[News] Eisenberg: Ravens Should Invest More At Receiver Position, Even If Steve Smith Returns

[BR News]

Take the pressure off Steve Smith and use his injury as a warning to surround Joe Flacco with more weapons.

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[CorvusCorax]

I could not have said it any better. Although I probably could say it more bluntly lol

[drillem]

Letting both Boldin and Torrey go will haunt this organization for years to come. These type players only come around every so often. There can be no continuity and succession of receivers when you fit-jerk get rid of good ones you got. Boooo on this team for it's wr decisions. You got a class qb so get some class wr's. And how come the fans saw this train wreck long before the ruling class front office?

[salamander]

Joe has all of the personal skills needed to take this offense to 1 of the top in the league. The FO needs to stop handicapping Joe and invest in a stronger WR corps if we have ANY desire or chance of making it to future playoffs, much less have the Super Bowl as our goal.

Edited November 3, 2015 by salamander

[fullb35]

Totally agree. But the type of receivers they need are ones that can create separation quickly...so Joe only has to look for his first read most of the time. Look at Brady he gets rid of the ball so quick because his first first read is open most of the time..this keeps the linebackers on their heals , the dbs off balance and aids the Oline in pass blocking and sets up the run game. NE only has average Lineman but their fast tic receivers and Brady being able to get rid of the ball fast make them look like All pros.

[callahan09]

Our current roster only includes 2 WRs who weren't undrafted as rookies. One of them was a one-time 4th rounder who couldn't even get playing time on the Rams, and the other is injured and hasn't seen the field yet (not even a single full practice in his career). That's a lot of low-end talent that we're actually doing some pretty OK things with. And they say Flacco doesn't elevate his receivers' play... who else is working with 4 undrafted guys and a 4th rounder as their entire WR group, and actually running an above average offense to boot?

[Deflated Football]

Stop being cheap on offense, Ozzie. Give Flacco some weapons.

[BmoreB]

One word, OBVIUOSLY !

[The Mom Gene]

Totally agree. But the type of receivers they need are ones that can create separation quickly...so Joe only has to look for his first read most of the time. Look at Brady he gets rid of the ball so quick because his first first read is open most of the time..this keeps the linebackers on their heals , the dbs off balance and aids the Oline in pass blocking and sets up the run game. NE only has average Lineman but their fast tic receivers and Brady being able to get rid of the ball fast make them look like All pros.

Brady also has one go to guy when the others are not open....  Gronk...  who is almost undefensible.

[cushrinada1986]

When Flacco had viable weapons, he was able to win a SB. If we can use half our picks to upgrade the offense around Flacco, both on the line and at WR, I am pretty sure he will be able to get us another ring. Flacco has the arm to get down field quickly, now we just need a set of WRs that can meet the ball there just as fast. Camp, when not injured, is a boost on offense, Darren Waller is a redzone threat and honestly should be Marlon Browns future replacement. Perrimen I think will be our Torrey 2.0 but we need him on the field this season to see what he can do. Givens is still a toss up as well as Ross. Ross has been shaky on returns recently and Givens is still somewhat unproven. I say we still draft future talent and then see how they work out in camp. Upgrade LT by moving out Monroe with a more solid tackle and see if you can upgrade C depth through the draft and free agency and we should be set for Flacco to really do something in 2016. As for the defense, I think we just need more/better vet leadership to help manage the game and add some sorely needed discipline to the DB group.

[Run Pass Pass Punt]

One word, OBVIUOSLY !

not that word.

[Minionhunter]

Did John just drop a BOMBSHELL! Sprained MCL for Perriman? I had only heard sprained PCL, and that was from Hensley. Can anyone confirm this? Did I miss an announcement?

[fusuymada]

If this is a call to arms and the call to arms consists of dragging in every free agent on the street that no one wants and can no longer play then this is a waste of space on the internet (used to be a waste of paper). If the Ravens don't go out and secure a trade and lock down a legitimate receiver then lets face it, this is just window dressing so fans don't pound the front office when two or more receivers get injured and we have no one. They can say at least we tried. Well, to me, at least we tried is to get off of some of those draft picks that have been poor decisions and turned into busts the past few years and trade them away for some legitimate talent. If not, then quit feeding us these stories about how the Ravens should beef up their receiver corps. Most of us have been saying that since about 2002, you're a little bit late to the party John...

[Kwilliams84]

Lets stop signing old veterans..lets draft jalen Ramsey fsu cb/s hes a beast 2nd and 3 round draft a wide reciever. like josh doctson, Corey Coleman, Demarcus Robinson, michael thomas,will fuller, travin dural, there are alot of good wide revievers in the draft pair them up with smith sr, givens, aiken, and possibly periman if he can ever get on field time to load up for flacco finally on weapons

[drgeo]

How much dead money gets freed up next season?

[Minionhunter]

Hensley via twitter says that it is a PCL. John, can you clarify? I have not heard anything official from the Ravens on this, but I could have missed it.

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

I would like to see them go after Roddy White. Pair him with SSS if he decides not to retire then draft a couple WR in the mid rounds and take a DB in the first.

[MadStorkSociety]

1) We waste a resource, that is Joe's big arm, by not having a speedster. That is true. 2) I agree with Joe - "it's tough for an offense to consistently produce when it always has to drive bit-by-bit rather than in chunks." However, the good offenses move down the field bit by bit with quick release passes. For that we need receivers who can get separation quickly.

Edited November 3, 2015 by MadStorkSociety

[jpboechat]

I have a lot of faith that our young tight end group will develop nicely, and Justin Forsett is a good back. We're one wide receiver away from having a talented skill-position group, next year we match Perriman with a proven receiver and Smith Sr (if he plays....). I like Aiken as our #3 or #4, not #1.

[Bohica5]

I have a lot of faith that our young tight end group will develop nicely, and Justin Forsett is a good back. We're one wide receiver away from having a talented skill-position group, next year we match Perriman with a proven receiver and Smith Sr (if he plays....). I like Aiken as our #3 or #4, not #1.

Hahahaha....perriman playing next year?!!......too funny!!.....Get real!!

[Dwayne Watts]

Ibelieve they can surround Flacco with anyone and have a dangerous passing attack. Don't agree? Justput on the tape of Sunday's game after Steve Smith left. If Joe would just play like this all the time. He's capable. But, I guess he feels there's no amount of money in the world to get that out of him. Or, it's not worth it. Idk. I love my quarterback in my team just the same though.

[ravens4life86]

Completely agree..Ravens need 2 good WRs even if Sr returns.. Draft..Will Fuller ND,Josh Doctson TCU, Thomas OSU,..

Bring in a mid tier guy via free agency...Boldin resign,young guy like Marvin Jones, Benjermin from Cle.

[roamingcharges]

I still don't regret letting Torrey Smith go. He's a nice weapon to have but not a 'must have'. The problem:

 

In 2014 we had one of the best receiver classes EVER and we only got one in the 7th round after we had had our pick and then traded back in to get Campanaro.

 

In 2015 we selected Perriman who couldn't participate in the combine due to injury. I hear he is a very good receiver but he appears not to love the game like some of the best out there. I really don't feel like getting into the Stephon Diggs thing because I'll get angry if I do.

 

When we choose to pass on the entire pool of UFA receivers because we have a bunch of guys who look nice catching passes in shorts. If the Bengals are foolish enough to let A.J. Green get to free agency, can you swear Ozzie will move heaven and earth to make him a Raven? I can't either and there lies the problem.

Edited November 3, 2015 by roamingcharges

[EddiOK]

Our draft board, for the first 5 rounds next May, should be exclusively CB, Safety, and WR. We've been trying the deep discount bins at Walmart, and this is the state of things because of that. It's time to go to Crate & Barrel and order up the nicer goods, pay the price, and have different results than this year. And if our FO cannot draft successfully, then maybe it's time for a FO change.

[sami]

its not so much the receivers as it is the coaches who train the receivers how to run a proper route. The routes we run and the way we run them are terrible. SSS is our top receiver cuz he already knew how to run a route before he got here. Look at the Pittsburgh receivers. They are trained the PROPER way to get open and how to maintain that separation. I agree we need to draft better receivers but it wont do any good if we don't have the proper coaches to train them.

[balfan23]

Hard to disagree with this, although, the unfortunate thing is this team has:

 

1) a lot of places where they need to invest (CB, FS, OLB)

2) not had the best track record of finding WRs in the draft.

 

To invest via FA isn't much of an option, since we're likely to be pinched yet again on finances. 

 

Let's face it. If SSS doesn't return as an effective player and if Perriman doesn't amount to much, it is hard to envision 2016 being a year where the WR is considered anything but a relative weakness. 

[sami]

I am really getting tired of hearing how we made a HUGE mistake not over paying Boldin and Torrey. If they are so good why are the 49ers on the bottom of the heap? they have both "miracle workers" and they don't seem to be working any miracles.

[TheConquerorWorm]

I am really getting tired of hearing how we made a HUGE mistake not over paying Boldin and Torrey. If they are so good why are the 49ers on the bottom of the heap? they have both "miracle workers" and they don't seem to be working any miracles.

I agree. They couldn't get open in Baltimore and they can't get open in San Fran. I'd rather pay Aiken & Brown $500K to not get open than to pay Torrey & Boldin $14 million not to get open. For the record, Aiken has 9 more catches than Torrey. You can save the Flacco vs Cap argument - DeAndre Hopkins & Brandon Marshall still put up numbers despite having some of the worst QB play in the NFL. The fact that SF wants to trade both guys just after signing them shows that they are both WAY overpaid for their ability. And I would rather have SSS than Boldin any day (we wouldn't have signed SSS if Boldin didn't leave).

[JetLife94]

We need to use the draft entirely on our defense!!! Not in order cornerbacks, safety, pass rush, possibly ILB.

Wouldn't mind a nice UFA signing for the WR position.

[Amesr52]

They need to stick to their MO for how they build a contender. They draft heavily on the defensive side with a few underrated FA steals. But we need to dish out the money for a Wr for once. We need a guy Flacco can trust and throw too for more than 2 years. We should have some space in offseason to work with for the cap. Cap is increasing by bout 10mil and we have a lot of dead money coming off the books and depending on how much they rework Joe's deal we could have a decent amount of cap.