Ravens sign S Kendrick Lewis

[alkutbay]

He played decent last year, he's definitely an improvement to Stewart/Miles/Elam. He led the Texans in tackles, which is something we really needed improvement with. Being optimistic helps too! I'm excited for this signing

[jazz1988]

ok all I'm saying is next year if this guy is a starter expect to be unhappy if you expect better than pollard or ihedigbo but delighted if better than mr eat greedy..mr 17th best player on our board matt elam

 

Well Pollard or Ihedigbo never were free safeties. There responsibilities in our defense will be different from what we will ask Kendrick to do. 

[Sami84]

He played decent last year, he's definitely an improvement to Stewart/Miles/Elam. He led the Texans in tackles, which is something we really needed improvement with. Being optimistic helps too! I'm excited for this signing

 

Ok but what are you expecting. If average is best case scenario then fine..of you expect a good FS then i suggest you hope someone else comes in.

[The Mom Gene]

Well Pollard or Ihedigbo never were free safeties. There responsibilities in our defense will be different from what we will ask Kendrick to do. 

So why compare them?

[Sami84]

Well Pollard or Ihedigbo never were free safeties. There responsibilities in our defense will be different from what we will ask Kendrick to do. 

 

Then why not just put will hill at FS and put miles  SS. 

 

Will HIll is at FS better than Lewis and Miles is better than Lewis at SS

[redrum52]

As with all players I'll withhold judgment until I see them play on our team and our system. Sometimes a change of scenery and/or system can do wonders and be an improvement for some players. Just cause a player sucked on one team, doesn't mean he will on another team.

Exactly. I like the move if even only for depth. I'd much rather Brooks earn the opening and keep Kendricks as a back up.

[jbwnbf]

I'll take it. Needed to address this position this off season due to Elam's bad year and Brooks knee recovery. Not flashy but typical Ravens move. Just need a good to average player and hopefully people can be healthy this year. Being healthy alone should solve a lot of the issues in the secondary last year.

[Guest]

We made a horrific mistake releasing Pollard, its' caused nothing but havoc. 

 

We also didn't train up a viable Free Safety. We cut our starting safeties from the Championship Team simultaneously. Our team improved last year, but we still had glaring secondary deficiencies. Now we are trying to cover them. But this whole argument about Free vs Strong Safety is highly deceiving. Your safeties can cover and tackle or they cannot. Both have to do it.  At least Elam has proven there is no difference between Free and Strong safety in that he was horrible at both spots. Can Elam still play?  Yeah maybe so, in a nickel package or similar, but we are still scrambling because we drafted him to replace Pollard, who was better and cheaper than about anyone we have fielded back there since. 

 

Egos in the Front Office can be horrible things for a football team.

[PurpleCity5]

Solid Signing. Like it.

[Wisdom]

Good pickup!  

[Corvus]

If you don't have time to skim this whole thread I'll give you the summary: Sami84 says Lewis is a terrible safety and that's all you need to know since they have the inside scoop while working in the front office...oh wait...

[jazz1988]

Then why not just put will hill at FS and put miles  SS. 

 

Will HIll is at FS better than Lewis and Miles is better than Lewis at SS

 

 

  Will Hill is versatile enough to play free safety and strong safety. Allowing Hill to play strong safety  gives The Ravens defense a better chance to match up a big safety against those big/athletic tightends like Jimmy Graham and Gronk. There were moments where The Ravens had Will Hill cover near the line scrimmage and who ever was covering deep as the free safety messed up big time.

 

It was quite evident against The Patriots where I believe Will Hill was covering Gronk near the line of scrimmage while Darian Stewalt had single high coverage responsibilities and Tom Brady went for a touch down pass to Brandon Lafell. I like Jeromy Miles but obviously the coaches don't believe he's capable of being a full time starter and if they did do you really think they would sign Kendrick when Miles is alot more cheaper? 

 

What have you really seen from Miles to say he's better than Kendrick? Kendrick has been nothing but  a free safety for the majority of his career and has never played strong safety so the idea that Miles would be a better strong safety than Kendrick doesn't make sense. Do you honestly feel confident that Miles is fully capable of covering those more athletic tight ends? You shouldn't and if Will Hill has come in and do it do you really feel Miles will do find with deep coverage responsibilities?

[Torreysmithforthewin]

Maybe he'll break out and become amazing or something I don't know??? Lol

[jazz1988]

We made a horrific mistake releasing Pollard, its' caused nothing but havoc. 

 

We also didn't train up a viable Free Safety. We cut our starting safeties from the Championship Team simultaneously. Our team improved last year, but we still had glaring secondary deficiencies. Now we are trying to cover them. But this whole argument about Free vs Strong Safety is highly deceiving. Your safeties can cover and tackle or they cannot. Both have to do it.  At least Elam has proven there is no difference between Free and Strong safety in that he was horrible at both spots. Can Elam still play?  Yeah maybe so, in a nickel package or similar, but we are still scrambling because we drafted him to replace Pollard, who was better and cheaper than about anyone we have fielded back there since. 

 

Egos in the Front Office can be horrible things for a football team.

 

Actually Ihedigbo was a  better cover safety than Pollard and it wasn't penalty machine like Pollard was. He overall gave us the same thing Pollard did but was  just a upgrade in the coverage department and he was cheaper. 

[jazz1988]

So why compare them?

 

I have no clue honestly.

[balfan23]

I saw that the deal is a 12million 3yr deal

Perhaps you are referring to Rahim Moore?

 

Details of Kendrick Lewis' contract have not been reported. 

[FlocksGottaFeed]

Just a great signing and will go a long way to solidifying our D backfield. Another Lewis in Purple & Black works for me.

 

Ozzie plays chess not checkers and nobody plays it better.

[pep_meister]

3 years 4m please.

[Runnin Raven]

Seems like a solid plug and play starter.  He's certainly proved he can tackle,lol. 

[PolishRifle]

I really hope this motivates Elam and he becomes a solid starter for us. I'm still rooting for the guy.

Edited March 14, 2015 by PolishRifle

[pep_meister]

I really hope this motivates Elam and he becomes a solid starter for us. I'm still rooting for the guy.

hope this motivates elam to retire.

[ravensnick]

I really hope this motivates Elam and he becomes a solid starter for us. I'm still rooting for the guy.

 At this point I want Elam to just flash a bit so we can trade him for anything.

[SemiHolsen]

hope this motivates elam to retire.

i would rather hope it motivates him to play significantly better  

 

regarding the signing... i really don't know much about this guy, last season stats look good... atleast he can step in while brooks gets healthy and if he prooves himself, even better

[JoeyFlex5]

solid signing, i dont think it blows anyones socks off, but with a top flight SS in will hill and a returning jimmy, our secondary looks less weak. lewis is certainly a better FS than darian stewart or matt elam. 

 

it doesnt suddenly give us an elite secondary or anything close to it, but we at least have the tools to not give up 14 point leads twice in one game or give up a 21 point lead in the 4th quarter.

[Militant X 1]

Don't know the dude so I hope he pans out on the back end.

[cursona pirate]

We will see what he brings.

 

I'll leave my thoughts in one comment instead of saying the same thing over and over in multiple posts.

[balfan23]

I really hope this motivates Elam and he becomes a solid starter for us. I'm still rooting for the guy.

No one is thrilled with Elam's play at this point, but I don't see any sense in giving up on his now. Give him one more year to prove himself. He'll cost money to cut, so throwing him out for a spare part doesn't really make sense. 

 

I'm just hoping he can get some consistency in where he is expected to play and contribute, rather than moving him all over the place. I've not given up on him, but he's definitely on his last chance. 

[balfan23]

Hopefully we're on an upward trajectory from Huff to Stewart to Lewis on low-level FA pickups to play the FS position. We need this one to stick. 

[Sizzlebshu]

It's gonna be nice having a safety who can tackle. Also our history with former Texans has been pleasant. It's a good move since it means less relying on Elam. Hopefully he and Hill mesh well together.

Didn't he miss 14 tackles

[Sizzlebshu]

Fwiw we don't ha e a true da on the roster. Lewishas upside but is the type of guy you sign to a 1 ye prove it deal rather than 3 no matter the terms