[News] Eisenberg: An 'Interesting' Night For Ravens

[stixfix69]

We are in much better shape than a lot of people think, we are reloading not rebuilding, we have players from last years class that will see more PT, like Carl Davis, and OLBer Z.Smith....We have a ton of DB's coming off injuries as well...We really only needed to address a few areas in the draft, and that is why IMO Stanley was a home run pick, as the rest of the O-line looks good with Zuttah coming back at center, and Urschel will move to LG, if Monroe is released, if not Stanley could start at LG and Monroe LT.....WR's we have a lot of players on the roster, what i really want to see is a ILBer or two selected today.....

[BigUgly]

Ravens really stocking picks in the 4th, which would make sense if we were rebuilding like the Browns.  Too many folks to make the roster, for sure.  Best case, one of them hits, and the rest make for a really solid practice squad that gets picked over by injury-depleted teams throughout the season.

[ravlivie]

  19 minutes ago, ckarp34 said:

Lets call out what we really did. Over the past few years the Ravens have declined in our drafting ability. We have the same old boys in the war room drunk with confidence in our drafting...thinking we know the best players out there. We have been outsmarting ourselves with what we think we know. So, rather than taking the chance on elite players with a question mark, we went safe early and then try to grab quantity later in the draft hoping to find that future star. Key word, hoping. If you told me we had the choice to take Tunsil and Jack in the 1st 2 rounds or Stanley and Correa, I would of bet my life on the two best players at their respective positions...Clearly, Tunsil and Jack. Complete no brainer. But No, we did not. Jack has the bigger question mark but his ability is so far beyond Correa. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but seriously, this is probably our worst draft decision I have seen since our existence of the franchise. Matt Elam and Arthur Brown a few years ago was bad, and I called it then, but this is a chance we blew with our high pick. So disappointing. Save your insults on my post...I have a football and lacrosse playing and coaching background and know athletes, and my passion for this game is second to none. Once our last game ends every season, I research the draft and mocks everyday for fun and watch all I can to do my own evaluations for the first couple of rounds. Of course I don't know everything but I know my stuff, period. Later rounds are for the career people and scouts, they have that time to reseach that. 1st and 2nd rds, I know like the back of my hand with these athletes, with the exception of some diamonds in the rough.. Ultimately, time will tell on our picks but my money is this evaluation on our first 2 picks. I really do hate to say it, cuz I bleed black and purple, but educated fans out there know I'm right and don't say "in Ozzie we Trust"...that was true for so long, but not in recent years. Proof in in the pudding...go back and look at the history.

I've been looking at the history over the last 10 years of our draft picks. A few hits......LOTS of misses.

well said

[ckarp34]

  17 minutes ago, ckarp34 said:

Lets call out what we really did. Over the past few years the Ravens have declined in our drafting ability. We have the same old boys in the war room drunk with confidence in our drafting...thinking we know the best players out there. We have been outsmarting ourselves with what we think we know. So, rather than taking the chance on elite players with a question mark, we went safe early and then try to grab quantity later in the draft hoping to find that future star. Key word, hoping. If you told me we had the choice to take Tunsil and Jack in the 1st 2 rounds or Stanley and Correa, I would of bet my life on the two best players at their respective positions...Clearly, Tunsil and Jack. Complete no brainer. But No, we did not. Jack has the bigger question mark but his ability is so far beyond Correa. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but seriously, this is probably our worst draft decision I have seen since our existence of the franchise. Matt Elam and Arthur Brown a few years ago was bad, and I called it then, but this is a chance we blew with our high pick. So disappointing. Save your insults on my post...I have a football and lacrosse playing and coaching background and know athletes, and my passion for this game is second to none. Once our last game ends every season, I research the draft and mocks everyday for fun and watch all I can to do my own evaluations for the first couple of rounds. Of course I don't know everything but I know my stuff, period. Later rounds are for the career people and scouts, they have that time to reseach that. 1st and 2nd rds, I know like the back of my hand with these athletes, with the exception of some diamonds in the rough.. Ultimately, time will tell on our picks but my money is this evaluation on our first 2 picks. I really do hate to say it, cuz I bleed black and purple, but educated fans out there know I'm right and don't say "in Ozzie we Trust"...that was true for so long, but not in recent years. Proof in in the pudding...go back and look at the history.

I've been looking at the history over the last 10 years of our draft picks. A few hits......LOTS of misses.

I know, so disappointing. We love mid round collecting, and we get solid but not great picks. And we definitely have no clue on how to draft WR's, hence, never a pro bowl Wideout in our history, ever. Thanks for the comment.

[bioLarzen]

Just hillarious to see the swarm of users I've never ever seen on this site during the season and especially in thze offseason suddenly crawl out of the woodwork just to let us all know how clueless Ozzie is about how to draft :D :D :D

[stixfix69]

Of course people will look back at previous drafts and say a lot of misses, but aside from picks 1-3, the other picks rarely make the cut or are used sparingly and then let go when the next draft class comes in,....The draft is all a gamble, judge the team by W's and L's, and you will see in the past decade we have been doing a good job at winning.....

[BigUgly]

 

2 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

Just hillarious to see the swarm of users I've never ever seen on this site during the season and especially in thze offseason suddenly crawl out of the woodwork just to let us all know how clueless Ozzie is about how to draft

Some of us have been hanging out at the AFCN corner of thesidelinereport.  Lower-class clientele that are demented and sad, but social.

[jsberryman]

I assume they would have taken Bosa in the first round, he was not there. You can bet they tried to trade down, did not happen so they took their best option from the board. Personally, I would be a little hesitant on a guy who says himself he might only have a three year career with possible micro fracture knee surgery! I believe Ozzie will try to find some teams with no fourth round picks and offer a pick or two for possibly third round picks next year. Using all these picks this year seems a bit much, I mean will 11 draftees ever make the final roster? Look for at least one trade today, possibly two depending on who is left on the board.

[cobrajet]

Just hillarious to see the swarm of users I've never ever seen on this site during the season and especially in thze offseason suddenly crawl out of the woodwork just to let us all know how clueless Ozzie is about how to draft :D :D :D

You got to let them vent brother :) Free agency is expensive and we do not have any cap room, therefore some members are passionate come draft time. Myles Jack and Noah Spence were huge favorites on the draft forums.

[jpboechat]

C'mon guys, it's not always about getting the flashy players the media is hyped about. Remember Ed Reed was "Solid, but not great" back in the day.
Think about it, we're not rocking on the draft selecting pro bowlers but we're assembling good teams, and we're one of the few teams that's been competing in the playoffs every year since 2008.

In 2014, we had 4 pro-bowlers despite having a good overall season, but it's hard to think that Smith & Smith weren't a great WR tandem.

There's a lot to like about the 4th rounders from last year, Z. Smith and J. Allen. Pernell McPhee was in the 5th round back in 2011, Pitta, in the 4th round, Arthur Jones, 5th round, Adalius Thomas, 6th round.
In Ozzie we trust!

[WNC-Raven]

choosing to stockpile picks like this instead of choosing a possible superstar tells me the FO thinks we are in worse shape than believed.

[edthehead]

C'mon guys, it's not always about getting the flashy players the media is hyped about. Remember Ed Reed was "Solid, but not great" back in the day.
Think about it, we're not rocking on the draft selecting pro bowlers but we're assembling good teams, and we're one of the few teams that's been competing in the playoffs every year since 2008.

In 2014, we had 4 pro-bowlers despite having a good overall season, but it's hard to think that Smith & Smith weren't a great WR tandem.

There's a lot to like about the 4th rounders from last year, Z. Smith and J. Allen. Pernell McPhee was in the 5th round back in 2011, Pitta, in the 4th round, Arthur Jones, 5th round, Adalius Thomas, 6th round.
In Ozzie we trust!

ed reed is a bad example he came out of the miami u
in that time frame winning was all that mattered, they as a unit played on the edge, winning was all that mattered

[Edug27]

9 hours ago, verified said:

Terrible all asa jackson type players

Richard Sherman was a 5th rder. Optimistic!

[4everraven]

Maybe draft strategy will change in the future. Ozzie was burned the past 2 days by coveting the "stockpiling of picks" philosophy. He didn't offer enough to Dallas to get Ramsey and kept trading back to get ammo to move up. Problem was no teams were interested in Ozzie's coveted mid and late round picks. They were after the more assured blue chip prospects available high in the first 3 rounds and not the diamond in the rough crap shoot mid and late rounds represent. We all know those diamonds are found but stud players are predominantly found in the first 3 rounds especially when the picks are near top 5 each of those rounds.

I cringe when I look at the Jaguars haul. That could have been the Ravens, addressing all 3 levels of the defense with 3 down players. It's what everyone on this board would have liked, albeit hoping Jack stayed healthy but that is the hope for every player. Ravens were one spot behind Jaguars. If Ozzie had been willing to give up picks instead of stockpiling them this draft could have been different.

Plse don't tell me to move to Jacksonville if I like the Jaguars pick so much. I like the Ravens as much as anyone on these boards and like everyone enjoy being a couch GM in the off season and arm chair head coach during the season. If we agreed on everything what would be the point in engaging conversation on these boards? Go Ravens and Correa and Kaufusi, please be the 3 down studs this defense desperately needs.

[BigUgly]

C'mon guys, it's not always about getting the flashy players the media is hyped about. Remember Ed Reed was "Solid, but not great" back in the day.
Think about it, we're not rocking on the draft selecting pro bowlers but we're assembling good teams, and we're one of the few teams that's been competing in the playoffs every year since 2008.

In 2014, we had 4 pro-bowlers despite having a good overall season, but it's hard to think that Smith & Smith weren't a great WR tandem.

There's a lot to like about the 4th rounders from last year, Z. Smith and J. Allen. Pernell McPhee was in the 5th round back in 2011, Pitta, in the 4th round, Arthur Jones, 5th round, Adalius Thomas, 6th round.
In Ozzie we trust!

Ozzie & Co. found gold in the 4th round of the last 3 drafts, with all the guys starting or getting significant playing time (how did we let John Simon go?). Now how does the high number of lower-round guys making the team correlate to wins? Lately, it hasn't.

[Crusader]

Ravens need to pick Cash and Dillon this round

[Tower of Power]

The best indicator of a team strength [this comes from rugby, but I'm pretty sure it applies to American Football too] is the "value" of its worst player. And a player is a person - on and off the field. [Just think of the damage the Ray Rice thing did to us - the team is still recovering for it]
Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, AJ Green - great receivers: how many post-season wins with their teams?
Stafford, Ryan, Dalton - lots and lots of yards: how many post-season wins? etc. etd.
Our FO is building a solid solid team.

[BigUgly]

8 minutes ago, Crusader said:

Ravens need to pick Cash and Dillon this round

Sounds like a buddy cop movie from the '80s.

Which one is the renegade loose cannon with an attitude who gets the job done?  We need that guy.

[EddiOK]

If Correa and Kaufusi work out, Ozzie's a genius.
If they don't, he looks senile.
Won't know for sure till September.

Personally, I wonder if both will be Paul Kruger-esque types - slow to develop, finally mature into productive players, then ship off for big $$ somewhere else.

[ravgo52]

Just hillarious to see the swarm of users I've never ever seen on this site during the season and especially in thze offseason suddenly crawl out of the woodwork just to let us all know how clueless Ozzie is about how to draft :D :D :D

Yeah buddy, I know, right! Keep the faith and enjoy the draft! Oh and the laughs the newcomers supply! Lol

[DelawareChris]

I think that we are looking at a make or break draft for the scouts and maybe a self check for the front office. There has been some scouting changes over the last few years and I think some of them need to be really looked at closer. We seemed to whiff on natural prospects and get players who are injury prone or don't pan out. I know you can't strike it rich every draft, but let's face it we haven't been as good as we should be. This class should be providing stars and they may still be. But it's looking like another average year with nothing truly exceptional. Stanley is a great pick and he will be great. It's Day 2's draft board that has me scratching my head. We should've had more compensation from Jacksonville and Miami. Other teams who traded back after us had better deals. Better players were on the board and we passed, I don't see the advantage of amassing more 4th round picks. 5? We will be lucky to get 2 out of the 5 to stick. I would see the advantage if we had recent success. I hope the talent on Saturday is there because I think we will truly need it. We know as the draft progresses the talent level falls. This is a talent rich draft and I hope it pans out for us. I am just afraid, we are resting on our laurels of drafts gone by and not looking in the mirror and see why we seem to draft average and not grab what we need when we need it. "We can get a Corner in the second round", instead we trade back for a fourth, then again for a 5th?? I thought the 2nd round position was like getting another 1st rounder instead we go deeper in and come out with someone NO one even heard of that looks like he should've been taken in the middle instead of top of the 2nd. I am sorry, guys, I LOVE my Ravens, but what is going on? Reality check please.

[goldenboldin]

Noah Spence, Myles Jack and Mackenzie Alexander were sitting there and we passed? Alrighty. Scratching my head. Guess thats why they pay those guys the big bucks

[goldenboldin]

Maybe draft strategy will change in the future. Ozzie was burned the past 2 days by coveting the "stockpiling of picks" philosophy. He didn't offer enough to Dallas to get Ramsey and kept trading back to get ammo to move up. Problem was no teams were interested in Ozzie's coveted mid and late round picks. They were after the more assured blue chip prospects available high in the first 3 rounds and not the diamond in the rough crap shoot mid and late rounds represent. We all know those diamonds are found but stud players are predominantly found in the first 3 rounds especially when the picks are near top 5 each of those rounds.

I cringe when I look at the Jaguars haul. That could have been the Ravens, addressing all 3 levels of the defense with 3 down players. It's what everyone on this board would have liked, albeit hoping Jack stayed healthy but that is the hope for every player. Ravens were one spot behind Jaguars. If Ozzie had been willing to give up picks instead of stockpiling them this draft could have been different.

Plse don't tell me to move to Jacksonville if I like the Jaguars pick so much. I like the Ravens as much as anyone on these boards and like everyone enjoy being a couch GM in the off season and arm chair head coach during the season. If we agreed on everything what would be the point in engaging conversation on these boards? Go Ravens and Correa and Kaufusi, please be the 3 down studs this defense desperately needs.

people who tell you to move to Jacksonville for stating your opinion and making a criticism in order to improve your team.. then they have some screws loose in thier heads. Those people will never understand that we criticize because we love our team and want them to be better, not just nodding our heads to anything and everything the ravens do

[goldenboldin]

  12 hours ago, verified said:

Terrible all asa jackson type players

Richard Sherman was a 5th rder. Optimistic!

Good point, but Richard Sherman wasn't undersized... not sure what the Ravens see, but they obviously know more than me. Just wondering what's going on with Oz and the ravens scouts

[gekaap]

If Correa and Kaufusi work out, Ozzie's a genius.
If they don't, he looks senile.
Won't know for sure till September.

Personally, I wonder if both will be Paul Kruger-esque types - slow to develop, finally mature into productive players, then ship off for big $$ somewhere else.

Except the timing would be a very different scenario at this point. Three to five years from now we'll be ready to sign a Kruger-esque player to a big contract, as Suggs and Doom are hanging up their cleats. I see these as being the correct big picture picks, period.

[gekaap]

Too many people are watching this draft and want Ozzie to make narrow visioned moves because they themselves can't be bothered to look at a big picture. And they'd rather lust after HOPEFUL superstars than build a rock solid team.

The truth is that the past few years where our team has been in a slump is BECAUSE OZZIE MADE YOUR MISTAKES! The organization has been obsessed and in love with superstar Flacco, and have ignored the rest of the team so much that we've been mostly losing since Ray Lewis retired, and even lost that superstar to a major knee injury. Ozzie's getting back to what he does, which is assemble a rock solid team. If you build a rock solid team and coach and lead them well, superstars will emerge.

[Ravenous_Ravens]

Anytime you have to explain your moves on draft day, one thing is obvious. The lack of apparent wisdom in said choice is obvious to everyone.

“We think we really helped the defense,” General Manager Ozzie Newsome said.

Does not sound like GM that won on draft day. There is little to no confidence in such a statement.

“An interesting night,” Newsome said.

Yup they got the short end of the stick and all that after an awfully long and painful season.

“Sometimes things just work out and the guys you want are there,” Assistant General Manager Eric DeCosta said.

Hmm that's funny, I thought I heard the Ravens trying to trade up in the first round to get Ramsey. Then they traded down to get the second rounder, like reaching for lower hanging fruit.

IHMO it sure looked like the Ravens lost out big time on their players of choice. What really erks me though is that the last few season seem to be going the wrong direction in general and they hold to the same tactics thinking things will magically change. Maybe its the strategy in general that needs to be fixed.

Prove me wrong though, make the playoffs and I'll admit just how little I know. When that does not happen then seriously change things up, instead of repeating history heading in the wrong direction.

[Ravenous_Ravens]

Too many people are watching this draft and want Ozzie to make narrow visioned moves because they themselves can't be bothered to look at a big picture. And they'd rather lust after HOPEFUL superstars than build a rock solid team.

The truth is that the past few years where our team has been in a slump is BECAUSE OZZIE MADE YOUR MISTAKES! The organization has been obsessed and in love with superstar Flacco, and have ignored the rest of the team so much that we've been mostly losing since Ray Lewis retired, and even lost that superstar to a major knee injury. Ozzie's getting back to what he does, which is assemble a rock solid team. If you build a rock solid team and coach and lead them well, superstars will emerge.

Superstars are superstars period. You cannot coach that. You can coach very good players. Superstars are always blessed with certain unique qualities that are not translatable. That's like saying you can coach any good QB into a HOF quality signal caller.

Another point in case is the first round selection of Ronnie Stanley. If you can coach up superstars then they should not have drafted him and worked their magic on the OT from the 4th round instead. This insane argument contradicts itself in so many ways.

[Ravenous_Ravens]

Too many people are watching this draft and want Ozzie to make narrow visioned moves because they themselves can't be bothered to look at a big picture. And they'd rather lust after HOPEFUL superstars than build a rock solid team.

The truth is that the past few years where our team has been in a slump is BECAUSE OZZIE MADE YOUR MISTAKES! The organization has been obsessed and in love with superstar Flacco, and have ignored the rest of the team so much that we've been mostly losing since Ray Lewis retired, and even lost that superstar to a major knee injury. Ozzie's getting back to what he does, which is assemble a rock solid team. If you build a rock solid team and coach and lead them well, superstars will emerge.

You are right. Ozzie has made a lot of mistakes the last few seasons. Letting all the in house talent walk elsewhere. Yeah you cannot keep everyone, but why draft developmental players to see them walk once they are contributors? Then most signings are always to patch up holes from failing to draft well. I guess more complementary draft picks is considered a win in Ravens town now a days vs a winning season.

The salary cap era has exposed Ozzie's weakness, which is he is not a mastermind at juggling the personnel on a set budget. He is great at finding hidden talent but far too often passes over the more obvious, more talented safer picks for developmental players only to see them walk in 4 years.

I cannot even remember the last time any player they drafted was (realistically) expected to make day 1 contributions. Perriman was maybe the closest, yet that did not work out. Stanley this year, maybe, but again they do not even endorse him as a starter because of the OT mess they made for themselves.

Last year showed they need difference makers and they said they would address it. Well as of now they have not addressed it at all. On paper, and even judging from reactions everywhere, no one is scared to play the Ravens. There almost the same team as last year but with younger less experienced players on board to fill in for seasoned vets and expect no drop off or learning curve.

IMHO if your going to draft a OT because you invested so much in your offense with Joe then go all the way and stop limiting that strength. No team has an excellent offense and defense. Since they chose to go offense and pay Flacco and start investing in offense, they might as well go hard. At this point it feels like middle rung offense and middle rung defense is what is viewed as the key to winning and making playoffs.

[Ravenous_Ravens]

The best indicator of a team strength [this comes from rugby, but I'm pretty sure it applies to American Football too] is the "value" of its worst player. And a player is a person - on and off the field. [Just think of the damage the Ray Rice thing did to us - the team is still recovering for it]
Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, AJ Green - great receivers: how many post-season wins with their teams?
Stafford, Ryan, Dalton - lots and lots of yards: how many post-season wins? etc. etd.
Our FO is building a solid solid team.

Ok for one, Ray Rice incident was bad and things got handled as well as they could have. To become paranoid that every player is going to be a high risk is stupid. You cannot predict who make poor decisions. Up to that point Ray Rice was an outstanding young man.

You do make a good point though, the superstar players make their teams dangerous, but one man cannot do it all. Currently the Ravens do not have even one of those type players.

No point in talking about playoff wins until you can even make the playoffs. At this point the Ravens are basically on a three year drought, technically 2 but I don't count an 8-8 season and squeaking into the post season to get hammered the next week unattested as making the playoffs. That's more like crawling into the ring and not being able to stand up.