Ravens sign WR Brandon Stokley

[Purple Punishment]

You're right in that there isn't much he could have/can do right now to bring in quality depth at WR. However, this looks like a reach move; and, bringing in sub par vets has only led to disappointment in recent years, i.e. Lee Evans, Kelley Washington, and T.J. Houshmanzadeh. I don't see what anyone has to lose by working out Lloyd to at least gauge where he is. 

 

Kelly had just as many yards as our number 2 receiver and he barely played but on third downs. Cam would not use a slot receiver and only when we needed, Kelly was in the slot and played well.

[BmoreInBmore]

Kelly had just as many yards as our number 2 receiver and he barely played but on third downs. Cam would not use a slot receiver and only when we needed, Kelly was in the slot and played well.

 

I see we have a Kelley Washington fan. That really wasn't the point though, I was simply disappointed by the Raven's choosing not to bring in Brandon Llyod for an evaluative workout before signing a veteran WR. 

[BmoreInBmore]

Kelly had just as many yards as our number 2 receiver and he barely played but on third downs. Cam would not use a slot receiver and only when we needed, Kelly was in the slot and played well.

If it will make you feel better you can just insert Donte Stallworth into Kelley Washington's place on my original comment.

[SecretAgentMan]

Newsflash Flacco isn't Peyton.Get these absurd notions out of your head that Brandon is going to replicate even half of what he did last season. In the two seasons prior to last he was a non-factor for the Giants and Seahawks. I want to know why we didn't even work Brandon Lloyd out before signing a veteran.

No he's not, but he just put up Joe Montana numbers in the postseason and did so without a WR on the level of Jerry Rice.

If anything this indicates that he's a good QB.

And because Lloyd is a locker room cancer, and a moron

[BmoreInBmore]

No he's not, but he just put up Joe Montana numbers in the postseason and did so without a WR on the level of Jerry Rice.

If anything this indicates that he's a good QB.

And because Lloyd is a locker room cancer, and a moron

 

I'm confused what does that have to do with Brandon Stokley? Are you asserting that Stokley is going to have a comparable statistical season to last year? Because, if so we can just agree to disagree now. 

[5aiah]

I'm confused what does that have to do with Brandon Stokley? Are you asserting that Stokley is going to have a comparable statistical season to last year? Because, if so we can just agree to disagree now. 

Remember the primitive stats are not the key here. I'm more interested in what Stokely does in terms of first downs and yards per route run. Also what he does when the others are not open(whether result of lack of separation or be play design) is of more importance.

[gabefergy]

I'm confused what does that have to do with Brandon Stokley? Are you asserting that Stokley is going to have a comparable statistical season to last year? Because, if so we can just agree to disagree now.

He probably wont replicate last year's numbers but the Ravens needed that slot receiver with Boldin and Pitta out. Stokley can still get open to move the chains in 3rd down.

Brandon Lloyd on the other hand is an outside receiver/ deep threat. We already have that.

[ravensdan]

Streeter is definitely in danger, but Harbaugh could catch David Reed with his wife and still wouldn't cut him. That still leaves Torrey, Jacoby, Doss, Mellette, Williams, and Brown. We have 9 guys playing for 6 spots, and we can't IR all of the other three.

Seriously, it's time to let these young guys play and see if we actually have anything of value. They've been buried behind vets for so long, it's time to give them a shot.

Your thinking here is flawed my friend. The young guys only deserve an opportunity if they ean it. If one or more of these young guys truly step up they will take the starting job away from any vet in front of them. They don't need to be given anything. They need to take it. We are a team that needs to win now. We will keep the best of the young guys and continue to develop them but we are not going to sacrifice any games this yea to "see what they have". That's a very baseball way of thinking.

As for the stokley signing itself, it is good to have a savvy reliable vet who flacco can rely on when needed.

Also if you look at his numbers just last year, he caught over 75% of his targets. He also averaged nearly 12 yards per catch. So some are incorectly judging his abilities at his current age.

[RavenDomination87]

He is the most talented receiver available and I wouldn't be so sure we can do without him. You know you are desperate, when after the first preseason game you bring in 37 year old Brandon Stokley; speaks volumes of what this front office and staff think of our in house options.  

 

I think you're right that the signings of really old, oft-injured players is not a good sign about in-house confidence. Probably why Harbaugh chewed out so many players the other day. Don't forget though that Dickson will start Week 1. If he can stay healthy, we should be fine. Dallas Clark and Shiancoe weren't brought in to start, they were brought in to be Dickson's backup.  I would say we don't need Brandon Lloyd as much as you may think, as long as we have Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones as our deep threats we really don't need him.

[ravensfan160]

I like the signing but it doesn't really solve our #2 WR problem. Stokley is only a slot receiver at this point in his career which means he won't be on the field in our 2 WR sets. So Jones, Williams, or Doss will still have to step up and be the other starter.

[berad]

I like the signing but it doesn't really solve our #2 WR problem. Stokley is only a slot receiver at this point in his career which means he won't be on the field in our 2 WR sets. So Jones, Williams, or Doss will still have to step up and be the other starter.

The WR coach Jim Hostler thinks the team is fine on the outside but they need to find the slot, inside guy.

[PurpleCorsair]

I thought Stokely had always been a slot reciever.

[jus'_crAzy]

I like the signing but it doesn't really solve our #2 WR problem. Stokley is only a slot receiver at this point in his career which means he won't be on the field in our 2 WR sets. So Jones, Williams, or Doss will still have to step up and be the other starter.

 

I have a problem with the bolded portion of your sentence there.  Allow me to explain.

 

The year that Joe started to break out was in his second season.  That's the general consensus.  That's the season where he had his highest completion percentage in his career.

 

People forget, but a huge part of that was because of the addition of Kelley Washington; a slot receiver.  He had 34 receptions that year.  27 of them were first downs.  His stats were better than Mark Clayton's stats, and Clayton was our #2.  We need a guy like that.  Think of all the 3-and-outs that could be eliminated!

 

JJ and Torrey can have the outsides and burn everything to kingdom come.  Slot receivers keep drives alive.

[Free Agent]

I like the signing but it doesn't really solve our #2 WR problem. Stokley is only a slot receiver at this point in his career which means he won't be on the field in our 2 WR sets. So Jones, Williams, or Doss will still have to step up and be the other starter.

 

After the loss to Pitta, it sounded like the offense was shifting from two TE sets to 3 WR sets. Stokely would fit nicely into that. Besides, more often than not, we will be running out of our two WR sets instead of passing.

[cushrinada1986]

Came full circle. Eventually all Ravens come back to the flock (ok, not all, but it's nice when one does). ;)

Yeah, frank walker can stay where he is.......lolz

[SecretAgentMan]

Yeah, frank walker can stay where he is.......lolz

Same with Cary Williams
And Oneil Cousins

[mgridda]

Well, for one, Stokley might not have been around that long. Second, if Tandon Doss is threatened by Stokley that much then Stokley or not his confidence is shot. 

 

Competitors want to compete. If he doesn't want to compete and feels threatened by this signing then I don't know what to say except he probably would've failed regardless if he's dependent on others. You can't be dependent on others for your success. You have to take it. 

 

 

I can agree with this, but I don't mean Doss' confidence with himself, but rather just with the system and life in general. I've been there competing for a roster spot and sometimes you think, man this system is messed up and I'm not being given a real opportunity here. It stops really being about your confidence in yourself, and instead just becomes about the kind of system people have.

[beasy2487]

In my opinion this signing actually bodes well for Tandon and Deonte. If it was purely about renting a guy for his production and then dropping him next year when we reload our receiving corps I think we would've went with Brandon Lloyd. However, it's clear that Harbs really values mentorship and wanted to bring in a guy that could produce immediately, but at the same time coach Deonte and Tandon up as their role increases over the course of the year.

 

The most underrated part of the Boldin loss is that he was a veteran that commanded respect for other receivers to emulate. Torrey has credibility for his work ethic, but with 3 years in the league just doesn't have the experience to really be of much help to the other guys.

 

Why not Brandon Lloyd? Because he's a known "Me" guy and wouldn't provide the type of guidance our guys need on a one year rental, whereas Stokley just wants to contribute to a winner and get back to the dance.

 

Why not just roll with what we have? Because Harbs is as competitive as the next guy and I'm sure he wants nothing more than to stick to the Broncos again. I think it's clear that our young receivers aren't there yet, but by midseason I think the light switch goes on for 2-3 of them and we start to see Stokley less and less.

[easternshore97]

So we cut a 33 yrd ol Anquan Boldin to sign a 37 yr old Brendan Stokely.

 

How much money was saved by cutting Boldin? Or in other words, who would we not have been able to sign? Huff? Smith?

[beasy2487]

So we cut a 33 yrd ol Anquan Boldin to sign a 37 yr old Brendan Stokely.

 

How much money was saved by cutting Boldin? Or in other words, who would we not have been able to sign? Huff? Smith?

 

Saved 6 mil. We would not have been able to sign Dumervil at the time and we would not have been able to trade up for Arthur Brown.

[ravens88]

So we cut a 33 yrd ol Anquan Boldin to sign a 37 yr old Brendan Stokely.

 

How much money was saved by cutting Boldin? Or in other words, who would we not have been able to sign? Huff? Smith?

 

Huff, Dummerville, Smith, Leach.

[PurpleReign92]

J Jones and T Smith are going to get a-lot of attention from an apposing team secondary..  Clark and Stokley are going to come through for the Ravens fire-arm Flacco can get them the ball and that is all that counts...

[CARavensFan]

So we cut a 33 yrd ol Anquan Boldin to sign a 37 yr old Brendan Stokely.

 

How much money was saved by cutting Boldin? Or in other words, who would we not have been able to sign? Huff? Smith?

 

Take a look...

 

 

“The acquisitions of Elvis Dumervil and Michael Huff are a direct result of the money we saved from that contract,” Newsome said. “And other guys we got—Chris Canty, Marcus Spears, Daryl Smith—were helped by the savings. So if you ask the question, you can’t just say, ‘Do you wish you kept him?’ You also have to look at the unintended consequences of your actions.”

 

Source

[rmw10]

Take a look...

 

 

Source

 

Thank you.  Obviously not having Boldin is a pretty big negative, but the positives we gained are more than enough to outweigh that negative.

[NaveSenrag]

Don't forget though that Dickson will start Week 1.

That may not be the case. Harbs says yes, but Dickson says no.

[easternshore97]

Take a look...

 

 

Source

Thanks. Wonder if the signing suggests that LaQuan is not really in the running

[CARavensFan]

Thank you.  Obviously not having Boldin is a pretty big negative, but the positives we gained are more than enough to outweigh that negative.

 

No problem, I love Boldin as much as the next guy, but when you look at what we were able to turn his $6 million into you can see why Ozzie did what he did.

 

In Oz We Trust

[beanfigger]

That may not be the case. Harbs says yes, but Dickson says no.

He never said "no" just unsure about it.

[CARavensFan]

Thanks. Wonder if the signing suggests that LaQuan is not really in the running

 

I wouldn't say that it takes him out of the shot to get on the roster because Brandon is a WR and doesn't offer much on ST, while LaQuan is a great ST player. Remember we used to have BA as our extra position player for ST purposes, its possible we carry one extra WR instead of the extra LB this year because Quan could be one of our best ST players.

[cushrinada1986]

Same with Cary Williams
And Oneil Cousins

Dont forget Kyle Boller, or Clerance Moore, or Bart Scott.