Ravens sign S Kendrick Lewis

[Whos_Up_Next]

Why are the contact details taking so long? Is this good or bad news?

[Purple_ICE 81]

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

I see this as the exact reason we signed him, to be a solid complimentary piece and potential starter who is an improvement over Stewart and Miles.

Realistically we would all like to see Matt Elam take a big step forward in 2015 and be the starter we used a 1st on so hopefully he works hard this year and strives toward improvement.

Terrence Brooks could be a solid piece to the puzzle too once he's healthy.

[gabefergy]

I was at that game and the patsie WRs RBs and TEs were terrified of Pollard. BTW they were also scared of Ellerbe who had the athleticism to drop and cover like a strong safety and layed viscous hits like the LB he was. That's why Sean Weatherspoon was my #1 free agent priority for the $$. Dayrl Smith is beginning to look like a LB that will be bout 35 by playoff time. Coverage took a big hit losing Ellerbe. A LB like Him Mosley Willis Bowman Weatherspoon Daryl Washington and Kuechly are tremendousy valuable to helping safety's and even cornerbacks in coverage for the targets they take from the QB and the fear they strike. Pollard hit like a LB and terrorized Bradys receivers. Most fans don't realize though that Ellerbe played a big role terrorizing the Patsies short to intermediate throws where Brady thrives. My opinion, To beat them we will need either an enforcer at safety or LB that can cover like a safety and strike fear in receivers over the middle where Bradys and other elite rythym QBs thrive.We can't let Gronk control the middle like he did or those little slots Edelman and Amendola running free unchallenged. Lewis I don't think is a game changing move. For the $$ I wanted Weatherspoon.

Daryl Smith is not young, but he was the 5th best ILB in coverage last season. Weatherspoon has been comparatively much less successful in coverage throughout his injury riddled career.

[Moderator 3]

Why are the contact details taking so long? Is this good or bad news?

Possibly because it's Saturday night and they'll waiting on league approval.

[ravensdan]

I have mixed feelings on this one. I need to see the contract details. How much did we give him and what's the guaranteed? First we don't give Will Hill a high tender and now we uncharacteristically sign a free agent to a long term deal, a player who wasn't cut. This isn't a typical Ravens signing.

It makes me wonder our future plans for guys like Hill, Brooks and Elam. Not that I mind us signing a safety. It was our biggest weakness.

I really don't think a high tender for Hill was necessary. He's extremely high risk for a year long suspension. Everyone seems to be forgetting how he was available to us.

Lewis. Ok I guess. I'm hoping he's a stop gap for Brooks.

[Wildabeast88]

Pollard was the Patriot killer blew out Baby's knee Welker concussion and Gronk's ankle. Please don't start with Ellerbe he was terrible without Ray next to him like all the other LBs that left for big money.and D Smith can still play and play well. I do agree e need someone to be an enforcer in the middle of the field

[The Mom Gene]

I think people are wrong on Moore possibly not signing here because of that play. There's no way a player will turn down a contract because of that.

Maybe it's just as simple as they didn't want him... 

[The Mom Gene]

Pollard was the Patriot killer blew out Baby's knee Welker concussion and Gronk's ankle. Please don't start with Ellerbe he was terrible without Ray next to him like all the other LBs that left for big money.and D Smith can still play and play well. I do agree e need someone to be an enforcer in the middle of the field

Yup... and Miami just traded him away to the Saints...I don't know how else to say it, other than one man doesn't make a team... you need that supporting cast.

[The Mom Gene]

Daryl Smith is not young, but he was the 5th best ILB in coverage last season. Weatherspoon has been comparatively much less successful in coverage throughout his injury riddled career.

Sincerely under rated last season...  a really good season masked by the Mosley performance.

[bMore Heathen]

I like the signing, provided it's not a big contract. Hopefully he can help clear up some of the comunication issues we have been having on the back end. Takes care of a hole before the draft, now we need a TE. I wonder why Gresham hasn't signed anywhere yet...

[Wildabeast88]

Well since Brooks will be on the PUP list to start the season, Lewis gives us a FS who can play right away solving that issue. Hill plays SS and as long as he doesn't get swiped by another team, I like our Safety situation. As for Brooks, my theory is he may end up being our Nickel corner when he returns giving us solid corner depth and being groomed to play corner opposite of Jimmy when Webb's contract no longer becomes affordable.

I don't think we will need Brooks at nickel CB we will get Asa back with Melvin. Barring a rash of injuries like last year lets leave CBs playing CB

[GrimCoconut]

Maybe it's just as simple as they didn't want him...

That's what I think.

[Sizzlebshu]

That's what I think.

The only valid justification for that (based on the contract) would be a medical issue. In terms of productivity, he would be a severe upgrade over what we have. 

[A Fish Called Yanda]

Hopefully he's not pulling a Jordan Cameron on us

[lgcs27288]

I have mixed feelings on this one. I need to see the contract details. How much did we give him and what's the guaranteed? First we don't give Will Hill a high tender and now we uncharacteristically sign a free agent to a long term deal, a player who wasn't cut. This isn't a typical Ravens signing.

It makes me wonder our future plans for guys like Hill, Brooks and Elam. Not that I mind us signing a safety. It was our biggest weakness.

We have already had 5 people signed by other teams, so that put us over the limit for comp picks, which is 4.

 

Sorry if this was already said, I was just perusing the thread trying to catch up.

 

I think it fits right in with what we do.

 

Ozzie is doing what he said he would do, he said he was going to start making the secondary a non issue like he did with the Oline. He signed an under the radar player instead of a big name, and he his from the Texans... Sounds like Oz to me

Edited March 15, 2015 by lgcs27288

[FlackAttack]

Here's nice interception he made vs the Colts

 

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-cant-miss-plays/0ap3000000443134/Wk-15-Can-t-Miss-Play-Not-a-Luck-y-duck

not very impressive. luck threw it right to him. easy interception, even announcer mentions it.

 

regardless, this is a decent pick up. anything better than elam.

[Static]

People calling for us to trade Elam are probably the same people that asked for us to trade Jimmy back before the 2013 season.

I agree that trading Elam is ridiculous , unless it's an offer you can't refuse, but Elam's and Jimmy's situations aren't very comparable IMHO.

Jimmy had injuries and didn't get the playing time to work out kinks and couldn't get in rhythm. Even at that at worst he was a little below average.

Elam, although healthy , hasn't shown the flash , the spark and the mean streak. When's the last time Elam laid somebody out , let alone didn't miss a tackle.

[tolucaraven]

Um no. Jimmy has athletic ability, speed and length. Elam has none of that and isn't very bright or can't tackle to boot. Trade him for a sixth, dump his 1 million salary, use that pick to draft the top punter, cut Koch and save about 4 million in cap space in the process. Then make moves with that freed up money.

[SomeCreepinaVan]

Ozzie and Harbaugh should swallow their pride and sign Pollard.

Edited March 15, 2015 by SomeCreepinaVan

[tolucaraven]

Pollard is old now and a SS coming off Achilles tear. No thanks. Even still he is better than Elam. Ozzie swallowed his pride over C Gradkowski after 1 year, I think he is doing the same with Elam now. We are seeing evidence of that.

[Pirate88]

Please don't mention Ellerbe with those guys. Just watch him in Miami. He looks god awful and they had an amazing d-line and some solid CBs. That being said you have a good point. We do need a coverage LB for the future with Brown's apparent bust and Smith's age.

Yeah I know he looked bad in Miami this season but he was awesome in 2012!! Don't forget the dolphins cut a pro bowl LB to sign Ellerbe cuz how fast and intense he played in that run. With that said I wouldn't want him back cuz he played bad and is turning 30. That's why I wanna go Weatherspoon or Washington. One of them was TE signing I want to see most. Especially the bargain Weatherspoon signed for. Washington could be had at a similar bargain.

I always knew LBs that are smart physical and with speed and cover skills are valuable but that spanking they gave them in foxboro really showed what physical 3 down hard hitting LBs could do for a defense. Having 2 Mosley's or Bowmans or Washingtons is like having 2 Justin Houston's!! SERIOUSLY?! Here's why we spanked the patsies. Ellerbe and Pillar were waiting and crashing down any receiver over the middle while Ray handled the shorter throws. All the raven Cornerbacks had to do was take away the sideline throws and deep. They funneled receivers to Pollard as well as Ellerbe cuz he had the speed to cover the intermediate part of the field like another Pollard. The cornerbacks took the other throws away and allowed them to run free inside where the safety's and Ellerbe were waiting to nail them if they tried making a catch. Ed Reed took away deep middle and occasionally crashed the sidelines and intermediate throws. The patsie receivers were not ready for timing throws cuz they needed extra time to try to shake Pollard and Ellerbe and make a safe catch. It threw Bradys timing off and their offense couldn't do anything. The xtra time the receivers were asking allowed Kruger to hit Brady all day. By end of quarter3 the patsies were so confused and scared they knew they couldn't win that game. The fans were yelling verbal assaults at the receivers and even Brady some. Then when the fans knew they were going to lose to the ravens they turned their verbal assaults at the ravens players calling them thugs. But they kept slandering their offense as well LOL. Gronk in that game wouldn't have made a difference!! The taller ravens cornerbacks would have doubled him and funneled him towards Pollard and Ellerbe as well. Pollard did just what u want your strong safety to do. Ellerbe having the speed to help take away the intermediate throws and striking fear in the patsie receivers like he was an hard hitting strong safety was huge in that game and playing like an extra hard hitting strong safety was what gave TE patsies more than they could handle. They were so terrified of pollard and Ellerbe on intermediate throws and Ray on shorter throws they were scared stupid and confused. Ellerbe was a huge help to the cornerbacks and safetys. The patsies had no answer for that LB playing like an xtra SS

Having another physical 3 down LB the caliber of Mosley would be soooo valuable to helping cornerbacks and safety's defending throws. It would have an equal impact of adding an edge rusher like Justin Houston.

[Pirate88]

People calling for us to trade Elam are probably the same people that asked for us to trade Jimmy back before the 2013 season.

Jimmy often flashed the talent to be great. Elam is just terrible.

[FlackAttack]

Jimmy often flashed the talent to be great. Elam is just terrible.

this.. a fish called yonda made a silly post. you cant even compare the two even during jimmys "bad years"

[codizzle]

Jimmy often flashed the talent to be great. Elam is just terrible.

Wrong.. Elam has shown a few flashes of great play..

More has been asked of him in first two years than was asked of Jimmy

[sflegend89]

I don't even fault Ozzie for making the Elam pick. I watch film on a lot of draft prospects every year because for me it makes the draft a lot more enjoyable to be knowledgeable about who's available and what kind of potential each player offers. For instance last year I had ODB rated higher than Watkins and Evans so for the most part my intuition is fairly good.  I was impressed a lot by Elam, he was a very solid tackler and really flashed on film. Even when he was introduced the first thing Ozzie talked about was his tackling. 

 

I have absolutely no idea what happened to the Elam I saw on film and I'm sure Ozzie had a similar sentiment. I mean he went from a great open field tackler in college to a mediocre tackler in the NFL.. it's baffling. Personally I think Elam hasn't mentally devoted himself to reaching his potential, he works hard in the weight room but doesn't put in the time watching film and learning. I think the physical tools are there, he just needs to be mentally more engaged with his play, 

 

Elam's best game to date was the "Old Megaron" game. The magnifying glass was on him that whole week, he had to get his head all the way in the game or he was going to get embarrassed if he didn't perform. Matt looked like that player we saw at Florida knifing through the backfield and throwing Reggie Bush down for a loss.. he even got the game sealing pick to close out the game. Elam's problem on the field is all mental, he needs to be dialed in like that all the time and not just when the spotlight is on him.

Edited March 15, 2015 by sflegend89

[FlackAttack]

I don't even fault Ozzie for making the Elam pick. I watch film on a lot of draft prospects every year because for me it makes the draft a lot more enjoyable to be knowledgeable about who's available and what kind of potential each player offers. For instance last year I had ODB rated higher than Watkins and Evans so for the most part my intuition is fairly good.  I was impressed a lot by Elam, he was a very solid tackler and really flashed on film. Even when he was introduced the first thing Ozzie talked about was his tackling. 

 

I have absolutely no idea what happened to the Elam I saw on film and I'm sure Ozzie had a similar sentiment. I mean he went from a great open field tackler in college to a mediocre tackler in the NFL.. it's baffling. Personally I think Elam hasn't mentally devoted himself to reaching his potential, he works hard in the weight room but doesn't put in the time watching film and learning. I think the physical tools are there, he just needs to be mentally more engaged with his play, 

 

Elam's best game to date was the "Old Megaron" game. The magnifying glass was on him that whole week, he had to get his head all the way in the game or he was going to get embarrassed if he didn't perform. Matt looked like that player we saw at Florida knifing through the backfield and throwing Reggie Bush down for a loss.. he even got the game sealing pick to close out the game. Elam's problem on the field is all mental, he needs to be dialed in like that all the time and not just when the spotlight is on him.

how in the world do you know how much time he spends watching film and learning? do you know him personally? are you a member of the ravens coaching staff?

 

im not a fan of matt elam or anything but thats just a ridiculous statement to make, unless you know him personally. for all you know he could be in the film room 24-7.

[Ravenseconbeast]

He was a WR/KR in high school...

HS doesnt mean much.

QB can turn into a DT by nfl

[cobrajet]

Well we really did not have the cap space to give McCourtey a huge deal and we needed some depth after losing Stewart. He did not have a bad season in Texas, so if we got him cheap, I am ok with the signing. Maybe tomorrow I will be the day I get excited about a signing

[Dr. Kelley]

Absolutely... I'd like to go back and see how many flags Pollard took for Personal Foul or Unnecessary roughness...

Don't even act like you weren't cheering when pollard laid out ridley in the afccg. That turned the tide of the game and came with the territory of how pollard played.

[Dr. Kelley]

Um no. Jimmy has athletic ability, speed and length. Elam has none of that and isn't very bright or can't tackle to boot. Trade him for a sixth, dump his 1 million salary, use that pick to draft the top punter, cut Koch and save about 4 million in cap space in the process. Then make moves with that freed up money.

Problem is, there is enough tape to prove elam is worthless now. We could maybe trade him for a new washing machine at the castle but that's about it. Dude better rock this year or he is washed out of the league.