The offensive line woes are greatly exaggerated.

[cobrajet]

The problem is we have little depth. Reid, Gino, and Shipley did not cut it. Jensen is an unknown factor and the jury is still out on Wagner. If we have a few injuries, things could get just as bad as last season. I pray we stay healthy this year.

[ravensnick]

The problem is we have little depth. Reid, Gino, and Shipley did not cut it. Jensen is an unknown factor and the jury is still out on Wagner. If we have a few injuries, things could get just as bad as last season. I pray we stay healthy this year.

That is the problem with every team. All the great o-lineman starter, backups are backups for a reason.

[dhstandard]

The bigger problem was the run game.  Oher is awful in the run and Gino was a hundred times worse.  Having KO out was huge.  Shipley couldn't do anything in the run.  

 

That alone makes the pass rush poor.  Teams don't need to stack the box and ends don't have to worry about over pursuing and can focus rushing the passer.  I don't believe in the whole run to set up the pass or pass to set up the run. but having a run game as atrocious as ours will kill any passing game.  

 

Imagine playing basketball knowing the opposing team can't make 3s.  Makes defense a hundred times easier.

[Edgar]

I doubt there is a battle. KO moves to RT and we have a competition between Urschel, Gradkowski, and Shipley for starting LG.

In thinking about KO moving (back) to right tackle and reading a lot of folks speculating that he might, I went back and watched a few games with him at RT.

A small sample size (Chiefs and The Browns game from week 8) but here are some quick observations from those two games:

He is quick and athletic when pulling but frequently lowers his head and some times wiffs in space. he is stronger in the run game but at times needs to stay a little longer on blocks.

Struggles mightily with speed on the outside. gave up two pressures and one sack by the 13 minute mark of 2nd qtr. vs. Chiefs.

 Houston blows by him as if he isn't there. this resulted in him being helped by our running backs and by Flacco having to take shorter drops and release the ball on shorter routes quicker.

Did better with guys trying to bull rush him but gave up a sack to jabal sheard. In these two games he had trouble one on one on more obvious passing downs.

 he was a rookie.. only two games but is it probable that by having to move him ( if we do) we will be weakening two positions?

I have to believe Rick wagner's strength is in the running game as well.

[ravensnick]

In thinking about KO moving (back) to right tackle and reading a lot of folks speculating that he might, I went back and watched a few games with him at RT.

A small sample size (Chiefs and The Browns game from week 8) but here are some quick observations from those two games:

He is quick and athletic when pulling but frequently lowers his head and some times wiffs in space. he is stronger in the run game but at times needs to stay a little longer on blocks.

Struggles mightily with speed on the outside. gave up two pressures and one sack by the 13 minute mark of 2nd qtr. vs. Chiefs.

 Houston blows by him as if he isn't there. this resulted in him being helped by our running backs and by Flacco having to take shorter drops and release the ball on shorter routes quicker.

Did better with guys trying to bull rush him but gave up a sack to jabal sheard. In these two games he had trouble one on one on more obvious passing downs.

 he was a rookie.. only two games but is it probable that by having to move him ( if we do) we will be weakening two positions?

I have to believe Rick wagner's strength is in the running game as well.

Number one reason why college tackles become NFL guards. Houston would have been Defensive MVP last season is he didn't get hurt, he is a phenomenon player (and with Hali and Ford as well this year). And yes, Wagner strength is the running game. I could honestly see Wagner at guard even and KO at tackle.

[MTRavensFan]

Fibula, thigh bone.

 

Fibula is the smaller of the lower leg bones. Femur is the thigh bone.

Usually when the fib goes, the tibia (the heavier bone which supports the knee) goes with it, down by the ankle where they're skinnier.

If it's just the fib, I think it was probably a twisting type injury.

 

With O-linemen, the real issue is how that upper-body weight affects the ability to re-hab, as far as regaining strength, planting, etc. The bone itself is stronger, but the surrounding tissues lose a lot while it's healing; so the real issue is how rehab has gone.

[ryanlute]

I agree to a certain extent. Getting Zuttah was a GREAT move we definitely needed a new center running things for us but i think juan has been doing things that have not been working out. 

 

Honestly lets think about this coming into last season we had a super bowl MVP in Joe and a pro bowl running back in Ray not even including Pierce who played pretty damn good in my eyes. all three of those players all just had mediocre seasons at best all in the same season. To me that shows something, it shows that our offensive line was not holding up at all for them. 

 

That said i cant express how happy i am with the way we drafted. i mean sure maybe if taylor lewan had fallen to us but what were the odds in that (: . great defensive draft for us, im expecting good things from our defense this yea and great things the year after!

[BmoreBird22]

Fibula is the smaller of the lower leg bones. Femur is the thigh bone.

Usually when the fib goes, the tibia (the heavier bone which supports the knee) goes with it, down by the ankle where they're skinnier.

If it's just the fib, I think it was probably a twisting type injury.

 

With O-linemen, the real issue is how that upper-body weight affects the ability to re-hab, as far as regaining strength, planting, etc. The bone itself is stronger, but the surrounding tissues lose a lot while it's healing; so the real issue is how rehab has gone.

Yeah, I corrected myself later. It was only a non displaced fracture. Not really a huge deal and he's 100% now, apparently. 

[hawkprey]

Yeah, I corrected myself later. It was only a non displaced fracture. Not really a huge deal and he's 100% now, apparently. 

Regardless of what might've been reported, two weeks ago, 32 franchises with access to Hurst's medical records said "no thanks" several times over. Someone must've seen something. Or maybe they just didn't think he was that good.

[ravensnick]

Regardless of what might've been reported, two weeks ago, 32 franchises with access to Hurst's medical records said "no thanks" several times over. Someone must've seen something. Or maybe they just didn't think he was that good.

He dominated against clowney, I'd like to think it was the injury and that because of the injury, he can't become an immdaite contributor. 

[BmoreBird22]

Regardless of what might've been reported, two weeks ago, 32 franchises with access to Hurst's medical records said "no thanks" several times over. Someone must've seen something. Or maybe they just didn't think he was that good.

He couldn't participate in the combine, the Senior Bowl, and had a rough Pro-Day because he was not 100%. I'm sure all of those things significantly hurt him. It probably hurt that he wasn't 100% at his Pro-Day and maybe teams thought he was behind schedule. Regardless, he certainly caught the attention of Harbaugh and the team has said he's 100%.

[MTRavensFan]

Yeah, I corrected myself later. It was only a non displaced fracture. Not really a huge deal and he's 100% now, apparently. 

sounds good to me.

With a draft this deep, teams just might have been a little gun-shy.

[BmoreBird22]

sounds good to me.

With a draft this deep, teams just might have been a little gun-shy.

Well, like I told Hawkprey, he missed the Senior Bowl, combine, and wasn't 100% at his Pro-Day. That certainly didn't help him at all. 

[MTRavensFan]

yeah, without those showings, teams might just have seen guys they liked better.

Better for us, yes?

[BmoreBird22]

yeah, without those showings, teams might just have seen guys they liked better.

Better for us, yes?

It's great for the Ravens. Most analysts think he's got the best shot of starting out of all the undrafted rookies

[MTRavensFan]

yeah, I don't really understand all this gloom and doom about the O line, when essentially 4 starters have been replaced (Monroe and Zuttah new, KO back healthy, with a 4th position up for grabs with several reasonable contenders). The only returning starter from last year is Yanda.

Seems to me like the team is addressing the problem.

[BMORE21]

No running game= failure

[BmoreBird22]

yeah, I don't really understand all this gloom and doom about the O line, when essentially 4 starters have been replaced (Monroe and Zuttah new, KO back healthy, with a 4th position up for grabs with several reasonable contenders). The only returning starter from last year is Yanda.

Seems to me like the team is addressing the problem.

I tried explaining everything about the offensive line in one of the threads, but people seem dead set on the notion that nothing will get better because they didn't go offensive heavy in the draft.

 

Truth is, this offensive line is vastly improved from last year. Monroe has a full offseason to learn all the terminology and develop chemistry, a healthy KO, a new center who's finally in the right blocking scheme, a healthy Yanda, and while RT is up for grabs, there are plenty of options (Wagner, Hurst, KO, possibly a vet). I'm not worried about the line.

[hawkprey]

He couldn't participate in the combine, the Senior Bowl, and had a rough Pro-Day because he was not 100%. I'm sure all of those things significantly hurt him. It probably hurt that he wasn't 100% at his Pro-Day and maybe teams thought he was behind schedule. Regardless, he certainly caught the attention of Harbaugh and the team has said he's 100%.

Those are valid points but there has to be some concern to go undrafted. I think "100%" gets tossed around too often. Ray Rice said he was 100% this year and he was still slow. There's also a question of will being injured cause him to be apprehensive about playing like he's used to. We'll just have to see. The initial reports all seem positive, but they usually are at this point.

[BmoreBird22]

Those are valid points but there has to be some concern to go undrafted. I think "100%" gets tossed around too often. Ray Rice said he was 100% this year and he was still slow. There's also a question of will being injured cause him to be apprehensive about playing like he's used to. We'll just have to see. The initial reports all seem positive, but they usually are at this point.

Rice later admitted to being injured. My guess is he didn't want to sit out games. Maybe that's why he was out in week 17.

I agree sometimes you have to be cautious, but given everything I know about this injury, he should be fine in the upcoming months. I can't tell you why he went undrafted, but it certainly shocked me

[ravefan52]

Our oline was terrible last year, but Monroe, Zuttah and Yanda is a very solid trio to build around and with the ZBS not needing top level talents we should be more than fine. I think a lot of the reason it was so bad last year is we lacked depth, especially in terms a vets who could step in right away and do a decent job. Not young guys who have potential, but suck at the moment. We should be good as long as we stay healthy

[Underdogsontop!]

I think the online woes are exaggerated because no fan of Baltimore Ravens wants a repeat or anything near last years o line performance.... Bottom line! Fans have a more realization of how the trench battle works now, so panic and worry leads them to exaggerate those woes. I'm sure we'll be better this year with Eugene resigned and more time around the locker room and off season with his new family, with KO back and fingers crossed he'll be 100%, and zuttah is a good upgrade. We'll see what our FO does about RT. Im pretty sure they are going to take a good look at hurst and wagner. I they arnt ready, maybe they decide to go with a FA vet for RT. I can't wait to see who will be our starting O Line come sept 7th when we face the Bengals!

[ellicottraven]

James Hurst, if healthy, could be a right tackle for the Ravens. Huge UDFA steal.

He could be our #1 back up at LT and potentially beat out Wagner for RT. That is his potential.

[gabefergy]

He dominated against clowney, I'd like to think it was the injury and that because of the injury, he can't become an immdaite contributor.

I've watched a decent amount of Hurst. I though he would be a mid to late round pick before the injury. He definitely has potential to stick, but I wouldn't have high expectations right away. It's unlikely that he will beat out Wagner as the starting RT.

The game vs. Clowney is just one game, and if I remember correctly Jadeveon was not 100%. Hurst was often inconsistent with his technique, balance, and footwork.

[ravensdan]

I've watched a decent amount of Hurst. I though he would be a mid to late round pick before the injury. He definitely has potential to stick, but I wouldn't have high expectations right away. It's unlikely that he will beat out Wagner as the starting RT.

The game vs. Clowney is just one game, and if I remember correctly Jadeveon was not 100%. Hurst was often inconsistent with his technique, balance, and footwork.

You are right there. I think everyone is overvaluing the one game against clowney. He did not go all out in a lot of games this year. I saw a few tackles "handle" him but I don't think you can make a good judgement and leap of faith just off of that.

I also think Wagner is far ahead at this point. And he will end up starting.