2015 preview

[RaRaRavens]

Hey fans!

The point of this topic is to discuss our outlooks for 2015: what are our reasons for optimism/pessimism, who should we cut, who should we bring in, and in general what to look forward to.

 

Just a small request, if you don't agree with someone, don't neg them but rather reply them with your own opinion. It's not a place to bash other people but to discuss our outlooks for the next season to make it easier to cope with the way this one ended.

 

Here are my takes.

 

On the + side:

• Kubiak will return - we haven't had much stability and continuity at our coordinators for a while now. Unless there will be a sucker punch by Pees getting a HC gig somewhere (which I don't think will happen), then we have the same talented coaching staff returning which definitely gives the team an edge.
• Smith Sr. returns - I don't think he will have as an impressive season in 2015 as he did this season, but he will give us invaluable experience and leadership and can be great go-to guy for Flacco. Smith Sr. returning brings me to my next point.
• WR corpis - there should be some great potential for us having one of the best groups in the leage, if we can sign Torrey Smith. With Smith Sr. returning and young guys like Aiken, Campanaro and Brown developing more and more to give us some dangerous threat, I think we only need Smith back and we're golden at WR. Also, should we get Smith back as well, look for him to have a career season next year, because like he said himself, he didn't do as good as he wanted to this year so he has a little bit of a chip on his shoulder.
• Healthy starters - Jimmy Smith will be back, maybe Pitta can continue playing at some level, Lewis-Moore will be back any maybe can stay healthy, Cox will be back. I know there are always bad surprises with injuries, but this year was madness. We would be very unlucky to encounter an injury bug to this extent 2 years in a row.

On the - side:

• Forsett/Smith dilemma - I've said it before, I don't see us getting both of those guys back. It would need to big of a sacrifice in other areas. I think Smith will be a priority since Forsett will not be a long term solution. I think FO will have him test the market before offering a 2 year extension with a reasonable price. Unfortunately I think someone will overpay him.
• FA losses - we are bound to have them, we can not bring back everyone. They are somewhat unexpected so I won't speculate who it might be, but we are bound to lose some of our guys.
• 2015 schedule - we will not have as easy opponents in 2015. We will be better team ourselves as well, but it would still be nice to face against another NFC South.

Question marks:

• Salary cap and contract restructuring - the business side of things is always uncomfortable and a bit uncertain. Ngata's contract is the biggest problem this year. They definitely will try to restructure it, but if he doesn't agree I think we might lose him. We have a lot of depth so we don't necessarily need him, but he will get paid at least the same somewhere else. I think this might get a bit awkward and I would be surprised to see him leave. We'll just have to wait and see.
• The secondary - They were awful. Even though they started to gel a bit at the end they still laid a stinking egg at New England. Are we willing to admit, that Elam is not able to cover anyone and is MAYBE only capable of playing SS and punishing RB-s and WR-s over the middle. We definitely need some rebuilding at that position but the results are nothing more than a big "?".

[RaRaRavens]

Add another small + to that list:
Steelers lost Dick LeBeau. I'm sure they will find another DC more than capable of making our lives hard, but LeBeau is a true football genius. Even though he wasn't as impressive in latter seasons, he was still able to squeeze much out of their ageing defense. But finding a new DC for a defense that's still in somewhat of a transition is always hard and it takes time to gel. Could make our lives just a little bit easier the next time we meet.

[JoeyFlex5]

im not sold on forsett as a long term option, im not sold on any RB as a long term option, after seeing what unfolded after ray rice signed, i just dont believe in giving blockbuster deals to rb's, i say we take one in the draft such as yeldon in the 2nd, thats the best value i can find at RB and im hoping he has the vision to play in a kubiak offense, he has rookie of the year potential playing behind our o-line as long as he has the vision for it. 

 

if you can sign torrey for #2 money, then do it, if he wants #1 money, let him test the market, he isnt worth #1 money, especially after seeing him give up so many times this year. 

 

our o-line is intact for a little while, so thats great news. 

 

choice is between keeping ngata or re-signing mcphee on defense i think, it would be bittersweet either way, not sure how i feel about either of them since they both have had injury issues and seemingly a lack of motivation before this year. 

 

re-sign jimmy smith at all costs and its that simple. 

 

cut your losses with pitta no matter how painful it is, he is done, keep daniels for another year since this TE class is just horrid, one will come to us sooner or later. 

 

hopefully we can get a WR in the draft this year, doubt it though. with kubiak staying, we can build on something with camp in the slot, and a combination of smitty/brown/aiken on the outside, whatever works, i havent checked the WR FA class yet, but i am saying this with the idea that torrey doesnt re-sign. 

 

lock down will hill, find out what works for the other safety position, i honestly think we have the solution to both safety positions in house, and its all a matter of the learning process. we will find a gem at cb like we always have, melvin could have a starting spot on this team next year, webb needs to stay healthy and be our slot corner from day 1 and needs to play at 100% for his contract to be worthwhile. with jimmy and melvin playing corner i feel ok, i just hope webb gets himself together to man the #3 spot. 

 

make up ur mind with arthur brown, id like to see what he is capable of because he didnt look bad in coverage his rookie year, he was flying around and always on the ball, but he got lost in the crowd quite a bit on run plays, im hoping he finally gets on the field and plays lights out and proves the doubters wrong, he was one of my favorite draft picks in years. 

 

continuity with the coaching staff will have this team back in the promised land, i can feel it. ravens will be in super bowl 50.

[RaRaRavens]

 

continuity with the coaching staff will have this team back in the promised land, i can feel it. ravens will be in super bowl 50.

 I sure like the sound of that! 

[52N19]

there is no dominate team in teh AFC. with manning fading you can take the broncos out of the mix. the best two teams played in foxboro last sunday and the ravens were playing wiht one hand behind their back due to thier secondary. getting to the SB is tough but if the ravens make a few moves i think they have a great chance to get back to the big show.

[1/28/01]

19-0

[ludy51]

19-0

38-0 next 2 years

[DomMcRaven]

38-0 next 2 years

76-0 next 4 years

[ludy51]

76-0 next 4 years

100-0 until we lose week 6 to the UK jaguars