[News] Late For Work 1/22: Joe Flacco Happy He Didn't Have To Wear Gold Pants

[rmcjacket23]

OK - and what if Monroe gets ijured again? He's been rather injury-proneas of late. When he's on the field, he's a good LT - we just don't know at this point if we can trust his health enough. And having Hurst as a possible starter isn't the most reassuring thought...

 

That's why LT is a need.

Well, realistically though, there's really no avoiding the injury problem.

 

If we keep KO, we almost certainly cut Monroe, and we still have Hurst or a draft pick as the backup LT, meaning if KO gets hurt, we're in the same spot.

 

So really, no different than the Monroe scenario. Only possible way we don't have either Hurst or a draft pick/FA veteran signing as backup LT is if somehow we keep Monroe and KO, which I don't even see how that's possible.

[balfan23]

I'm picturing the same equipment guy on our team suggesting the gold pants as the guy on the discount double check commercial with the throwback Packers uniforms. 

 

You liked em though, right? ... No, I didn't

[ravenwildman]

Tackles, CB's, WR's,.....so tempting with such a low draft pick. I think this year is going to be special. Work your magic Oz! GO RAVENS!

[drgeo]

No gold pants, Joe? Put it in the new contract!

[bioLarzen]

Well, realistically though, there's really no avoiding the injury problem.

 

If we keep KO, we almost certainly cut Monroe, and we still have Hurst or a draft pick as the backup LT, meaning if KO gets hurt, we're in the same spot.

 

So really, no different than the Monroe scenario. Only possible way we don't have either Hurst or a draft pick/FA veteran signing as backup LT is if somehow we keep Monroe and KO, which I don't even see how that's possible.

 

Well, surely there's no guarantee against injuries - but tendencies are also not to be neglected. And Monroe seemed to develop a tendency to get hurt. That's why talking about re-injury in his case seems to be more understood than in Yanda's or Flacco's (even if the latter happens to be injured at the moment).

 

As for KO - yeah, he would surely be the best case scenario, but I don't thinkwe have any kind of realistic chance to retain him unless he gives us a huge hometown disount - which is kinda silly to expect...

 

I think it's a real possibility that we miss out on both top tackles in the draft, lose KO to free agency and "get stuck" with Monroe and Hurst - and then the only thing we can do is pray that Monroe doesn't get hurt again... because when he is on the field, he's still good.

[JamesA119]

"Trade Monroe for a swap in the first round with the Chargers and also pick up a Charger 4th or 5th round pick "

If any team is willing to swap Monroe with their 1st round pick, and 4th or 5th rounder, plus rake over his salary, please let me know. I've got a bag of coal that I'd like to trade for a bag of gold plus a plush retirement plan.

[Drew P]

They need to revisit the evaluation process of selecting WR's in the draft.

 

If they learned anything from all the embarrassments at the position it is the game film, and not the 40 times, that should have the highest impact on the pick.

[rmcjacket23]

"Trade Monroe for a swap in the first round with the Chargers and also pick up a Charger 4th or 5th round pick "

If any team is willing to swap Monroe with their 1st round pick, and 4th or 5th rounder, plus rake over his salary, please let me know. I've got a bag of coal that I'd like to trade for a bag of gold plus a plush retirement plan.

While I agree the trade is ludicrous, its not like they're giving up their first round pick for him. They would be swapping first rounders with us, so basically moving back like 4-5 picks in the draft.

 

Depending on what they are looking for, they could still get the same player 4-5 picks later AND get a LT. 

 

Again, not a trade they're going to do, but just something to think about.

[rmcjacket23]

Well, surely there's no guarantee against injuries - but tendencies are also not to be neglected. And Monroe seemed to develop a tendency to get hurt. That's why talking about re-injury in his case seems to be more understood than in Yanda's or Flacco's (even if the latter happens to be injured at the moment).

 

As for KO - yeah, he would surely be the best case scenario, but I don't thinkwe have any kind of realistic chance to retain him unless he gives us a huge hometown disount - which is kinda silly to expect...

 

I think it's a real possibility that we miss out on both top tackles in the draft, lose KO to free agency and "get stuck" with Monroe and Hurst - and then the only thing we can do is pray that Monroe doesn't get hurt again... because when he is on the field, he's still good.

Entirely possible.

 

I think my biggest takeaway is... I don't think its possible to solve the "depth at LT" problem in 2016 specifically unless you add a veteran in FA, which seems unlikely given our current cap situation. Picture the likely scenarios:

 

1. KO walks, Monroe stays on as starting LT, and we draft a tackle early in the draft. When Monroe gets hurt, we either have a rookie or Hurst as backup LT.

2. We resign KO, cut Monroe, and stick with Hurst or a later round rookie as backup LT.

 

In either scenario, we either have a rookie with no NFL experience playing if there's an injury, or we have James Hurst as our backup. Both are less than ideal situations.

 

The former is certainly a better LONG TERM solution to the problem, and it may very well fix two problems, but I just don't see how we upgrade depth at tackle in 2016 without adding a veteran FA. The only way we don't have this issue is if the rookie we draft, regardless of round, turns out to play really well in a backup role.

 

You can make a valid argument that, given what we know now about KO, we were surprisingly better equipped to handle an injury at LT and perhaps the entire OL in 2015 than we will be in 2016.

[Purple Hazard]

I have to disagree with those "experts" who think that we should go for a LT in the first round. Yes Monroe was often hurt the last two seasons, but getting rid of him and drafting an LT seems like a risky move. We would have to rely on a rookie LT and we saw that even the best LT college prospects often struggle in the first few years in the NFL. Not to mention that we would have to deal with some dead money from Monroe's contract. Let's say we keep Monroe and draft a tackle at 6, where would we play him? At guard? At RT? Considering our other holes this seems like too much trouble because we need guys who can come in an play right away. I would say we should go for a CB or WR in the first round and get a guard in the 2nd or 3rd and develop them just like we did with KO.

[Brunson529]

Defense wins Championships. Ozzie needs to build a defense that our AFC North Rivals will respect. Im all for a Pass rushers and versatile DEs, but in this passing league with play-makers like Brown, and AJ Green we need solid CBs and Safeties. Id say pick the top available rookie in each category if available. Find Offensive replacements in FA.

[Halshayeji]

Our picks (without the comp picks):

1: 06 (rd 1)

2: 36 (rd 2)

3: 70 (rd 3)

4: 101 (rd 4)

5: 124/125/126/127 (rd. 4, traded from the Broncos for Gradkowski, exact position depends on how the Broncos finish)

6: 164 (rd. 6)

(7th round pick traded to the Dolphins for Will Davis)

And this does take the Pats' stripping of their 1st round pick into account. The reason for the fluctuation os that the teams that finished with the same record keep fluctuating their respective spots round by round. In the first round the Jags pick ahead of us, in the second we pick ahead of them - just like in the second round the Browns pick ahead of the Titans.

Source

What about the picks we got for Ngata?

[rmcjacket23]

I have to disagree with those "experts" who think that we should go for a LT in the first round. Yes Monroe was often hurt the last two seasons, but getting rid of him and drafting an LT seems like a risky move. We would have to rely on a rookie LT and we saw that even the best LT college prospects often struggle in the first few years in the NFL. Not to mention that we would have to deal with some dead money from Monroe's contract. Let's say we keep Monroe and draft a tackle at 6, where would we play him? At guard? At RT? Considering our other holes this seems like too much trouble because we need guys who can come in an play right away. I would say we should go for a CB or WR in the first round and get a guard in the 2nd or 3rd and develop them just like we did with KO.

Yes, actually, Guard makes perfect sense. We did that with Ogden as well if people recall.

 

You draft a LT early, keep Monroe for one more year, and let the rookie gain experience on the OL. You're already missing a starting Guard from last season, considering KO would walk in this case.

 

Realistically, we really DON'T need guys who can come in and play right away. We need guys who are going to play well for many years to come. We are a 5-11 team... we need to upgrade many spots on this team and upgrade them for more than just 2016.

 

As an aside, there might not be a single harder position in the NFL to play as a rookie than corner. So if we take a corner, I would strongly expect them to struggle early on and quite possibly just be a nickel-package players early in their career, much like Jimmy Smith was. So, in many ways, I'd expect a secondary player to struggle just as much if not more then an OLineman would.

 

The difference, however is that the Olineman has the ability to play a less valuable position in year 1 and gain significant experience.

 

I'm not really opposed to basically any position being our #6 pick, because there's no shortage of positions where we could use an upgrade.

 

The dead money from Monroe's contract is largely irrelevant. Dead money is a sunk cost that has really no impact on decision making. There will be dead money next year and the year after that as well, so there's no hiding from it.

[rmcjacket23]

What about the picks we got for Ngata?

Those were 2015 draft picks. We used them already.

[sami]

I think maybe camo pants would be cool. several shades of purple plus grey and white maybe.

[Halshayeji]

I have to disagree with those "experts" who think that we should go for a LT in the first round. Yes Monroe was often hurt the last two seasons, but getting rid of him and drafting an LT seems like a risky move. We would have to rely on a rookie LT and we saw that even the best LT college prospects often struggle in the first few years in the NFL. Not to mention that we would have to deal with some dead money from Monroe's contract. Let's say we keep Monroe and draft a tackle at 6, where would we play him? At guard? At RT? Considering our other holes this seems like too much trouble because we need guys who can come in an play right away. I would say we should go for a CB or WR in the first round and get a guard in the 2nd or 3rd and develop them just like we did with KO.

It all depends on KO and number crunching. If KO stays then it's not a huge need to draft Oline early. But if KO leaves then the level of urgency drastically rises. Wagner fell of the cliff for some reason and is in a contract year. Hurst still needs to develop and Urschel is a few steps ahead of him but still not NFL ready yet. If we go into next season with only Yanda and Zuttah as our cream and butter then Flacco is doomed. I still haven't mentioned Monroe coz the guy is solid for a few games then another freak show. Someone rolls on his legs or he hurts his shoulder or whatever it is. Point is, you need 8 good linemen to finish off a season. As things stand, we have 2 solid guys(Yanda, zuttah) , 2 guys with question marks (monroe, Wagner), 3 good prospects( urschel, hurst, Jensen) and KO. We need 3 solid guys and 3 good guys with a question mark.

The reason it's so attractive for FO to take a LT early is because of the new bargaining agreement. A team can get a solid LT for 5 years while only paying a fraction of LT money. And I don't believe that top 10 picked tackles bust that often. Their actually as close as it gets to guarantees. I know it's so unsexy but look at it this way. A solid LT will protect our greatest asset Joe, help the passing game, and runing game. Interior Linemen come and go but a solid LT is so hard to find

As far as taking a CB early in the first. I'm down for that if Hargreves or Ramsey are on the board coz I can make the same argument. So hard to find a shutdown corner and impossible for the price tag for 5 years.

I highly doubt we go WR. I don't see a Calvin Johnson in this class where you have to take him if he falls but a few guys with AJ green upside written all over them. FO probably won't go WR early not because of the talent but because Kamar has come so far in his development, SSS is here for one more run, Perriman is a first rounder that hasn't even played a down yet. Camp, Waller, and givens will fight for the #4 spot. Last year we were talking who's gonna be our #2 and 3. We do need a receiver but I don't think we're as bad as we were just a year ago.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Halshayeji

[Purple Hazard]

It all depends on KO and number crunching. If KO stays then it's not a huge need to draft Oline early. But if KO leaves then the level of urgency drastically rises. Wagner fell of the cliff for some reason and is in a contract year. Hurst still needs to develop and Urschel is a few steps ahead of him but still not NFL ready yet. If we go into next season with only Yanda and Zuttah as our cream and butter then Flacco is doomed. I still haven't mentioned Monroe coz the guy is solid for a few games then another freak show. Someone rolls on his legs or he hurts his shoulder or whatever it is. Point is, you need 8 good linemen to finish off a season. As things stand, we have 2 solid guys(Yanda, zuttah) , 2 guys with question marks (monroe, Wagner), 3 good prospects( urschel, hurst, Jensen) and KO. We need 3 solid guys and 3 good guys with a question mark.

The reason it's so attractive for FO to take a LT early is because of the new bargaining agreement. A team can get a solid LT for 5 years while only paying a fraction of LT money. And I don't believe that top 10 picked tackles bust that often. Their actually as close as it gets to guarantees. I know it's so unsexy but look at it this way. A solid LT will protect our greatest asset Joe, help the passing game, and runing game. Interior Linemen come and go but a solid LT is so hard to find

As far as taking a CB early in the first. I'm down for that if Hargreves or Peters are on the board coz I can make the same argument. So hard to find a shutdown corner and impossible for the price tag for 5 years.

I highly doubt we go WR. I don't see a Calvin Johnson in this class where you have to take him if he falls but a few guys with AJ green upside written all over them. FO probably won't go WR early not because of the talent but because Kamar has come so far in his development, SSS is here for one more run, Perriman is a first rounder that hasn't even played a down yet. Camp, Waller, and givens will fight for the #4 spot. Last year we were talking who's gonna be our #2 and 3. We do need a receiver but I don't think we're as bad as we were just a year ago.

Yes a solid LT is hard to find, but I doubt that a guy like Ronnie Stanley, who was mocked to us a couple of times fits the bill. I often read reports that he is more of a finesse player, lacks nastyness and gets overpowered by physical passrushers. Can't have that in our division, especially if you play him at guard in the first year.

If a guy like Ramsey or  Hargreves are there I think we should get one of them.

Wouldn't be so sure about WR, but I guess it depends how well they do at the combine.

 

[MarioDrama]

Cornerback please. How has this not even been addressed? Every year the Ravens get torched.. even McCwon put up 400 yards on us. Tired of the whole BPA because its clearly not working for us right now.

[rmcjacket23]

Cornerback please. How has this not even been addressed? Every year the Ravens get torched.. even McCwon put up 400 yards on us. Tired of the whole BPA because its clearly not working for us right now.

Sort of a myth we haven't tried though. In the last five drafts, we've drafted five corners and three safeties. That's 8 out of 44 draft picks, and two first round picks in the last five years.

The ATTEMPT has been there...can't say that they haven't tried to address the position. They just havent gotten quality players with practically any of those picks.

[757RavensFan]

Cornerback please. How has this not even been addressed? Every year the Ravens get torched.. even McCwon put up 400 yards on us. Tired of the whole BPA because its clearly not working for us right now.

 

B/C, the article states "offensive" needs.

[January J]

Well, surely there's no guarantee against injuries - but tendencies are also not to be neglected. And Monroe seemed to develop a tendency to get hurt. That's why talking about re-injury in his case seems to be more understood than in Yanda's or Flacco's (even if the latter happens to be injured at the moment).

 

As for KO - yeah, he would surely be the best case scenario, but I don't thinkwe have any kind of realistic chance to retain him unless he gives us a huge hometown disount - which is kinda silly to expect...

 

I think it's a real possibility that we miss out on both top tackles in the draft, lose KO to free agency and "get stuck" with Monroe and Hurst - and then the only thing we can do is pray that Monroe doesn't get hurt again... because when he is on the field, he's still good.

 we may not have a shot at tunsil but its pretty likely stanley will be available. And if not its sort of a win -win for us bc that means another one of the blue chip guys will fall to us.

It really disappoints me that so many fans are against drafting an LT with our first pick. I'd be all for a cb or pass rusher but were kind of in an in between spot right now at 6 with the way the boards looking. Of course a lot can and will change , but I would be perfectly content with an LT. Esp if Tunsil happened to fall. You just can't pass up the opportunity at a franchise LT for that price for the next 5 years. They dont grow on trees. I'm ashamed that so many of you are against it just bc it's not "sexy". Think logically people.

[January J]

Cornerback please. How has this not even been addressed? Every year the Ravens get torched.. even McCwon put up 400 yards on us. Tired of the whole BPA because its clearly not working for us right now.

lack of pass rush had a domino effect on our entire team.no pass rush puts more pressure on the secondary ..secondary has to work harder and gives up alot of points..can't run the ball bc we are constantly trying to catch up playing from behind..not running the ball makes us one dimensional and hurts the passing game. Just shows you how one weakness can cause a chain effect on the entire team.thats not to say that we don't need to improve our secondary at all either- bc a great secondary could hold their own with or without a strong pass rush..but obviously it certainly helps. Edited January 23, 2016 by January J

[bmoraven]

And we hope you or any other player EVER have to wear those pants again Joe.

[RavensDieHard21]

I hope we nail this draft because our success all comes from the draft. If that process is messed up, our success stalls. We don't overpay free agents and in a lot of scenarios, our own players that other teams are willing to break the bank for. When a guy like McPhee departs, we need to refill those shoes asap. When we lose a Torrey smith, we go get a Perriman, but their progress is what we are banking on, so let's get some pro-ready players with high ceilings! Bosa, Tunsil, HG3, or Buckner. First three rounds need to be your sure fired hits.

[Dre-Dog-31]

Them pants was horrible

[Fastfingers]

They're NOT gold. They are mustard. If the color was similar to the Rams' color of gold it might look good. To say the least, the Fashion Designer is colorblind. This was embarrassing. It is now in our teams' history forever. Is French's sponsoring the Ravens?

[Barney S]

They're NOT gold. They are mustard. If the color was similar to the Rams' color of gold it might look good. To say the least, the Fashion Designer is colorblind. This was embarrassing. It is now in our teams' history forever. Is French's sponsoring the Ravens?

To say the least.... 

[Barney S]

 we may not have a shot at tunsil but its pretty likely stanley will be available. And if not its sort of a win -win for us bc that means another one of the blue chip guys will fall to us.

It really disappoints me that so many fans are against drafting an LT with our first pick. I'd be all for a cb or pass rusher but were kind of in an in between spot right now at 6 with the way the boards looking. Of course a lot can and will change , but I would be perfectly content with an LT. Esp if Tunsil happened to fall. You just can't pass up the opportunity at a franchise LT for that price for the next 5 years. They dont grow on trees. I'm ashamed that so many of you are against it just bc it's not "sexy". Think logically people.

If Dean Pees ran our defense wide open instead of the coverages he ran the first half of the season the entire draft picture changes. Since Dean is still holding the throttle we better protect Joe so he can rack us up some big points. Our young WR's are #2's and #3's at best. Perryman better pan out and play a full season for a fair evaluation. We do need a CB and at least one additional WR. I'd prefer a veteran WR about 10 years younger then Smith Sr. The draft is a crap shoot when it comes to talent.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Barney S

[Fastfingers]

I think maybe camo pants would be cool. several shades of purple plus grey and white maybe.

Camo pajamas in those colors are very cool Sami.!..but have you ever seen the MLB San Diego Padres in camo? They look like they belong in the middle east. 

[sami]

Camo pajamas in those colors are very cool Sami.!..but have you ever seen the MLB San Diego Padres in camo? They look like they belong in the middle east. 

Ive never seen any MBL players in camo but I have seen a few college football teams with camo pants and they looked pretty cool.  The fact that they are tighter than MBL pants and the guys will be wearing  pads and helmets makes them look less like they belong in the Middle East (great line by the way)