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

[Run Pass Pass Punt]

La. Quon. Tread. Well.

[BallsoHard622]

Well investing in better wr is a no brainer. Our offense isn't explosive anymore an we can't take advantage of Flacco's ability to throw deep. Watching our offense at times is like watching paint dry. We need more speed on both sides of the ball.

[ravens4life86]

@Sami, seriously??? The same cat who lit us up, is the same guy who just got benched. Colin Kaepernick. If you knew anything you wouldnt be blaming Boldin or Torrey. Great players need atleast a average QB to get them the ball. Kaepernick at this point is a back up, so you cant expect Boldin or Torrey to produce.

But bet your butt...if Ravens had cap this previous offseason and resigned Torrey... With SB Mvp in Flacco and Torreys track record of leading NFL in drawing PIs with Flacco close to nearly 500 yards worth... Theres no doubt Ravens would be a playoff caliber team.

But keep thinking its all about Boldin and Torrey. Last I checked they didnt get benchef

[boldtown]

Ravens rid themselves of good receivers just about every year. Especially since flacco came around. Maybe the Ravens front office believe in kickers more than receivers. I still don't understand why the Ravens did not get diggs from Maryland in last years draft. It might be the position coaches not sharing their notes. But if it is a linebacker%u2026 money will be thrown at them.

[johnmike72]

Ozzie has been at this for 20 yrs., and still hasn`t drafted a #1 receiver. There is something wrong with that.

[EliteRavens]

Fire Dean Pees and Get Joe some weapon

[fusuymada]

I would like to say that the Patriots are looking to acquire Devon McCourtey as a corner. Seems the Patriots are bulking up for the run at the end of the season, the Ravens may sign a free agent off the street that no one wants. Could be why we are 2-6 and they are 7-0. Patriots love draft picks just like us, but they also know the value of them and don't allow themselves to get wrapped up in "but we may draft a superstar." Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Getting a known corner or wide receiver and losing a 5th round pick is not bad when last year we drafted "snacks" Myers in that spot who we subsequently cut, several others cut and ended up back on our practice squad). That was exceedingly poor value for a 5th rounder.  In the fourth we got Trey Walker who cant get out on the field.  What could we have gotten for a 4th and a 5th rounder.  A pretty darn good receiver.  Sad.

Edited November 3, 2015 by fusuymada

[cushrinada1986]

It would be nice solidifying the Oline first and then working our way to the WR group. Flaccos best stats come from being able to use PlayAction off the run game. The run game in Bmore is what got us the 2 rings we do have(Jamal, Rice both had elite line play during their runs, even when passing wasnt even an option). We rebuild the line on the edges, meaning moving out Monroe and re-evaluating Wagner, Maybe not to release but be used more as a swing tackle who can be backup for both. We either look at FA and bring in a solid Vet or look long term via the draft and STILL bring in a vet so that rookie can catch up(NEVER a smart idea to have your rookie guarding your QBs blindside). For TE, we are set. We can make the hard decision of moving Pitta or allowing him to retire next season because Gilmore, Willams, and Boyle are showing great ability to get open(Boyle actually has done this more than Williams so far this season. A great thing to see given the fact Gilmore and Boyle are perfect for run blocking given their size). The WRs we get in 2016 should concentrate around one thing.....SPEED!. I say dont waste Flaccos arm throwing to more slow with just size, we already have Waller for size and even he has gotten open more times than not. We need a group of speed merchants who will force the defense to back up so that we can run more effectively. Also, with more speed comes more possible trick plays and end arounds that could confuse the defense even more. Flacco can get the ball anywhere so lets allow him the ability to do so with players who can consistently beat their man. If SSS comes back next year, with those additions mentioned, no way we do worse than 10 wins in 2016.

[Bob21043]

Getting real close to the trade deadline - haven't heard anything yet. Will Ozzie deal?

[trevorsteadman]

I really hope they DO NOT trade away future draft picks unless it is to get a good wide receiver or running back that still has 2 or 3 years on their contract. I was already mad with the trades earlier this season to get players everyone knew wouldn't contribute much. It is a lot easier to have a better draft when you are drafting before most teams each round.

[cbrook1862]

Lequan Treadwell

[jcmerrell]

we shouldve drafted diggs

[Minionhunter]

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 and disagree.

 

Agree - tired of all this postcognative prowess being whined over, go get some cheese to go with that.

 

Agree - Torrey was a cap decision too, but I think this was a good move with Perriman, if Perriman were gone, I bet we would have gotten Diggs. Perriman had an injury, you can't predict it but yes there were some red flags (not at combine, knee issues in childhood) that indicated we should have either kept Jacoby or ALSO gone after Diggs to have a backup 'speed' plan (or targeted a burner in UDFA land, but speed is usually gone by then if it does not come with serious liability), that seems to have been the mistake this year (or not going after Givens much earlier). I think the shot at a "cheaper Torrey" was well worth it.

 

Neutral - I don't think we should have traded Boldin. It was a cap move, but really poor choice, we should have let him walk in 2014 if we were meant to get rid of him, because he wasn't replaced. This one still puzzels me, we had a decent amount of cap space that year even if just keeping Boldin at his salary. Either way we would not have overpaid for him, that is why this is neutral.

 

Neither is a miracle worker.

 

Disagree - Kapernick is not that good of a QB, Jim Harb is a great QB coach and his OC was excellent and they got a lot out of Kaep. Without them or someone else like them, he is lost in the woods. Torrey and Q can't do anything if the QB does not look for them to use their skillsets. Maybe if they ran read option with Kaep and with his contract, who cares if he only makes it a few years, they were not on the hook for much. Mistake was not using him as a runner until he was used up with too many hits like they to with RB. Once they got him into that contract which was a series of one year deals (team friendly) I thought they might be going the burn him out but win while he has gas in the tank route, but nope, went conservative and eliminated his usefulness.

 

So, I would have kept Q, let Torrey walk (sorry your a good guy but we have some serious dead cap space issues), had a backup speed plan. Neither Q or Torrey were WR1's like SSS.

[Space11jams]

if we keep up the route we going with not being able to stack up wins, we'll have a top draft pick to draft a big-bodied receiver. Not sure who would be the best candidate but....we shall see.

[Drew P]

I really hope they DO NOT trade away future draft picks unless it is to get a good wide receiver or running back that still has 2 or 3 years on their contract. I was already mad with the trades earlier this season to get players everyone knew wouldn't contribute much. It is a lot easier to have a better draft when you are drafting before most teams each round.

 

They have plenty of picks but they really need a warm body in the secondary. These games are painful to watch.

[Militant X 1]

It’s time to take the pressure off Smith.  If anything, the Ravens should treat his injury as a call-to-arms, a warning to surround quarterback Joe Flacco with more wide receiver weapons.

 

^ Take the pressure off Smith?  Naw!  More like, take the pressure off of Joe Flacco by surrounding him with at least 2-3 more solid playmakers at the wide receiver spot!  Who says the Ravens should have only 1 guy that can fight for passes and make the catch, take the top of the defense, run crisp routes, slants over the middle, outs to the sidelines etc?  Why not go after 2-3 guys that can do that?  Let's stop making these same old tired and lame excuses for why Joe hasn't made a pro bowl his entire career so far.

 

GET HIM THE WEAPONS so we can put this argument to rest!

Edited November 4, 2015 by Militant X 1

[Purple Hazard]

Hate to say it but I think we should do it like the Bengals did, adding talented playmakers to the offense in every draft and look at them now... even Dalton looks like an elite QB with this many weapons and I think he is not even half the QB Flacco is.

[MarioDrama]

It’s time to take the pressure off Smith.  If anything, the Ravens should treat his injury as a call-to-arms, a warning to surround quarterback Joe Flacco with more wide receiver weapons.

 

^ Take the pressure off Smith?  Naw!  More like, take the pressure off of Joe Flacco by surronding him with at least 2-3 more solid playmakers at the wide receiver spot!  Who says the Ravens should have only 1 guy that can fight for passes and make the catch, take the top of the defense, run crisp routes, slants over the middle, outs to the sidelines etc?  Why not go after 2-3 guys that can do that?  Let's stop making this same old tired and lame excuse for why Joe hasn't made a pro bowl his entire career so far.

 

GET HIM THE WEAPONS so we can put this argument to rest!

 

 

I totally agree. Every "analyst" talks about Joe not being elite yada yada yada. When has Joe ever had weapons? Players the opposing team actually were afraid of? Maybe the Super Bowl year when we had Boldin & Smith, but other than that he's been working with average/ below average players. Look at every QB in the league and see what he is working with and who they had in the past its ridiculous. Ravens need more playmakers and a real #1 receiver. VIA trade or draft, Ravens need somebody. 

[Tenacious Faulker]

I was a big advocate of drafting Stephon Diggs out of Maryland this year. So wish they would've taken my advice (LOL!) as he's not tearing it up in Minnesota - like an ODB-lite. Given where he was taken they could've used their 4th rd comp pick used instead on CB Tray Walker. I however had expected Diggs to go higher. I think the Vikings struck gold getting him in the 5th, but he was worth using a 2nd or 3rd rounder on which is where I thought he should've gone.

[someonewhoknows]

What ever happened to Daniel Brown he looked real good in pre-season and caught everything thrown to him..why is he not even mentioned???

[griffrb]

Without reading the article that is a no brainer statement and on point. I think every team in the AFC except the Ravens have invested in playmakers. The league has changed to a passing league and it's evident by the rules adopted in the passing game to create excitement and higher scores. To win, just outscore your opponent 55-20 through the air. Hard to believe we've not adjusted by not investing in WRs and DBs. Those elite QBs have one thing in common, explosive speed at the WR position for the most part. That being said, "Go Ravens"!

[jpboechat]

I totally agree. Every "analyst" talks about Joe not being elite yada yada yada. When has Joe ever had weapons? Players the opposing team actually were afraid of? Maybe the Super Bowl year when we had Boldin & Smith, but other than that he's been working with average/ below average players. Look at every QB in the league and see what he is working with and who they had in the past its ridiculous. Ravens need more playmakers and a real #1 receiver. VIA trade or draft, Ravens need somebody. 

We also had a pretty decent receiving corps last year, and we were a few plays away from the AFC championship. People often say that the defense and the run game carry Joe Flacco, but these aspects are the one we usually invest here: we don't draft offensive playmakers withing the first three rounds frequently. That's just the way our team is usually built

[purpledown]

they need a number 1 receiver not cast offs from other teams.

[The Greek]

looking at the standings it is funny that we are only 2 games out of a wild card spot. aside from the 3 unbeatens the rest of the conference has struggled

[ryananth]

File this article under "OBVIOUS"

[OzzieBisciotti]

Ozzie... Please read and pay attention to Eisenburg--- and don't forget to draft a receiver in rounds 3 or above-

[OzzieBisciotti]

We pay Flacco millions and give himm 0 legit weapons- this doesn't make sense, Ozzie

[Minionhunter]

Chargers just cut Jacoby...

[Minionhunter]

Mario - sorry I fat fingered the wrong button. Should have been thumbs up.

[playlikeawhat]

*Yawn* ...they knew this seasons ago. They knew this as they traded receivers who were worth their contracts. Nothing will change. More than happy to be proven wrong.