[News] 5 Things To Watch at Bengals

[BR News]

Mallett's encore. What changes with covering Green? Ravens pressure McCarron. Aiken chasing 1,000.

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[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

I hope Oz finds a way to keep K.O.

[Purplepowers88]

Thank you Garrett Downing (I was so impressed that I scrolled up to check your name)! This is the first honest assessment of Kamar Aiken that I have seen on this site. "He has proven himself to a viable starter over the course of the season" - that is an excellent way of putting it. None of this "How come people don't think that he's a legitimate #1 WR"? Kamar has improved each game and is now a solid #3 WR (with possible #2 WR potential).

[bluehen]

I hope Aiken gets his 1000 yards, he has worked his but off!

[SCravenfan]

KO needs to come back and we need to get rid of glass Monroe. I like Upshaw and we don't need to have him playing in coverage. He needs to stop the run and pressure the QB. He should not be that expansive to keep.

[RavensDieHard21]

I hope we get both players back for next year!

[NCMan]

KO needs to come back and we need to get rid of glass Monroe. I like Upshaw and we don't need to have him playing in coverage. He needs to stop the run and pressure the QB. He should not be that expansive to keep.

I pretty much agree, it's just that potential dead money w/Monroe that we'd have to deal with if we cut him. I'd love to see KO back at LT and see us keep Upshaw. True, coverage is not his specialty. Two good players that "play like a Raven".

[ravens4life86]

@NCMan... I agree on Monroe dead Money situation is the hold up. Thats why Im not onboard with cutting him. People want to cut him then we will have 20million in dead money like this year and be screwed, unable to make moves. Stop overreacting people. Hes 6 million in dead money not good. Only way to cut him is Post June 1, where he is 2million dead money.

Lastly, unlike everyone else...Im not so giddy with signing KO at LT money, and downgrading 2 positions. 1) Either sign him as a pro bowl G he is, keep line in order..or cut Monroe post June 1.

Option 2, Dont resign KO, cut Monroe post June 1. So you have Uerschel at G who has been more then good enough, then draft a franchise LT in first 3 rounds.

[Crusader]

"Jimmy Smith has played well recently" We talkING about the same Jimmy Smith?

[EliteRavens]

Go get Aiken

[stixfix69]

Not bad for a UDFA....so many was hating on him early in the year, yet he has a chance to do something T.Smith couldn't do his first 2 years....Break the 1000 yard mark...Don't get me wrong, big time T.Smith fan, but it just goes to show, that players given a chance who are hungry, can be productive in this league, and we seem to find UDFA that have made a impact on this organization....

[n#7]

K.O. over Upshaw. No brainer!

[JamesA119]

"@NCMan... I agree on Monroe dead Money situation is the hold up. Thats why Im not onboard with cutting him. People want to cut him then we will have 20million in dead money like this year and be screwed, unable to make moves. Stop overreacting people. Hes 6 million in dead money not good. Only way to cut him is Post June 1, where he is 2million dead money.

Lastly, unlike everyone else...Im not so giddy with signing KO at LT money, and downgrading 2 positions. 1) Either sign him as a pro bowl G he is, keep line in order..or cut Monroe post June 1.

Option 2, Dont resign KO, cut Monroe post June 1. So you have Uerschel at G who has been more then good enough, then draft a franchise LT in first 3 rounds."

Really? Don't resign KO, and cut Monroe post June 1 and draft a franchise LT in the first 3 rounds? This would've been funny if it wasn't so ignorant. Many draft classes could pass before a franchise LT comes out of college ok.

[ellicottraven]

If Mallet performs the way he did against the Steelers I don't think the Bungles really stand a chance at winning this game. I sincerely believe we'll beat them with a similar performance and handily too.

[ellicottraven]

Man I'm just so proud of Aiken and Allen! Really think of what they accomplished against such huge odds. Incredible! Go Ravens!

[Ravensfolyfe]

Can we contain Green?

[whobilly]

All out effort to retain KO,Upshaw not worth the money that another team will offer him.

He has been good but you try to keep players who morph to great. Upshaw is not one of those guys.

[OzzieBisciotti]

It's a shame that the FO paid Eugene Monroe that much money on his current contract- no other team was going to pay that much. It seems like with KO leaving, we're following the typical Raven's trend of letting our young stars go. I know we don't have all the money in the world, but KO was one of our own (e.g. Like Pernell and Torrey), and he's young and he's a stud. Yet, the FO/ Oz tries to put these expensive band-aid solutions by giving Monroe a huge contract that he doesn't deserve and now we have to deal with all this dead money if Oz cuts him.  We could've taken that Eugene Monroe money and given it to KO- or at least some of it.  It seems like we're the king of dead money teams with Pitta, Rice and now possibly Monroe. No comment of Aiken- I don't think he's that great. Upshaw is a solid run stopper, so we should try to keep him if it's reasonable- we have a lot of wholes on this team, so let's face it- we have to keep everyone we can w/o having to start completely over.

Edited January 3, 2016 by OzzieBisciotti

[stixfix69]

Upshaw we have a good shot at keeping, as a OLBer in a 3-4 he is not a sack threat...KO i think there are a lot of things going on behind the scene to find a way to make a contract work, otherwise, he is worth putting a franchise tag on him to buy us more time to try to work something out....JMO....

[cobrajet]

I understand why everyone is upset at giving Monroe the money when he has been injury prone, but he has finally had the much needed shoulder surgery needed to repair that lingering injury. Before we say "Cut Him" and create all that dead money, let's see if the surgery finally gets him healthy enough to play. KO has played decent at LT for a few games and thank God he is not getting people hurt like Hurst, but I am not convinced just yet that he is the LT of our future. Let's see how free agency plays out and if teams are actually really ready to throw top LT money at him. We could pick up a Tackle in the draft. We are not getting Tunsil but Stanley or Conklin will be available and Conklin had no problem shutting down the best pass rusher in this draft - the much talked about Joey Bosa. IMHO we should all pump the brakes and see how things play out. I do agree that LT is definitely a top priority for this team.

[Crusader]

I really dread having a rookie left tackel. We seen what a rookie center did in 2013.

[cobrajet]

If Mallet performs the way he did against the Steelers I don't think the Bungles really stand a chance at winning this game. I sincerely believe we'll beat them with a similar performance and handily too.

I can't wait to see Mallet today. I think the Ravens organization did an excellent job getting him motivated again and he seems like he now has new life and something to prove to his doubters. I just was not excited at all when I saw Clausen on the field but I am excited about Mallet. He can certainly make the throws with that strong arm of his.

[Crusader]

If it comes down to KO and Upshaw its KO. Upshaw has too many bone head incidents.

[cobrajet]

I really dread having a rookie left tackel. We seen what a rookie center did in 2013.

I understand, but Monroe's shoulder surgery could be a success. I am glad he finally got that lingering injury repaired. If it is, why cut him and create all that dead money? When healthy Monroe is was not getting QB's hurt. Hurst is definitely not the answer. We could draft a Tackle like Conklin to challenge Monroe for the starting job. Conklin had no problem containing the best pass rusher in college - Joey Bosa. This would be a lot cheaper than giving KO starting LT money and killing our remaining cap space. I like KO, but lets not kid ourselves, he is going to be an expensive and we do not have much cap space.

[stixfix69]

If the team can re-sign KO he will be our LT as the team feels Urschel, and Jensen are both battle tested and can play LG, Monroe if he passes his physical won't be hard to trade as there are so many teams in need of a veteran LT.....

[shiri2]

If possible, I think we should keep Osemele and Upshaw. I like both of those guys. I think once the off-season starts, we are gonna lose a lot of potentially good talent.