[News] Eisenberg: Ravens Need More Homegrown Pro Bowlers

[Xmadraven]

It is a talent deficient in some areas. And it is old in other areas. Suggs is not going to be an impact player. Dumervil is not what he was when signed and Daryl Smith is a liability. Big contracts are being payed to cornerbacks yet every fan is crying out Hargreaves. Free safety us a liability as well as receiver. But everybody thinks SS is returning to play at pro bowl level. When fans are begging back a 37 yr old receiver coming off Achilles injury to play then there is an issue with talent at receiver. There is no decent left tackle. Well he is a free agent. The team was 1-4 before losing Joe Cool,SS and Forsett. Fans talking playoffs coming off the Cleveland loss were in fairy tale land. The ravens do have some things going for the team. If KO is kept and a left tackle and legit receiver is drafted the offense will be great. However a cornerback (Hargreaves is this years Jalen Strong popular pick) is not making the defense dominant again. The defense needs a lot to be dominant again. ELITE Edge rusher, cornerbacks, free safety, complete ilb. Problem is players at those positions recently been drafted with early picks and are busts(Elam,Brown),or own big contracts and aging,injured and underperforming(Jimmy,Webb,Monroe,Suggs,Daryl Smith).

 

I didn't say it was perfect but every team has holes on their roster.

 

 

Starters do not mean success. How many teams would Upshaw start for?? He is below average. How many of those players are even near pro bowl caliber?? Osemele and Mosley although Mosley really has to establish himself again. Very bad year!! Roasted in coverage!! And Jernigan could take next step to pro bowl consideration but he needs to show it.

 

 

Well considering we could be cleveland it could be a lot worse.

[Joshuahill2@aol.com]

This article sums up the my issue with the Ravens the last few years. They don't draft as well as they did and they bring in WAY too many free agents. There is nothing wrong with bringing in a free agent like Boldin and Birk when your offense drafted Ray Rice, Flacco, Torrey Smith, Oher, Grubbs...etc. High draft picks (rounds 1 and 2) with production. The offense was homegrown and well put together and just needed a veteran or two. Now we don't have any young products offensively at the skill positions. Forsett is a decent back, but not a playmaker like Ray Rice. Perriman is nowhere to be found, Aiken just showed up outta nowhere and he is a 4th receiver at best. The offensive line is in rebuild mode, so are the receivers and the tight end position. We need to draft better at the skill positions.

On defense, it's the same thing. We have so many free agents, I don't know who was drafted on defense. What's worse is that we take free agents from bad teams as if they can be better here. If bad teams don't think they are good, why would we want them. Will Hill can't cover, Kendrick Lewis can't cover or tackle, Arrington and Wright can't cover. Darryl Smith is finished. We should let Elam, Brooks, Arthur Brown and Tray Walker play. I think they can get beat just as much as the others.

My point is to draft the players and let them play. It's okay if they get beat or miss an assignment, that's how you learn, especially this year. We usually wait to play them 1 year before their contract expires and they have a good year and we can't retain them.

[PalmBayRaven]

Need to draft better to get Pro Bowl players. We were exposed in Preseason in Philly. Should have known then what the season would be like. So much for our well conditioned team. Bunch of hooey. We have so many holes to fill it will take more than one draft to fix. Makes me sick Pittsburgh coming to town and we are 10 point under dogs in our house. Hoping for the best today but expecting worse.

[BigUgly]

Wonder the extent to which the poor drafts can be attributed to Harbs influence.