[News] Late For Work 12/30: Future Of Ravens Wide Receiver Position

[RavensBaltimore]

The defense is ranked in the top 10, but they didn't start playing well until we were 2-7, which makes that stat meaningless, because by that point, we were already done. I think our D was ranked somewhere around 20 at that point.

[ksk316]

Well, by definition, depth means a bunch of 3rd and 4 string receivers. There aren't any teams I know of that have #1 or #2 level WRs as depth.

 

Depth in this case means not a significant dropoff between our best receivers and our 3rd or 4th receivers. You could argue that's a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.

First we need to worry about getting starting receivers and later about depth. Without the former there is no "depth".

[thieverycorporation]

I don't think you have to scare anyone in this league... After all we are playing with people the general viewers had no idea of who they were at the beginning. I mean our very own Chris Matthews I don't think was a feared target and he went off in the SB... I doubt a whole lot of successful dbs line up across a wide receiver scared or not confident in there abilities its just all about can you make the plays and they have

It's a figure of speech. It can be argued until we're blue in the face. Buts reality is that the league continues to evolve into a pass happy one and keeping up in that trend would lead to changes. To not grasp that concept is mistake and only solidifies itself with lack and consistency and production.Ever thought that the shortened stints on offense leads to higher probability of injuries on defense ? And vice versa.  Attempts to debunk the notion is fool hardy. No one knows anyone until you prove yourself. Martavis Bryant wasn't a known commodity until he excelled in the craft. Antonio Brown, either. But now teams have to scheme for them and any other productive receiver. To ignore problems doesn't make anyone a greater of a fan. I love myself but realize I'm prone to a few mistakes and theres room for improvement. Should I tell myself It's normal or make the proper adjustments not repeat ? And bye the way most NFL players don't admit fear and would probably equate it to respect of opponents skill set. And sure the receivers inserted have played better these last few games. It would a pleasure to see it more going forward. 

Edited December 30, 2015 by thieverycorporation

[pcwag33]

The refs could have called both Steeler Tackles for being too far off (supposed to be "inches" not feet) the LOS. Still not sure Upshaw was over, as the sideline shot (below link) is an optimal illusion via camera lens perspective. That said, wouldn't be the first time Steelers get a little help.

https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/p_QtTtuct3H-r6Yvi7EYzW9C-vQ=/0x0:699x466/709x473/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48442207/CXQpjMhWAAAdqoN.0.0.jpg_large

[ravensnj]

I say we keep Butler and Clay. Daniel Brown needs a real look, he's got the it factor.

[boldtown]

Daniel Brown, 2nd year: under rookie contract (n/a) STAYS

Michael Campanaro, 3rd year: finished on IR, under rookie contract ($616,875)STAYS

Breshad Perriman, 2nd year: finished on IR, under rookie contract ($1.98 million)SHOULD BE GONE

Steve Smith Sr., 16th year: finished on IR, under contract ($4.16 million)STAYS

Darren Waller, 2nd year: finished on IR, under rookie contract ($552,774)GONE

Cam Worthy, 2nd year: finished on IR, under rookie contract ($525,833)GONE

Kamar Aiken, 4th year: restricted free agent GONE

Marlon Brown, 4th year: finished on IR, restricted free agent

Jeremy Butler, 3rd year: exclusive rights free agent

Kaelin Clay, 2nd year: exclusive rights free agent

Chris Matthews, 3rd year: exclusive rights free agent STAYS

Chris Givens, 5th year: unrestricted free agent GONE

[cbrook1862]

I still say draft a wr within the first 3 rounds. SSS is 37 coming off achillies surgery, we have no idea what Perriman can do, Campanaero is always hurt, and Butler, Aiken, Matthews, and Givens are all #2 wr's. So Either you draft the top, the very best, most NFL ready wr, or you get one through free agency. Until we have an elite wr combo like Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant, or Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, Jordy Nelson and Cobb, Brandon Marshall and Decker, we will have this same season. We had something similar with SSS and Torrey, but Torrey left, we didn't replace him, and Steve got older and injured. Steve WILL retire sooner than later and when he does, we are outta luck.

Edited December 30, 2015 by Grapple Raven

[CanadaEH]

On defense we need Mosley playing like half man, half amazing again. Daryl Smith is getting old and Arthur Brown could earn some playing time, you never know. We need Suggs to come back strong so him and Doom can hunt. Zadarius could develop as a better rusher next season. We still need another pass rusher and a DB like Jalen from FSU. Once Jimmy Smith fully heals his Lisfranc, our secondary will be good again, because Webby has been playing well recently, but Will Hill has vanished and Terrence Brooks needs a shot.

[callahan09]

If you include defensive penalty yards allowed for every team, we drop from 10th to 18th in defense, because we are the 3rd most penalized defense in terms of yardage. So the penalties that we've given up go a long way to explaining why our "official yardage" allowed appears to be that of a pretty good defense but our eyeballs and experience all year have showed us something very different.

Also, during the 10 games we had Flacco at QB, we ranked 18th officially, while we've ranked 7th officially since then in terms of yards. If we'd been a top 10 defense when we had Flacco in there we probably would have had a winning record before Joe went down.

[xxDarby]

Daniel Brown, 2nd year: under rookie contract (n/a) STAYSMichael Campanaro, 3rd year: finished on IR, under rookie contract ($616,875)STAYSBreshad Perriman, 2nd year: finished on IR, under rookie contract ($1.98 million)SHOULD BE GONESteve Smith Sr., 16th year: finished on IR, under contract ($4.16 million)STAYSDarren Waller, 2nd year: finished on IR, under rookie contract ($552,774)GONECam Worthy, 2nd year: finished on IR, under rookie contract ($525,833)GONEKamar Aiken, 4th year: restricted free agent GONEMarlon Brown, 4th year: finished on IR, restricted free agentJeremy Butler, 3rd year: exclusive rights free agentKaelin Clay, 2nd year: exclusive rights free agentChris Matthews, 3rd year: exclusive rights free agent STAYSChris Givens, 5th year: unrestricted free agent GONE

Stopped reading when you said Perriman should leave. Sorry but I can't take you seriously after that

Edited December 30, 2015 by xxDarby

[burnbigben]

lol Jarvis Jones

[Crusader]

Now that"s playing like a old Raven. I guess he will be gone now.

[Ravensfansince03]

Upshaw, you gotta be smarter than that. Sarah always does the best articles on here.

[whobilly]

Campanaro back until he goes down again by week 5, Dan Brown GONE/Can't Play, Givens Gone/Marginal Can't Play, Marlon Brown Gone/Marginal Can't Play, Waller back for now, SSS COMING BACK THANK GOD, Perriman back and tutored by SSS. Matthews back/Special teams and occasional WR action, Aiken back/if at the right price. This is SSS final run. The last final run we had here turned out pretty good. Go Ravens. Looking forward to the 2016 Season.

[whobilly]

Butler will be back. Could turn into a solid three WR.

[Ravensfansince03]

Butler will be back. Could turn into a solid three WR.

 

Im not completely sold on Butler yet. Especially given the fact that the lineup would be SSS-Perriman-Aiken-Butler. Although we as Ravens fans love our players, that would be a lineup easy for defenses to shut down. We really need a big body receiver/TE to take the load, Gillmore just seems to stiff.

[Crusader]

By the time the first game is played those names will change.

[Grapple Raven]

I would really like to see what Cam Worthy could do, he has a lot of potential...great route runner, big strong hands catcher and not afraid of contact, great football IQ.

[gabrielgrissom]

It's a figure of speech. It can be argued until we're blue in the face. Buts reality is that the league continues to evolve into a pass happy one and keeping up in that trend would lead to changes. To not grasp that concept is mistake and only solidifies itself with lack and consistency and production.Ever thought that the shortened stints on offense leads to higher probability of injuries on defense ? And vice versa.  Attempts to debunk the notion is fool hardy. No one knows anyone until you prove yourself. Martavis Bryant wasn't a known commodity until he excelled in the craft. Antonio Brown, either. But now teams have to scheme for them and any other productive receiver. To ignore problems doesn't make anyone a greater of a fan. I love myself but realize I'm prone to a few mistakes and theres room for improvement. Should I tell myself It's normal or make the proper adjustments not repeat ? And bye the way most NFL players don't admit fear and would probably equate it to respect of opponents skill set. And sure the receivers inserted have played better these last few games. It would a pleasure to see it more going forward.

Good point and to Bryant as I recall he fell some spots in the draft to some off the field concerns I got no clue on and don't want to know because quite frankly he's a Steeler and I shouldn't care... I'm not saying that oz should ignore our wide receiver situation and when we have weaknesses he is a bull on getting good talent the following year. We were terrible on the oline during the 2013 season then look at our oline in 2014... When pitta (still is) hurt and OD left last year we went in on our tight end position and now it is a huge strength on our team... The thing is though is that we have a sizeable surplus in backs and tight ends... Next year mean we could wind up carrying 5 backs and 4 tight ends... That marginalizes our error in wide receivers... Sure he is going to get someone who will flourish for us next year... He's Ozzie that's what Ozzie does... But with players like JB and Kamar emerging this year we might need only 5 receivers 6 at most so it won't be like we have to scour and get every available receivers on the market or In the draft... We can store some of these potential players on PS next year like Matthews or Dan brown who have game experience due to this years injuries in case we are injury stricken again next year... So I like what I see and even though I really do hate them I could see us with talent like the Bengals have this year on the offensive side of the ball

[bioLarzen]

Im not completely sold on Butler yet.

 

Nobody should be sold on any player based on one season. LaQuan Williams, DeonteThompson, Ed Dickson, Marlon Brown all had rather good rookie seasons - that they all failed to follow through. If Butler has a good sophomore season, we can begin to hope, I guess.

Edited December 30, 2015 by bioLarzen

[Jfravens]

Sick block Butler!

[EddiOK]

Still need another top-caliber WR. While you're at it, shop for some CB's & S's, and get another pass rusher in there.

[ravensrock89]

We will get the same results, I want to see what these guys do when games mean something not when theres no pressure. SSS is the only great receiver we have , we need to get another stud and hope Perriman is a stud too. Then we will be ok

[RavensDieHard21]

The point about our defense is spot on! It is filled with good players that can contribute and are undeniably talented, but we just need a pair of game changers! A guy in the secondary that can make plays on the ball and a rusher that can make a Quarterbacks job a nightmare. Sizzle, Reed, Lewis and Ngata have been those game changers for so long that we need to reinsert some more. I think we can win in the trenches with guys like Williams, Jernigan, Davis, and Upshaw, but we still need another sack artist to force turnovers and stall drives. If were to unbiasly assess our defense we could say that sizzle, doom, Mosley, Smith, smith, hill and Williams are all very good players, we just need to draft a baller like Ramsey, Bosa, HG3, or any of the other top rushers to make this defense really a top 5 unit. Just a few pieces away.

[RavensDieHard21]

I know Ozzie isn't fond of this , but if we get a lot of decent comp picks, we should try to snag a pair of 2nd round picks. If we nail this draft, this could be a very quick turnaround. Despite injuries and lack of execution at times, to be 14th in offense and 10th in defense is great. I hope we pick BPA, based on needs so I'm hoping rd 1 we get a Stanley for LT, or Ramsey for a free safety, or HG3 for a cover corner with crazy ball skills, even that DE out of Ole Miss could make our front scary. In the second I pray a top WR falls like Boyd so that we can continue to add playmakers. Offense could move the ball but we had problems punching it in and making big plays and on defense we couldn't force turnovers or get off the field on 3rd down.

[thieverycorporation]

The point about our defense is spot on! It is filled with good players that can contribute and are undeniably talented, but we just need a pair of game changers! A guy in the secondary that can make plays on the ball and a rusher that can make a Quarterbacks job a nightmare. Sizzle, Reed, Lewis and Ngata have been those game changers for so long that we need to reinsert some more. I think we can win in the trenches with guys like Williams, Jernigan, Davis, and Upshaw, but we still need another sack artist to force turnovers and stall drives. If were to unbiasly assess our defense we could say that sizzle, doom, Mosley, Smith, smith, hill and Williams are all very good players, we just need to draft a baller like Ramsey, Bosa, HG3, or any of the other top rushers to make this defense really a top 5 unit. Just a few pieces away.

I'm agreeing but outside of the ordinary box. 

[jravens13]

OK let's gets this straight about Pernell... It was not entirely about money... Pernell still would be a role player if he was here... Just like tyrod he wanted to get a chance to start. So if he would have came back here it would have taken the kitchen sink to bring him back appreciate a player like zadarius who has potential... And if you want a slow linebacker look at 51... I really love him and hes way quicker than I am but that's why we have 54 on the field a lot more I didn't see you complaining blast year with cj... Players just don't turn into bad players after one year

McPhee has play wrecking ability and could play DE, DT, and OLB depending on the down and distance. He could defend the run, but also get after the QB better than just about anyone on this team EX Suggs who is aging. And Doom is not ideal in run support (aka situational). Brandon Williams is a beast as well, but he isn't really the guy to get it done in passing situations either. This is a passing league. You can't just stop the run and make teams one dimensional anymore. You need guys that force QB's to make mistakes. I think Zadarius shows great potential and is starting to make an impact as he is getting in to NFL shape. If you look at him, he looks almost 20 lbs heavier than when he came in, but we asked a 4th Round Rookie to fill the void of an impact player that played all over the field and made work for Suggs and Doom even easier. Going into this season with that pretty much destroyed our year. Yeah, if Suggs had a full season we would have had better performances, but remember when we were getting torched in the preseason by mediocre offenses and scratching our heads/saying that we were not giving our all because its the preseason? Suggs wasn't enough to keep this defense from unraveling, it was only a matter of time. We were never contenders with the personel we started the season with, and that is where I am coming from. 

[thieverycorporation]

I know Ozzie isn't fond of this , but if we get a lot of decent comp picks, we should try to snag a pair of 2nd round picks. If we nail this draft, this could be a very quick turnaround. Despite injuries and lack of execution at times, to be 14th in offense and 10th in defense is great. I hope we pick BPA, based on needs so I'm hoping rd 1 we get a Stanley for LT, or Ramsey for a free safety, or HG3 for a cover corner with crazy ball skills, even that DE out of Ole Miss could make our front scary. In the second I pray a top WR falls like Boyd so that we can continue to add playmakers. Offense could move the ball but we had problems punching it in and making big plays and on defense we couldn't force turnovers or get off the field on 3rd down.

We can't hope for Boyd to drop but I'd spend the draft currency to acquire those we covet and not wait for the draft to be picked apart. Ozzie needs to be ultra aggressive and not think he's the only one thinking the same damn thing. In other words "Don't believe our hype". The league is watching and catching up to old tactics, so turn the page and nail it. My advice.

[gabrielgrissom]

McPhee has play wrecking ability and could play DE, DT, and OLB depending on the down and distance. He could defend the run, but also get after the QB better than just about anyone on this team EX Suggs who is aging. And Doom is not ideal in run support (aka situational). Brandon Williams is a beast as well, but he isn't really the guy to get it done in passing situations either. This is a passing league. You can't just stop the run and make teams one dimensional anymore. You need guys that force QB's to make mistakes. I think Zadarius shows great potential and is starting to make an impact as he is getting in to NFL shape. If you look at him, he looks almost 20 lbs heavier than when he came in, but we asked a 4th Round Rookie to fill the void of an impact player that played all over the field and made work for Suggs and Doom even easier. Going into this season with that pretty much destroyed our year. Yeah, if Suggs had a full season we would have had better performances, but remember when we were getting torched in the preseason by mediocre offenses and scratching our heads/saying that we were not giving our all because its the preseason? Suggs wasn't enough to keep this defense from unraveling, it was only a matter of time. We were never contenders with the personel we started the season with, and that is where I am coming from.

Ehhh i dont know about all that i thought if healthy we were a solid pick to at least go really deep in the playoffs if not all the way to the big game. But like i said he was going to maximize his salary and PT combined and were we ready to pay a role player more than at least 40 million who had been injury prone who besides a solid rookie year had one year of solid production... There are some players that we just cant hang on too

[thieverycorporation]

McPhee has play wrecking ability and could play DE, DT, and OLB depending on the down and distance. He could defend the run, but also get after the QB better than just about anyone on this team EX Suggs who is aging. And Doom is not ideal in run support (aka situational). Brandon Williams is a beast as well, but he isn't really the guy to get it done in passing situations either. This is a passing league. You can't just stop the run and make teams one dimensional anymore. You need guys that force QB's to make mistakes. I think Zadarius shows great potential and is starting to make an impact as he is getting in to NFL shape. If you look at him, he looks almost 20 lbs heavier than when he came in, but we asked a 4th Round Rookie to fill the void of an impact player that played all over the field and made work for Suggs and Doom even easier. Going into this season with that pretty much destroyed our year. Yeah, if Suggs had a full season we would have had better performances, but remember when we were getting torched in the preseason by mediocre offenses and scratching our heads/saying that we were not giving our all because its the preseason? Suggs wasn't enough to keep this defense from unraveling, it was only a matter of time. We were never contenders with the personel we started the season with, and that is where I am coming from. 

I agree. Completely