Offseason Plan

[Gordo52]

And I am beginning to think I was wrong about Caldwell.

Me too unfortunately. Execution,personnel and injuries play parts as well.

I'd bet some money if Pitta was healthy the entire year we would have 1 or 2 more wins. We lost our LG for the year, Rice got banged up, Jacoby missed a few games and Joe's dealing with his mcl ATM.... It wasn't like they were lighting it up but that's still something to account for.

Injuries happen and it's all about adjusting but it's not like we headed into the season with many weapons to begin with.

Our receivers have to be in the upper tier of drops in the league.Also dealing with a OL that features Michael Oher, has horrible chemistry and inexperience at starting.

[Gordo52]

realistically we have no shot of making the playoffs . time to break out our wish list for the draft

Realistically it's 50/50. We do or we don't.

Whether you think we can beat the bengals is one thing.

[Ravens1991]

Not to mention that, while they hold teams to FGs more than not, they have a penchant for allowing time consuming drives that cost us in TOP.

Dean Peas has always had some Greg Mattison in him. He is not as bland as Mattison but he definetly is a bend don't break DC.

 

[ratedr]

I'd love nothing more than to have Rex back, but I'm not sure he's gonna get fired.

I honestly don't think he should be, for that Jets team to be at 7 wins, they've overachieved.

[ravens_4life]

were done. there is no way were winning in cincy, and even if we did make it to playoffs we wont make it past wild card weekend. I rather take it on the chin and move to offseason.

[Jillester]

I'd love nothing more than to have Rex back, but I'm not sure he's gonna get fired.

I honestly don't think he should be, for that Jets team to be at 7 wins, they've overachieved.

He's an awesome DC but I seriously doubt Harbs would bring him back into the fold.  Plus, once you're a HC, any other coaching position would be considered settling.  

 

Edited to add that Rex has spoken about his possible firing:

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/glazer-rex-ryan-tells-team-he-s-getting-fired-122213 

[ratedr]

He's an awesome DC but I seriously doubt Harbs would bring him back into the fold. Plus, once you're a HC, any other coaching position would be considered settling.

Some former HCs are just better coordinators. See: Turner, Norv and Phillips, Wade.

[pmr468]

We need a tackle, a guard, and some kind of playmaker. 

I think Osemele will do fine once he returns from injury next year.

[Gordo52]

I'd love nothing more than to have Rex back, but I'm not sure he's gonna get fired.

I honestly don't think he should be, for that Jets team to be at 7 wins, they've overachieved.

I'd love for him to come back at DC but that's not gonna happen....He's got too much pride lol.

And I agree with you. I think he's earned another year in NY

[Militant X 1]

He's an awesome DC but I seriously doubt Harbs would bring him back into the fold.  Plus, once you're a HC, any other coaching position would be considered settling.  

Not necessarily.  Some cats just seem to be better a being a coordinator rather than head coach.  There are too many OC's and DC's in the league that use to be head coaches and are now doing well and perhaps even better than when they were a head coach.

 

#Mili

[The Raven]

I think Osemele will do fine once he returns from injury next year.

 

I'd like to think so, but this season has proved how valuable offensive line depth is.

 

Every year, my only grief with Ozzie is his inability to find quality OL depth and keep it on the roster. It has caught up to us.

[Jillester]

Some former HCs are just better coordinators. See: Turner, Norv and Phillips, Wade.

I agree!  This can work very well as long as the ego doesn't get in the way.  How many of these guys would jump at the chance to be a HC again?  My bet would be ALL of them.

[flynismo]

Do you understand how hard it is for them playing with this offense? They don't have any momentum to speak of, they just constantly go on the field time and time after again. You say they don't create turnovers, but that's even more impressive to me on how stout they have been. While the offense of side turns the ball over time and time again they are still in the game because of this D. The pressure has dipped later in the season, but they still have 40 sacks. Yea forget that the other part were the D keeps this crappy offense in each game.

You say that as if 7 TD week one, or the offense having to put together TWO game winning drives against MIN, or a couple instances like tonight where they dug us into an immediate hole, causing the offense to become one dimensional at times never happened...nevermind their weekly 4th quarter meltdowns where they give away the lead late in the game...

[pmr468]

I'd like to think so, but this season has proved how valuable offensive line depth is.

 

Every year, my only grief with Ozzie is his inability to find quality OL depth and keep it on the roster. It has caught up to us.

Agreed. It would have been nice to have kept a guy like Ben Grubbs from a couple years ago.

[flynismo]

Me too unfortunately. Execution,personnel and injuries play parts as well.

I'd bet some money if Pitta was healthy the entire year we would have 1 or 2 more wins. We lost our LG for the year, Rice got banged up, Jacoby missed a few games and Joe's dealing with his mcl ATM.... It wasn't like they were lighting it up but that's still something to account for.

Injuries happen and it's all about adjusting but it's not like we headed into the season with many weapons to begin with.

Our receivers have to be in the upper tier of drops in the league.Also dealing with a OL that features Michael Oher, has horrible chemistry and inexperience at starting.

Last I saw, we were 3rd in dropped passes, which was two or three weeks ago

[Gordo52]

Last I saw, we were 3rd in dropped passes, which was two or three weeks ago

Where's Mili at? I need that gif...

[ClintLB8]

QB - Flacco
RB - Pierce
FB - Juz
WR - Torrey, Brown, Doss
TE - Pitta (resign)
OT - Unsure
OG - Yanda, Osemele
OC - Gradkowski (unknown)

DE - Canty, Lewis-Moore (potential)
NT - Ngata (limited few more years), Williams
OLB - Dumervil, Upshaw, Suggs (limited few more years)
ILB - Smith (limited few more years), Brown
CB - Smith, Webb, Brown
S - Elam

These are all guys that are young and are starting caliber for the most part. We need Rice to become the change of pace for the last few years we need Suggs and Ngata to finish out strong but we have a team here. We need to draft an OT, sign an OT (either Monroe, Oher, or another FA), and then get another receiver. Regardless of today, we aren't far away. We sign smart this offseason and get a few key guys in the draft and I say we are Super Bowl contenders.

[Grapple Raven]

I firmly blame ever who hired Juan Castillo and gave him the power to come in here and turn this offense upside down.  Yeah, Harbs!

 

Granted we have issues on offense, but we ran the ball fine without a "run game coordinator" and when we got a "run game coordinator" all of a sudden we can't run the ball?  That isn't just a coincidence imho!  The players knew what was wrong and went to Harbs with it, and minor adjustments were made but Castillo is still here.  There is ya first clue...don't be surprised when he is named our OC next season.  Just my two cents.

[Militant X 1]

Last I saw, we were 3rd in dropped passes, which was two or three weeks ago

 

Where's Mili at? I need that gif...

[url=http://s305.photobucket.com/user/MilitantX1/media/smh.gif.html][/URL]

 

#Mili

[T3hRaven]

Agreed. It would have been nice to have kept a guy like Ben Grubbs from a couple years ago.

 

Noooo, we had to have Ray Rice.

 

Stupid decision.  I was right.

[Sami84]

No one is giving 2 first round picks for Torrey Smith.

Not even if the GM is blasted drunk and we have pictures of him with strippers.

 

 

one late one..not 2..i was including our own pick

[Chris K]

Hmm.. I really think we're settled with Pitta at TE, unless we want another TE to get Double TE sets, I think our best option is Ozzie drafting a first round, top of the line, big bodied WR who can take over games. Talking 6' 5 height 225-230lb frame, none of this speedster stuff we've been trying for what seems like forever, it's just too unreliable. Torrey will maybe continue development, but I could see a stud receiver taking his WR1 status later on. Honestly if Flacco has a guy like that, it will pay dividends. I honestly think the defense is okay, maybe just a coaching problem. We have the personnel we need, to be honest.

 

The coaching for the offense is also a big issue. I mean really? Cool, a first down, gain of 5. Then second, down incomplete pass or gain of 1 or 2. 3rd-and 4 comes up, incomplete. Or we run it for a gain of 2. We need A Creativity and B Better personnel 

on offense.

 

Still not giving up on this season though.. never quit. 

Go Ravens

[RavensIQ13]

How do we go about revamping a team that is so limited in it's options due to declining veterans eating up a mammoth portion of cap space?
Our needs are many....an entirely new OL, a guy to replace Ngata, a long term solution for Canty's DE spot, a couple LB, and a S.
That is much more than can be solved in one off-season of good drafting and shrewd FA pickups.

 

Nah man, you're way off. This team only needs a few minor tweaks and we're back to dominating teams with our back hand. Look our WR corp is solid. Marlon. Torrey, Jacoby those are some really good players catching the ball. All we need is to  add 1 more legitimate WR playmaker who can be a go to guy for Joe, consistently. And everyone else will be the perfect compliment. Pitta's not going anywhere but still the TE positionl needs to be upgraded with some extra size . Dickson just...man I don't even like saying his name anymore

 

 

On o-line we need maybe 1 or 2 new pieces. A veteran Center who can hold his ground and a replacement tackle for Michael Oher. I think we re-sign Monroe (which has been a good addition) Osemele and Yanda should be healthy next year and hopefully back to their pro bowl form. The riddle (more like a joke) that is our offensive line problem shouldn't be too hard for a genius like Ozzie to figure out with a full offseason.

 

Our Defense is locked up so we're good there. Daryl Smith definitely needs to get extended and i think we'll part ways with McClain to free up some extra $$ to make that happen. Elam will have another offseason to develop and hopefully we can move him to Strong Safety and find a playmaker free safety who can give us that 1-2 punch. Plus the way Jimmy Smith is playing gives us a legit chance at being the only team with two shutdown corners next year. 

 

The only real thing that is a "must fix" is our Center situation and our Tackle situation. That's it. I don't think people truly understand how devastating a blow this offensive line has been to our team in every phase of the game this year. Other than that you already  know Ozzie is gonna correct all the other little issues that need to be worked out. Honestly, we're just a few pieces away from being elite status yet again. Don't get down in the dumps dude we're gonna be alright.

[Purple_ICE 81]

Been a great six year run since the Harbaugh era begun, but it is time to tear it apart and start over.

When I look at this team, I see some great young talent to reload another mini-dynasty around, but the team overall is crippled by some poor play from big dollar players.

We have Flacco, Pierce, Torrey, Marlon, Pitta on offense, and Art, Jimmy, Webb and Upshaw on defense as the guys that I think are the core of a team that we can build around for the next five years.

I do realize that certain contracts are hard/impossible to get rid of or even work around (Ngata, Rice and Suggs)...and therein lies the challenge. How do we go about revamping a team that is so limited in it's options due to declining veterans eating up a mammoth portion of cap space?
Our needs are many....an entirely new OL, a guy to replace Ngata, a long term solution for Canty's DE spot, a couple LB, and a S.
That is much more than can be solved in one off-season of good drafting and shrewd FA pickups.

I don't have any answers....just the observation that we may be in for another year or two of 8 and 9 win seasons before we get this ship back on track.

Brace yourself, Raven Nation

I agree that Suggs...Ngata...Rice are crippling our cap space and would not be surprised if one of them got cut somehow this offseason, but we are far from a "tear the team down state". You make it sound like we are going to fire harbaugh and start trading people left and right and stuff like that. We have a top 10 defense that could be even better if we had an offense to help it out, our offense is historically hideous and it needs major improvement this offseason.

 

If we can add a FA WR thats not too pricey and draft a couple early round WRs or maybe a WR and TE accompanied with a more beefed up oline we could be back in the playoffs no problem.

 

If we could win 7 games with this crummy offense...imagine what we could do if Flacco actually had talent around him.

[runamuk]

I firmly blame ever who hired Juan Castillo and gave him the power to come in here and turn this offense upside down.  Yeah, Harbs!

 

Granted we have issues on offense, but we ran the ball fine without a "run game coordinator" and when we got a "run game coordinator" all of a sudden we can't run the ball?  That isn't just a coincidence imho!  The players knew what was wrong and went to Harbs with it, and minor adjustments were made but Castillo is still here.  There is ya first clue...don't be surprised when he is named our OC next season.  Just my two cents.

I'm glad someone else brought this up. I think he will be named oc next year. I felt all season he was the reason we had no run game then mckinnie confirmed it . what I don't understand is why Harbs , or ozzie or even steve for that matter is allowing him to continue to destroy this team .as long as he is oc we won't have a run game and the offense will continue to struggle . Mckinnie said the they knew going into this season it would take at least ten weeks for the changes to come to fruition  its been longer then that and they have refused to make adjustments. Its frustrating because we have allot of talent on the offense and its going to waste because harbs can't admit he made a mistake .

[MrDelDante]

one late one..not 2..i was including our own pick

 

Why on EARTH would you want to trade Torrey? Talk about over-reacting.

[Purple_ICE 81]

QB - Flacco
RB - Pierce
FB - Juz
WR - Torrey, Brown, Doss
TE - Pitta (resign)
OT - Unsure
OG - Yanda, Osemele
OC - Gradkowski (unknown)

DE - Canty, Lewis-Moore (potential)
NT - Ngata (limited few more years), Williams
OLB - Dumervil, Upshaw, Suggs (limited few more years)
ILB - Smith (limited few more years), Brown
CB - Smith, Webb, Brown
S - Elam

These are all guys that are young and are starting caliber for the most part. We need Rice to become the change of pace for the last few years we need Suggs and Ngata to finish out strong but we have a team here. We need to draft an OT, sign an OT (either Monroe, Oher, or another FA), and then get another receiver. Regardless of today, we aren't far away. We sign smart this offseason and get a few key guys in the draft and I say we are Super Bowl contenders.

Torrey...Brown...Doss.

 

You see thats the problem...aside from Torrey Smith and Marlon Brown we have no receivers.

 

We need to add atleast 2 new WRs and hopefully we resign Pitta...then add another talented TE next to him. Thats the direction I hope our team goes. Weapons weapons weapons

[Jokerraven]

Hmm.. I really think we're settled with Pitta at TE, unless we want another TE to get Double TE sets, I think our best option is Ozzie drafting a first round, top of the line, big bodied WR who can take over games. Talking 6' 5 height 225-230lb frame, none of this speedster stuff we've been trying for what seems like forever, it's just too unreliable. Torrey will maybe continue development, but I could see a stud receiver taking his WR1 status later on. Honestly if Flacco has a guy like that, it will pay dividends. I honestly think the defense is okay, maybe just a coaching problem. We have the personnel we need, to be honest.

 

The coaching for the offense is also a big issue. I mean really? Cool, a first down, gain of 5. Then second, down incomplete pass or gain of 1 or 2. 3rd-and 4 comes up, incomplete. Or we run it for a gain of 2. We need A Creativity and B Better personnel 

on offense.

 

Still not giving up on this season though.. never quit. 

Go Ravens

Ozzie is not good at drafting wide receivers. past history supports that . I think out of 16or 17 tries one wr, torrey, has had over  a 1000 yard season the rest not even close.we need o line personnel . oher has turned into a turnstile and penalty generator. gino just doesn't get it and shiply is overpowered more often then not . drafting wideouts just to sit on ir  imho is a wasted pic.

[RobFuseRaven]

Honestly, I thought McPhee was a good candidate to take the DE spot, but I think they wanna keep him at OLB.

[RobFuseRaven]

Ozzie is not good at drafting wide receivers. past history supports that . I think out of 16or 17 tries one wr, torrey, has had over  a 1000 yard season the rest not even close.we need o line personnel . oher has turned into a turnstile and penalty generator. gino just doesn't get it and shiply is overpowered more often then not . drafting wideouts just to sit on ir  imho is a wasted pic.

 

 

We had terrible QBs though and Cam Cameron. I don't think the full blame can be on Ozzie's drafting choice. Marlon, Torrey, Tandon and Deonte all look decent with Joe throwing to them. I think the days of bust WR draft picks are over.