[News] Highlights From Rookie Minicamp

[BR News]

More than 40 players participated, and it was a chance to see the rookies take the field.

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[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

The guys get to start soaking all the teaching in now.. Plus Oz and Co. signed most of the guys already too....

[Ravenslifer]

It's still really strange to me to grasp the concept that we could once again be too deep at the receiver position and some very good players are going to end up on other teams.  It wasn't too long ago that we had guys like Randy Hymes and Clarence Moore on the depth chart - now people are fighting over whether or not Marlon Brown, who started for us 2 seasons ago, is ahead of Kamar Aiken on the depth chart and who deserves those last 2 roster spots amongst Campanaro, Butler, Worthy, Carter, etc.

Edited May 9, 2015 by Ravenslifer

[GeeWallee]

This may be the best Receiving group that we've ever seen !!!!

[ravensnick]

Nice to hear UDFA Deandre Carter is making waves. i thought he was a solid player coming out.

[n#7]

Can't wait for training camp. We finally got some younger, speedy help for Joe and, on paper, it looks very,very promising. Just hope that Lewis-Moore and Urban can stay healthy and with Williams and Jernigan performances from last year it will give them depth. Davis also adds some insurance as well as Meyers on the O line. GO RAVENS!

[harfordravenfan]

This may be the best Receiving group that we've ever seen !!!!

agreed, definitely the most potential

[jpdsanti]

Im so excited! I just cant hide it! - song playing in my mind while reading this article

[Bandit666]

sorry to hear about Wilson, I thought he had the best chance of all the UDFA to make the team. I hope that is the last of the injuries.

[Maryland]

"Perriman’s hands have been the biggest question since the Ravens drafted him, but he only dropped one pass all day." 

[val_fil]

Im waiting to read something about Buck Allen!

[Corvus]

I've been high on his hiring since he was brought on board last year, but this is where having a wide receivers coach who was actually a productive NFL receiver in Bobby Engram will pay dividends for us. Was never a fan of Jim Hostler since as far as I know he never played in a professional or college setting and it showed when we could never develop our young receivers. Aiken went from a guy who couldn't stick on a team to a solid contributor last year. Campanaro went from a rookie 7th round pick to a kid who showed some great flashes before he was injured. I know that Coach Engram will continue doing a fine job with these young men and our newcomers like Perriman and Waller.

[DomMcRaven]

I've been high on his hiring since he was brought on board last year, but this is where having a wide receivers coach who was actually a productive NFL receiver in Bobby Engram will pay dividends for us. Was never a fan of Jim Hostler since as far as I know he never played in a professional or college setting and it showed when we could never develop our young receivers. Aiken went from a guy who couldn't stick on a team to a solid contributor last year. Campanaro went from a rookie 7th round pick to a kid who showed some great flashes before he was injured. I know that Coach Engram will continue doing a fine job with these young men and our newcomers like Perriman and Waller.

This and then some! All I have ever cared about is having many solid contributors across the board. Now don't get me wrong, it is nice to have a few superstars. But if almost everyone was a solid contributor, I'll take that first. 

[stixfix69]

The WR pool coming out of college these days are so much deeper than years past, such a fine line between being a drafted WR, and a UDFA WR....They are getting bigger, and faster....I said all off-season the guys we had prior to the draft were all legit WR's, and only a speed guy was needed from the draft and we got him in Perriman...But Waller, and UDFA Worthy could push some guys in camp this year...Nice problem to have...

[ellicottraven]

So sad to hear about Julian Wilson. I am sure he had so much hope and believed in himself but was injured. Don't give up on your dream Wilson. Keep at it and you'll make a team someday.

[January J]

This may be the best Receiving group that we've ever seen !!!!

it's so funny to think that

Weeks before the draft ppl were saying the exact opposite. The minority of us kept sayin- just chill- let Ozzie do his thing - the draft is approaching. But no , nothin but panic. Thinkin Ozzie was done after the first couple waves of free agency, pssssh. And he still ain't done. He just saved us so much money and got us extremely younger. Almost time for them cuts and oz will be waiting to pounce. Can't tell much from the little bit of footage so far- but everything is looking good. Maxx Williams looked kind of slow- ofcourse they are not really playing full speed and that's not one of the attributes he's known for anyway. Perriman looking excellent from what I can see - so excited for him to be coached by engram and to be under the wing of SSS. Also have a really good feeling about Waller. This guy just looks like he's ready to ball. Anxious to see more from the defense.

[Ngataninch]

The WR pool coming out of college these days are so much deeper than years past, such a fine line between being a drafted WR, and a UDFA WR....They are getting bigger, and faster....I said all off-season the guys we had prior to the draft were all legit WR's, and only a speed guy was needed from the draft and we got him in Perriman...But Waller, and UDFA Worthy could push some guys in camp this year...Nice problem to have...

Bigger and faster?  I hope his trajectory is a bit different, but Waller is essentially Tommy Streeter plus 20 lbs.  The Ravens spent sixth round picks on both, and their stats are pretty similar.  Tommy Streeter--6'5" 4.37-40.  Darren Waller 6'6" 4.46-40.  (Tommy Streeter hasn't made a catch in the NFL in three seasons.)  

[Bruce_Almty]

Im waiting to read something about Buck Allen!

You know everything about Allen that's pertinent. The real stories for RBs don't happen until they put on the pads. Now it's only walkthroughs and touch football.

[ellicottraven]

As sad as these injuries are for these young draft picks and udfas' another draft pick #92 Jeff Huermann tore his ACL at Broncos mini camp today! He was mocked to us in several mocks if I remember correctly. Let's hope our team is blessed with few injuries this year.

[sflegend89]

A lot to be excited about but sad to hear about Julian Wilson's injury. What is it with the rookie mini-camp injuries this year? These guys have played years of college ball, probably had over 100 full contact practices during their college careers, regular season games, and most of them have never had a major season ending injury. Already we've had Fowler, Heureman, Wilson, among others get season ending injuries in the span of 2 days in the NFL.

 

It's not even like rookie mini-camps are full throttle, full contact, type of practices. They are the lowest intensity practices they will probably ever have in the NFL. I don't recall such high profile players going down at mini-camp in recent years. I suppose it's just really bad luck.

 

The only other things I could think might be a factor are going from not playing for a while because of the lengthy draft process and being asked to jump right back into action instead of being "eased" back into playing full speed. Also just the pressure of it being their first impression in the NFL and wanting to maybe do too much right away to try to impress the coaches.. I think it's probably a little bit of all those things but primarily just bad luck.

[sflegend89]

Bigger and faster?  I hope his trajectory is a bit different, but Waller is essentially Tommy Streeter plus 20 lbs.  The Ravens spent sixth round picks on both, and their stats are pretty similar.  Tommy Streeter--6'5" 4.37-40.  Darren Waller 6'6" 4.46-40.  (Tommy Streeter hasn't made a catch in the NFL in three seasons.)  

 

You say plus 20 lbs like that is a small difference lol. That is the difference in weight between Calvin Johnson and Jordy Nelson, Streeter was thin and lanky, Waller is big, physical run blocker, and built like a TE. Waller also fell in the draft because of his off-field issues, he was projected as a 4th round talent. Streeter didn't have any red flags, he went in the 6th because he just wan't that talented.

 

Streeter played in a pro-style offense at Miami and was actually given opportunities to produce, Waller played in a flexbone option offense where they run the ball HEAVILY and his opportunities were few and far between. I'm not saying Waller is a home run by any stretch but he's a very different type of player than Streeter and he's a lot more talented. Comparing Waller to Streeter because they were both tall, late round WR's is such a one dimensional comparison. When you look past the surface they are very different.

Edited May 10, 2015 by sflegend89

[Ngataninch]

You say plus 20 lbs like that is a small difference lol. That is the difference in weight between Calvin Johnson and Jordy Nelson, Streeter was thin and lanky, Waller is big, physical run blocker, and built like a TE. Waller also fell in the draft because of his off-field issues, he was projected as a 4th round talent. Streeter didn't have any red flags, he went in the 6th because he just wan't that talented.

 

Streeter played in a pro-style offense at Miami and was actually given opportunities to produce, Waller played in a flexbone option offense where they run the ball HEAVILY and his opportunities were few and far between. I'm not saying Waller is a home run by any stretch but he's a very different type of player than Streeter and he's a lot more talented. Comparing Waller to Streeter because they were both tall, late round WR's is such a one dimensional comparison. When you look past the surface they are very different.

The original post said receivers are getting bigger and faster.  My only point was that we've been picking up these tall fast wide receivers for years now, and tall and fast doesn't always pan out.  Comparing Calvin Johnson to Jordy Nelson is odd.  What about comparing Calvin Johnson to say... Randy Moss... Both great receivers, but Moss played almost 30 lbs lighter.  

 

Tommy Streeter also led his team in receptions and receiving yards with 46 receptions for 811 yards, while Miami's lead rusher put up over 1272 rushing yards--they definitely passed more but I don't know that I would say pass first.  And, I would say that "Pro-style offense" you mentioned would be a plus for Streeter.  Streeter was talented, he was projected by some to be a third round pick.  He fell because he only played receiver one year at Miami not because he wasn't talented.  

 

Read some of this and see if they aren't at least a little similar:

 

Darren Waller:

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/darren-waller?id=2552408

 

Tommy Streeter:

http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/tommy-streeter?id=2533539

 

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-05-13/sports/bal-ravens-rookie-wide-receiver-tommy-streeter-learning-from-ray-lewis-20120513_1_safety-christian-thompson-linebacker-ray-lewis-ed-reed

 

I know Waller is a little bigger, but Streeter was a little faster... both were described as big and fast though.

[757RavensFan]

A lot to be excited about but sad to hear about Julian Wilson's injury. What is it with the rookie mini-camp injuries this year? These guys have played years of college ball, probably had over 100 full contact practices during their college careers, regular season games, and most of them have never had a major season ending injury. Already we've had Fowler, Heureman, Wilson, among others get season ending injuries in the span of 2 days in the NFL.

It's not even like rookie mini-camps are full throttle, full contact, type of practices. They are the lowest intensity practices they will probably ever have in the NFL. I don't recall such high profile players going down at mini-camp in recent years. I suppose it's just really bad luck.

The only other things I could think might be a factor are going from not playing for a while because of the lengthy draft process and being asked to jump right back into action instead of being "eased" back into playing full speed. Also just the pressure of it being their first impression in the NFL and wanting to maybe do too much right away to try to impress the coaches.. I think it's probably a little bit of all those things but primarily just bad luck.

If the report on how Wilson broke his leg is true, it was just a freak accident. Went up to defend a pass and landing awkwardly and his leg broke. Nothing you can do to prevent that.

[Fastynart]

I don't envy the coaches job of making decisions on these guys so early in the game. Just because a guy wasn't drafted or drafted late doesn't mean that he can't play and won't turn into the next pro bowler for someone. Good luck to them all.

[Amesr52]

A lot to be excited about but sad to hear about Julian Wilson's injury. What is it with the rookie mini-camp injuries this year? These guys have played years of college ball, probably had over 100 full contact practices during their college careers, regular season games, and most of them have never had a major season ending injury. Already we've had Fowler, Heureman, Wilson, among others get season ending injuries in the span of 2 days in the NFL.

It's not even like rookie mini-camps are full throttle, full contact, type of practices. They are the lowest intensity practices they will probably ever have in the NFL. I don't recall such high profile players going down at mini-camp in recent years. I suppose it's just really bad luck.

The only other things I could think might be a factor are going from not playing for a while because of the lengthy draft process and being asked to jump right back into action instead of being "eased" back into playing full speed. Also just the pressure of it being their first impression in the NFL and wanting to maybe do too much right away to try to impress the coaches.. I think it's probably a little bit of all those things but primarily just bad luck.

these guys have gone through grueling practices since high school some since pee wee football. Some bodies just can't handle that strenuous workload for all those years and then you get to the pros and your job is on the line every single day. They are all trying to make themselves look like the best out on the field and some end up hurt. Plus some show up a little out of shape And get surprised by the fast pace tempo of the nfl. I'm not surprised at all by the injuries. I just hope the ravens players stay healthy this year.

[Amesr52]

A lot to be excited about but sad to hear about Julian Wilson's injury. What is it with the rookie mini-camp injuries this year? These guys have played years of college ball, probably had over 100 full contact practices during their college careers, regular season games, and most of them have never had a major season ending injury. Already we've had Fowler, Heureman, Wilson, among others get season ending injuries in the span of 2 days in the NFL.

It's not even like rookie mini-camps are full throttle, full contact, type of practices. They are the lowest intensity practices they will probably ever have in the NFL. I don't recall such high profile players going down at mini-camp in recent years. I suppose it's just really bad luck.

The only other things I could think might be a factor are going from not playing for a while because of the lengthy draft process and being asked to jump right back into action instead of being "eased" back into playing full speed. Also just the pressure of it being their first impression in the NFL and wanting to maybe do too much right away to try to impress the coaches.. I think it's probably a little bit of all those things but primarily just bad luck.

And I always told if you don't go 100% out on field then you have a higher chance of getting injured. If your taking it easy and another player is going full pace then there is a chance of something bad happening to you.