[News] James Hurst Back In The Starting Spotlight

[BR News]

With Eugene Monroe looking doubtful to play, the Ravens are leaning on their former undrafted rookie again.

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[January J]

He better get it done.

[The Greek]

hurst "fingers crossed" should be better having practiced with the 1st team all week. i sure hope this is not one of those games where we need to pull it out in the final minutes.

[RavensFootballFan]

Week one was just too much being asked to block Ware. No one can successfully block Ware time again and again. Hopefully he will do better against Raiders.

[WNC-Raven]

What a disappointment Monroe has been. He looked good when we first signed him but has missed so much time already, didnt play in the 2 playoff games last year and when he is on the field he is terrible. I dont know if he needs to train harder or get a little heart but if he gets replaced by an undrafted free agent in Hurst he will be forgotten in weeks not years. Wasted money unless he can prove me wrong.

[ravens4life86]

Hurst is solid. He has really matured from undrafted player. We have good OLine depth where if a starter goes down for a game or 3, between Hurst and Uerschel both have shown the ability to be good for short term fill ins.

[Drew P]

There was an article prior to the season that Monroe was anxious to prove himself to the doubters...that lasted about 6 snaps into the season

[PalmBayRaven]

NO confidence in Eugene Monroe. He is the 10th highest paid LT in the league and we certainly got ripped off. I don't even know if he was worth the 5th rounder we traded Jacksonville? Should have wondered why Jacksonville who drafted Eugene pretty high in the draft a few years later drafted another LT?

[The Greek]

monroe suggs perriman. injury bug has hit us hard already and we are only one game into the season. cut this team a break injury gods. go ravens!!

[Grapple Raven]

I have faith in Hurst.  The guy came in cold last week against the best in the league in Ware and Von Miller.  He expects improvements from himself and has been working hard in practice and the film room this week.   He has always had good technique and work ethic in college.  He proved himself last year.  I believe he will again.

 

Hurst said: " I know I’ve got to bring it every play."  You gotta have faith in a guy with an attitude like that.  He will get the job done this week.

[Maryland]

NO confidence in Eugene Monroe. He is the 10th highest paid LT in the league and we certainly got ripped off. I don't even know if he was worth the 5th rounder we traded Jacksonville? Should have wondered why Jacksonville who drafted Eugene pretty high in the draft a few years later drafted another LT?

If we had let Monroe walk, we would have received at least a 5th round compensatory pick in return. If Monroe had stayed with the Jags and then signed here in the off-season, we would have surrendered at least a 5th round compensatory pick. The pick is pretty irrelevant when you consider how compensatory picks work.

 

We basically paid a 5th rounder to get him now, and for cheap (Jax ate some of his salary) and make a push for the postseason. I would still trade a 5th rounder for him early in that 2013 season, considering we were stuck with Bryant McKinnie at the time. It's very hard to get a LT, especially when you're always drafting late, and Monroe looked like a good payer in each season prior. He has been hit hard with injuries, but it was never a problem prior to joining the Ravens, so your argument falls under hindsight being 20/20. 

 

Jacksonville drafted another LT (who is entering bust territory btw) because they knew Monroe was going to leave in FA, Jax sold Monroe for the same reason any team in any sport starts selling expiring assets once they realize they can't make the postseason. 

Edited September 18, 2015 by Maryland

[SCravenfan]

What we forget is that if Hurst would have not broken his leg his senior year then he would have been drafted by a team. Same for Marlon Brown and him blowing out his new. They both have a lot more talent than a regular undrafted player

[balfan23]

I expect OAK to come hard into our backfield the way DEN did. Last night, many of the effective run plays KC ran were draws. I'd like to see us run a few of those as well.

[purpledown]

Monroe joins Webb as players who cant be counted on.

[757RavensFan]

Monroe was just ruled out. Hurst you have to atone for last week's performance.

[MissRay27]

Right now Hurst is a true value, undrafted and worth more than Monroe which we gave up a 5th round pick to get. Hurst will redeem himself this week with a full week of starters reps under his belt.

Monroe, Ravens should start to really wonder about that contract they gave you.

[FloridalovesRavens]

Why not beat a guy when he is hurt. He has a concussion and that is scary. Have a little empathy please. He has done a good job imo. Good luck to Hurst.

[PalmBayRaven]

Maryland that's all fine and good about a 5th rounder for Monroe at the time but No way, no how should we have given him the contract we gave him. He's getting paid as a top 10 LT in the league and I'm sorry his performances just hasn't lived up to it. People can neg me all day long on this one because I have been saying it for a while now about him. Even when he's playing Joe's getting pressure from his side because the DE's blowing by him. Hurst for being undrafted has played just as well for a fraction of the cost. It's all about value and I'm just not seeing it with Monroe.

[leroy31]

Maryland that's all fine and good about a 5th rounder for Monroe at the time but No way, no how should we have given him the contract we gave him. He's getting paid as a top 10 LT in the league and I'm sorry his performances just hasn't lived up to it. People can neg me all day long on this one because I have been saying it for a while now about him. Even when he's playing Joe's getting pressure from his side because the DE's blowing by him. Hurst for being undrafted has played just as well for a fraction of the cost. It's all about value and I'm just not seeing it with Monroe.

the top 20 Tackles get $5 Mil/yr atleast we get a top 13 based on contract at $7.5 Mil/Yr is he a top 13 Tackle in the league? I dont want the debacle of waiting for Jared Gaither to come back from whatever injury or Switching Micheal Oher back and forth, so it is good to have some stability at the position.  Hurst was an undrafted lineman last year not exactly someone you want to put in the most important position on the OL.

in terms of Cash this season Michael Oher is getting $3.67Mil

and Monroe $5.5 Mil

who do we turn to if Hurst gets hurt? Tony Hills, Deondre Wesley?

Edited September 19, 2015 by leroy31

[cobrajet]

monroe suggs perriman. injury bug has hit us hard already and we are only one game into the season. cut this team a break injury gods. go ravens!!

No joke! 

[balfan23]

the top 20 Tackles get $5 Mil/yr atleast we get a top 13 based on contract at $7.5 Mil/Yr is he a top 13 Tackle in the league? I dont want the debacle of waiting for Jared Gaither to come back from whatever injury or Switching Micheal Oher back and forth.  Hurst was an undrafted lineman last year not exactly someone you want to put in the most important position on the OL.

in terms of Cash this season Michael Oher is getting $3.67Mil

and Monroe $5.5 Mil

who do we turn to if Hurst gets hurt? Tony Hills, Deondre Wesley?

No ... then we have no choice but to shift some players out of their usual positions. 

[PurpleReigning]

Monroe has not justified the investment. He played soft when he was in the lineup last year. Not one big game has he shown up. Doesn't mean he won't, but up to this point he hasn't. You can say concussion all you want, but the coaches are starting to get frustrated. They won't say it because it's a concussion, but he was healthy enough to play in the playoffs-and they didn't put him in.

[RavenManiac#7]

To me, the play of the OL is the biggest key to the game. The OL just Has to improve Greatly if we want to be competitive this year. Last week's performance was unacceptable, atrocious, and every bit as bad as 2013. Sunday we could possibly get a good idea of what kind of season we can look forward to because, as stated, the Raiders Do have three very good pass rushers. I hope that Hurst, in particular, really plays much better because Monroe doesn't seem to be very good. He's been a big disappointment and I'm hoping that Hurst can Quickly develop into a better option than Monroe's been. We need an upgrade at LT.

[leroy31]

No ... then we have no choice but to shift some players out of their usual positions. 

like AQ Shipley playing guard right?

[BleedingPurple&Black]

just ordered my Hurst jersey, GO RAVENS!!!

[GENE2407]

Unfortunate that Hurst has to give 70 plays a game because Monroe can never go. Hurst is a nice backup and still needs more bulk to be an everyday starter. He gives he all, but man I'm sick of having him fill in for our $10m a year "starter" every single week.

[GENE2407]

Monroe's contract:

2014 $1 million (fully guaranteed) $3.2 million

2015 $5.5 million (fully guaranteed) $7.7 million

2016 $6.5 million $8.7 million

2017 $6.75 million $8.95 million

2018 $$6.75 million $8.95 million.

Cut him after the season and you take a cap hit of $6.6m in 2016 and we're done with this mess.

[salamander]

Hurst definitely struggled last week and seemed to struggle at the snap, reacting too late for an effective block. Hoping Hurst has a more solid game this week. The Denver rush duo was a tough assignment last week and it will be another tough contest this week to stop the rush. Hoping for a much quicker response time to be able to block right at the snap, Denver blew by us when our guys reaction time was slow.

[balfan23]

like AQ Shipley playing guard right?

I'm pretty sure AQ is no longer on the roster, so I'm not sure how he ends up at guard if we shift players.

 

I'm saying if Hurst goes down, that shifting guys on the line is a better option than putting in Tony Hills, given he's a guy who as been in our organization for all of a week and is not currently on the 53-man roster. 

[Puntit]

To be fair to Shipley, he was a cheap rental backup center we brought in to back up Geno, but then asked to play a starter out of position due to injuries at guard, and for the most part he managed to struggle through, gave us what he had. There werent a lot of free agent guys out there at the time who were as plug and play. But we had so many weak links and injuries on the Oline during that year that I don't think you can put too much blame on that guy. He was frankly no worse than advertised, and was never advertised to be a starter or a guard, just depth.