[News] Late For Work 6/26: Historical Trends Predict 53-Man Roster

[BR News]

The riskiest move for the Ravens this offseason. Suggs on Family Feud Sunday. Urschel on marketing.

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[salamander]

EVERY draft pick, EVERY year in EVERY position is simply an "educated risk". Rather than suggest the Ravens are jinxed in the first round with 2 disappointing WR picks, why not "third time's a charm"? I am optimistic about Perriman developing in to an outstanding WR.

Edited June 26, 2015 by salamander

[757RavensFan]

 

Editor's Note: "Late For Work" will be on vacation next week along with the rest of the Ravens office. Don't worry, we'll be back soon. Training camp is around the corner.

 

Wait what?  Who approved this??  Just kidding, enjoy your much deserved vacation.

 

Here's an idea, how about picking 5 members to write a LFW article in the staff's absence?  I know it won't fly, just figured I'd ask.

[Bruce_Almty]

Seems like Zrebiec thinks 60 people or so will make the roster this season. To summarize, "historically", under Harbs, the Ravens could have anywhere between 4~7 WRs, same with CBs--can never have too many. With all the young talent on the D-line, eight could be kept. Okay Garrett, thanks for passing this useless information on. Most helpful .

[HomeoftheBRAVENS]

I agree with Hensley but I also disagree.Our passing game in general is our riskiest move.Last years explosion of productive rookie first round WR's was rare.It usually takes those guys 2 or 3 years to start having 1,000 yard seasons.It's even rarer that you find a productive TE pass production wise.We shouldnt expect much from Williams this year.The norm for rookie TE's seems to be 10-20 catches,150-300 yards and maybe 2-4 touchdowns.I read somewhere that the average production from rookie first round WR's from 2004-2013 was 41 catches,565 yards and 4 touchdowns.If we're going to win a SB this year,Perriman and Williams are going to have to be exceptional.

[WNC-Raven]

I am getting worried about Suggs this season. First he is soft spoken when addressing the media and tom brady and now he is the one standing quietly behind everyone in the family feud photo. It's strange to not see Suggs hamin it up in front of a camera.

[Tdot.to.Bmore]

There will be several tough cuts this summer. Esp due to the number of talented players we have at each position. Keeping 4 TE will cause us to let go of a talented CB or WR. This whole Dennis Pitta thing sucks. But at the end of the day i look at this whole thing as a GOOD problem. Hopefully the FO makes the right choices.

[salamander]

John Harbaugh's impromptu guest appearance on Mailbag was great. I am particularly stoked about his enthusiasm projecting great things out of Joe this year. John's answers were off the cuff and provided interesting insights in to what we can accomplish this year. Best Mailbag segment yet. Ryan and Garrett, get John a pair of those "cool shades" he liked and maybe you can bribe him to revisit the show?

Edited June 26, 2015 by salamander

[WNC-Raven]

I've said this a thousand times. Dennis Pitta will never play football again. He is only participating with team activities so the Ravens have to honor his contract. Why would he not show up to work and watch to be paid millions of $$? I cant for the life of me understand why people still make comments about his return. It's not happening. His doctors have not cleared him yet and the FO has obviously moved forward without him in their plans. Gillmore is solid and we took the best TE in the draft with our 2nd round pick. At best he plays a game or 2 before getting hurt again or realizing his body cant do it and goes on IR. Please move on it's depressing. Thank you

Edited June 26, 2015 by WNC-Raven

[Bohica5]

If Pitta does insist on playing i say we trade him, maybe to the Browns......Don't want to watch his legs fall off in a Ravens Uni......Use ur brain Dennis not ur heart........Kinda worries me that Maxx is lagging in drills also.....

[sami]

I think the reason Maxx is lagging in the drills is because the expectations for him were so high. Don't forget hes only 20 yrs old. Its gonna take him a yr or two to get his body into NFL shape. Crockett will start most of this yr and I think will shine. Juice can pick up the slack as far as blocking or Boyle if hes up to it.

[bostonraven]

An ideal off-season compared to the tumultuous one last year. Good press all round, and everyone has shown amazing focus. Fantastic job by Ravens brass and kudos to Ravens players.

[ravensrock007]

I think Suggs is trying to hide his greatness. I would not relax around T-Sizzle

[FloridalovesRavens]

Glad to see fans have their crystal balls to see what will happen to Pitta lol. We are not doctors or have mental telepathy so we will have to wait and see. I really don't see a trade as a option even for the Browns.

[BmoreB]

Seems like Zrebiec thinks 60 people or so will make the roster this season. To summarize, "historically", under Harbs, the Ravens could have anywhere between 4~7 WRs, same with CBs--can never have too many. With all the young talent on the D-line, eight could be kept. Okay Garrett, thanks for passing this useless information on. Most helpful .

Wow that was harsh ! But funny too

[January J]

Not a crystal ball as much as deduction, logic and life experience. Do you think Pitta will play this season and contribute to the team? You don't need to be a doctor or have metal telepathy to be able to look forward in life, use the information you have at hand and see how events will likely unfold.

Yes. he will be used sparingly- but i certainly believe he will play a role.

[reed20fence]

Getting production from early round WR picks is more complicated than simply just "picking them." Our history is being predicated on Travis Taylor and Mark Clayton, but we've not only gotten good non-first-round picks like Torrey and UDFAs like Marlon to produce but our scouts and position coaches have changed drastically since the days of Brian Billick as well.

We should judge each decision on its own contextual merit, not label a guy a "risk" just beacuse someone who played his position a decade ago didn't pan out.

Edited June 26, 2015 by reed20fence

[Tenacious Faulker]

Getting production from early round WR picks is more complicated than simply just "picking them." Our history is being predicated on Travis Taylor and Mark Clayton, but we've not only gotten good non-first-round picks like Torrey and UDFAs like Marlon to produce but our scouts and position coaches have changed drastically since the days of Brian Billick as well.

We should judge each decision on its own contextual merit, not label a guy a "risk" just beacuse someone who played his position a decade ago didn't pan out.

Couldn;t have said it any better.  +20 if I could.

[runcontrol]

I agree with Hensley but I also disagree.Our passing game in general is our riskiest move.Last years explosion of productive rookie first round WR's was rare.It usually takes those guys 2 or 3 years to start having 1,000 yard seasons.It's even rarer that you find a productive TE pass production wise.We shouldnt expect much from Williams this year.The norm for rookie TE's seems to be 10-20 catches,150-300 yards and maybe 2-4 touchdowns.I read somewhere that the average production from rookie first round WR's from 2004-2013 was 41 catches,565 yards and 4 touchdowns.If we're going to win a SB this year,Perriman and Williams are going to have to be exceptional.

 

Maybe I am being too optimistic but maybe Perriman and Williams won't need to do much this season. Flacco will just need to spread the ball out to all the other receivers.  Until Graham was drafted Brees got by without a dominant receiver by spreading the ball out.  And no, I am not expecting Brees like numbers, especially since Flacco won't be playing in a doom most of the season, but Brees is probably the best example of a qb succeeding without that big receiver.  

 

Lets just say we are expecting Flacco to have 4,000yds this season.  First and foremost, Steve will be the number one receiver and will most likely have close to 1,000 yds. Than you have guys like Brown, Aiken, Camp Butler and Carter(depending on who wins the other 4 spots) who should have over 1400yds.   When it comes to the tight ends  you have two big ifs,  if Pitta is healthy enough to play and if Gillmore is actually more than a blocking TE we could easily get over 700 yds from them.  That leaves 900yds for Juice, Williams, Perriman and the running backs.  Sure some of these numbers will be a little higher and a little lower, but i think this that's pretty close to how things could go. 

[OzzieBisciotti]

No offense, but Ozzie has no right to be drafting WRs in the first round due to his track record in drafting WRs in general...

[ravenstime]

That's a good one. Like, if you fail over and over, don't even try anymore! Just forget about the position or drafting any receivers ever again. All of your receivers must be veterans and paid well (or have no talent). Very funny, I get the humor, but those negatives say others don't. I bumped you up one, btw.

[redrum52]

I am getting worried about Suggs this season. First he is soft spoken when addressing the media and tom brady and now he is the one standing quietly behind everyone in the family feud photo. It's strange to not see Suggs hamin it up in front of a camera.

He might see his football career coming to an end and might be taking these last chances more seriously. I think he wants another chance for a ring and the team as a whole, maybe to show they don't need Ray.

[Baltimore Bandwagon]

No offense, but Ozzie has no right to be drafting WRs in the first round due to his track record in drafting WRs in general...

LOL!!!  Somebody, confiscate Ozzie's draft card for WR's !!!   Ah, too late. Maybe next year.

[ravenpic]

He might see his football career coming to an end and might be taking these last chances more seriously. I think he wants another chance for a ring and the team as a whole, maybe to show they don't need Ray.

This definitely has nothing to do with Ray Lewis. This is all about Suggs. This is about him giving leadership. And as a pass rusher, Suggs may only get 10 sacks, but his presence should open up the way for Doom to do his thing. and the other DE's and LB's to do theirs. Suggs deserves to be graded not by Ray Lewis' accomplishments, but by his own. 

[redrum52]

This definitely has nothing to do with Ray Lewis. This is all about Suggs. This is about him giving leadership. And as a pass rusher, Suggs may only get 10 sacks, but his presence should open up the way for Doom to do his thing. and the other DE's and LB's to do theirs. Suggs deserves to be graded not by Ray Lewis' accomplishments, but by his own.

That's part of my point. To show that he's still been a big part of the defense with or without him. Maybe not with Ray in mind, but just show he's a good player.

[RavenManiac#7]

I agree that the Perriman draft choice was risky, but I think that, with very few exceptions, indeed if any, 1st rd wr picks are All risky to some extent. Obviously, some are riskier than others. Actually, with wrs, they're All somewhat risky regardless of the round they're chosen in. It's just a position that has So many questions that can't be answered until the wr in question gets the opportunity to show what he can do against the very best defensive secondary players in the world. Just like players at every other position, you have the measureables; size, speed, route running capabilities, hands, etc. But with receivers, so many questions require time and opportunity to find answers to. Case in point; the "goat", Jerry Rice, came from a small school and had "questionable" hands. Well, time and opportunity revealed him to be an extremely unique talent. I'm not suggesting Perriman will be the next Jerry Rice at all. That's not my point in bringing him up in this conversation. Rather, it's the questions, the risk that is Always involved. From everything I've read about Perriman, the obvious question with him is the dropped passes. I've watched a Lot of tape of his college career, and while I Have seen him drop passes that most definitely should have been caught, I have Also seen him make spectacular catches as well. I truly believe that indicates a problem with concentration, not a lack of physical ability, and if that is the case it Is coachable and can be improved upon. How many times have we seen receivers take their eye off the ball just a fraction of a second too soon, instead of watching it all the way into their hands, in order to begin to run after the catch? A lot, that's how many. When a young man, as young as Perriman is, gets Constantly scrutinized and has a situation like this making its way into article after article, I think that it definitely gets into his head and probably makes the problem even more difficult to overcome. Despite Ozzie's, shall we say, less than spectacular history of successfully drafting receivers, that certainly does not mean that he's going to miss each and every time. My personal opinion, which I certainly realize means nothing, is that Ozzie just might have hit a home run this time. It might not happen instantaneously, but I Do think that Perriman is going to become a #1 NFL caliber receiver and be successful enough that dropped passes will, eventually, disappear as a topic when discussing him. Will he continue to drop some passes? Absolutely! Every wr does, and Perriman is a human being, and as such he will Never attain perfection. But, I think he would silence the critics a whole lot faster if reporters, and everybody else, would just talk about His dropped passes No more than they talk about every other wide receiver's dropped passes. Just give this young kid a break and I think we're going to probably see the best receiver the Ravens have ever had. That's just one RavenManiac's opinion.

[RavenManiac#7]

No offense, but Ozzie has no right to be drafting WRs in the first round due to his track record in drafting WRs in general...

Unless you are trying to be sarcastic, which I hope you are, that is utterly ridiculous.

[RavenManiac#7]

You know, I've been one of Dennis Pitta's biggest fans. He's been one of my favorite Ravens ever since he got here. BUT, somewhat because of that, I would rather Not see him on the roster this season. He's not been cleared to play yet by the doctors. That should tell us something. Also, we all remember that his second hip "blowout" was on a play in which he was not even Touched, let alone hit, by Anyone. I care more about him as a man, husband, and father than I do as a football player. I'd like for him to be able to run around and play with his kids, not potentially have difficulty and pain even just trying to walk. I, personally, know what it's like to come back from repeated surgeries on the same joint and, eventually, the almost inevitable came to be. I now have a double fused ankle, with no movement at all, and suffer from chronic pain that NEVER stops. I truly wish Dennis would re-evaluate his priorities. And as for the team, look, I hate "dead money" as much as any fan, but I believe that Dennis' roster spot could be better utilized by giving it to someone else who has a more realistic chance of being a more valuable and contributing member of the team. Again, it gives me no pleasure in writing this, but I'm just being honest about what I believe is best for both Dennis and the Ravens. I'm sorry, Dennis.