Can You Pinpoint A Weak Area On The Team?

[baltravens]

It is a month before the draft, and we have lost a few starters. Ozzie oversees the draft and he goes with the best-player available in round one. Rather than debate who we are going to select first, it is important to identify the teams biggest weakeness before we make selections or have a deluge of mocks.

To me, the offensive line is the teams biggest weakness heading into the 2012 season. I understand that free agency is not over and Ozzie is starting to pick up players late in the preseason; however, losing Grubbs hurts and Birk is 35. I also contend that Oher is not living up to his first-round status. Recently, Coach Harbaugh penciled-in Reid at left guard. It is all so very early, but unless we find some young talent through the draft, our major weakness will be at offensive line, especially with the interior offensive line. Flock, what do you think is our biggest problemmed area? It is a long way off, but our line is appearing worse than it was last year. I believe that we will not make another AFC Championship, unless we cease the stop-gap approach on our offensive line, and make a true commitment in building a formidable line for a strong future. That can happen by selecting blue-chip, sure-fire offensive linemen early in upcoming drafts.

[arnie_uk]

Offensive line, Safety Depth, and Dline/LB rotation. they are our glaring needs.

Oline specifically we need a LT to groom behind McKinnie, BUT we need to definately get a Guard and Center via the draft.

WR is a need, well, not the same way the aforementioned positions are, because we flat out dont have anybody in them positions, its more of an improvement need, but if we start the season with what we have we will do ok

1. Guard - need a starter, we dont need if Jah can fill this role, if he does, we will need depth at least
2. Center - need someone to groom behind birk, and maybe play a few games to keep birk fresh
3. Safety - Still have a huge hole here, Sean Constandine fills one spot, we still need another body
4. OLB - Suggs and Kruger are the only ones with huge game experience, we cant rely in Kindle, at this point hes a luxury if he does anything
5. D Line - Lost Redding, we have art and mcphee, but still need another body there, two if Mckinney isnt resigned, depth is key
6. LT - as above, a late round talent with promise, look at Nate Potter or Matt Reynold
7. WR - as above, can go with what we have, but a big tall quick guy would go down a treat.
8. ILB - See WR, we could do with an upgrade, but we can go with what we have. Dont necessarily need a starter.
9. Kicker - just to put cundiff under pressure, see how he preforms

A guy like Ronnell Lewis in the second could kill two birds with one stone, ILB and OLB due to his versatlity and would greatly improve special teams.

[Ravenslifer]

Offensive line, period end of story. Apparently Jah Reid has the inside track at LG, but that could all change. The combined age of our center and left tackle is 67 years old, and will be 69 years old by October. Michael Oher is still a question mark to me - yes he's moved around a lot, but this will now be his third year as a right tackle of the 4 years he's been in the league - he needs to show up this year or we need to move on. The only known quantity on our o-line, to me, is Marshall Yanda. After that, I'd look at the free safety position - unfortunately, this draft's safety class is very weak.

[BMORElegacy]

The left side of of the OLine is a glaring need in my book too.

I think a pass rusher/replacement for JJ is a distant second.

[RayRicefan2720]

I would go with Oline and then ILB. Sure we need oline help, thats a known. But then you have to think about when Ray retires, he has what? 1-2 seasons left? Ideally. Then who do we have? McClain and Ellerbe. Im fine with McClain, but we really need someone for Lewis to groom before he leaves, we need Rays replacement (yes I know no one can replace Ray, but you get the idea)

So for me, Id say ILB and C/G are the two biggest needs going into the draft.....We can pick up safety help in FA, as well as Dline help...

[CapoRocky]

Our biggest areas of need are: DE/OLB, G, C, WR, and K. I see the draft not following the logic of areas of critical need. We will take the best player if it is someone that will help us improve this year. This is why I don't put too much faith in mock drafts. Last year, many people had us taking Torrey in the first. I wouldn't mind getting Hill or Wright in the 1st round, but we will most probably find someone that no one counted on being there. I wouldn't put it past Ozzie trading down to get 2 picks in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, similar to what we did in 2010. We have a month to speculate on the draft.

[K-Dog]

Some of the fans?

[PWNEDbyDEANO]

O-line. Specifically the left side. There are areas which we could improve (safety depth, future difference maker at ILB, pass rusher(s), WR) but the big weak area is the O-line

[callahan09]

For me, I think the weak areas are almost entirely on offense, and they are, roughly in order in my opinion:

Left guard
Center
Left tackle
Right tackle
Wide receiver #3
Kicker
Wide receiver #1

As far as receivers, I think we may have a good number three in the wings in L. Willams or Doss, but we don't know yet. As far as #1 receiver, I don' personally think Boldin is a great number one going forward, but he isn't in need of immediate replacement either. He will do for now, but at some point we need someone who can run routes better and get more separation. Boldin may even be that guy when we come back from the offseason if that injury that slowed him down last year is all gone. But I think he is a weak #1 out of all the best #1's in the NFL. T. Smith is a perfect #2 in my opinion. He probably isn't a number 1 type receiver, though.

The kicker situation is a mess. Cundiff used to be capable, but his specialty with the Ravens in 2010 was touchbacks, and with the closer kickoffs now, touchbacks just aren't as difficult. He was never very accurate from 40+ let alone 50+ and he is not clutch. He might have confidence issues going forward and he is severely overpaid. He was injured in 2011, granted, but I was not impressed with him in the least. He was abysmal last year. Even many of the kicks that went through the uprights were still nailbitingly near to missing.

The oline is crap. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. They were just miserable in the playoffs. We are missing a left guard, Oher has never lived up to his potential, and Birk may not have retired yet, but I personally don't think he has enough gas left to put in a full season of effective work. By the time the end of the season and playoffs rolled around, he was being burned BAD.

Defense and special teams are coming together nicely I think.

[flynismo]

Both OT, C, LG, ILB and depth on defense

[indianstick]

[quote name='arnie_uk' timestamp='1332703184' post='1034093']
Offensive line, Safety Depth, and Dline/LB rotation. they are our glaring needs.

Oline specifically we need a LT to groom behind McKinnie, BUT we need to definately get a Guard and Center via the draft.

WR is a need, well, not the same way the aforementioned positions are, because we flat out dont have anybody in them positions, its more of an improvement need, but if we start the season with what we have we will do ok

1. Guard - need a starter, we dont need if Jah can fill this role, if he does, we will need depth at least
2. Center - need someone to groom behind birk, and maybe play a few games to keep birk fresh
3. Safety - Still have a huge hole here, Sean Constandine fills one spot, we still need another body
4. OLB - Suggs and Kruger are the only ones with huge game experience, we cant rely in Kindle, at this point hes a luzury if he does anything
5. D Line - Lost Redding, we have art and mcphee, but still need another body there, two if Mckinney isnt resigned, depth is key
6. LT - as above, a late round talent with promise, look at Nate Potter or Matt Reynold
7. WR - as above, can go with what we have, but a big tall quick guy would go down a treat.
8. ILB - See WR, we could do with an upgrade, but we can go with what we have. Dont necessarily need a starter.
9. Kicker - just to put cundiff under pressure, see how he preforms

A guy like Ronnell Lewis in the second could kill two birds with one stone, ILB and OLB due to his versatlity and would greatly improve special teams.
[/quote]

You named all the needs but forgot to mention kick returner. I think we need to get a wr in the late round who has the ability to return kicks like marquiz maze, Devon Wylie, Aj jenkins or Chris owusu. They could all boost our special teams game immediately.

Our biggest needs are ILB depth and someone who can be olb depth too would be great. Ronnell lewis was mentioned and hightower would be great as well. He can play all downs and he'll be a starter once ray lewis leaves. It wouldn't matter to me if we get hightower in the first or lewis in the second or both, but i think if hightower falls to us we should not pass on him. Ronnell might not be there for us in the second and hightower will instantly upgrade all aspects of our defense and special teams.

We need a S who can play special teams and be able to play free saftey. There are a number of guys i like even though this is a weak s class, i still think some quality FS will be there when we pick in the 4th and 5th.

We need a #3 wr bad and its sad that only torrey and boldin had more than 4 recs out of our wrs. We need someone who can get 30-40 recs their rookie year. I like stephen hill or ruben randle in the second, greg childs or brian quick in the third.

We need to address the Interoir of our line. We need a starting lg and a back up C. Or a potential starting LT/RT and a back up C/G. Either way I hope we double dip with olinemen this year because there will be starting caliber OGs and OTs in the 2nd and 3rd round and some starting caliber centers in the 4th-5th round.

[arnie_uk]

Didnt mention KR because i feel still think D reed can do that job, now he could be on PUP or IR so we may need a short term replacement, i dont particularly want to draft say a TY hilton or Maze because they wont see time on the field at WR and feel we have bigger fish to fry than on KR

[JohnJohnson]

It's hard to expect that we'll have a dominant o-line. Only a couple of teams can have that. But we have to be able to hold up against good d-lines. We had a tough time against the Texans and the Patriots, because our o-line was decisively losing those battles. And the Patriots didn't even have a good d-line.

[Moderator 3]

[quote name='arnie_uk' timestamp='1332706317' post='1034130']
Didnt mention KR because i feel still think D reed can do that job, now he could be on PUP or IR so we may need a short term replacement, [/quote]

We also have Phillip Livas on the roster as a return specialist.

[Greatness]

Oh this is an easy topic. Weak area on the team...

THE COACHING STAFF

Biggest set of frauds I've ever seen! They've been blessed with tremendous talent to cover their fraudulence. Can't make adjustments. Can't make correct challenges. Just terrible. But I still like Harbaugh and Cam. They just frauds.

[codizzle]

[quote name='Greatness' timestamp='1332706981' post='1034140']
Oh this is an easy topic. Weak area on the team...

THE COACHING STAFF

Biggest set of frauds I've ever seen! They've been blessed with tremendous talent to cover their fraudulence. Can't make adjustments. Can't make correct challenges. Just terrible. But I still like Harbaugh and Cam. They just frauds.
[/quote]
So they're frauds? But u like em? Okay then

[MiaKingZ305]

You can start with the line of scrimmage for starters. Signing G Evan Mathis from Philly would had been sweet. Depth at G and T is probably the only problem at this moment. I hope we get some protection for Flacco before the regular season starts. Our starters are some of the best in the business, but I will hate to be reminded of the past AFC championship games, where our reserved O line can't protect this dude in critical situations. Joe needs protection at all times if we want to make it through this season with a decent record.

BTW, we just let go Redding and JJ, but I believe Kruger will fill the void for JJ. Redding was actually what we needed last year, a pass rusher. I thought Oz slipped by not signing Osi, but Redding was OK. So, by Redding signing with Indy, we need a pass rusher to compliment Sizzle in terms of a consistent pass rush.

[Greatness]

[quote name='codizzle' timestamp='1332707859' post='1034146']

So they're frauds? But u like em? Okay then
[/quote]

Yes. What's so hard about that to understand. I liked mark clayton as well. Look how he turned out in Baltimore. Just like with anything. I might hate playing a video game with a friend because he sucks, but we're still homies. Same with harbs and cam

They anger me a lot, but I still got love for 'em. They do things right, but doesn't mean they aren't holding the team back either, playa

[baltravens]

[quote name='Greatness' timestamp='1332708067' post='1034148']
Yes. What's so hard about that to understand. I liked mark clayton as well. Look how he turned out in Baltimore. Just like with anything. I might hate playing a video game with a friend because he sucks, but we're still homies. Same with harbs and cam

They anger me a lot, but I still got love for 'em. They do things right, but doesn't mean they aren't holding the team back either, playa
[/quote]
Harbs does not suck and the reason Cam is still with us is because of the formidable relationship he has built with Harbs. I, too, eventually would like Cam replaced.

[CapoRocky]

There is very little chance of landing Hill in the 2nd round. He might not even be around by the time we pick in the first.

[CapoRocky]

Asante Samuel is available for a trade. I don't want him. He doesn't get along well with others. Not to mention we don't have any money left.

[Purple_ICE 81]

I think pre-season will be operation O-line again. I think we will see a lot of rotations and adjustments, some trial and error. Kind off like we did last year. I think we shoud go after Cordy Glenn in the first round. I think G is the biggest need, I dont know what will come out of Jah Reid at G so adding a talented player in Glenn would provide competition for Reid. I would also like to see how Michael Oher would do at guard. I think for him playing guard might cancel out some of his weak points from playing tackle. But I think we need to knock the o-line out once and for all. Joe cant run for his life every down. He needs solid protection and superb production from the o-line.

I think the next biggest think will be competition for the OLB and DE spots. I think as we are right now I dont realy trust Kruger and Art Jones. I think adding Ronnell Lewis in the 2nd would add significant depth to the situation either DE or OLB. I agree 1000% with your statement Ronell would kill two birds with 1 stone, I think he could play a plethera of different positions. Also adding a late round DE as well. I think it will be interesting who will be atop the depth chart at OLB and DE.

THe 3rd priority will be safety. I didnt think we would lose both Harukki and Zbikowski via free agency but go figure...I look at new S Sean Considine and dont really expect much from him outside of special teams. Mabey he will turn out to be something special on defense but he really hasnt produced much throughout his career, but he will add great depth to ST so thats good. I think a 3rd round safety like mabey Baccari Rambo or mabey shoot earlier if Ronell isnt available in the second and go for Harrison Smith who looks great. I think adding a solid safety in the draft would help zip up that small problem.

So to wrap it up

1. Guard/O-line--Cordy Glen??
2. DE/OLB-Ronnell Lewis...Whitney Mercilus??
3, Safety-Harrison Smith...Baccari Rambo??

I guess we will see what happens with the rest of free agency, mabey add another cheap FA or 2. Then draft the rest of the depth and put it all together throughout the OTAs Training Camp Preseason etc

[Purple_ICE 81]

I wouldnt really consider them weakpoints so to speak just areas lacking depth, and with proper depth and competition throughout pre season would unearth a surefire starter for each position i mentioned and others possibly too

[arnie_uk]

purple ice rambo is staying in school

[SecretAgentMan]

Left Tackle
Left Guard
Center
WR 3

[redrum52]

Wr being 1a the o line as 1b. After that safety depth. After Boldin and Smith who is there? Everyone speaks of depth and we have absolutely NONE at wr. It's bad cause both of these are so crucial to offense, especially with Cams "playcalling" style. With no fear of a passing game our top back is about as helpful as Tebow in a passing offense. The only way I don't see these being huge problems is if Joe is finally given the control they said he had last year. I think with a few adjustments at the line he can make it work. With Eds condition, we never know when he could miss a game and does anyone trust Pollard and the pickup to handle the slack. Pollard is good but looks better because of what Reed allows people in the secondary do becuase of how much respect he's given. There were many plays where people were open downfield and were just plain scared to throw because Ed was roaming the area.

The defense will be just fine people. With the resignings this week we are now good at lb and picks would be a luxuries or because of a good deal or in a draft perspective because they are bpa. Another dt will be picked up probably as a FA depending on what's available come draft time. I would like to see Ronnell Lewis picked up but its not a necessity. A safety early wouldn't surprise me but you never really know with Ozzie.

[Crabcakes&Football]

As everyone else says O-line is our biggest need. Our only option right now at LG besides a draft pick is Jah Reid. That is our biggest weakness. Birk will hold up another season at least but will he wear down again at the end of the season? LT S ILB are not immediate needs. But filling areas before they become needs would be ideal.

[CapoRocky]

I wouldn't complain if we took either Konz, Glenn, Adams, or Martin in the first round. I wouldn't put it past us to take Hightower or Kuechly if they are available. Our biggest competition for these players are the Bengals, Browns, Broncos, Steelers, Texans and Patriots. The Bears, Browns, Broncos, and Texans may all take a WR, leaving us with little incentive to take one of the remaining receivers in the first round. Unfortunately, most of the good ones will be gone by the time our 2nd pick come around. That's why I see us taking a decent WR only if one falls to us. Otherwise, we might luck out and get a defensive player like Upshaw, Branch, or Worthy.

[Ravensfan23]

Yea the Oline needs to come together but its not a weakness through the lack of Ozzie trying. The draft isn't always the answer and teams rarely allow quality players to leave.

Every year fans scream names and ranking out of players they'd like to draft. However the thing about it is, the ranking are only valid for that collegiate year. Case and Point, many Ravens fans say if Mike Adams is available at 29, he's a must draft. I just don't see it. Adams is barely a 1st round prospect and its a weak LT class. Imo Adams isn't as good as Oher, so would he truly upgrade our line or force us to continue to have a patch work stop gap line?

Same thing with Konz, I'm not sure he's a stud at OC and I think a guy like Molk will be better for what we wanna do. However Konz will be linked to the Ravens because Center is a need position.

Someone mentioned earlier in this thread that elite olines are rare and that's true. Hindsight is 20/20, so imagine if Gaither didn't have his injury issues, J. Brown and Grubbs didn't leave for money, where would our Oline be right now. Pretty good imo. However life isn't prefect and FA is harsh.

I feel the better olines fit what their teams wanna do. I don't feel our Oline fits what we, or more importantly what Cam wants to do. Joe is a QB that wants to take deep drops, pushing the ball down field with that big arm of his and Cam's offense is designed to do that. However our Oline can't pass block longer then 3 seconds.

The great offenses allow their QB to sit in the pocket and carve up defenses, something Joe has proven to be able to do.

So while its clearly obvious that our biggest area of concern is Oline, we might only take minor steps to ultimately suring up the Oline.

[Greatness]

[quote name='baltravens' timestamp='1332710397' post='1034156']
Harbs does not suck and the reason Cam is still with us is because of the formidable relationship he has built with Harbs. I, too, eventually would like Cam replaced.
[/quote]

That's the problem. Business and pleasure shouldn't go hand and hand. I'm glad Harbaugh and Cam are buddies and all, but if someone is holding down the team, he needs to go. However, there aren't any good choices to replace Cam. And once more, as I said before, we don't even have the talent to run Cams system correctly. Although he needs to learn to adjust which is why I said I question him and Harbs both. But whatevs!