The Vent Thread 2014 Draft

[MrDelDante]

Quality pick. Plenty of talent available in the next 2 rounds, and we have 3 picks. I think by the end of tomorrow when we have our 4 picks in people will sit back and be more understanding of our 1st round.

[Tru11]

solid pick.

 

we are set long term with brown and mosley and both will learn from smith.

also both smith can play as  olb in coverage so i can only imagine the coverage lbers cand provide us now.

 

also people jimmy ward is a freaking SS.

we did not need him since elam is a SS.

 

niners picked him to replace withner who played SS.

they have Reid who they drafted last year who plays FS.

 

seriously what is so hard to understand ????

we need a FS and people cry we did not draft a SS long.

 

SMH

[JoeyFlex5]

Ozzie and Decosta had Cj Mosely quite high on their big board...most likely at number 1 and obviously higher than ClintonDix. BPA is BPA and Ozzie should have that mantra tattooed on his chest by now. 

 

If this pick was last year everyone in the state of Maryland would be doing backflips and jumping for joy. We left last years draft with a so-so project MLB in Arthur Brown in what was a weak ILB draft class. The fact that we could come in here and finally solidify that position for the future is definitely not a bad way to go. Really the only knocks on Mosely are injury concerns and athleticism questions, he is a very talented MLB who we will most likely get some good use out of this year. 

yea I exeaggerated that a little lol the shock was still wearing off. I just think safety was such a dire need, because we are wasting a first round draft pick as long as elam is playing at FS, and what I thought was our teams dream scenario played out, I figured they didn't see HHCD dropping to 17, and when he made it there I figured that pick would be in before dallas announced their pick. cant say I was surprised because its such a typical ozzie move, but I can say I still cant believe that both safeties fell to us and he passed on both of them.

[JoeyFlex5]

solid pick.

 

we are set long term with brown and mosley and both will learn from smith.

also both smith can play as  olb in coverage so i can only imagine the coverage lbers cand provide us now.

 

also people jimmy ward is a freaking SS.

we did not need him since elam is a SS.

 

niners picked him to replace withner who played SS.

they have Reid who they drafted last year who plays FS.

 

seriously what is so hard to understand ????

we need a FS and people cry we did not draft a SS long.

 

SMH

jimmie ward is a deep coverage guy and ballhawk.. FS is clearly his natural position.

[JoeyFlex5]

People just want something to complain about. When it comes to the draft, if the guy who they wanted wasn't the pick it's a bad pick. Your right about Mosley and remember guys, Ozzie doesn't just draft for the now, but for 2, 3, 4 years in the future. Smith won't be around in a couple years. Mosley and Brown can make a solid 1-2 punch at ILB for us. In fact I love how our front seven would look now....

 

Suggs          D. Smith  Mosley                 Doom

 

           Ngata        Williams            Canty

 

I'd be happy if we can land Lee, Hageman, Tuitt or even Jordan Matthews at 48 tomorrow night.

not exactly, ive been vocally against HHCD but I still had my fingers crossed that we took him when he slid all the way to us, I thought that was a huge value and filled our biggest need, big marquise lee fan, I lobbied for him to be our top pick for a while but I was happy we didn't reach for him there, I thought a CB would've been better, im surprised mosley was above Dennard on ozzies board. there were plenty of players I thought were possible, this was the only one I wouldnt have been happy with. although the idea is starting to sing in a little, I just hope hes healthy.

[MrDelDante]

After the antics of HaHa the last few days (lobbying for the Eagles to trade up and get him, taking a photo of himself on the phone with a joint lying on the couch next to him etc...) I'm kind of glad we went for CJ.

[supaB]

Hopefully we can snag Jonathan Dowling later on in the draft.  If he can clear his head and add bulk, he can be productive up here.

[Tru11]

jimmie ward is a deep coverage guy and ballhawk.. FS is clearly his natural position.

 

11 picks in 49 games is not exactly the defenition of being a coverage and ball hawk safety.

 

11 picks in 4 seasons with 7 coming in 1 season meaning he had 4 in 3 seasons doesent mean a player is a ball hawk.

 

again he played SS in college and the 49ers drafted him to play SS since they have a hole there and just drafted a FS last year.

[berad]

Does it matter who the pick was, people would have complained anyways?

[Cville-Raven]

Does it matter who the pick was, people would have complained anyways?

Yeah there is no way of avoiding that

[Clutch Ravens]

I dislike the pick for a number of reasons;

 

I don't think ILB is a valuable position in today's league.

 

Mosley has medical red flags.

 

Even if he pans out, good ILBs can be found throughout the draft, they don't need to be taken mid-first.

 

The quality of player in this draft. I personally didn't have Mosely as a First Rounder.

 

Alabama players have a tendency to cap at being solid role players or just busting completely (Upshaw, Barron, Jackson, Carpenter, Ingram, Richardson, Cody, Arenas, Kirkpatrick, Hightower). Of all the highly touted Alabama players only Dareus, Jones and Lacey have lived up to their billing.

 

I respect Ozzie and our front office as much as anyone else, but please remember that they're human. They make mistakes, as evidenced by their not having drafted a Pro Bowl player since 2008. The only other teams to do that have fired at least one front office staff since. I'm in no way saying that should happen, just pointing out how poor the drafting has been the past few years.

 

I'm not saying that you shouldn't be happy with Ozzie, just don't blindly follow "In Ozzie We Trust". You can have a different opinion on players. It's not illegal and it shouldn't result in people being called out.

 

The draft is as much luck as it is skill. Remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and if they can back it up with tangible facts/evidence then I don't see where the problem is.

[Sami84]

I dislike the pick for a number of reasons;

 

I don't think ILB is a valuable position in today's league.

 

Mosley has medical red flags.

 

Even if he pans out, good ILBs can be found throughout the draft, they don't need to be taken mid-first.

 

The quality of player in this draft. I personally didn't have Mosely as a First Rounder.

 

Alabama players have a tendency to cap at being solid role players or just busting completely (Upshaw, Barron, Jackson, Carpenter, Ingram, Richardson, Cody, Arenas, Kirkpatrick, Hightower). Of all the highly touted Alabama players only Dareus, Jones and Lacey have lived up to their billing.

 

I respect Ozzie and our front office as much as anyone else, but please remember that they're human. They make mistakes, as evidenced by their not having drafted a Pro Bowl player since 2008. The only other teams to do that have fired at least one front office staff since. I'm in no way saying that should happen, just pointing out how poor the drafting has been the past few years.

 

I'm not saying that you shouldn't be happy with Ozzie, just don't blindly follow "In Ozzie We Trust". You can have a different opinion on players. It's not illegal and it shouldn't result in people being called out.

 

The draft is as much luck as it is skill. Remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and if they can back it up with tangible facts/evidence then I don't see where the problem is.

true. I havent liked his picks in recent years

 

but mosley is a baller. He has high IQ and great instincts. Something which we have lacked in our draft picks in recent years.

[Inqui]

[MrDelDante]

Mosley has medical red flags.

 

Pretty sure that he doesn't. He might have had some injuries, but I'd hardly call them red flags.

[Clutch Ravens]

Pretty sure that he doesn't. He might have had some injuries, but I'd hardly call them red flags.

 

Some teams didn't clear his shoulder.

[HoldingCall]

This was a good pick for the Ravens. They have their field general for years to come and reliable depth at the position. I am sure it wasn't an easy decision to pass on Dicks at 17. A decision that only the future will show whether or not it was the correct path to take.

[PoeDinkum]

Here's my initial reaction to day one. Just an opinion, a course--

Cincy got a solid player; Pit reached; Clev actually did something right, FOR ONCE. Heh.

 

On our end, we failed to address a position of need, nor traded down for value and/or picks.

 

I believe CJ Mosley has less ceiling than many are giving him credit for.

Hope our folks assessed his injury situation correctly as it obviously was a factor for other teams.

 

I understand the rationale behind the pick, BUT when I factor in the man's injury history, our moving up for Art Brown last year, other needs we have, and what Cincy and Clev did in round 1...my heart has yet to get behind it.

 

Still many rounds to go...GO RAVENS!

[FastEddie]

I'll be honest, at first I hated the pick considering all the needs we have at other positions. Was really hoping for us to take a OL,...Lewan was close enough for a trade up and would have been the perfect fit. Although if the price isn't right than not much we can do about it.

Now, that I look at it I think it was the smart move with Daryl getting older, we can groom Mosley and Brown into our starters for the next 5 or 6 years or something. No question he has great football IQ and flys to the ball. Very happy we didn't draft Ebron..

[arnie_uk]

Pretty sure that he doesn't. He might have had some injuries, but I'd hardly call them red flags.

5 surgeries in 4 years says otherwise

[BrownsFan]

I hate the pick.  Then again I hate anyone Baltimore picks in the draft. 

 

Kidding... quality overall pick IMO.

[BmoreBird22]

 

I dislike the pick for a number of reasons;

 

I don't think ILB is a valuable position in today's league.

 

Mosley has medical red flags.

 

Even if he pans out, good ILBs can be found throughout the draft, they don't need to be taken mid-first.

 

The quality of player in this draft. I personally didn't have Mosely as a First Rounder.

 

Alabama players have a tendency to cap at being solid role players or just busting completely (Upshaw, Barron, Jackson, Carpenter, Ingram, Richardson, Cody, Arenas, Kirkpatrick, Hightower). Of all the highly touted Alabama players only Dareus, Jones and Lacey have lived up to their billing.

 

I respect Ozzie and our front office as much as anyone else, but please remember that they're human. They make mistakes, as evidenced by their not having drafted a Pro Bowl player since 2008. The only other teams to do that have fired at least one front office staff since. I'm in no way saying that should happen, just pointing out how poor the drafting has been the past few years.

 

I'm not saying that you shouldn't be happy with Ozzie, just don't blindly follow "In Ozzie We Trust". You can have a different opinion on players. It's not illegal and it shouldn't result in people being called out.

 

The draft is as much luck as it is skill. Remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and if they can back it up with tangible facts/evidence then I don't see where the problem is.

Yeah, you're right, inside linebacker has no merit with guys like Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham, or Heath Miller and Jordan Cameron in the AFC North, just to name a few. Not like tight ends are becoming more and more athletic and you need a very athletic linebacker who understands coverage to keep up in this passing league. You're right. 

 

His medical red flags were not only cleared by the Ravens, but the majority of the NFL. I would hardly worry.

 

No, not in this draft. The next best linebacker in this draft was Chris Borland and I won't even get into his concerns. Just consider CJ Mosley is widely considered the 9th or 10th best prospect, but Borland is, at the highest, in the late 80's and at worst in the 100's. I'm seeing a wide gap there, as opposed to how there are still talented tackles (Koundijo, Richardson, Moses), guards (Jackson), receivers (Lee (how is he still available?), Adams, Robinson, Matthews), safeties (Brooks, Bailey, Reynolds, or converts like Exum (who has FS experience) and Mitchell), and cornerbacks (Desir, Aikman, Watkins, Allen). The drop off in inside linebacker talent was MASSIVE. 

 

You're one of the few, or the only one. Every single draft site I had seen had him top 15, if not top 10. 

 

You can't base what Mosley will do on what previous players did. He's CJ Mosley, not Kareem Jackson, Mark Barron, Trent Richardson, etc. The concern with Alabama is who made who? Well, Mosley made that defense. If you watch the pre snap action by Mosley, he directs everyone and gets everyone set and make sure everyone is ready to be in a position to succeed. He made that defense run like a well oiled machine.

 

I didn't realize that Pro Bowls, not Super Bowls, defined how good a player is. 

 

People should not, but it's okay to like the pick and explain why we do.

 

If it's just as much luck as it is skill, then why are we complaining before he's played a snap? What if the Ravens got lucky and got the next Bowman or Kuechly, two players he's heavily compared to.

[BmoreBird22]

5 surgeries in 4 years says otherwise

Being medically cleared by just about every team says otherwise

[arnie_uk]

Being medically cleared by just about every team says otherwise

he's an extensive injury history. How is that not a red flag?

[Flacco2Mason]

Good player but not the pick i was hoping for. I thought reciever, safety, and o-line were much bigger needs. And there was talent available at safety and reciever. Im actually very let down because now not only are Clinton Dix and Pryor gone but so are Jimmie Ward and Deone Buchanon.

[Flacco2Mason]

But as i said he is a great player just not a very big need at all for us

[BmoreBird22]

 

he's an extensive injury history. How is that not a red flag?

Because he was cleared medically by most teams in the league. I'd be most worried about the torn labrum, but the other ones aren't extremely "serous" to me. It's not as bad as Dominique Easley with two torn ACL's

[HomeoftheBRAVENS]

I was mad when they decided to pick Mosley over Pryor,but now that I've spent some time getting over it I'm just happy we're not going to force Arthur Brown into our starting lineup.I'm still not sold on him.I think he's the next Tandon Doss.A fan favorite that everyone looks at through purple glasses and he'll never turn into a star player.Let alone a starter.But anyway,how I feel about Brown is a moot point now because we have CJ!

[Clutch Ravens]

 

 

Yeah, you're right, inside linebacker has no merit with guys like Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham, or Heath Miller and Jordan Cameron in the AFC North, just to name a few. Not like tight ends are becoming more and more athletic and you need a very athletic linebacker who understands coverage to keep up in this passing league. You're right. 

 

His medical red flags were not only cleared by the Ravens, but the majority of the NFL. I would hardly worry.

 

No, not in this draft. The next best linebacker in this draft was Chris Borland and I won't even get into his concerns. Just consider CJ Mosley is widely considered the 9th or 10th best prospect, but Borland is, at the highest, in the late 80's and at worst in the 100's. I'm seeing a wide gap there, as opposed to how there are still talented tackles (Koundijo, Richardson, Moses), guards (Jackson), receivers (Lee (how is he still available?), Adams, Robinson, Matthews), safeties (Brooks, Bailey, Reynolds, or converts like Exum (who has FS experience) and Mitchell), and cornerbacks (Desir, Aikman, Watkins, Allen). The drop off in inside linebacker talent was MASSIVE. 

 

You're one of the few, or the only one. Every single draft site I had seen had him top 15, if not top 10. 

 

You can't base what Mosley will do on what previous players did. He's CJ Mosley, not Kareem Jackson, Mark Barron, Trent Richardson, etc. The concern with Alabama is who made who? Well, Mosley made that defense. If you watch the pre snap action by Mosley, he directs everyone and gets everyone set and make sure everyone is ready to be in a position to succeed. He made that defense run like a well oiled machine.

 

I didn't realize that Pro Bowls, not Super Bowls, defined how good a player is. 

 

People should not, but it's okay to like the pick and explain why we do.

 

If it's just as much luck as it is skill, then why are we complaining before he's played a snap? What if the Ravens got lucky and got the next Bowman or Kuechly, two players he's heavily compared to.

 

 

I like this debate (not being sarcastic or facetious, I genuinely enjoy debating with someone who has a contrasting view) , so here we go.

 

I highly doubt Mosely's, or any Linebacker for that matter, ability to man up on one of those tight ends and remove them. Limit them slightly, perhaps, but not that big of an impact. It's much more likely to get a slightly bigger safety that can go toe-to-toe with these tight ends.

 

The fact remains that some teams didn't clear him and it's not just him. For another example, I would have hated Easley because of his medical red flags. I just have a general dislike for prospects that are potentially damaged goods before playing a down.

 

This is more of a personal preference. I don't think ILBs are that important and have a limited impact compared to a lot of other positions. It's nice to have a great one, but it doesn't make a huge difference overall to the team. I'll definitely concede that there's a big drop off, but for me Inside Linebacker is one of the least impactful/important positions. I hope I'm wrong in regards to Mosely, it's just my view of the position.

 

My last point leads on to this one in why I didn't have Mosely as a first rounder. His position. I think there were at least 32 other players that, due to talent or position, could have come in and made more of an impact from day 1, which is what I'd expect from a 17th overall pick.

 

I was pointing out that the school has a habit of producing overhyped players that aren't as good as advertised. How much of it is surrounding talent and system is definitely debatable, but the track record for his school is still shoddy at best. I get that he's Mosely, he isn't any of the others, but (again, personal thing here) I don't trust Alabama players to be anything more than solid role players. I'm comfortable taking them in the mid rounds as contributors, but not as star players. As often as not Saban's already eeked every bit of potential out of the player before they hit the pros. It's like Iowa and their offensive linemen.

 

It's still a valid point. That sort of failure to find a quality talent over that length of time is worrying. Yeah, it means that we've found solid contributors, but that lack of one or two exceptional young talents coming through showed at numerous points last year. It was a point made to show that the front office isn't perfect. They're human, they make mistakes. They're very good at what they do, but they shouldn't be blindly followed.

 

I agree that everyone has the right to their opinion on the pick, whether they like the pick or not, hence the "You can have a different opinion on players". In context it may have seemed like I was saying "everyone should hate the pick" but I assure you I wasn't, I just didn't know why some people were getting lambasted for having a differing opinion.

[arnie_uk]

Because he was cleared medically by most teams in the league. I'd be most worried about the torn labrum, but the other ones aren't extremely "serous" to me. It's not as bad as Dominique Easley with two torn ACL's

5 injuries in 4 yrs is a red flag. There's no sugar coating it. He mighy be ok now, but hos body could easily give up on him a lot earlier than someone that hasn't had any injuries based on past history.

I wouldnt be surprised if after 6 8 years in the league if hes virtually done due to a broken down body.

[arnie_uk]

I like this debate (not being sarcastic or facetious, I genuinely enjoy debating with someone who has a contrasting view) , so here we go.

I highly doubt Mosely's, or any Linebacker for that matter, ability to man up on one of those tight ends and remove them. Limit them slightly, perhaps, but not that big of an impact. It's much more likely to get a slightly bigger safety that can go toe-to-toe with these tight ends.

The fact remains that some teams didn't clear him and it's not just him. For another example, I would have hated Easley because of his medical red flags. I just have a general dislike for prospects that are potentially damaged goods before playing a down.

This is more of a personal preference. I don't think ILBs are that important and have a limited impact compared to a lot of other positions. It's nice to have a great one, but it doesn't make a huge difference overall to the team. I'll definitely concede that there's a big drop off, but for me Inside Linebacker is one of the least impactful/important positions. I hope I'm wrong in regards to Mosely, it's just my view of the position.

My last point leads on to this one in why I didn't have Mosely as a first rounder. His position. I think there were at least 32 other players that, due to talent or position, could have come in and made more of an impact from day 1, which is what I'd expect from a 17th overall pick.

I was pointing out that the school has a habit of producing overhyped players that aren't as good as advertised. How much of it is surrounding talent and system is definitely debatable, but the track record for his school is still shoddy at best. I get that he's Mosely, he isn't any of the others, but (again, personal thing here) I don't trust Alabama players to be anything more than solid role players. I'm comfortable taking them in the mid rounds as contributors, but not as star players. As often as not Saban's already eeked every bit of potential out of the player before they hit the pros. It's like Iowa and their offensive linemen.

It's still a valid point. That sort of failure to find a quality talent over that length of time is worrying. Yeah, it means that we've found solid contributors, but that lack of one or two exceptional young talents coming through showed at numerous points last year. It was a point made to show that the front office isn't perfect. They're human, they make mistakes. They're very good at what they do, but they shouldn't be blindly followed.

I agree that everyone has the right to their opinion on the pick, whether they like the pick or not, hence the "You can have a different opinion on players". In context it may have seemed like I was saying "everyone should hate the pick" but I assure you I wasn't, I just didn't know why some people were getting lambasted for having a differing opinion.

you should know by now criticism of a player or staff member even when backed up with a solid argument just doesn't fly here.