[News] Eisenberg: Ravens Find Value After Other Teams Make Mistakes

[BR News]

Teams littered the first round with possible busts-in-the making, enabling Baltimore to swoop in.

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[RRRRRavens]

It looks like we loaded up on exciting players for the offense. But we still didn't do much for the CB position. I predict this year the scores on our games will be high - on both sides of the ball. Hopefully our score will always be higher.

[RavensFootballFan]

I agree, this is a terrific class of players the Ravens drafted. They also got a terrific class of undrafted players. I am really happy with the job Ozzie and personnel has accomplished. It looks so good on paper. Hope this year's class will have a few or handful of players who will be great players for the Ravens for a long time. Can't wait to see how good they are on the field. Best of luck to this year's draftees.

[Crusader]

"You don't know whats in the pickle jar until you get the lid off" Foghorn Leghorn

[n#7]

Congrats Oz & Co. This poster is satisfied with the picks, esp. Perriman. That was an absolute must as the team has a good group of receivers, albeit possession types. Hopefully, it doesn't take the young man too long to learn the system and step into the offense. Just his presence on the field will cause the opponents D to back off some and probably double cover if he starts out quickly.

[03tsal]

Great draft for Ozzie once again. I don't feel the CB position has been met however. The Ravens will have to bring in a vet who is cut from another team b4 the season begins.

[reed20fence]

Im not too down on the whole CB high pick thing. Jimmy isn't out forever and our woes at that spot were due to injuries and lack of quality depth. Tray Walker is a guy who, in spite of playing for a smaller school, has a larger frame 6"3' than Jimmy, does a more aggressive job of jamming on the line than Jimmy did at Colorado, and like Webby, was a free safety his freshman year and converted to Corner, so he's not afraid to step up and take a downhill running back head on at the line of scrimmage.

All that said, there's always the June 1st cuts...

[RavensFootballFan]

It looks like we loaded up on exciting players for the offense. But we still didn't do much for the CB position. I predict this year the scores on our games will be high - on both sides of the ball. Hopefully our score will always be higher.

 

I am not sure if we needed to stock up on CB any more than we now have because most of the better players were hurt last year and all are expected to be fully healthy this upcoming season. We got at least 5 CBs which is usually enough. The amount of injuries we had at CB last year is way above norm so hopefully it will not repeat again. Keep in mind that the Ravens ranked #6 last year in points allowed at 18.9, This is beacuse of an excellent front line and linebackers we have which helps by lessening the time the QB has to get rid of the ball. You can have the best CBs and Safeties in the league and it will get burned badly if the front line and linebackers does not get to QBs quick enough. CBs and Safeties are usually only as good as the DL and linebackers in rushing the Qbs. The worse the front 7, the worse the back 4 will be on paper, no matter who you have back there. I am very happy the way the defense is set up, we got well above average front 7 and right now with Webb and Smith coming back, we will have an above average back 4. We just had bad luck not having J.Smith in the playoffs is all. Most teams cannot pay for more than 2 superstars at the CB position. We will be good this year as long as healthy, last year was a freak year in injuires is all.

[stixfix69]

I think we did great in the DB department, aside from drafting 6-2 walker, we signed UDFA 6-2 Julian Wilson, and two UDFA Safeties that are 6 plus feet...I like the idea of getting bigger in the secondary.....

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

It is going to be fun watching these guys develope in front of our eyes....

[Quiet Man]

The CB need was a smoke screen. With Webb and Smith as starters and a few capable back-ups, we are pretty much stacked at CB. Plus with so many CB's taken early in the draft, look for us to find quality cuts from other teams as they trim their rosters. WR and TE were our glaring needs and we did a good job addressing them. We also may have doubled on Maxx Williams as we jumped in front of the Steelers to nab him.

[fusuymada]

It looks like we loaded up on exciting players for the offense. But we still didn't do much for the CB position. I predict this year the scores on our games will be high - on both sides of the ball. Hopefully our score will always be higher.

As Ozzie said, "It's not over yet." Ozzie does some of his best work picking up quality players who are both undrafted free agents or veterans cut when teams go to 53 to make room for their young talent. In addition, we are already coming back with more CBs than we ended the year with (as players have healed) without even considering the CB we drafted and the one we picked up as an undrafted free agent. With the CBs we have that have healed and with what Ozzie adds, I think your prediction is a little premature.

[ravensrock007]

I'm happy! I would like us to be overwhelmed in talent at the CB position if possible, by the start of training camp. Fun Draft too.

[towens2921]

The CB need was a smoke screen. With Webb and Smith as starters and a few capable back-ups, we are pretty much stacked at CB. Plus with so many CB's taken early in the draft, look for us to find quality cuts from other teams as they trim their rosters. WR and TE were our glaring needs and we did a good job addressing them. We also may have doubled on Maxx Williams as we jumped in front of the Steelers to nab him.

.....  except what happened last year.  Webb and Smith have proven injury histories.  Between the two of them, we are lucky if we get 16-20 games.  Asa Jackson also has had his share of injuries, which means we need to be 5 deep at that position with quality corners, or we stand to get smoked by great quarterbacks.  

[C.J.&T.J.]

I could not be more stoked on our draft. Perriman is growing on me already. Some mocks had him going as high as 12 to the Browns. Maxx Williams looks and sounds awesome. He's ready to work and he looks like a more athletic and little bit faster version of Jason Witten. And Carl Davis looks and sounds like a BEAST and he sounds ready to compete. All three of these guys are going to contribute significantly as rookies imo, and I think they will all be starters by week 4. In time for you know who. Davis, T.J., and BWilliams on the D line sounds incredible, esp with Doom and Sizzle on the ends. And Smith looks like a nasty and younger version of McPhee. Look for him to rush the passer on third down as well as setting the edge in the run game. And for this last part, I know I might lose some of you here, but I honestly believe Buck Allen will step in and produce just as much this year as a rookie, as Forsett does. If not more. Not a knock on Forsett what so ever, I just really like what I see from Allen on tape and our staff is high on him as well. I think we have an awesome trio of backs with Forsett and Allen, and L.T. as the straight power back. Obviously we have to wait and see but this looks like an incredible draft. I read draft grades from one writer and we were one of only 4 teams to receive a straight "A"

[stixfix69]

to be honest i'm pretty excited about the UDFA's we signed, a lot of big school talent..and the DB's are all over 6 foot, and really think Alabama linebacker Trey DePriest has a solid shot at making the team....

[J.O.14]

to be honest i'm pretty excited about the UDFA's we signed, a lot of big school talent..and the DB's are all over 6 foot, and really think Alabama linebacker Trey DePriest has a solid shot at making the team....

Special teams is where these guys get on the team. He definitely has a shot. He could also win the backup job behind CJ and Daryl Smith. Art Brown and Zach Orr are the backups....nothing to exciting.

[boldtown]

still on the fence about perriman. to tell the truth i like the second round pick better than the first round. while it's great ravens got some hands to catch the ball; how about hands to knock the ball down. ravens secondary needs players that can tackle and prevent the aerial attacks.

[Puntit]

I'm not too worried about going offense instead of corner. We will have Smith, Webb and Jackson back, and Melvin and Levine will have another years experience at that position under their belt. Once Peters was gone early in the first round, long before we picked, there really wasn't a CB left on the board that was going to provide immediate value as a rookie anyhow, and everyone would be a reach or a project. So we eventually took a mid draft project with good size, but up to that point stuck to our board -- the absolute right approach. I'm betting Melvin will continue to show improvement and develop into a solid #3 -- I liked his attitude and aggressiveness-- he's got a Cary Williams swagger to him -- he got thrown into an impossible situation -- a guy with minimal experience getting called up for a Playoff run, and in some of the games looked solid. If our starters can stay healthy and Elam can recapture his form, our secondary will be fine.

Good draft but so UN-Raven-like in it's lack of defense that it worries me a bit. Probably worried Ozsie too which is why he hedged his bets with a second WR and TE (to double his chances of striking gold, like he did when he went Dickson and Pitta).

[akacrow]

The, "bust in the making" comment is off base, there is a huge difference between bust potential and a secure pick.

For instance the Browns second pick in the first round, an offensive center, was a reach. Although Perriman, while being a better overall prospect, is a less secure pick than Cameron Irving.

[huntrgathrr]

I think we have a deep and talented secondary. Hill and Lewis are locked in at safety. Elam is now a backup where he belongs (if that). Maybe he will "blossom" this year but I doubt it. Levine is a decent backup safety as well.

Smith is a shutdown corner. Webb, Melvin, Brooks and Jackson will compete for the other corner and nickel spots. The remaining two will be adequate backups. The rookie Walker will have a tough time making the team as will Jacobs.

We let Ngata walk because we saw what we can do without him during his suspension. Remember we get Urban and KLM back from IR. Adding Davis was for depth as we have Tyson and Means already backing up Canty, Williams and Jernigan. At linebacker Brown can't even get on the field and Za'Darius Smith looks like the versatile player that McPhee was.

Overall this defense has every reason to be better than last year's which was pretty darn good. They showed this in the beatdown of Pittsburgh in the playoffs.

The improvements on offense through the draft are really significant. I look for Williams to be an upgrade over Daniels and Perriman a HUGE upgrade over Torrey. Defenses will have to change what they can do when he is on the field. Waller has the potential to be a home run hitter. Receivers that are 6'6, 235, athletic and that can run a 4.4 are hard to defend. One report said back shoulder throws to him were "indefensible". How he slipped to the 6th round is a mystery to me. I know Aiken, Butler and Brown should be a lot more nervous about making the team this year.

It is easy to see why Flacco was "fired up" and why Trestman was obviously so pleased at his press conference. With a solid offensive line and running game this could be a big time offense.

Barring a barrage of injuries like last year (18 on IR), this will be a much better team that should make a deep playoff run. This will be a long summer. My hopes for this squad are sky high.

[TheSim]

Maxx Williams seems like a legitimately scary dude. I see shades of Witten, Shockey, and even Gronkowski. Obviously we don't know if he'll be one of those guys yet, but he's certainly got the fire and the relentlessness of those players. Can't wait to watch him steamroll some Steelers LBs.

[Flamengo1265]

Obviously the Ravens FO knows more about these guys than any of us do, but there are a lot of pundits who seem to think that there are some issues with Perriman and his drops in college. I'm of the opinion that the Ravens did their homework and think that he will work out. I did find it interesting that both the 1st and 2nd round picks are children of former NFL players.....and Maxx Williams is not even 21 years old yet.

Edited May 3, 2015 by Flamengo1265

[Mystigo_Dragon]

Baby birds, baby Ravens everywhere!

Of course the NFL Network focused in on their "usual suspects": both NY teams, Dallas, Wash, Philly & the Pats but they had to throw a biscuit to the host city, da Bears and, of course, their darlings, Denver!!

 

Finally, as usual every year, they announced the Cleveland draft a "major success" that should make them "competitive in the AFC North"! But, we're still talking the Browns! 

 

Pittsburgh got their fair share of air time as the pundits speculate on the post-nasty LeBeau/Polamaolu defensive era about to begin!

 

We were left looking in the window again,... and building another smash mouth team! Just how I like it!

Edited May 3, 2015 by Mystigo_Dragon

[JGreeno1980]

Some vets that can help are Brandon Carr(Bryan Jones) and Jonathan Joseph(drafted Kevin Johnson) who I believe will be cut.

[ravenstime]

We should be 'Beaming' with the way the first 4 or 5 rounds turned out! Just an excellent drafting from our guys, once again, but this year, I have to say does please me more than the past 4 years or so, since I've been really following it. We really got lucky and didn't make too many mistakes, if any, on our own.

[mearzunkies]

Jonathan Joseph, If cut would be a huge pick up! Will $$ be an issue there?

[Bohica5]

After that 1st pick i was doubtful.......but doing some actual research.....I'm thinking there are going to be alot of new people on the roster this year.....Great job Front Office......

[hen826957]

@mearzunkies if Jonathan Joseph is somehow release by the Texans Ozzie needs to pick him up right away if they get him OMG that will be an incredible secondary. But we really need a decent corner during the cuts that's all we need everything else is good. Hope Pitta comes back Williams & Pitta good luck with that.

[Bmore#410]

I think we had a great draft value in all rounds we will sign a veteran DB when somone gets cut during trianing camp. I think we got a steal with DE/OLB out of kentucky he is clone of Mcphee. Our WR issue should be fixed and we had some red zone issues last year now we Breshard .Williams , and if darren waller makes the team makes the team thats 3 big tatgets. Trestman got lucky i havent seen the ravens go back to back offense since 08 Flacco and Rice. I think we are going to bea team to be reckened with in the AFC