the bright side!

[Ravens2343]

I def. see what you mean. I love Hargreaves as a prospect for us, I want him really badly. I'm with you on Gipson but I might hold out hope on that one. It's not our motto to pursue big time free agents. We always build through the draft, add cut guys and sign under the radar guys as well. It's just what we do and it has been working for a long time now. 

 

Another bright side, we won't be relying on any one to step up. What I mean is that we don't have to rely on Marlon Brown or Chykie Brown to step up because we know what we have. We used to have mixed signals on who's good and who's not and the guys who weren't really good sure didn't play like they weren't. That won't be the case here. We can know plug up the holes we have without really relying on any undrafted players to step up.

 

With all of our projected picks this year I am excited to see who we bring in to fill these holes and add depth.  I think this offseason we should really consider signing Gipson or a good free agent corner/receiver.  Its not something we normally do, but with our projected cap room I think it is a must.  We should have 10-12 picks this year so I hope we don't have to rely on any undrafted guys to step up next year.  Guys like Brooks, Z-Smith, Jernigan, Guy, Will Davis, Maxx Williams, Aiken and Buck Allen are all getting good reps this year, but could very well be our depth next year.  This offseason will be a big one in our transition from an older super bowl team in 2012 to one of the youngest teams in 2016.

Edited October 21, 2015 by Ravens2343

[JoeyFlex5]

All great points, good write-up.

 

 In reference to #7, from what I've seen so far, I'm more excited about Boyle's potential than Maxx's.  

maxx's potential is way higher than boyles. you may be more excited about boyles current production, but maxx has a very high ceiling, he may have come into the league with the nfl's best hands, the dude has the most natural set of vice grips ive ever seen and he has the body control and ball awareness to go with it. when maxx gets up to speed and physically matures a bit hes gonna become joes favorite target in a heartbeat

[JoeyFlex5]

With all of our projected picks this year I am excited to see who we bring in to fill these holes and add depth. I think this offseason we should really consider signing Gipson or a good free agent corner/receiver. Its not something we normally do, but with our projected cap room I think it is a must. We should have 10-12 picks this year so I hope we don't have to rely on any undrafted guys to step up next year. Guys like Brooks, Z-Smith, Jernigan, Guy, Will Davis, Maxx Williams, Aiken and Buck Allen are all getting good reps this year, but could very well be our depth next year. This offseason will be a big one in our transition from an older super bowl team in 2012 to one of the youngest teams in 2016.

finding the right DC will go a long way in helping our defense. we need to find a guy who can adapt, and use players to their strengths, rather than forcing low IQ DBs to try to rotate coverages and get lost, when to rush wide, when to blitz, etc.

pees is just so predictable these days, he used to call some brilliant gameplans, but he lost something this offseason and he is just awful, and now we are suffering with our personnel and his shortcomings are apparent as ever. with the right DC we can sign a middle of the pack CB, draft ramsey, and let the new DC dial up the pressure with more conventional coverages. heres to hoping we fire pees!

[Ravens2343]

finding the right DC will go a long way in helping our defense. we need to find a guy who can adapt, and use players to their strengths, rather than forcing low IQ DBs to try to rotate coverages and get lost, when to rush wide, when to blitz, etc. 

 

pees is just so predictable these days, he used to call some brilliant gameplans, but he lost something this offseason and he is just god awful, and now we are suffering with our personnel and his shortcomings are apparent as ever. with the right DC we can sign a middle of the pack CB, draft ramsey, and let the new DC dial up the pressure with more conventional coverages. heres to hoping we fire pees!

 

I agree that we should definitely have a new D-coordinator this offseason.  The right hire could really turn this defense around in a hurry, but we still need to add talent.  I would rather draft or sign a high caliber secondary player and pass rusher instead of leaving it to the new coordinator to put them in better spots.  We should draft someone with the idea that they will replace Suggs sooner rather then later

[JoeyFlex5]

I agree that we should definitely have a new D-coordinator this offseason.  The right hire could really turn this defense around in a hurry, but we still need to add talent.  I would rather draft or sign a high caliber secondary player and pass rusher instead of leaving it to the new coordinator to put them in better spots.  We should draft someone with the idea that they will replace Suggs sooner rather then later

oh i fully agree we need new players as well, we need a true force on the edge, and i think more than a cb we need a top shelf FS, those 2 things plus a more adaptive DC will turn this defense back into a top 10 unit.

[JoeyFlex5]

This statement always irritates me! 

 

Just because we've had a team that made the playoffs on the regular and even 2 trips to win the Super Bowl, doesn't mean that I'm "spoiled".  As though a losing season will humble me...a fan...and not irritate the players themselves who actually play the game for their livelihood.  Smh!  How can you even hope to win a Championship IF you don't have winning seasons?  Without them you won't even sniff the playoffs! 

 

Never get to use to losing!  Never settle for losing!  Sure, it happens and when it does you take it with a grain of salt so to speak but never, never get use to it!  Cause when you do..it becomes the culture!  Just ask other fan bases that support teams where losing is their culture.  C'mon now!  Lol!

dude, really? take a chill pill, its a figure of speech, and when a team that has been around for 20 years and already has 2 super bowls and has made the playoffs more often than not in their franchises history, well then us as fans have gotten acclimated to a level of excellence in football that other fans RARELY get to enjoy. pats have enjoyed it the past 15 years, but that didnt come without decades of horror before, the steelers had their moments but they were also god awful for all but 3 decades of their 80 something year existence, the cowboys have been pretty horrible/below average for all but 2 decades of their existence, the cardinals are the oldest team in existence without a single super bowl win. 

 

my point is, that we absolutely are in a sense, spoiled as fans. we barely know what a string of bad seasons feels like, we had a string of mediocre seasons with legendary defenses that we could still cheer for, and in the 21st century have had what..3 legitimately bad seasons? and those years are typically rebounded by playoff appearances or coming close to it. we have a standard of excellence here like no other franchise and when our fans forget that the league is built on parity and the good teams will fall on occasion, it gives off a distinct vibe of "spoiled". we have had ZERO draft picks in the top half of the draft in the entire harbaugh era, that kind of thing catches up to you eventually, we have been squeezing through the salary cap for as long as i can remember, that kind of thing catches up to you eventually, it happens to all good teams, and when the fans absolutely cant handle it and start calling for heads to roll because of one bad season, then you bet ur [rear end] that we are spoiled.

[Militant X 1]

dude, really? take a chill pill, its a figure of speech, and when a team that has been around for 20 years and already has 2 super bowls and has made the playoffs more often than not in their franchises history, well then us as fans have gotten acclimated to a level of excellence in football that other fans RARELY get to enjoy. pats have enjoyed it the past 15 years, but that didnt come without decades of horror before, the steelers had their moments but they were also god awful for all but 3 decades of their 80 something year existence, the cowboys have been pretty horrible/below average for all but 2 decades of their existence, the cardinals are the oldest team in existence without a single super bowl win. 

 

my point is, that we absolutely are in a sense, spoiled as fans. we barely know what a string of bad seasons feels like, we had a string of mediocre seasons with legendary defenses that we could still cheer for, and in the 21st century have had what..3 legitimately bad seasons? and those years are typically rebounded by playoff appearances or coming close to it. we have a standard of excellence here like no other franchise and when our fans forget that the league is built on parity and the good teams will fall on occasion, it gives off a distinct vibe of "spoiled". we have had ZERO draft picks in the top half of the draft in the entire harbaugh era, that kind of thing catches up to you eventually, we have been squeezing through the salary cap for as long as i can remember, that kind of thing catches up to you eventually, it happens to all good teams, and when the fans absolutely cant handle it and start calling for heads to roll because of one bad season, then you bet ur [rear end] that we are spoiled.

 

The bold is the only thing I agree with you on here bro! 

 

My take is that because our Ravens fanbase have endured those horrendous seasons of trashy offenses but great defenses (as you have mentioned)...we have more than "paid our dues" as a fan base from that perspective.  Perhaps not to this magnitude but we have!  And, I'll take our Ravens consistently making the playoffs on the regular and drafting late any day over what we're experiencing now.  Of course, we may not always have a winning season but to say that as a fanbase we are or have become "spoiled" because our team has established a culture of winning is ridiculous to me.  But, maybe that's just how I see it and if so, I'm cool with that.

[1/28/01]

The bold is the only thing I agree with you on here bro!

My take is that because our Ravens fanbase have endured those horrendous seasons of trashy offenses but great defenses (as you have mentioned)...we have more than "paid our dues" as a fan base from that perspective. Perhaps not to this magnitude but we have! And, I'll take our Ravens consistently making the playoffs on the regular and drafting late any day over what we're experiencing now. Of course, we may not always have a winning season but to say that as a fanbase we are or have become "spoiled" because our team has established a culture of winning is ridiculous to me. But, maybe that's just how I see it and if so, I'm cool with that.

Yeah, we're spoiled

[The Mom Gene]

EVERYBODY STOP THE SNIPING PLEASE...  IT'S GETTING TIRING!

[ellicottraven]

Had he not "torn an Achilles" I'm not so sure he doesn't have a decent year?  He was actually playing pretty well.  He had no limitations, and had gotten in decent shape prior to the regular season.  Just sayin... He came to camp not lookin' great, but he also faced some personal adversity in the offseason...  so, I'm thinkin' he comes back...  Ray was hurt the last two seasons he was here.  Most of his final season.

To add to your thought process, when you think about how many games he's missed since 2012 when he had his first Achilles injury, there isn't as much mileage on his tires as presumed. I assure you he's going to be baaaaack!

Edited October 22, 2015 by ellicottraven

[Militant X 1]

Yeah, we're spoiled

 

There's always one in the bunch!

[52liveforever]

Great post

[araveninwaconc]

this may be the ugliest season this team has ever seen, but there are brightsides to look at... 

 

1. being 1-5 with all 5 of our losses coming within a few points, isnt exactly an anomaly, but it hasnt happened in decades, this shows that even though we can play bad for 3 quarters, we still have the stones to compete, even with a dismantled roster due to injury, it also says we arent far away from being a top team once again. 

 

2. pees has to get fired at some point if this keeps up.... right? 

 

3. Za'Darius Smith has racked up some numbers, his talent was always apparent he just wasnt finishing plays, all of a sudden he is finishing... if he can build on this, we will have on violent nasty edge defender who can actually get to the qb 

 

4. Carl Davis was such a one man wrecking crew that he stole jernigans job when he was already anointed the cornerstone for the future of our d-line, when jernigan gets his mojo back then a 3 man front with these guys playing at 100% for the next few years is gonna be fun 

 

5. we still have an elite rotation on the DL 

 

6. we have yet to see perriman, ya never know, he could be the guy we drafted him to be... 

 

7. crockett gillmore is doing his best gronk impression, and if the guy doesnt headram himself into a coma by seasons end, he could turn out to be a VERY special player, he is the real deal. maxx williams also seems to be getting a little more involved, that boy is gonna be a stud, and when you combine them with nick boyle, it gets interesting, we should be able to solve our redzone woes when all 3 get fully adapted to the NFL 

 

8. jimmy smith and wagner are both recovering from a lisfranc, the first season back from this injury is almost always a bad one, i dont care how good a player it is, they will be back. 

 

9. yanda is gonna retire a raven, or hell he may just manage to play another 10 years and get 2 more extensions, ya never know with that manchild. 

 

10. we have a future stud on the OL just sitting there staying healthy and getting brighter and stronger, urschel will one day be a huge piece of this team and im kinda wondering why harbs hasnt considered letting him fill in for a struggling zuttah 

 

11. when dean pees finally gets fired, it will be very nice to see what will hill can do with a DC who knows what hes doing. 

 

12. same with cj mosley 

 

13. possibly the highest draft position in franchise history is coming, the possibilities are endless 

 

14. maybe, just maybe, trestman finally finds his groove on 3rd downs, and with another weapon the offense begins to click next season 

 

all in all i think we still have a very bright future. the season is a lost cause, and theres nothing wrong with that, this is a league of parity, and we've been spoiled as fans. lets take these L's with pride and get ourselves ready for another 6-8 years of SB contention after this hiccup!

I could not agree more with the firing of pees. You have to realize his style is out dated! Look at what pittburgh did and they were expected to be in shambles? Looks like we are the ones in shambles. Sometimes we just have to learn to let go. Everybody in the divison has seen his defense over and over for how many years? it is time to deversify or continue down the road we are on. We are too talented by far. Most times they look as if they dont knoow whats going on? I must admit I have been spoiled to the riches that once pord proudly through ourorganization. I will miss the Ravens in the playoffs this year for I had got acustomed to their winning ways. How ever with things going as they are I still see aBaltimore in the playoffs! Call me a hopeless gluten for punishment but I yet will not throw in the towel! A longshot it my be ? It is one nevertheless! Right now Jets and Steelers hold the two wild cards. But can Jets really prove to be a very competitive squad? Or are we in for the same old ending which never suprises anyone? So "mathamatically" I believe thats how you spell it, We are still alive and the Ravens' can still fly!

[codizzle]

"The bright side" ..

One on of the best young DT's in the game and our most consistent defender

Brandon Williams