Eating my words, giving props where its due- kamar aiken

[JoeyFlex5]

during the offseason when everyone was saying we were just fine with brown and aiken as our 2s and 3s, i was the exact opposite, i thought they were both going to be a disaster this year, and while i still feel that way about brown, aiken has made me eat my words. 

 

since steve smiths injury he is 5th in the league in targets, a ridiculous improvement from where he was before, he is getting comfortable in this league, learning how to get those small bits of separation that make the difference, he is learning how to make himself available to the qb, he is becoming, dare i say it... reliable, but more than any of that he has played his heart out, you can tell this guy really loves the game, and he loves playing for the ravens and he wants to lay it all out there for us, he has no problems laying his body on the line and stretching out for a ball that he probably wont even catch, knowing its gonna hurt like hell. the dude has earned my respect and i think he will be a damn good #3 moving forward. 

 

also, look at the receivers that started out as nobodies, no speed, unimpressive size, didnt understand the route tree, etc. and worked their tails off, got comfortable in their system, learned the nuances and became excellent weapons for their teams, guys like edelman, a. brown, amendola, it sounded like a stretch to me before, but now i see no reason to believe aiken cant continue working his butt off to learn to make the most of himself and make himself a respected player around the league.

[PurpleCity5]

At the start of the season I thought I'd give Aiken a chance, it was a pretty underwhelming start and I'll admit, I began to doubt his abilities as a receiver and man has he turned it around. I like the guy a lot and I think he deserves to be our No.3 going forward. He's done very well recently. He's beating starting CBs, getting separation and making clutch plays. 

 

Another thing Aiken does well that I'm surprised by is the YAC, the dude can make a play! That's an underrated asset of his.

Edited December 4, 2015 by PurpleCity5

[JoeyFlex5]

yeah, his toughness and ability to turn upfield and lower his shoulder can really help him to find a place in this league. thats an underappreciated asset that you dont see too often anymore

[Cillmatic]

Pretty good 3rd WR. Campanero>Kamar when healthy though.

[1/28/01]

Pretty good 3rd WR. Campanero>Kamar when healthy though.

He'll never play 8 games, let alone 16.

[JoeyFlex5]

Pretty good 3rd WR. Campanero>Kamar when healthy though.

i agree, but camp has an injury history dating all the way back to high school, he went in the 7th round for a reason and were seeing that reason over and over unfortunately

[Ravenseconbeast]

He'll never play 8 games, let alone 16.

True. Camp is a lesser version of Amendola(Rams)

[GrimCoconut]

I like him. He should stick around.

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

I like Aiken but honestly think he is a #3 on most NFL teams. That being said he seems to have improved since he has been getting more looks.

[izvoodoo]

I like Aiken but honestly think he is a #3 on most NFL teams. That being said he seems to have improved since he has been getting more looks.

That's sort of where I had him.  With Perriman, Smith and Aiken slated to start I thought we had a good 1-3.   Didn't work out that way.  

[January J]

I respect you admitting your error in judgment. I was one of the guys lobbying for him- I think he has done a great job but we are asking entirely too much from him. He's not a number 1 or even number 2 receiver. But he's handled it like a champ and gotten the job done. He's a class act too. I think that next year when we actually get somebody to stretch the feild and get perriman back guys like Aiken will really benefit and light it up.

Boy was I wrong about Marlon brown though. However I don't think almost anybody could have predicted this bad of a year from him. I didn't expect him to rack up many yards but I thought he would atleast catch some touchdowns for us and stand out in the redzone.

Edited December 5, 2015 by January J

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

That's sort of where I had him.  With Perriman, Smith and Aiken slated to start I thought we had a good 1-3.   Didn't work out that way.  

Ya I think he has played pretty good with the increased passes he has gotten but I still want a true #1 and #2. SSS is great  and I hope he comes back as far as Perriman goes we really don't know what we got till next year.

[jimmypowder]

So why has Marlon regressed so much ? I don't get it l I thought he might have a break out season this year . He

showed potential .

[CalvinSmoke]

I still don't think you all are giving him enough credit. Your probably looking at your #2 reciever for the foreseeable future. Aiken/Perriman are to be our Boldon/Smith

[Cillmatic]

So why has Marlon regressed so much ? I don't get it l I thought he might have a break out season this year . He showed potential .

He never showed anything, he was just force fed the ball because we had virtually NO good WR's and NO TE. He was never good.

[Deflated Football]

I still don't think you all are giving him enough credit. Your probably looking at your #2 reciever for the foreseeable future. Aiken/Perriman are to be our Boldon/Smith

This is laughable. Aiken is nowhere near Boldin's level. He can come back as the number four next season but that's it.

[52liveforever]

I was truthfully doubtful as well. It's one of those instances where I definitely don't hate being wrong.

[Winchester]

True. Camp is a lesser version of Amendola(Rams)

Campanaro is Amendorka with more deep speed and outside playmaking skill and ball skills. If he could only avoid injury!! He has as much separation skill as any receiver in the league. He is very intelligent and could really begin implementing his speed,fluidity and shiftiness with more experience!! Kinda the way Edelman and Amendola has refined theirs and put it to to the pavement. If he could only avoid injury he could approach 1500 yards with experience and chemistry with Joe. It would not be out of reach. The dude has amazing separation speed,and shiftiness and very underrated outside speed and playmaking skills to adjust to throws at full speed.

I would not cut Campanaro. He should hire a personal conditioning coach to help him train to avoid injury add some muscle while retaining his speed to better absorb collisions. Many homers over estimate a players skills and potential. Even many homers do not realize his speed, skills and potential and sell'em short. He has run computer timed sub 4.4 40 and roughly 1.50 10 yarders!!

[CalvinSmoke]

This is laughable. Aiken is nowhere near Boldin's level. He can come back as the number four next season but that's it.

of course he isn't on Boldin level and Perriman might not be as good as Torrey, but we are going to use then like that unless there is a big change... And considering how we address the WR position, I doubt there will be much change.

[nextgen_RavensFan]

I also had high hopes for Brown but as already stated he has not improved at all. He had actually gotten worse. Just goes to show that raw talent is not enough in the NFL.  You need to study, watch film and practice.

[Moderator 3]

I still don't think you all are giving him enough credit. Your probably looking at your #2 reciever for the foreseeable future. Aiken/Perriman are to be our Boldon/Smith

I think you're probably correct. At least Aiken brings a nasty attitude for blocking, too. He will continue to get a lot of snaps.

[SeaHawk]

Kamar is a poor man's Anquan Boldin.

[Bltravens]

Kamar is a poor man's Anquan Boldin.

Aiken is an extreme poor man's Boldin.  If you're going to be a possession receiver who is that big, you need to A) never drop passes that hit your hands and b )break a tackle one time.  If he's our #2 going forward then we may as well just tell Flacco we don't care about his weapons.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Bltravens

[PurpleCity5]

"Since stepping into the Ravens' No. 1 receiver role, Aiken has had at least five receptions and 50 yards in each of his last four games. Only Julio Jones (11 games) and Allen Robinson (seven) have longer active streaks."--Jamison Hensley

That pretty damn good. I mean hes no Julio Jones or Allen Robinson but you don't do that by being terrible.

[GrimCoconut]

Aiken is an extreme poor man's Boldin. If you're going to be a possession receiver who is that big, you need to A) never drop passes that hit your hands and b )break a tackle one time. If he's our #2 going forward then we may as well just tell Flacco we don't care about his weapons.

Sorry to say, but Boldin dropped his fair share of balls here. I'm not sure I think the comparison of Aiken to Boldin is necessarily appropriate, but this comment bothers me because Boldin dropped his fair share. He had a critical drop against (I believe) Pittsburgh in the playoffs that could've won us the game. I just don't like how Boldin is practically given god-status around here.

[redrum52]

Sorry to say, but Boldin dropped his fair share of balls here. I'm not sure I think the comparison of Aiken to Boldin is necessarily appropriate, but this comment bothers me because Boldin dropped his fair share. He had a critical drop against (I believe) Pittsburgh in the playoffs that could've won us the game. I just don't like how Boldin is practically given god-status around here.

I think he's drop would've just tied the game, but you can't put that on him. The entire offense messed the bed that game. That might be top 5 for one of the worst quarters of football I've seen in my life offensively.

Good to see Aiken coming along. Just wish he could've done it earlier. Might have had us in contention.

[JoeyFlex5]

Sorry to say, but Boldin dropped his fair share of balls here. I'm not sure I think the comparison of Aiken to Boldin is necessarily appropriate, but this comment bothers me because Boldin dropped his fair share. He had a critical drop against (I believe) Pittsburgh in the playoffs that could've won us the game. I just don't like how Boldin is practically given god-status around here.

boldin is the all time most overrated raven, and it's quite irritating. He was relatively near the tops in drop percentage every year and never even sniffed 1000 yards

[JoeyFlex5]

I think he's drop would've just tied the game, but you can't put that on him. The entire offense messed the bed that game. That might be top 5 for one of the worst quarters of football I've seen in my life offensively.

Good to see Aiken coming along. Just wish he could've done it earlier. Might have had us in contention.

it would have taken the lead and made the Steelers play for a touchdown if I'm not mistaken. Every body, especially flacco, did their job o.k. that drive and boldin dropped the game winner with very little time left, you can put that on him

[GrimCoconut]

I think he's drop would've just tied the game, but you can't put that on him. The entire offense messed the bed that game. That might be top 5 for one of the worst quarters of football I've seen in my life offensively.

Good to see Aiken coming along. Just wish he could've done it earlier. Might have had us in contention.

Maybe you're right. It's been some time for me, I'll admit, but I thought we would've won the game if Boldin made that catch. Maybe not. Might be bad memory on my part. All I know is he certainly dropped the ball plenty of times here and that's the point.

[GrimCoconut]

it would have taken the lead and made the Steelers play for a touchdown if I'm not mistaken. Every body, especially flacco, did their job o.k. that drive and boldin dropped the game winner with very little time left, you can put that on him

Yeah this is what I thought happened. Regardless, I think Boldin is grossly overrated here. He's a great WR but he's not the best WR we ever had. I think Mason and even Steve Smith Sr were better while they were here. He's certainly a top 3 WR, though. He belongs up there among the best ever here.