[News] Eisenberg: Ozzie Newsome Walking A Fine Line

[ellicottraven]

1-3 start, what have we done with so much less? When was the last time we beat the Bangals?

When was it that we last beat them? Hmm.. You really got my thinking cap on with that statement for sure. Flacco's performance against the Bengals leaves a lot to be desired I suppose. 

[law215]

Draft picks are no guarantee either. A. Brown, Kindle, Cody, Elam of just a few. If you can get a proven young player for a 3rd or 4th round pick IMO they should do it without hesitation.

[joeyclark3994]

Take a look what Jeffery's done lately, He's not cluch,we need a losing season to get better draft picks,I say let it be!

[goldenboldin]

Alshon hasn't even reached his prime, and he plays for an inept offense in Chicago. He is a rising star in the making and is absolutely worthy of a 3rd round pick in a heartbeat. You know the talent you're getting with them. Why risk on a college player who could get injured, or not live up to expectations. 3rd round for Jeffrey is a NO BRAINER

[The Greek]

"DONT TRIP"! Ozzie and Co. were one very very very bad pass away from winning a Super Bowl last season so Ozzie need not worry about a thing! As far as this season goes the Ravens should of came home after "ALMOST" beating the broncos plus holding peyton manning under 20pts! The Ravens just stumbled out the gate and have yet to hit their stride! "LOYALTY " has been tested and of these so called fans flunked miserably! All the finger pointing and whining! "WE GOOD" so get on or get off! LETS GO!

did you mean to say they were a couple of bad cb's away from going to the afc championship?

[Crusader]

Ozzie hates giving up draft picks then he better do a better job selecting high draft picks. Most of his trades were because the picks can't get on the field.

[p sizzle]

need 4 young legit playmakers on offense. yes, 4. (b/c injuries will happen. i.e perriman) too many inconsistent wrs taking up roster space. no more locking up guys unless top 5 at position. more compensatory picks than any other organization plus Qz & co. should equal better results than this... while team is gaining experience, flacco & coaching staff need to step game up

[DrinkmoreBeer]

Are low-round draft picks worth it for people who can play right away for this team,like Givens and Davis? You bet your butt. How did high-round picks, like Elam, Arthur Brown, and Cody work out? Cody is gone and the other two soon will be.

[Purple Dawg 96]

Justin Forsett should have a "HUGE" day just can't fall in Love with it Let Joe rip them a new one THEN let Justin and Co. loose on yhwm in the 2nd half! It's the uppercut this offense needs! LETS GO!

[catgirl54]

Boldin, and Torrey for that matter, haven't done jack this year. Yeah, not really missing them right now. Steve Smith has more than matched the production of Boldin, he just happens to be hurt.

Part of the reason they haven't had much production might be because their quarterback can't get the ball to them. The great find of Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick, is turning out to be a dud.

 

I won't second-guess Ozzie too much, I'm not a GM, but I still think they should have found a way to keep Boldin.  Every time Joe finds chemistry with a receiver, they end up letting them go because they think they cost too much.  

[harfordravenfan]

"DONT TRIP"! Ozzie and Co. were one very very very bad pass away from winning a Super Bowl last season so Ozzie need not worry about a thing! As far as this season goes the Ravens should of came home after "ALMOST" beating the broncos plus holding peyton manning under 20pts! The Ravens just stumbled out the gate and have yet to hit their stride! "LOYALTY " has been tested and of these so called fans flunked miserably! All the finger pointing and whining! "WE GOOD" so get on or get off! LETS GO!

 

Preach it P Dawg!!!

 

Not sure what's more painful... starting 1-3 or reading the boards lately

[ReginaldColeman1]

For the last few seasons they played their cards like they could repeat as long as there was tread on a few players from the old days. Even the SB year was that pattern. But u can only do that for so long before literally age catches up to you. I think they should reconsider their draft needs and play for the future not for yesterday. That doesn't mean give up on this year or any game any year. Just be smart about what you're trying to achieve and find a better way to get there.

[John Farrar]

Part of the reason they haven't had much production might be because their quarterback can't get the ball to them. The great find of Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick, is turning out to be a dud.

 

I won't second-guess Ozzie too much, I'm not a GM, but I still think they should have found a way to keep Boldin.  Every time Joe finds chemistry with a receiver, they end up letting them go because they think they cost too much.  

The loss of Boldin was already proven last season to not make much of an impact.   Losing T. Smith and Jacoby Jones were arguably more of an impact.  Based on age and production etc, Torrey Smith was probably the biggest loss you could question vs. what you would have had to pay....

[Halshayeji]

The Ravens are on schedule to have 11 picks in next years draft. The Ravens have 46 players under contract for next year not including the guys we may resign like Yanda, KO, Tucker, and Upshaw. Thats because we have drafted 28 players in the previous 3 drafts. Thats lierally 7 more than the norm (1 full draft class to most teams). You do the math guys, we are loaded with developing guys that we will lose like we lost J.Simon(4th rounder), Wenning(6th rounder), just to sign our own draft picks. We certainly have the quantity but what we lack is Quality. We need a few playmakers here and there instead of more developing guys because we just cant fit all of them on a 53 man roster. If we draft 11 guys next year then we are certainly going to just watch 5-10 guys that we have recently invested picks and playing time walk away for nothing (not even comp picks).

in 2012, we drafted 8 guys. Guess how many are still on the roster? 2!

in 2013 we drafted 10 guys. Guess how many will remain on the roster if we draft 11 guys next year.......

This next off-season is going to be different than the norm. I promise that! I'm not saying that because I have inside information or anything but it just makes sense. Ozzie will not just wash away so many players he drafted himself just to draft more guys.

After the Super Bowl, Ozzie promised not to jeopardize this teams future for the present. That was 3 years ago and he has kept that promise. We have a solid foundation of vets and a whole bunch of guys with potential. Now the 3 year restructure is complete and Ozzie has no other choice but to Invest in the present.

That's why we are calling for him to bring in a guaranteed starter for a few late round picks. All we want is for Ozzie to accelerate the process and snatch someone now instead of waiting till after the season when everyone is competing for a few players available.

[RavenManiac#7]

Generally speaking, I agree with Most of what was said in this article. Just one thing, though. If Alshon Jeffery had not gotten injured with his hamstring problem, and he would have been willing to a "trade and sign" deal, then I have to believe that he Would have been worth a 3rd rd choice. I think that at this point in his career, he has proven himself to be a talent similar to the examples given, Brandon Williams and Grockett Gilmore, that a team can build upon. Obviously, it wasn't going to happen, because of the injury, the need of a trade and sign deal, and Ozzie's reluctance to trade a 3rd rounder. But, I just wanted to give my opinion of Jeffery's talent level.

[The Mom Gene]

Everybody wanted Ozzie to pick a WR in the first round this year.  He did.  NOBODY could possibly predict the guy would get hurt.  It's a crazy discussion.  Nobody predicts that Gilmore and Smith get hurt either.  So let's just question Ozzie for that.  *sigh*

[The Mom Gene]

The loss of Boldin was already proven last season to not make much of an impact.   Losing T. Smith and Jacoby Jones were arguably more of an impact.  Based on age and production etc, Torrey Smith was probably the biggest loss you could question vs. what you would have had to pay....

Yup, if only he could have learned how to fight for the catch.  And that's why he didn't get paid, and why he's not here.

[cobrajet]

You know Ozzie was on the phone but I am sure teams know we were in need for a proven veteran receiver and probably were ridiculous with what they wanted in return. Another scenario could be that reasonable trade was worked out with a team but the player had to negotiate a new contract with us to make it happen and that player's agent probably thought we were desperate and shot for the moon and Ozzie said no way am I going to put this team in cap hades next season. Ozzie probably knew he could do better in the free agent market in the off-season. Ozzie is not going to hurt this team for the future even if some fans want something to happen right now. SSS and Gilmore will be back soon, we just need receivers to step up in the meantime against the Browns, who are hurting with injuries like we are.

[Ravenshine]

Everybody wanted Ozzie to pick a WR in the first round this year.  He did.  NOBODY could possibly predict the guy would get hurt.  It's a crazy discussion.  Nobody predicts that Gilmore and Smith get hurt either.  So let's just question Ozzie for that.  *sigh*

Well said! Looks like the Football Gods just dealt us some set backs. It's not Ozzy, Harbs, Pees, Flacco....you name it's fault. Because how are injuries the fault of the organization who could not have possibly foreseen them? They're not!

[drillem]

In this topsy-turvey season where favored teams are underperforming, anything is possible. Of course you got your 2 or 3 teams that always seem to be in the mix but after that anything is possible. I don't count the Ravens out. Especially when you consider how their season schedule was stacked against them at the beginning (2 western games to start out the season).

[January J]

No team has started the season 0-3 and made the playoffs since 1991? If I'm not mistaken it was done by the 92' chargers, the 95' lions, and the 98' bills. Do these writers ever do research and fact check?

Edit- dont get me wrong, I've always loved elsenburgs stuff, including this article. Just have seen a lot of typos and incorrect info posted on the site. It happens, but it's happened quite a bit, and these guys are doing this stuff for a living.

Edited October 11, 2015 by January J

[OzzieBisciotti]

Boldin, and Torrey for that matter, haven't done jack this year. Yeah, not really missing them right now. Steve Smith has more than matched the production of Boldin, he just happens to be hurt.

This is because they have Kapernick throwing to them silly

[OzzieBisciotti]

To the fans talking down on Ozzie, what other GM would you rather have?

 

 

Scot McCloughan- hands down... Look at his pick this year, even though lower picks- all contributors

 

Besides Mosely, Oz hasn't picked a pro bowl player in 7 years, ahem Matt Elam

[OzzieBisciotti]

To the fans talking down on Ozzie, what other GM would you rather have?

 

Hands down, no comparison- Scot McCloughan

 

He's turned around the Redskins in one draft and already has lower draft picks being huge contributors to the Redskins turnaround (e.g. Crowder, actually a WR and we know Oz can't draft any good WRs). 

 

He would actually draft much better than Oz - even if we have all these comp picks, what's it matter when we can't use any of these picks?  Besides Mosely, we have't drafted a pro bowler in like 8 years (ahem Matt Elam anyone?)

[balfan23]

Scot McCloughan- hands down... Look at his pick this year, even though lower picks- all contributors

 

Besides Mosely, Oz hasn't picked a pro bowl player in 7 years, ahem Matt Elam

I didn't realize the sole measure of the quality of a GM was based on the number of draft picks that made it to the pro bowl. 

 

No doubt, McCloughan has done very well though. 

[OzzieBisciotti]

Scot McCloughan hands down- if Bisciotti understands that we can't all be perfect forever, he'd give Scot a call and convince him to come to the Ravens.  He's done an awesome job with the Redskins and his picks are actually playing (ahem Matt Elam, Perriman, Pitta, etc..)

[baltraven2014]

Its official, the Ravens are one of the worst teams in the NFL this year. I never thought I would say that, but its obvious. I feel really bad for our fans, because they support this team through it all, and have to watch the effortless, poor, and seemingly lack of football pedigre displayed by this team. The fans who pay the bills deserve more than what this team is showing. I thought they had some issues, but man, I didn't think they were this ugly.

Edited October 11, 2015 by Moderator 3
Profanity removed

[Hardhitters]

Ozzie you're really messing up my DVR, I only have one win out of five to watch during the week.

[axisofeeble]

Once again OZZIE knew. He wasn't going to mortgage the Ravens in 2017 for this "team". The defense couldn't stop a back-up to a "mistake". The offense under Genius Trestman couldn't get Megatron open with a passing scheme. 4 touchdowns and a FG at home and I watched a dispirited team waltz by the kick that ended our season. With 2016 behind us it's time to release Schaub,and play that kid some. Flacco will be good 8 more years,time to play some young guys and give Joe a rest from trying to adapt to Trestman. Pitiful but please don't think WE could have won today if only Tucker hit the 51 yarder. McKown became the all time single game Cleveland Brown QB in passing yards at M&T Bank stadium. Dean Pees was limited by injury but where was the effort to do something,anything to reverse the trend. Please don't get anyone hurt the rest

of the year-Get a high draft choice rotation. John Harbaugh needs to clean house.

[tay0789]

Is it April yet???