Ravens working out TE Jake Ballard

[BaltimoreBean]

“@MikeGarafolo: The Boldin-less Ravens, who have had issues with TEs and WRs up the middle, will work out former NYG/NE TE Jake Ballard on Monday.”

Could be a good addition if healthy.

[SecretAgentMan]

IF healthy, which he's prob not

[rmw10]

Yeah I hope that knee is alright.  The Pats cut him because he wasn't anywhere near fully healthy.

[jazz1988]

I dont think he will help much

[Sami84]

its come to this....

[PolishRifle]

Haha, fast get TO on the phone!

[SeaHawk]

Can we PLEASE stop with bringing in veteran TE's who are slow and have dropsies plaguing them?? Let your young talent take over. I mean, what worse could it do than what we witnessed Thursday night? First Shiancoe, then Clark, and now Ballard...

[ghost1986]

Don't want him.

[WeBleedPurple]

Id rather bring back Heap at this point

Or give Furst a shot

[dhstandard]

Can we PLEASE stop with bringing in veteran TE's who are slow and have dropsies plaguing them?? Let your young talent take over. I mean, what worse could it do than what we witnessed Thursday night? First Shiancoe, then Clark, and now Ballard...

 

So who do you suggest we bring in?

[GrimCoconut]

I like Ballard but it's a bit surprising we would bring him here after he was cut by the Patriots. Then again, that doesn't mean much. The guy is a good player but the problem is anyone we sign will need to get chemistry with Joe--I assume. Unless they just naturally hit it off. Bringing a guy in for a tryout isn't a big deal anyway. He isn't signed--yet. And what do you guys want? Everyone is asking for a solution but who's out there?

[pitchblack_20]

Is Furstenburg really not ready or something ? What's up with them not letting the rookies play ?

[GrimCoconut]

Is Furstenburg really not ready or something ? What's up with them not letting the rookies play ?

Did you watch him in preseason closely or did you just see the few nice plays he had? I'm not being sarcastic. I'm genuinely asking you. 

[Sami84]

just sign TO and chad johnson. at least it will be comedy like.

[pitchblack_20]

Did you watch him in preseason closely or did you just see the few nice plays he had? I'm not being sarcastic. I'm genuinely asking you.

I honestly didn't watch him very often but none of our TE's look good. Is he worse ?

[1/28/01]

Ugh...Ballard?

[runamuk]

I don't think he's healthy . I have heard so many rumors today . Ballard, Heap and a friend said he heard we were trading for britt .kinda scary if all of these r true ....

[rmw10]

I honestly didn't watch him very often but none of our TE's look good. Is he worse ?

He's not ready for the NFL yet. Blocking is bad. Despite his speed, he's had issues getting open. He had a lot to work on.

[GrimCoconut]

I honestly didn't watch him very often but none of our TE's look good. Is he worse ?

He didn't block well against pros and he seemed to struggle to separate from some linebackers. I was most concerned with his routes & his very very very average or even below average blocking. He needs to get stronger. Also, Furstenburg is a build-up speed guy. He's not very explosive but he's fast. What I mean by that is he doesn't just burst off of the line. People look at his 40 and think that because he ran a quick 40 he's fast. It's not true. He takes quite a few steps to get that speed going. When you're a TE in man coverage going against a LB that build-up speed won't much matter because you won't be able to build up and you'll get jammed at the line, especially if you're not very strong and he didn't look too strong. 

[jimjim5]

Here's thinking that Baltimore finally realized that we are the Baltimore Ravens and we play in the AFCN, not the Indy Colts. We are a big, physical team not a finesse team. I like the move.

[GrimCoconut]

He's not ready for the NFL yet. Blocking is bad. Despite his speed, he's had issues getting open. He had a lot to work on.

I think his blocking is poor because he doesn't use his hands very well and he isn't strong enough to rely on that alone. He needs to improve in both areas in that regard. Also, his speed is deceptive. As you said, he has trouble getting open and a bit part of that is that he isn't explosive off the snap. That's the biggest problem right now. If he was at least explosive off the snap he could be used as a decoy at the very least. Problem is, he's a build-up speed guy and he can't build-up the speed when a LB is in man or pressing him hard because he can't disengage off of the coverage and move. He needs to be in zone to be an effective TE and right now he'll be humiliated if we activate him. At least that's how I see it. He's just not ready. 

[rmw10]

I think his blocking is poor because he doesn't use his hands very well and he isn't strong enough to rely on that alone. He needs to improve in both areas in that regard. Also, his speed is deceptive. As you said, he has trouble getting open and a bit part of that is that he isn't explosive off the snap. That's the biggest problem right now. If he was at least explosive off the snap he could be used as a decoy at the very least. Problem is, he's a build-up speed guy and he can't build-up the speed when a LB is in man or pressing him hard because he can't disengage off of the coverage and move. He needs to be in zone to be an effective TE and right now he'll be humiliated if we activate him. At least that's how I see it. He's just not ready.

Yeah this is what I'm thinking. Just too lazy to write all of that our right now lol.

[ratedr]

Did you watch him in preseason closely or did you just see the few nice plays he had? I'm not being sarcastic. I'm genuinely asking you. 

I'm wondering if people really watched him. He wasn't very good, not sure why everyone is acting like he's a solution.

[SeaHawk]

Unless Ballard is being brought in solely to contribute in the blocking game, we are in for a minor rude awakening if we think we're getting a good receiver out of him. The guy is as slow as a lineman, and he's not that great of a route runner either, so he won't be able to get open for us. Plus, the injury history is kinda troublesome as well. But as a blocker, in the role of Bajema, I think he'd be a fine addition. Just don't expect even a quarter of Pitta out of him.

[GrimCoconut]

I'm wondering if people really watched him. He wasn't very good, not sure why everyone is acting like he's a solution.

Well, it's understandable because of a few reasons: 

1.) Local guy/terp

2.) He has a load of potential with a lot of athleticism and a very good 40 time. 

3.) He had a few nice catches.

 

The problem with those things is that: 

1.) Nobody cares if he's a local guy in the NFL. 

2.) His potential and athleticism are negated by how raw he is. Most supporters claim that his LB-QB means he has a load of potential. I point to how it hindered his development in his final year. 

3.) His few nice catches mostly came against third or sometimes second stringers, if memory serves me right. 

 

I'd rather have Juszczyk at TE than Furstenburg at this moment. 

[ratedr]

This is getting comical by the way.

 

I love our FO, they generally do a great job, but they screwed up. Period.

[SirPainsalot]

This is getting comical by the way.

 

I love our FO, they generally do a great job, but they screwed up. Period.

Well, to be fair I don't think we've ever had a tight-end situation as bad as this.

 

Heap was consistently here every time, so we didn't need to worry. We thought the same with Pitta, but crap happens. 

 Not only that, we focused on WRs before. This year was the year we were supposed double tight-ends were part of the plan. We also thought DIckson could've covered up the hole, but the injury he had during the preseason clearly hindered him.

 

Not sure what they can do, other than hope for Dickson to get better and try out Matt and Juice as rookies. Or of course, get more veteran tight ends, which i don't agree with but I can see why they would do that.

[edthehead]

Did you watch him in preseason closely or did you just see the few nice plays he had? I'm not being sarcastic. I'm genuinely asking you. 

I did not really pay that much attention to furst,,,could he be that much worse,,,just asking,,, cause what I saw on that field was sad,JOE hit those TE and they failed him, so i am just asking ,, is furst that bad

[GrimCoconut]

I did not really pay that much attention to furst,,,could he be that much worse,,,just asking,,, cause what I saw on that field was sad,JOE hit those TE and they failed him, so i am just asking ,, is furst that bad

Read my other posts in this thread. I've already addressed it. I honestly think the easiest solution is not using the TEs much. I'd rather we run more 4WR or 3WR sets than to force something that just isn't working. 

[WeBleedPurple]

Why not just use Juice more in the receiving game?