrell's a beast, but we need someone opposite of him who can pass rush. JJ was great, but he's a free agent and is not guaranteed back. Who steps up? The back-ups were Paul Kruger, Sergio Kindle, Edgar Jones. The only one I feel comfortable with at this point is Kruger, and I'm not sure how good he is stopping the run.
Potential Players: Terrell Suggs, Paul Kruger, Sergio Kindle, Edgar Jones.
Cornerbacks: Lardarius Webb (restricted free agent), Cary Williams (restricted free agent), Jimmy Smith (contract) were the starters. Their back-ups were Chykie Brown, Chris Carr, Domonique Foxworth, Danny Gorrer. Chykie we barely saw. Gorrer played good when we saw him. Carr was mostly hurt & wasn't very impressive, but was good the year before. Domonique has been on the chopping block for a while and has been out of football for 2 years now.
Potential Players: Lardarius Webb, Cary Williams, Jimmy Smith, Chykie Brown, Chris Carr, Domonique Foxworth, Danny Gorrer.
Safeties: Ed Reed (contract), Bernard Pollard (contract). Both safeties are in their final year. Their back-ups Haruki Nakamura (free agent) & Tom Zbikowski (free agent) are both free agents. The only one not is Emanuel Cook from the practice squad.
Potential Players: Ed Reed, Bernard Pollard, Emanuel Cook.
Special Teams
Kicker: Billy Cundiff (contract). A lot of people want Billy go get some competition, which might not be a bad idea. I'd like to keep Billy, but it's always good to have some people compete for a job, especially after his season. He's our kicker, so I expect him to still be with the team.
Potential Players: Billy Cundiff
Punter: Sam Koch (contract). I doubt he goes anywhere. End of discussion.
Return Specialist: David Reed (contract), Lardarius Webb (restricted free agent). Multiple fumbles, a stupid penalty, and being injured frequently does not raise your stock on the team. I expect some competition or Reed to be released. I hate Webb being back there taking punt returns. The back-ups are Tom Zbikowski & LaQuan Williams, but Tom is a free agent. Chris Carr has returned and has good hands, but doesn't do much with it. Torrey returned them in college, but the idea of losing Webb & Smith to injuries from punts & kicks scares me. We also signed that guy Philip Livas, but we haven't seen anything from him.
Potential Players: David Reed, Lardarius Webb, Chris Carr, Torrey Smith, LaQuan Williams, Philip Livas.
So that's it as far as I can think right now.
Personally, I'd like to see Pernell McPhee step up for Redding and maybe Kruger take over for JJ. I think it's time to see what Kruger can do, since next year will be his contract year if I'm not mistaken. If we part ways with Ricky Williams, I'd like to see what Allen could do since we drafted him. I also am a fan of Berry, and think all three of them could add something to the game. I'd like to see Michael McAdoo maybe become something for us, since there was no risk with him and he had potential. I am also excited for Josh Bynes, since he flashed something in preseason and with McClain a free agent he could prove to be very useful. I want to see Danny Gorrer and more of what he could do, since I like him a lot from his play on special teams and defense.
Edited by GrimCoconut, 02 February 2012 - 07:56 PM.
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