2013 Roster Replacements

[JoeyFlex5]

OP gives the jimmy wayyyyy too little credit when comparing him to cary williams. praise that man lol. 

 

also elam was never expected to step in at FS, ever. hes a SS, was drafted to play SS, and we even gave a pretty nice payday to michael huff who came in and robbed us and sucked so bad he was cut a month into the season. so to speak of elams lack of progress isnt fair considering its already a steep enough learning curve for a db coming to the nfl from college, but he didnt even get a preseason at FS before he was shoved into the position in week 2.

[rmw10]

wait, what happened to michael huff? 

 

He was terrible and got cut like 8 weeks ago.

[Ravensfan23]

I always thought the changes to the team were an improvement even when first made. Did i have my favorites? of course but I understood why all needed to go.

 

Birk and Ray were no brainers. I actually thought the only reason Brik didn't retire after his deal was up the first time is because he liked it here so much. I knew he and Ray were goners.

 

I wanted to keep Ed but only from a Retire as a Raven stand point. I've known for a while his best days were behind him but purple shaded never allowed me to admit it. Boldin and Ellerbe were the only other guys I really wanted but understood why they had to go.

 

As for replacements I don't think anyone has flat out failed. Yes Gino has been bad but the entire oline struggled to pick up Castillo's system so I'm sure that was even harder on Gino getting his first real time in the NFL. I'm willing to give him the rest of the season before passing judgement, but I still want competition for his position again next TC.

 

As for Boldin, I think we are being a little kind to Ozzie and company. Doss was supposed to replace Boldin and while he looked good for about 7 weeks, he's disappeared. We were really fortunate to get Brown(thanks Jim Harbaugh) Having Brown lessens the impact of losing Boldin, but I'm not sure we'd be saying that if Doss was still being counted on to be that guy.

 

Digg vs BP. I'll take Digg because he's slightly better then BP in coverage. All in all i'm really happy with the changes and I'm bracing myself to losing more names this year.

[Seseau]

I'm really loving Marlon Brown.

 

Someone said in another thread that he needs to add a solid 15 lbs of muscle and he would be perfect.

 

When I heard about Boldin I was scared but that faded early in the season and hadn't thought about him till this post. 

[Poes Crows]

Everyone witnessed the development of Flacco and Boldin together.  What they established late in the season and into the Championship run was as good as it has ever been in the Raven passing game. 

 

We have struggled all year scoring points.  Our cumulative point total is a bad joke. Our Red Zone attack has languished. Our receiving group has been lacking in crunch time.  There are myriad reasons, but there is a primary reason as well. A bad decision was made and we have not recovered from it.

 

Matt Elam played the best game of his career Monday Night despite some horrific early blunders.  IF he continues to play as he did later in that game for the remainder of the year it will be hard to bemoan the loss of Salary Cap Friendly Pollard.  Elam did commit a 15 yard foul though.  Pollard's personal fouls did have a cost for the Ravens,  but they were not as frequent as some lament. Additionally, he was flagged for every "close call".  That said, we won most of those games and his hits wore down receivers late in games.  Can't help but think of Wes Welker and how gassed he was in the AFC Championship, a key dropped ball and the couple Whamma Bammas Pollard laid on him.

 

Our corners have played well.  Cary Williams was a favorite of mine. He was a two year starter. Sound as a brass bell. That said, Jimmy Smith has been more valuable than Cary Williams. It's not at cornerback where we have struggled.

 

The Safety position has cost us.  The play there has improved since the beginning of the year.  However, we are letting in late points. Even in the last 3 wins.  It's a very troubling fact.

[BMORElegacy]

Technically Huff was supposed to replace Reed.
We all know how that went over right?

So true. With Matt and James out there we essentially have 2 strong safeties out on the field at the same time. To me, Elam looks like a more instinctual strong safety (especially after that TFL on Bush). He definitely needs more time to learn the ropes of playing the free safety position if that's where he is going to play for his time here in Baltimore. 

[BMORElegacy]

wait, what happened to michael huff? 

He was released weeks ago after losing his job to Elam. 

[BMORElegacy]

B- (Replacing a HOF is no joke)

C (Solid for a rookie whos playing out of position)

B (Could be an A but Doom is older and has penalties at strange times)

B- (Ihedibo is better and has les penalties)

A+ (First round talent playing like a first rounder, Williams is not missed)

C- (Brown was injured a bit and is a rookie who made some rookie mistakes. Boldin is better right now, in 2 years I think this will be a B+)

F (Had no choice but to start him as Birk left, not impressed but maybe can improve)

Somebody is not easily impressed. Unfortunately, this is the world we live in.... a CAP league forces GMs to make sacrifices. 

 

The fact that we're in the hunt for the playoffs after losing 8 starters one year removed from a Super Bowl victory is a testament to the aptitude of our front office. Ozzie and Eric deserve a huge pat on the back. 

[rmw10]

Alright, here's my opinion:

 

Daryl Smith (replacing Ray Lewis) - I think we did very well here.  It's hard to replace a guy who puts everyone into place on the field, but we found one for a bargain at $1.1M.  I don't think we've replaced the leadership, but I think we found a much better player on the field than Ray would be at age 38.  Advantage: Ravens.

 

Michael Huff/Matt Elam (replacing Ed Reed) - We all know that Huff was a complete bust of a signing, but Elam has been adequate.  He doesn't have the turnover numbers, but he hasn't given up the big play either.  Ed has been pretty terrible this year, and the media circus surrounding him isn't worth the time.  This battle comes down to an age and value discussion.  Advantage: Ravens.

 

Elvis Dumervil (replacing Paul Kruger) - We clearly won here.  Dumervil is a more consistent presence at a much cheaper rate. Kruger was a good pass rusher, but couldn't stop the run to save his life.  Dumervil has added that element to his game here, and he's much more valuable, and only 2 years older.  Advantage: Ravens.

 

A. Brown/J. McClain/J. Bynes (replacing Dannell Ellerbe) - This one is a hard one to measure.  It's clear that we wanted Ellerbe back, but that price was just way too much.  We're getting some pretty good production out of the 3 mentioned at a much lower cost.  The rotation thing is working pretty well.  I still think we'd love to have Ellerbe, though.  Advantage: None, wash.

 

James Ihedigbo (replacing Bernard Pollard) - This is a clear win in my opinion.  Ihedigbo is giving us more than Pollard did, while being paid the vet minimum and without all of the penalties.  He's the enforcer back there and he's doing a great job of laying down the hits.  WIth the obvious personality issues, we made a good move sliding Ihedigbo into the starting rotation.  Advantage: Ravens.

 

Jimmy Smith (replacing Cary Williams) - This one is obvious.  Cary was going to walk either way.  It was time to let him go, and it was the right choice to do so.  Jimmy has been leaps and bounds above Cary.  I think he always took a bad rap here, but we clearly won this replacement.  Advantage: Ravens.

 

WR rotation (replacing Anquan Boldin) - This one is tricky.  While you'd love to have Boldin still, people seem to be forgetting the money.  That's the reason he's gone.  I honestly do not think Boldin would be any difference between games won and lost. Our passing game was anemic at the beginning of the season, and Boldin would not have changed that.  That's all on the OL.  Either way, I'm sure we'd love to have him in the value was there.  It wasn't, but I'll still say… Advantage: 49ers.

 

Gino Gradkowski (replacing Matt Birk) - This is an obvious loss, but what could we do about it?  Gino looked ready after stifling Geno Atkins last year.  Birk was walking either way.  We probably should have signed a vet alternative not named AQ Shipley to push Gino, but that didn't happen and here we are.  Advantage: Retirement.

 

 

So we have 5 wins, 1 tie, and 2 losses.  Anytime you have that amount of turnover with some highly rated players, I'll take that percentage.  It didn't work out perfectly, but it didn't turn out horrifically as many were expecting.

[PurpleReign92]

I think big Art Brown has some highlight from this season and going forward is going to fill that 2 spot for us.

I like is ability read plays along with D. Smith they held there ground against a hungry Detroit offense and we pulled off a win.