What was the bigger mistake?

[52520Andrew]

Probably Dilfer, obviously wasn't a great QB but he did seem to play OK in our system. Ozzie mentioned it as well when we brought back Flacco. Neither player makes something out of nothing and I doubt we repeat anyways but you want to keep the QB when you find someone. Too valuable of a position to let walk and we had to wait until McNair for some decent QB play again. Dilfer wouldn't have been great but we could have done more with him through the 2002-2005 years as opposed to what actually happened.

As for Boldin, that is the business of the league for you(same reason we got Monroe for cheap). He wouldn't have made a difference last year anyways and now we have Steve.

[BmoreBird22]

How is this a question? Dilfer was terrible, Boldin is a potential hall of famer.

How about we slow our roll there

[ravensnick]

How about we slow our roll there

Not even kidding, he easily has the potential (he did have some of his worst statically years here).

[BmoreBird22]

Not even kidding, he easily has the potential (he did have some of his worst statically years here).

He doesn't even have 1,000 catches or 100 touchdowns, two huge milestones

[5aiah]

How about we slow our roll there

Boldin is the greatest Ravens receiver of all time and definitely still building a hall of fame resume.If he achieves a second playoff/superbowl performance with the Niners i would say he seals the deal. Then again, receiver is horribly backed up at the moment.....

[BmoreBird22]

Boldin is the greatest Ravens receiver of all time and definitely still building a hall of fame resume.If he achieves a second playoff/superbowl performance with the Niners i would say he seals the deal. Then again, receiver is horribly backed up at the moment.....

His stats and play with the Ravens just don't support a HoF career. Think of how long it took Andre Reed and isn't Marvin Harrison still waiting?

[5aiah]

His stats and play with the Ravens just don't support a HoF career. Think of how long it took Andre Reed and isn't Marvin Harrison still waiting?

Yeah I mentioned that. At least we can still do something to show our appreciation for his play here in Baltimore after his career is over.

[BmoreBird22]

Yeah I mentioned that. At least we can still do something to show our appreciation for his play here in Baltimore after his career is over.

You didn't say which ones were out. I was checking.

Ring of Honor should be in his future

[JoeyFlex5]

The biggest mistake? Bringing up Boldin once again

thank you for the love of hell! omg i love this post so much. 

 

but really, letting dilfer walk did years worth of damage to this franchise, j lews injury hurt more than any qb performance you could imagine in 2001, but having some continuity and a game manager(if jamal was never hurt) along with plenty of cap space not being eaten up by grbacs money grabbing contract, and that game manager being a very high character, team oriented guy, in that era of football, good god we had the potential to win it all every year until 07, ALL WE WERE LACKING WAS A QB WHO COULD MANAGE 1 TD AND 10 FIRST DOWNS PER GAME and we had a defense and run game to carry us to a super bowl literally every year. 

 

letting a knowledgeable, responsible, high character, hard working, team oriented qb like dilfer leave, was hands down the biggest mistake this franchise ever made, and i have a hard time believing it would ever be passed up by a FA move in the harbs era,

[Cillmatic]

Not drafting Rodgers or Bree's when we had the chance.

[JoeyFlex5]

Elvis Grbac was in 14 games played 14 games started  56.7% completions 3,033 yards 15 td's and 18 int's with no running game.

 

 

Trent Dilfer was 11 games 8 started 59.3% completions 1,502 yards 12 td's and 11 int's. Trent Dilfer has never in his entire career passed for 2,900 yards in an entire season 16 games included. I'm glad he was our qb that won our first super bowl but lets be honest he was a mediocre qb that knew how to manage the game. If he was our qb the year after with no running game he woudn't have made it through the season. Randall Cunningham would've taken over midway and we would've had a better chance at repeating over both Elvis and Trent IMO. Jamal Lewis was the biggest loss over the two mentioned choices.

 

Another choice could've been keeping Trawick over Rainey for the final roster spot. With Pierce and Rice banged up I think Rainey would've sparked the running game a little more to help out. Rice didn't have his burst and Pierce was banged up. Rainey would've got at least 3 yards a carry that would've been better than our 1-2 yard clip last year. Trawick also fell into Jacoby Jones that took him out of the first game against Denver. Who knows with a healthy Jacoby our offense might've been able to score more to keep up with Denver or beat them. We were winning at the half before Jacoby and Oher both ot hurt.

Trent Dilfer was

i thought you had a great point... then you didnt. smh. 

 

please people, bobby raineys career probably would have been ended by injury if he was playing behind our line. i cannot believe people are actually still mentioning this ridiculous nonsense, bobby rainey is a joke and will never be more than a career journeyman struggling to make a team as a backup, and for good reason, hes a mop compared to the starting RB on all 32 nfl teams, probably a mop compared to the 2nd string on about half of the teams. 

 

bobby rainey would have done nothing but made our total rushing averages way worse, thank god we had very good RBs who could overcompensate for their own injuries and pitiful OLINE play.

[JoeyFlex5]

Boldin is the greatest Ravens receiver of all time and definitely still building a hall of fame resume.If he achieves a second playoff/superbowl performance with the Niners i would say he seals the deal. Then again, receiver is horribly backed up at the moment.....

derrick masons stint with us absolutely POOPS on boldins. his chemistry with joe at his lowest points when he was playing with 1 arm could absolutely bury boldins chemistry with joe at its peak in the super bowl run. 

 

not only that, derrick mason brought MORE attitude to our offense than boldin(an underrated feat of dmase, check out his sideline arguments, boldin would bang helmets, mase would let you know he just pooped on your entire technique and that he was coming back to do it 10 more times that day, and would say the same to the opposing coach) 

 

without derrick mason, joe doesnt develop as smoothly, he may not even be a starting qb in the league right now without a guy like mase. just imagine joe as a rookie forced to just throw it to boldin and hope he can make the throw, with no sense of nfl cb's timing or anything of tthe sort, he is going to throw pick after pick, thinking he can just toss it up and boldin will come down with it, it doesnt work like that. mase was open, snap after snap, i mean WIDE open, its whats he did, he didnt give a young qb like joe tight windows to throw to, he said "look man, ill be open as hell on this play, if im not, throw it away, or check it down" joe built his career off of that, and slowly came along, thanks to a guy like mase who allowed that kind of thing to happen. 

 

ohhhhh man i cant believe you just said bolding is undoubtedly a greater receiver than derrick mason for this franchise... that hurt me soul.

[5aiah]

derrick masons stint with us absolutely POOPS on boldins. his chemistry with joe at his lowest points when he was playing with 1 arm could absolutely bury boldins chemistry with joe at its peak in the super bowl run.

 

not only that, derrick mason brought MORE attitude to our offense than boldin(an underrated feat of dmase, check out his sideline arguments, boldin would bang helmets, mase would let you know he just pooped on your entire technique and that he was coming back to do it 10 more times that day, and would say the same to the opposing coach) 

 

without derrick mason, joe doesnt develop as smoothly, he may not even be a starting qb in the league right now without a guy like mase. just imagine joe as a rookie forced to just throw it to boldin and hope he can make the throw, with no sense of nfl cb's timing or anything of tthe sort, he is going to throw pick after pick, thinking he can just toss it up and boldin will come down with it, it doesnt work like that. mase was open, snap after snap, i mean WIDE open, its whats he did, he didnt give a young qb like joe tight windows to throw to, he said "look man, ill be open as hell on this play, if im not, throw it away, or check it down" joe built his career off of that, and slowly came along, thanks to a guy like mase who allowed that kind of thing to happen. 

 

ohhhhh man i cant believe you just said bolding is undoubtedly a greater receiver than derrick mason for this franchise... that hurt me soul.

1. I think not. Joe believed every time he threw it up in a certain direction Boldin was coming down with it, that Boldin was going to outmuscle and out hustle anyone else to get the ball and that those hands were gonna secure that football. Some of his sweetest throws were those touch floaters were Boldin played like a Raven and imposed his will on defensive backs to get the ball.

 

2. Lolwut? Flacco's best attribute is his throwing power and his unique ability to throw in tight windows  I get what you mean by easier development but in now way can you say Joe might not even be a starter in the league without Mase as a receiver without it sounding like hyperbole. You're going a bit too far there.

 

3. You'll get over it, Boldin comes with hardware. Mase was the best until that run though, I'll give him that.

[RaineV1]

I don't think letting Dilfer go was a huge mistake in its own right. The mistake was who replaced him. Look at that years draft, the first pick of the second round was Drew Brees. Had the Ravens drafted him instead of Heap, nobody would be saying that letting Dilfer go was a mistake. Nor would they be if the Ravens picked a better free agent. Hiring Grback is the mistake, not letting go of Dilfer.

 

With that being said, if you had to say one was the worse decision, it was Boldin. However, in all honesty, Boldin wouldn't have made that big of a difference last year. I'm actually kinda happy he wasn't around. It let Brown have the chance to step up and allowed the Ravens to have a better position in the draft. Not like they would have been champions if he was around.

[jazz1988]

1. I think not. Joe believed every time he threw it up in a certain direction Boldin was coming down with it, that Boldin was going to outmuscle and out hustle anyone else to get the ball and that those hands were gonna secure that football. Some of his sweetest throws were those touch floaters were Boldin played like a Raven and imposed his will on defensive backs to get the ball.

 

2. Lolwut? Flacco's best attribute is his throwing power and his unique ability to throw in tight windows  I get what you mean by easier development but in now way can you say Joe might not even be a starter in the league without Mase as a receiver without it sounding like hyperbole. You're going a bit too far there.

 

3. You'll get over it, Boldin comes with hardware. Mase was the best until that run though, I'll give him that.

 

He has a point. I wouldn't really call Boldin the greatest Raven receiver of  all time . He never produce the stats in which he was paid for.Mason was a better route runner and his chemistry with Flacco was unique. I haven't seen any Ravens receiver match the chemistry Flacco and Mason had but only major difference between Boldin and Mason is one has a super ring and the other doesn't.

 

Other than that it's  kinda impossible to really say he was the greatest Raven receiver of all time(it's your opinion) but the only thing Boldin had over Mason was his physicality. Mason didn't even have the privilege of having a deep threat like Torrey Smith to take number one cornerbacks attention away like Boldin did  but still was producing 1,000+ receiving yards. 

[JoeyFlex5]

1. I think not. Joe believed every time he threw it up in a certain direction Boldin was coming down with it, that Boldin was going to outmuscle and out hustle anyone else to get the ball and that those hands were gonna secure that football. Some of his sweetest throws were those touch floaters were Boldin played like a Raven and imposed his will on defensive backs to get the ball.

 

2. Lolwut? Flacco's best attribute is his throwing power and his unique ability to throw in tight windows  I get what you mean by easier development but in now way can you say Joe might not even be a starter in the league without Mase as a receiver without it sounding like hyperbole. You're going a bit too far there.

 

3. You'll get over it, Boldin comes with hardware. Mase was the best until that run though, I'll give him that.

i was a little drunk when i posted that last night lol sorry about taking it so personally. its an exaggeration when i say joe might not eb a starter in the league, but as a rookie he was probably scared to try to force those throws, and didnt know the intricacies that the veteran qb's know, like where to place a ball so only your receiver can catch it, derrick mason made it so he never really had to worry about throwing in tight windows, and he could come along at a normal pace without making it rain picks because he is forcing too many throws and not knowing exactly where to put the ball. 

 

i have just never seen another receiver who lacks so much in speed and height, be able to consistently get so wide open like mason did and always snag that ball, overthrown, underthrown, whatever, hes gonna be open, and hes gonna catch it, in my opinion he could very easily be top 3 route runners of all time, dude was just such a technician on the field corners would be scratching their heads like "how the hell did he get over there? and how did he end up so far away from me?" 

 

i will never say boldin was anywhere near as good for our team as mason was, because he simply wasnt, and if you remember the boller/mcnair days then its even harder to make a case for boldin, 

 

and also, about your interpretation of joe and boldins chemistry, think back to 2008, commentators seemed to be astounded by one thing joe did great, and that was his ability to zip the ball to the sideline on deep comeback routes, mason would run 20 yards downfield, comeback a whole 5 yards with the nearest cb 10+ yards away from him, and joe would just throw a frozen rope 15 yards to the sideline and have it in masons hands before the cb even knew he was getting beat, they did it play after play and it was probably the one thing in cams playbook that nobody seemed to know how to stop consistently, that sir, was thanks to the chemistry between joe and mason

[BmoreBird22]

Not drafting Rodgers or Bree's when we had the chance.

Clayton have Rodgers... sigh

[Ausman]

Lets focus on the current mistake: Not getting Brandon Flowers for Secondary help!

[ravensnick]

Not drafting Rodgers or Bree's when we had the chance.

It's not as clear cut as that, Rodgers sat on the bench for two year and the team that drafted Brees spent a top 3 pick on another qb (Rivers) while Brees was still there. In hindsight, we should have drafted Rodgers, but Brees is too uncertain.

[ravensnick]

Lets focus on the current mistake: Not getting Brandon Flowers for Secondary help!

We probably couldn't match SD deal and he gets to be a #1 there instead of a #3 here.

[The Mom Gene]

coulda, woulda, shoulda.....  mistakes are just that they are mistakes, otherwise we would be perfect, and that is an impossibility.  Hindsight is always 20/20 and while "don'cha wish"....  is nice.....  It's just not possible.  If you would want to go there, we would have every single star player from every team that was drafted since 1996...  and we would win the Super Bowl every year..... 

 

Now I know that's extreme....  but you should never look back and wish what woulda been.  You can only look forward and think of what we CAN BE!

[jazz1988]

Lets focus on the current mistake: Not getting Brandon Flowers for Secondary help!

 

Brandon Flowers was not going to accept to be  our number 3 cornerback . He wanted to be a  number 1 cornerback and he felt like he had the ability to do so which is understandable. Flower wanted to stay in the same division as his former team which is  why he signed with The Chargers and he has a  good chance of getting paid pretty well after this season  as their number 1 cornerback.

 

Ozzie would have  had to put up some serious dough for Flowers to throw aside all his desires and wants to sign with our team..

[52520Andrew]

Yeah I would go Mason over Boldin any day of the week. No disrespect to Boldin but Mason was just huge for us consistently. If not for that 4 game stretch or the trade, we probably wouldn't even be having this discussion. I still remember that game at Texas Stadium where Mason was killing it for us with one arm.

[Tank 92]

i was a little drunk when i posted that last night lol sorry about taking it so personally. its an exaggeration when i say joe might not eb a starter in the league, but as a rookie he was probably scared to try to force those throws, and didnt know the intricacies that the veteran qb's know, like where to place a ball so only your receiver can catch it, derrick mason made it so he never really had to worry about throwing in tight windows, and he could come along at a normal pace without making it rain picks because he is forcing too many throws and not knowing exactly where to put the ball. 

 

i have just never seen another receiver who lacks so much in speed and height, be able to consistently get so wide open like mason did and always snag that ball, overthrown, underthrown, whatever, hes gonna be open, and hes gonna catch it, in my opinion he could very easily be top 3 route runners of all time, dude was just such a technician on the field corners would be scratching their heads like "how the hell did he get over there? and how did he end up so far away from me?" 

 

i will never say boldin was anywhere near as good for our team as mason was, because he simply wasnt, and if you remember the boller/mcnair days then its even harder to make a case for boldin, 

 

and also, about your interpretation of joe and boldins chemistry, think back to 2008, commentators seemed to be astounded by one thing joe did great, and that was his ability to zip the ball to the sideline on deep comeback routes, mason would run 20 yards downfield, comeback a whole 5 yards with the nearest cb 10+ yards away from him, and joe would just throw a frozen rope 15 yards to the sideline and have it in masons hands before the cb even knew he was getting beat, they did it play after play and it was probably the one thing in cams playbook that nobody seemed to know how to stop consistently, that sir, was thanks to the chemistry between joe and mason

 

 

Yeah, Mase was Joe's go to guy, no doubt. And Q really didn't emerge as a star for us until the second half of the SB season. In his defense, he was playing for a while with a torn meniscus. 

 

After Mase left, you'd have to say that Pitta became the consistent "security blanket" for Joe.

[5aiah]

He has a point. I wouldn't really call Boldin the greatest Raven receiver of  all time . He never produce the stats in which he was paid for.Mason was a better route runner and his chemistry with Flacco was unique. I haven't seen any Ravens receiver match the chemistry Flacco and Mason had but only major difference between Boldin and Mason is one has a super ring and the other doesn't.

 

Other than that it's  kinda impossible to really say he was the greatest Raven receiver of all time(it's your opinion) but the only thing Boldin had over Mason was his physicality. Mason didn't even have the privilege of having a deep threat like Torrey Smith to take number one cornerbacks attention away like Boldin did  but still was producing 1,000+ receiving yards. 

 

 

i was a little drunk when i posted that last night lol sorry about taking it so personally. its an exaggeration when i say joe might not eb a starter in the league, but as a rookie he was probably scared to try to force those throws, and didnt know the intricacies that the veteran qb's know, like where to place a ball so only your receiver can catch it, derrick mason made it so he never really had to worry about throwing in tight windows, and he could come along at a normal pace without making it rain picks because he is forcing too many throws and not knowing exactly where to put the ball. 

 

i will never say boldin was anywhere near as good for our team as mason was, because he simply wasnt, and if you remember the boller/mcnair days then its even harder to make a case for boldin, 

I understand and respect the points both of you put forward but I've been looking at "The Run" again and Boldin really made life easy for Flacco on some critical plays and also a few bail out plays as well. Maybe its better to say Boldin was the best receiver we had,but not the most productive for the Ravens specifically. I always admit when I'm biased, in this regard due to Boldin's tendency to "Play Like a Raven" on offense(which is much harder to achieve imo). We'll have to agree to disagree.

[Static]

Letting Rainey go was a mistake.

[52N19]

the dilfer decision was a bold progressive move that didn't work out because jamal went down in training camp. the ravens won the SB because of their defense and running game. dilfer was a great personality but had a weak arm and was not very accurate.

if jamal doesn't go down we may have one back to back SB's. Grback was a clear physical improvement over dilfer. the decision to replace dilfer showed the aggressive nature of the front office and the ability to make an unpopular and tough decision. the decision didn't work out but i give the FO credit for the bold move.

[ravensdan]

Boldin is the greatest Ravens receiver of all time and definitely still building a hall of fame resume.If he achieves a second playoff/superbowl performance with the Niners i would say he seals the deal. Then again, receiver is horribly backed up at the moment.....

I can't let this one go. First off boldin is nowhere near a hall of fame receiver. Most of his career his been a second option on his own team. He's never been considered top 5 at his position in a year. So he's nowhere close.

As for the best ravens receiver? What? Not close...

Mason

Jackson

Alexander

Smith

Smith sr.

All better.

[5aiah]

I can't let this one go. First off boldin is nowhere near a hall of fame receiver. Most of his career his been a second option on his own team. He's never been considered top 5 at his position in a year. So he's nowhere close.

As for the best ravens receiver? What? Not close...

Mason

Jackson

Alexander

Smith

Smith sr.

All better.

Smith Sr hasn't even played a game for Baltimore yet.......

[ravensdan]

Smith Sr hasn't even played a game for Baltimore yet.......

If you are only counting boldins time in Baltimore you are really overrating him. He was never a number one target for this team. He was for a brief period pre-Fitzgerald in Arizona and arguably a number one for San Francisco. But only until the bigger difference maker Crabtree returned. Boldin is just a good complimentary receiver. Like an Alvin Harper. He's no hall of game transcendent talent. At least smith sr can say he was in the top 5 receivers in the league for several years.