The minicamp reports on our defense

[arnie_uk]

I'm salivating at a front seven, fully fit of course of

Dumervil canty Williams ngata Suggs
Smith Brown

You've five blockers, your going to need to keep a tight end in every play almost because you can't let all the, guys be single blocked.

[easternshore97]

If we get good offensive line play, we should be good with whatever Jim Caldwell is dialing up. That's the key.

 

What concerns me some is that we have 6 veteran DBs, 1 of which is Chris Johnson. I'm not sure how good he is, but if he wasn't any good, call it 5 veteran DBs. Now if one of those guys goes down, that's cause for concern because we've already felt the sting of losing DBs before.

[beanfigger]

If we get good offensive line play, we should be good with whatever Jim Caldwell is dialing up. That's the key.

 

What concerns me some is that we have 6 veteran DBs, 1 of which is Chris Johnson. I'm not sure how good he is, but if he wasn't any good, call it 5 veteran DBs. Now if one of those guys goes down, that's cause for concern because we've already felt the sting of losing DBs before.

 

Hopefully, our expected pass rush will help out the back end enough to get through any possible injury issues.  Less receivers to cover because more kept in to block, and less time to cover before the pressure gets to the QB.  The Canty and Dumervil additions, along with a healthy Ngata and Suggs, will vastly improve our pass defense, I believe.  Also, the obvious when you consider Webb should be recovered and Smith looks to be improved.

[Alexir]

That pass rush.

Yeah man!

Pumped bout our safeties as well but a Little nervous that 2 of 3 corners have been injury prone last few years

[CapoRocky]

There is no doubt in my mind that the defense will be much improved.  The offense has a lot to prove with the loss of Boldin.  Overall, we will be much better this year.

[hawkprey]

Yeah man!

Pumped bout our safeties as well but a Little nervous that 2 of 3 corners have been injury prone last few years

We played a lot of last year with Chykie Brown and Corey Graham starting or rotating in, so I'm not really worried. Even if our two oft-injured CBs (Webb and Smith) get hurt, we're right back to where we started. Plus Huff can play corner. 

[display name]

This unit will bounce right back to the top 5. This is why I always watched the Ravens: for the ferocity. And we have it back.

[display name]

I think some people are being a little blindly optimistic about the offense because of what Joe and they did on the run to the Superbowl but the uncertainty of the receiving core has to be worrisome.

Not at all. Torrey and Jacoby have both proven to be talented and dynamic players. And they are backed up by younger players who are untested, yes, but have a lot of potential.

What I liked most about Boldin was his physicality, and we have two strong and big-bodied tight ends who can help retain it.

[BallHawker]

The greatest additions to the defense are not Elam, Huff, and Dumervil. Instead, it's Canty, Spears, and Brandon Williams. Remember last year? The run defense was beyond awful, which also then translated into a suffering pass defense since the opposing offense would simply run play action plays and fool our defense. Our CBs also couldn't play too much press coverage last year since we were so scared of the the play action deep plays; that translated into many short/medium completions.

 

Also, Spagnuolo will add much needed expertise in the pass rush. Canty, Spears, and Williams can hold the line much better than Kemoeatu and Cody of last year, freeing Ngata, Suggs, and Dumervil to go after the QB. Remember, Spagnuolo was responsible for those crazy Giants and Eagles d-lines.

[raybaby]

Not at all. Torrey and Jacoby have both proven to be talented and dynamic players. And they are backed up by younger players who are untested, yes, but have a lot of potential.

What I liked most about Boldin was his physicality, and we have two strong and big-bodied tight ends who can help retain it.

 

Torrey at this point is a number 2.. he has been treated as our number 1 by defenses but he doesn't have number 1 production yet.. I think he could get there. Jacoby has proven himself as an effective number 3 who can be a difference maker in special teams.. he hasn't proven he can be a legitimate number 2. Whether there might be a lot of potential there our number 3 spot is a big question mark. I agree that we'll use our tight ends more but to be the offense we want to be we still want to be able to space the field out with multiple receivers.

[Cville-Raven]

Torrey at this point is a number 2.. he has been treated as our number 1 by defenses but he doesn't have number 1 production yet.. I think he could get there. Jacoby has proven himself as an effective number 3 who can be a difference maker in special teams.. he hasn't proven he can be a legitimate number 2. Whether there might be a lot of potential there our number 3 spot is a big question mark. I agree that we'll use our tight ends more but to be the offense we want to be we still want to be able to space the field out with multiple receivers.

I as much of Torrey's production problems on him as I do Cam. With Caldwell he was actually being utilized in ways other than go routes. With Caldwell he was at least consistently getting multiple touches.
.

[Bravens292]

This 3rd WR thing is a little overdone. Remind yourself for a minute we have Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, Torrey Smith, Jacoby, Potential for an elite Oline, American Express, and Jim Caldwell. if doss/thompson can contribute some, great but i'm not really worried about it.

[display name]

Torrey at this point is a number 2.. he has been treated as our number 1 by defenses but he doesn't have number 1 production yet.. I think he could get there. Jacoby has proven himself as an effective number 3 who can be a difference maker in special teams.. he hasn't proven he can be a legitimate number 2. Whether there might be a lot of potential there our number 3 spot is a big question mark. I agree that we'll use our tight ends more but to be the offense we want to be we still want to be able to space the field out with multiple receivers.

If nescessary, yes. I understand what you are saying in your assessment of Torrey. I believe he has the potential to do more. #1 WRs need to have more catches a game than he averaged last year, I get that. But I do recall how well Torrey did with those slant routes. That's an important skill. I think David Reed is also a really great route runner, and is a similar player to what we had with Derrick Mason. But again, he is untested.

Edit: And we have people named Rice and Juice coming out of the backfield. I'm not worried.

[CalvinSmoke]

I'm very curious as to what our offense looks like. Our strength will be our offensive line for sure.

[The Oakland Cathedral]

I'm very curious as to what our offense looks like. Our strength will be our offensive line for sure.

I thought it would be our QB...

[CalvinSmoke]

I thought it would be our QB...

I love Flacco and all, but our offensive line looks to be really really good this season

[CARavensFan]

I'm not sure if this is the best place for this, but I saw this video and seeing as we can't comment on them directly, I wanted to repost it here.

 

Lardarius Webb working his way back.

 

How can you not like this man

[K-Dog]

 

 

Lardarius Webb working his way back.

 

How can you not like this man

Webb is awesome.

[ellicottraven]

we've heard about the defense dominating the minicamp. reports saying the defense is smothering, getting to the qb constantly, swarming to the ball, not allowing any rushing yards, sending the offense into a funk causing long streaks of 3&outs, multiple interceptions etc. , and this is with limited contact, where the offense should shine.

now is this exciting or worrisome? ive been saying since day 1 that im 100% supportive of letting our young receivers play. if theyre saying all this good stuff about how our young receivers are performing so far, but then contradict theirselves by talking about how the offense is always getting shut down, does this mean our defense is THAT good? or are the reporters just blowing smoke about how our new core players on offense look?
The good news is either outcome is going to bode well for us don't you think? One if the defense can smother our offense after the way we played last year, that can only mean that other good offenses will have to watch out. The average and bad offenses may as well forget about scoring against us! The flip side for the offense is practicing against a defense as good as this can only hone their skill sets enough, that when they face average defenses they will carve them up! So all is good imo.
i personally believe that joe is just as advertised, and when they say he looks like a surgeon back there in that pocket, i believe it, and i believe our defense really is good enough to smother some top flight teams, but i only believe that to an extent.

so is anyone else a little worried about our offense after these reports? or is our defense just looking that good? should i maybe just shut up til training camp and preseason? or is this a good time to start worrying? lol i dunno, were in the deadest part of the offseason, i need SOMETHING to post about.