54 replies to this topic

[GrimCoconut]

I considered making a topic just for the offensive line, but I think he really stood out yesterday against a good Bengals defensive line. He allowed very little pressure and I don't remember seeing him get blown off the ball like Birk. Perhaps he doesn't have the football iq yet, but I feel comfortable using him next year and replacing Birk.

[Mt. Crushmore]

I considered making a topic just for the offensive line, but I think he really stood out yesterday against a good Bengals defensive line. He allowed very little pressure and I don't remember seeing him get blown off the ball like Birk. Perhaps he doesn't have the football iq yet, but I feel comfortable using him next year and replacing Birk.

Only negative thing I caught was a holding penalty. All other OL except Birk and Osemele were factors in allowing a sack and Birk left after 2 series and Osemele left early also.

Edited by Mt. Crushmore, 31 December 2012 - 03:51 PM.

[Bravens292]

i was thinking about starting a thread about him as well. yes i was impressed with him yesterday. As soon as he came in, Pierce started having a field day up the middle. i trust him moving forward. theres not many other options anyway.

[black blood purple passion]

Thus finding a franchise LT becomes priority number 1 for the Ravens Brass.

Franchise LT (Long (FA)/Albert(FA)/Lewan(draft)/Matthews (draft) ) - KO - Gino - Yanda - Oher

looks like a pretty solid line going forward to me. Cut Mc Chinnie, and Williams and draft depth in later rounds like Kyle Long or other players with potential.

[izvoodoo]

Was Ramon Harewood really as bad as Williams or they just trying to keep his price down? Because harewood seemed serviceable where as Williams seemed god awful.

[flaccopoe]

He's the future of the offensive line. Birk will probably be gone at the end of the season. It'll be interesting to see how he performs as a starter.

[The Raven]

I considered making a topic just for the offensive line, but I think he really stood out yesterday against a good Bengals defensive line. He allowed very little pressure and I don't remember seeing him get blown off the ball like Birk. Perhaps he doesn't have the football iq yet, but I feel comfortable using him next year and replacing Birk.

I want Gino starting NOW! He was a solid pass protector and he really impressed me in the run game. Our inside run game was pretty effective, and it hasn't been all season. Birk is terrible and I want Gino!

Only negative thing I caught was a holding penalty. All other OL except Birk and Osemele were factors in allowing a sack and Birk left after 2 series and Osemele left early also.

That holding penalty was bull!

[GrimCoconut]

I want Gino starting NOW! He was a solid pass protector and he really impressed me in the run game. Our inside run game was pretty effective, and it hasn't been all season. Birk is terrible and I want Gino!



That holding penalty was bull!

I agree. I would be happy if Gino played like that for us in the playoffs. He has shown more than Birk when healthy. I think at the very least he showed us he deserves a chance and probably will replace Birk next year. If the coaches want to gamble, then I see him starting over Birk in the playoffs. The problem is the coaches don't gamble and will likely continue with Birk.

[krrock10]

I know this sounds terribly unrealistic, but, should we get up by say 10 in the fourth quarter, I think we should bring in Gino and Pierce to run the clock out. This would allow them to maul away instead of getting stuffed and forced to punt and convert 3rd and 10's

I think Rice provides alot of value, but Pierce breaks tackles and runs extremely hard. I actually didnt want him playing yesterday and got scared when he was hurt. There is a reason why our run game wasn't top notch this year and I attribute that partially to Birk and Rice.

The more I think of it, I much prefer Pierce than Rice now. Please tell me if I am delusional. Its hard to tell with Birk, but I really like running the ball up the middle and with an extremely old center, we just can't do that.

[Ravenseconbeast]

He also allowed a NT to grab Pierce twice in 2nd half.

[izvoodoo]

He also allowed a NT to grab Pierce twice in 2nd half.

Those were both on williams.

[JO_75]

I agree on everything about Gino. I would be in favor of cutting Birk in favor of Gino if it means more protection for Joe and more holes for Rice and Pierce to run through.

[Chris J. Faria]

Gino Gradkowski definitely has a promising future as the team's center. Gino and Kelechi Osemele, whether-or-not he's moved to the guard position in the future (even though he's improved very nicely at right tackle), have been diamonds in the rough. Ozzie Newsome, once again, took a chance (or two) and came-up big.

I would still want Matt Birk to be the center during the playoffs, though; unless Birk is a complete disaster and/or gets injured, just "tossing" Gradkowski into a playoff game is a big risk. Matt Birk has the experience and his intelligence, on the field, is still up there as being one of the smartest players in the league. However, without-a-doubt, the center position is Gino Gradkowski's job to lose, come next training camp. Birk could fulfill his contract and try to hold onto his job, but I can easily see Birk being a late cut in the pre-season, just because I think Birk sees himself as a starter. Plus, it would clear-up some (even more) cap room.

Oh, and while we're on the topic of the offensive line, can someone tell me if Jah Reid is playing out of position at left guard? I thought he was a tackle coming out of college, but I can't remember, exactly...

[flaccopoe]

Gino Gradkowski definitely has a promising future as the team's center. Gino and Kelechi Osemele, whether-or-not he's moved to the guard position in the future (even though he's improved very nicely at right tackle), have been diamonds in the rough. Ozzie Newsome, once again, took a chance (or two) and came-up big.

I would still want Matt Birk to be the center during the playoffs, though; unless Birk is a complete disaster and/or gets injured, just "tossing" Gradkowski into a playoff game is a big risk. Matt Birk has the experience and his intelligence, on the field, is still up there as being one of the smartest players in the league. However, without-a-doubt, the center position is Gino Gradkowski's job to lose, come next training camp. Birk could fulfill his contract and try to hold onto his job, but I can easily see Birk being a late cut in the pre-season, just because I think Birk sees himself as a starter. Plus, it would clear-up some (even more) cap room.

Oh, and while we're on the topic of the offensive line, can someone tell me if Jah Reid is playing out of position at left guard? I thought he was a tackle coming out of college, but I can't remember, exactly...

He was a right tackle at UCF.

[PDO]

Was very impressed with him yesterday. Imagine he went a long way towards winning a starting a job for next year. Love Ozzie working the draft; remember when pundits said we should take Konz in the 1st?

I remember Jason LaConfora (sp?) saying that there were a few teams that really loved Gradkowski. Something along the lines of "smart teams had him going in the 3rd round."

The 2012 draft is looking like it could turn into a monster draft for the Ravens. Pierce looks like a starter. Upshaw has showed all kinds of promise. KO became a plug and play guard. Tyson has looked serviceable, and then some real potential upside in Thompson, Jackson and lets not forget Streeter...

[BMORE_96]

Yep another Ozzie find. I really only got to see make a good block for koch's touchdown against the raiders.

He really did good out there against the bengals starters and looks like he has the tools to be solid for us. Thus, one less thing to worry about in the future.

Looks like Ozzie might just clear enough cap by signing Joe, Long or Albert, and putting the tag on ellerbe or kruger. This will mean plenty of cap casualties(boldin, lewis, birk)

[Blex64]

Thus finding a franchise LT becomes priority number 1 for the Ravens Brass.

Franchise LT (Long (FA)/Albert(FA)/Lewan(draft)/Matthews (draft) ) - KO - Gino - Yanda - Oher

looks like a pretty solid line going forward to me. Cut Mc Chinnie, and Williams and draft depth in later rounds like Kyle Long or other players with potential.

Oher is a serviceable LT, and will probably continue to be so for quite some time. He's improved a lot this year in particular, and we have far more pressing needs then Left Tackle.

I want Gino starting NOW! He was a solid pass protector and he really impressed me in the run game. Our inside run game was pretty effective, and it hasn't been all season. Birk is terrible and I want Gino!



That holding penalty was bull!

Birk is far from terrible.

[dhstandard]

Was Ramon Harewood really as bad as Williams or they just trying to keep his price down? Because harewood seemed serviceable where as Williams seemed god awful.

They were both pretty terrible. I think Williams was slightly better in the run game which needed help since Oher couldn't do anything. If we can get a Franchise LT the Oher can stick to the right and Osemele can go to guard (he would be Ben Grubbs 2.0 there).

Osemele would probably develop into a quality RT but not that much better than Oher already is. It would be much more worth it to slide him to LG and let Oher play RT. You'd have quality players at every position instead of having a weakness at LG.

[dhstandard]

Oher is a serviceable LT, and will probably continue to be so for quite some time. He's improved a lot this year in particular, and we have far more pressing needs then Left Tackle.



Birk is far from terrible.

Honestly we don't have much more pressing needs on offense...We could get a number one receiver but it doesn't matter if Flacco gets 2 seconds less than most QB's do in the pocket. We should fix the defense with the draft by drafting interior linemen and use free agency to get a LT.

You do this and the LT and LG suddenly get a huge boost while Oher moves to the right side where he played a little better than Osemele. Look at the guys in last on offense. The Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd duo are there because of the offensive line. They say the qb's there are bad but they needed 4 different guys because they kept getting injured.


Birk is not terrible but he is only a decent pass blocker and struggles in the run blocking.

[Ravensfan23]

Yep another Ozzie find. I really only got to see make a good block for koch's touchdown against the raiders.

He really did good out there against the bengals starters and looks like he has the tools to be solid for us. Thus, one less thing to worry about in the future.

Looks like Ozzie might just clear enough cap by signing Joe, Long or Albert, and putting the tag on ellerbe or kruger. This will mean plenty of cap casualties(boldin, lewis, birk)

Yea, Gino played really well and against a strong Dline. People questioned Gino's strength and wondered if he could hold up against bigger DTs, well i saw him dominate Peko and Sims a couple times in that game.

His ability to get to and seal off the second level was really good and key to some very nice runs from both Peirce and AA. I like the idea of Gino sandwiched between KO and Yanda, two physical and nasty guys. Gino is also physicall, nasty and a tough guy, so I like the direction our interior line is headed in 2013.

The very next day after he wins his Super Bowl MVP, start working hard on signing Joe. Then aggressively turn your attention to LT and start to sure up the tackle position. I really like Alberts for this team, Long's injury history plus big money scares me.