Pick One Ravens Player to Change The Mental Game Of

[mgridda]

So I hope the topic isn't too complex. Basically I want you guys to pick just one current player on the Ravens roster, and change something about their mental game. I'm not talking about making anyone faster, or stronger, or jump higher, or bigger. But just being able to change one player's mental approach.

 

For instance, you could say " I wish Joe Flacco would make pre-play line adjustments and be more aware of the blitz and identifying pass rushers."

 

I think this is what Flacco needs to work on the most. It's something Matt Birk did for him from 2009 (his second year starting) until he retired, and Flacco hasn't really developed this skill to an elite level. 

 

 

Or you could say, "I wish Torrey Smith mentally played with more ferocity like a honey badger or an Anquan or a Steve Smith Sr especially when the ball is up in the air."

[The Raven]

I think people make too much of Flacco not making protection calls. Manning is one of very, very few who do that. Even Brady doesn't handle calling protections, to my knowledge. At least he doesn't do it to the degree Manning does. I can't recall him ever making protection calls other than calling out the mike.

 

As for the player whose mental game I want to elevate, I can't pick between Elam or Torrey. 

 

Both are athletic and have the PHYSICAL ability to take over games. If Torrey had the nasty that Boldin has or the grit that Mason had, he'd be a top five guy. He has that kind of physical talent. If Elam was smarter, he could be the type of safety that strikes fear in the heart of receivers. And when you have a safety that does that, it does a lot for your defense. Instead he's decided to let Brooks take his spot and become that kind of safety.

 

In the end I'd probably lean toward Torrey. Pair that game breaking speed with some grit and some smarts and he'd be dominant. 

[redrum52]

I think people make too much of Flacco not making protection calls. Manning is one of very, very few who do that. Even Brady doesn't handle calling protections, to my knowledge. At least he doesn't do it to the degree Manning does. I can't recall him ever making protection calls other than calling out the mike.

As for the player whose mental game I want to elevate, I can't pick between Elam or Torrey.

Both are athletic and have the PHYSICAL ability to take over games. If Torrey had the nasty that Boldin has or the grit that Mason had, he'd be a top five guy. He has that kind of physical talent. If Elam was smarter, he could be the type of safety that strikes fear in the heart of receivers. And when you have a safety that does that, it does a lot for your defense. Instead he's decided to let Brooks take his spot and become that kind of safety.

In the end I'd probably lean toward Torrey. Pair that game breaking speed with some grit and some smarts and he'd be dominant.

Good choice and I see this quickly turning to a Flacco making line adjustments or reads thread. I gotta agree with you on Torrey. I believe if he put it all together he has the physical gifts to play like a shorter Julio Jones. We've seen flashes of his potential, but never been close to a consistent basis.

I feel all these will be between the same group of players, either Elam, Torrey or Joe, so I'll my pick is either Brooks, cause I want him and Hill starting or maybe Jeremy Zuttah, or Asa when he returns. Yeah, still a cop out.

[mgridda]

I think people make too much of Flacco not making protection calls. Manning is one of very, very few who do that. Even Brady doesn't handle calling protections, to my knowledge. At least he doesn't do it to the degree Manning does. I can't recall him ever making protection calls other than calling out the mike.

 

As for the player whose mental game I want to elevate, I can't pick between Elam or Torrey. 

 

Both are athletic and have the PHYSICAL ability to take over games. If Torrey had the nasty that Boldin has or the grit that Mason had, he'd be a top five guy. He has that kind of physical talent. If Elam was smarter, he could be the type of safety that strikes fear in the heart of receivers. And when you have a safety that does that, it does a lot for your defense. Instead he's decided to let Brooks take his spot and become that kind of safety.

 

In the end I'd probably lean toward Torrey. Pair that game breaking speed with some grit and some smarts and he'd be dominant. 

 

Eh, I don't mean going nuts like Manning. But every Quarterback calls out who the mike is and where they think the rush is going to be overloaded from so there aren't any free blitzers.

 

I mean, and I'm probably going to take a lot of heat for this, but even I do it in Madden. I'd see not that they're showing blitz, but just that the way the defense is aligned with the offensive lline, tight ends and backs, that someone will run free if I keep it the way it is, so I shift the line to one side or put a back in motion or keep a tight end to block

[Static]

Joey Gunsliger is in state 100% of the time.

[BmoreBird22]

I think people make too much of Flacco not making protection calls. Manning is one of very, very few who do that. Even Brady doesn't handle calling protections, to my knowledge. At least he doesn't do it to the degree Manning does. I can't recall him ever making protection calls other than calling out the mike.

 

As for the player whose mental game I want to elevate, I can't pick between Elam or Torrey. 

 

Both are athletic and have the PHYSICAL ability to take over games. If Torrey had the nasty that Boldin has or the grit that Mason had, he'd be a top five guy. He has that kind of physical talent. If Elam was smarter, he could be the type of safety that strikes fear in the heart of receivers. And when you have a safety that does that, it does a lot for your defense. Instead he's decided to let Brooks take his spot and become that kind of safety.

 

In the end I'd probably lean toward Torrey. Pair that game breaking speed with some grit and some smarts and he'd be dominant.

Elam was actually the one player I instantly thought of. I just wish he were smarter at diagnosing and recognizing plays as they developed on the back end. If he could effectively play zone, not even be a single high, but be able to effectively play zone on the back end, I think he'd be a true threat. He'd have a well rounded game and truly be able to live up to the draft status. That and hopefully he'd be smart enough to wrap up

[mgridda]

yeah, Matt Elam needs more time in the film room.

 

Time to bring Ed Reed as a defensive backs assistant coach until he can get the hang of things. I wonder if he'd take the small salary and long work hours.

 

Probably not.

[757RavensFan]

Easy for me...Torrey Smith.  If he had 75% of Steve Smith Sr's physical mentality and dedication to the game, he could be unstoppable.

[orangle123]

Easy for me...Torrey Smith.  If he had 75% of Steve Smith Sr's physical mentality and dedication to the game, he could be unstoppable.

To piggy back off of you, I would change Torrey's mentality towards his "success."  Dad made a good point the other day.  When Smitty gets a small gain, he hops up and celebrates the gain.  When Torrey got a 12 yard game this week but got shoe string tackled, he was visibly upset because he didn't break it for a bigger gain.  He needs to be happy with the short gains!  I've been calling for us to throw short slants to Torrey for the last two years, and I can't help but wonder if Torrey is unwilling to do much more than take deep gains.  Could be wrong, but my point is, Torrey needs to be happy with his short gains, positivity would be preferred.

[orangle123]

To quickly add one more, we need to be nastier at defensive back.  We saw a glimpse of that yesterday, but we need to keep that aggression.  Gorrer, fighting for that pick was beautiful, and I think we can all agree that the Brooks hit was absolutely amazing.  We need to keep that up, fear isn't always a turnover thing with the secondary, it's being afraid to lay out for a ball because of the aggression of the db's.  Let's see a repeat next week during primetime.  We need to make Cooks be afraid of us, and we need to impose our will on Graham.  We can do that, but not without nastier play.

[Mr.Roberts810]

I would say Matt Elam... I was really excited coming into this season. I expected him to make the right adjustments in the secondary, I expected a significant upgrade from BP. Also I feel like Joe should play with more consistency. No doubt in my mind about his arm. He makes throws that any other QB wouldn't think to throw.

[mgridda]

To piggy back off of you, I would change Torrey's mentality towards his "success."  Dad made a good point the other day.  When Smitty gets a small gain, he hops up and celebrates the gain.  When Torrey got a 12 yard game this week but got shoe string tackled, he was visibly upset because he didn't break it for a bigger gain.  He needs to be happy with the short gains!  I've been calling for us to throw short slants to Torrey for the last two years, and I can't help but wonder if Torrey is unwilling to do much more than take deep gains.  Could be wrong, but my point is, Torrey needs to be happy with his short gains, positivity would be preferred.

 

I've seen Torrey run slants on a handful of occassions. I've also seen him get a target on them. From the best of my recollection, Smith will drop most of them or a defender will get a hand on it. As for the few he is able to reel in, it's a solid 8 - 12 yard gain.

 

I think the ball just comes too fast too quick from Joe on those routes for Torrey.

[ravensdan]

Elam is too obvious. Let's take the 2012 Ray Lewis ability to diagnose any offense and know where the play is going before the snap and put that mental skill into the body of CJ Mosley.

[redrum52]

Elam is too obvious. Let's take the 2012 Ray Lewis ability to diagnose any offense and know where the play is going before the snap and put that mental skill into the body of CJ Mosley.

Thought about that but didn't want to waste it on a player already showing really good promise. Thought someone with the physical tools who maybe needs a little help in between the ears.

[PurpleCorsair]

To piggy back off of you, I would change Torrey's mentality towards his "success."  Dad made a good point the other day.  When Smitty gets a small gain, he hops up and celebrates the gain.  When Torrey got a 12 yard game this week but got shoe string tackled, he was visibly upset because he didn't break it for a bigger gain.  He needs to be happy with the short gains!  I've been calling for us to throw short slants to Torrey for the last two years, and I can't help but wonder if Torrey is unwilling to do much more than take deep gains.  Could be wrong, but my point is, Torrey needs to be happy with his short gains, positivity would be preferred.

 

 

I'd have to disagree. I was pleased with how displeased Torrey was after getting tackled. If he isn't tackled there it's probably a touchdown and he knew it. 

[Alexir]

Give Matt Elam a brain (in the sense of X's and O's, tape, and reading an offense). That would help a lot.

[3-4ravdef509]

I'd rather give Pitts a new hip

[3-4ravdef509]

I'd rather give Pitts a new hip

 

How is this minus 1????????????? lol

[The Raven]

How is this minus 1????????????? lol

 

Operative word of the thread: MENTAL

[3-4ravdef509]

Operative word of the thread: MENTAL

 

Yes, and I made a joke that instead of changing someone's mental stuff, I'd rather change the PHYSICAL stuff and give Pitta a new hip.

 

And it gets negged?

[JoeyFlex5]

bernard pierce would be my choice. injuries have hampered him, but i assume he is pretty healthy now, so im gonna point to his mental capacity. 

 

forsett has been amazing for us, and its not like we need another back to produce, but i think bernard pierce is our most talented back and i dont think any other back on our team is close to him in terms of potential, but his confidence is none, he doesnt seem to have his heart in it, and even though his physical abilities are just a match made in heaven for a kubiak system, he doesnt seem to mentally grasp it, he has bad vision of the cutback lanes and is too quick to run right into a dogpile when the very next gap on the backside is wide open, its frustrating, and if pierce could just see what the Oline gives him and take it, i think he would be stellar for us, if he could gain the vision and mental understanding of this system that forsett has, then our running game would just take over completely, we would be such a dominant ground team that joe would have to throw about 20 times per game and about half of the throws would be play action. 

 

hes a very frustrating player and if he could get his head in the playbook and really figure this out and play with some fire, that would push us from playoff contention to super bowl consideration, the value of 2 starting caliber RB's is a very underrated thing, forsett averaged 8 yards a carry vs the saints, he had a little over 20 carries i believe, now lets cut down on some of forsetts carries and give those to pierce, lets say both of them have 18 carries, and lets say pierce is over the mental hump and is averaging 8YPC like forsett did, that is a dominant night from a pair of back with contrasting running styles that are both well suited to our scheme, i hate the fact that when i see pierce in the game i get excited, then immediately disappointed, having a backfield group better than what we had in 08 is a very non-distant reality, we just need one of our 2 backups to figure it out mentally, im hoping pierce is that guy because he is immesnely talented.

[The Mom Gene]

Joey Gunsliger is in state 100% of the time.

Lololol... Joey Gunslinger.... That's good....

 

I think that not necessarily a player, Marshall Yanda,  but a group, like your O-Line could make a mental change in every game.  Lead by the guy... Marshall Yanda even....  A guy who can incite or push his guys.  Some are better at motivating than others...  but a mindset can change the entire game....  as we have seen of late.

 

______________________________________________________________

 

 

And that?????  ----v.   is someone telling you it was a little insensitive...

 

How is this minus 1????????????? lol

[Tank 92]

I think people make too much of Flacco not making protection calls. Manning is one of very, very few who do that. Even Brady doesn't handle calling protections, to my knowledge. At least he doesn't do it to the degree Manning does. I can't recall him ever making protection calls other than calling out the mike.

 

As for the player whose mental game I want to elevate, I can't pick between Elam or Torrey. 

 

Both are athletic and have the PHYSICAL ability to take over games. If Torrey had the nasty that Boldin has or the grit that Mason had, he'd be a top five guy. He has that kind of physical talent. If Elam was smarter, he could be the type of safety that strikes fear in the heart of receivers. And when you have a safety that does that, it does a lot for your defense. Instead he's decided to let Brooks take his spot and become that kind of safety.

 

In the end I'd probably lean toward Torrey. Pair that game breaking speed with some grit and some smarts and he'd be dominant.

Well, cross Torrey off the list for now. I hope he continues with the smart AND gritty play. Whatever it was that set him to task, he was a beast Monday night.

[Gordo52]

Gonna have to see that side of Torrey a few more times before I gain more confidence in him.

Although he definitely changed my expectations of him going forward this season. We saw what he's capable of... Let's hope it's consistent.

Offense would have deadly potential if he keeps that up.

[3-4ravdef509]

Lololol... Joey Gunslinger.... That's good....

I think that not necessarily a player, Marshall Yanda, but a group, like your O-Line could make a mental change in every game. Lead by the guy... Marshall Yanda even.... A guy who can incite or push his guys. Some are better at motivating than others... but a mindset can change the entire game.... as we have seen of late.

______________________________________________________________

And that????? ----v. is someone telling you it was a little insensitive...

In what world is that insensitive? Wishing another human being who has injury problems with a certain body part and brand new one?

This board sometimes