Flacco said...they don't need to draft a WR early.

[757RavensFan]

I really hope this is part of a smoke screen to throw other teams off. I also respect the fact that he has faith in the guys left, but come on Joe this is probably the best draft in your career that Oz can get you a true # 1 reciever. Hopefully, behind close doors your saying something different to Oz and Co.

"Obviously, without Torrey now, the one thing we probably don't have as much of is that speed, is that one guy who can stretch the field," Flacco said Saturday night at his charity event. "But I'm not going to say we need it. I think we got really good guys and I think we're good with who we have."

"It's that where we go, that's where we go," Flacco said of taking a wide receiver early. "I trust these guys to get somebody good. I think we've got a good group and we are good with where we are."

http://espn.go.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/post/_/id/19543/joe-flacco-doesnt-think-ravens-need-to-draft-a-wide-receiver

[Freddyx24x]

I think it's definitely more to "show" that he has faith in what we have now. He's obviously not going to say he doesn't feel safe with our receivers. I, for one am a little unsure on how i feel about any of the receivers in this draft. I think we missed out on last year, but Oz always seems to surprise me in one way or another, so we'll see...

[Ravenslifer]

 

 

What's he going to say though?  "My current WRs aren't enough and we need more help?"  He'd never throw teammates under the bus like that.  He did in fact point out that we could use some speed (as much as some unrealistic people on this board have tried to claim Aiken was almost as fast as Torrey last year [while at the same time calling him Boldin-light, mind you]) and therefore we already have a field-stretcher on the offense.  Joe's just saying, in a nice way, what we all know - that this WR corps as presently constructed is not complete and will not get the job done against the Patriots or other playoff teams.

[stampedehero]

I really hope this is part of a smoke screen to throw other teams off. I also respect the fact that he has faith in the guys left, but come on Joe this is probably the best draft in your career that Oz can get you a true # 1 reciever. Hopefully, behind close doors your saying something different to Oz and Co.

"Obviously, without Torrey now, the one thing we probably don't have as much of is that speed, is that one guy who can stretch the field," Flacco said Saturday night at his charity event. "But I'm not going to say we need it. I think we got really good guys and I think we're good with who we have."

"It's that where we go, that's where we go," Flacco said of taking a wide receiver early. "I trust these guys to get somebody good. I think we've got a good group and we are good with where we are."

http://espn.go.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/post/_/id/19543/joe-flacco-doesnt-think-ravens-need-to-draft-a-wide-receiver

Ha.  A smoke screen.

[Clmraven]

I really hope all of this talk is just a huge smokescreen because if we don't get a decent receiver, we'll probably see a passing game similar to 2013.

[stampedehero]

What's he going to say though?  "My current WRs aren't enough and we need more help?"  He'd never throw teammates under the bus like that.  He did in fact point out (as much as some unrealistic people on this board have tried to claim Aiken was almost as fast as Torrey last year [while at the same time calling him Boldin-light, mind you]) and therefore we already have a field-stretcher on the offense.  Joe's just saying, in a nice way, what we all know - that this WR corps as presently constructed is not complete and will not get the job done against the Patriots or other playoff teams.

I think last years' playoff team lacked secondary consistency rather than WR shortcomings. That Pats game had plenty of points and the last score was acquired over our secondary

[757RavensFan]

What's he going to say though? "My current WRs aren't enough and we need more help?"

Something as simple as, "Whatever Ozzie and the front office decides to do during the draft to help our offense and ultimately makes us a better team, I'm all for!"

[Ravenseconbeast]

We dont need another receiver. The playoff game showed we are blowing games from bad secondary.

That with ngata leaving..secondary(safety.slot corner),olineman, and a solid NT might help via draft

1st round ofc is absolutely a BPA. W/E playmaker with the best value.

[Ravenslifer]

I think last years' playoff team lacked secondary consistency rather than WR shortcomings. That Pats game had plenty of points and the last score was acquired over our secondary

 

But we had Torrey in that game.  I think we will miss the speed if we don't draft a player to replace that element.  I agree though, even with Jimmy around long-term it would be a good idea to draft a CB who could potentially start next year if need be.

[Clmraven]

We dont need another receiver. The playoff game showed we are blowing games from bad secondary.

That with ngata leaving..secondary(safety.slot corner),olineman, and a solid NT might help via draft

1st round ofc is absolutely a BPA. W/E playmaker with the best value.

I think receiver comes before safety oline and NT (in terms of need)because all of those picks would be depth we are set at oline and NT and have a ton of safety's but a receiver drafted in the first 2 rounds has a very good chance to start.

[JoeyFlex5]

i wouldnt call it a smokescreen, id call it joe being joe. laid back, never panics, never worries, lets everyone else do their job and he just does all he can do to help us win. if we dont address wr at all, he'll go into next season saying "lets do this" and work with what hes got and will think nothing of it. 

 

joe would never throw his teammates under the bus. and he would never make a stink about what he has to work with, he just goes out and does his job.

[JoeyFlex5]

We dont need another receiver. The playoff game showed we are blowing games from bad secondary.

That with ngata leaving..secondary(safety.slot corner),olineman, and a solid NT might help via draft

1st round ofc is absolutely a BPA. W/E playmaker with the best value.

we lost our longtime #2 and we dont have a #2 quality wr to replace him, our #1 can be getting a visit from father time any day now, and the last receiver we brought along cant stay on the field due to injuries. for now, we need DEPTH in the secondary, someone who does a respectable job if a starter goes down, for now we have 2 starting caliber cb's and if they stay healthy we are fine there, we have a 3rd corner who can do a respectable job in the nickel role. depth can be found later on. 

 

i dont understand how we need a NT, its a 2 down position, one that already gets rotated often in favor of more athletic penetrators on pass plays, and we already have one of the top emerging NT's in the league, 3-4DE is a need, NT is nowhere near a need. 

 

stop kidding yourself, our wr corps is in shambles, we havent had a group this bad since the harbs era started, we also have a huge question mark at TE considering crockett gilmore excels as a blocker and may have a hard time becoming the security blanket. if we dont address wr and/or te then we are looking at a long ugly season on offense, one filled with players not getting open, dropping perfectly placed passes, zero deep game, and miscommunications.

[January J]

i wouldnt call it a smokescreen, id call it joe being joe. laid back, never panics, never worries, lets everyone else do their job and he just does all he can do to help us win. if we dont address wr at all, he'll go into next season saying "lets do this" and work with what hes got and will think nothing of it.

joe would never throw his teammates under the bus. and he would never make a stink about what he has to work with, he just goes out and does his job.

couldn't have said it better myself. Joe cool.

[52520Andrew]

I seriously doubt Flacco would just straight up say that we need a receiver but it is interesting to note

[hawkprey]

I agree with Joe. He won't say it but he trusted all our other receivers way more than Torrey. I'm sure that had to do with why we were okay with letting him walk.

[Stevin]

no wr in raund 1

[The Mom Gene]

Being in Central Florida myself, from my daughter's Alma Mater....  What do you guys think of this guy?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW0qBVVND-U

[JO_75]

Can Thursday please get here already? Media making news out of nothing, like they always do. Did they expect Flacco to trash his receivers and say none of them are good? Plus don't you think Ozzie has assured Joe he'll get him a couple new weapons(WR and TE) in this draft? So Joe isn't going to blow our game plan for the draft by saying yeah they are going to get a receiver or TE. Then teams will jump ahead of us and take our guy, etc. 

[redrum52]

I feel like a this point it's not a smokescreen. I feel like they did this last year and we didn't puck a wr til the 7th round. The truth is, we might see the same thing again where we go CB, pass rusher or Rb, and then te or something in the 2nd. I think they hold all those positions above wr at this point.

Also, it's hard to see on tv, but Aiken, Camp and Brown were on the field more than people would think, even though it seemed more often on running downs. The FO might be serious about what they're saying, especially having picked up a burner in FA.

[balfan23]

What's he going to say though?  "My current WRs aren't enough and we need more help?"  He'd never throw teammates under the bus like that.  He did in fact point out (as much as some unrealistic people on this board have tried to claim Aiken was almost as fast as Torrey last year [while at the same time calling him Boldin-light, mind you]) and therefore we already have a field-stretcher on the offense.  Joe's just saying, in a nice way, what we all know - that this WR corps as presently constructed is not complete and will not get the job done against the Patriots or other playoff teams.

Exactly - what is he going to say ... I wouldn't call it a "smokescreen" which implies he knows we want to go WR early and wants to throw people off. It is just sports-speak. A player should never say anything publicly that calls out other players currently on the roster or implies that weaknesses exist.

 

Smart players leave the job of addressing weaknesses to the FO. They may express their views behind closed doors, but not in public. 

[PurpleCity5]

We don't need a WR, we have plenty of those. We need a playmaker, whether it's a WR or a TE. I prefer it to be a playmaker on WR as this draft is deep with them as apposed to TEs. The Ravens traditionally throw smokescreens and aren't interested in revealing their draft plans. I take everything that has to do with the draft with a grain of salt before April 30th. 

 

My ideal target at WR for the Ravens are Devin Smith and Philip Dorsett, I think those are the guys F.O will target in this draft. We're missing that deep speed that would complete this WR corps. 

[thieverycorporation]

We don't need a WR, we have plenty of those. We need a playmaker, whether it's a WR or a TE. I prefer it to be a playmaker on WR as this draft is deep with them as apposed to TEs. The Ravens traditionally throw smokescreens and aren't interested in revealing their draft plans. I take everything that has to do with the draft with a grain of salt before April 30th. 

 

My ideal target at WR for the Ravens are Devin Smith and Philip Dorsett, I think those are the guys F.O will target in this draft. We're missing that deep speed that would complete this WR corps. 

I really hope so. I mean really, really hope so. Prayer like……….

[cowsxgoxmoo78]

did anyone else read the title in a bobby boucher voice?

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

The thing is everyone always concentrates on the first round in the draft but the real players are taken in the mid rounds from round 3  to round 5 then developed by the team. I said it before and am saying it again I want 2 DB's 2 WR's and a TE' thats half of the draft 10 picks then use the rest of the draft picks to fill out the roster.

[Ravenseconbeast]

Can Thursday please get here already? Media making news out of nothing, like they always do. Did they expect Flacco to trash his receivers and say none of them are good? Plus don't you think Ozzie has assured Joe he'll get him a couple new weapons(WR and TE) in this draft? So Joe isn't going to blow our game plan for the draft by saying yeah they are going to get a receiver or TE. Then teams will jump ahead of us and take our guy, etc.

"Yeah, I mean I wouldn't mind having more weapons, why not?". Would that be considered trashing his receiver?

[stampedehero]

But we had Torrey in that game.  I think we will miss the speed if we don't draft a player to replace that element.  I agree though, even with Jimmy around long-term it would be a good idea to draft a CB who could potentially start next year if need be.

My friend  Its' a mighty tough choice.  If Strong is there at 26 and drafted he could work Daniels' routes and Butler or Aiken/Brown could be legitimate field stretchers. 

[hawkprey]

In case anyone's interested (no one is), I came up with some stats. The lowest for each is in red.

 

Torrey Smith = TS

Steve Smith Sr. = SS   

Marlon Brown = MB

Kamar Aiken = KA
Michael Campanaro = MC

 

Receptions per target - who comes up with the ball?:

TS = 53.36%  (49/92)

SS = 58.96%  (79/134)

MB = 77.41%  (24/31)

KA = 72.72%  (24/33)

MC = 77.78% (7/9)

 

Targets per snap - who do we trust?:

TS = 11.67%  (92/788)

SS = 16.30%  (134/882)

MB = 8.03%   (31/375)

KA = 12.09%  (33/273)

MC = 13.85%  (9/65)

 

Receptions per snap - who comes through?:

TS = 6.22%   (49/788)

SS = 9.61%   (79/822)

MB = 6.40%  (24/375)

KA = 8.79%   (24/273)

MC = 10.77% (7/65)

 

Yards per snap - who's productive?:

TS = 0.973  (767/788)

SS = 1.298  (1067/822)

MB = 0.680  (255/375)

KA = 0.978   (267/273)

MC = 1.569  (102/65)

 

% of yards after catch - who adds more?:

TS = 21.25%  (163/767)

SS = 32.15%  (343/1067)

MB = 39.21% (100/255)

KA = 22.47%  (60/267)

MC = 20.59% (21/102)

 

In other words, if Marlon Brown didn't come in to run block so often, and Camp had 1 more yard after the catch, Torrey would be our lowest ranked in all of these categories. Still, of 5 receivers, Torrey is in the bottom two in all of these - and I'm sure Jacoby would join him if I cared enough. 

 

Even if we assume Torrey had to go against the #1 CB every game (he didn't), this is not what you'd expect out of your best receiver. I love Torrey and Jacoby as Ravens but on the field they weren't as productive as the rest of the squad. That's why we don't need to add a receiver. We're adding efficiency.

[redrum52]

In case anyone's interested (no one is), I came up with some stats. The lowest for each is in red.

Torrey Smith = TS

Steve Smith Sr. = SS

Marlon Brown = MB

Kamar Aiken = KA

Michael Campanaro = MC

Receptions per target - who comes up with the ball?:

TS = 53.36% (49/92)

SS = 58.96% (79/134)

MB = 77.41% (24/31)

KA = 72.72% (24/33)

MC = 77.78% (7/9)

Targets per snap - who do we trust?:

TS = 11.67% (92/788)

SS = 16.30% (134/882)

MB = 8.03% (31/375)

KA = 12.09% (33/273)

MC = 13.85% (9/65)

Receptions per snap - who comes through?:

TS = 6.22% (49/788)

SS = 9.61% (79/822)

MB = 6.40% (24/375)

KA = 8.79% (24/273)

MC = 10.77% (7/65)

Yards per snap - who's productive?:

TS = 0.973 (767/788)

SS = 1.298 (1067/822)

MB = 0.680 (255/375)

KA = 0.978 (267/273)

MC = 1.569 (102/65)

% of yards after catch - who adds more?:

TS = 21.25% (163/767)

SS = 32.15% (343/1067)

MB = 39.21% (100/255)

KA = 22.47% (60/267)

MC = 20.59% (21/102)

In other words, if Marlon Brown didn't come in to run block so often, and Camp had 1 more yard after the catch, Torrey would be our lowest ranked in all of these categories. Still, of 5 receivers, Torrey is in the bottom two in all of these - and I'm sure Jacoby would join him if I cared enough.

Even if we assume Torrey had to go against the #1 CB every game (he didn't), this is not what you'd expect out of your best receiver. I love Torrey and Jacoby as Ravens but on the field they weren't as productive as the rest of the squad. That's why we don't need to add a receiver. We're adding efficiency.

Good stuff.

My only counter will be, did Torrey open up space for those other guys to succeed though? Guess we'll see, and if it's just speed, that can be replaced. Regardless, hope he does well except against us.

[Inqui]

I certainly wouldn't be opposed to another WR, but personally I think our need for one is more than a little overblown.

Give me a potent OL over a string of great receivers any day. I back Joe and I back the line enough to make it all happen, even with what we've got.

Another TE is a little more pressing imo, but I guess we'll see what happens once the season starts.

[Rav'n Maniac]

We can all say that we are losing speed and that deep threat with Smith gone. We are also losing 11 td's and 12 dpi's for 258 yds. There is no one wr presently on this team that will make all that up. Have to go to the draft and hope to find someone to even come close and that isn't even guaranteed.