The good the bad and the ugly Lions version

[sflegend89]

Guys like Dixon (among many mid rounders from previous drafts) are the reason you don't draft a RB in the top 5. While I still think Zeke Elliott is the best RB from this class it was a bad value pick by Dallas. 

Hope Dixon picks up where he left off upon his return. Easily the most impressive RB this preseason and has also received praise from Flacco. Just has rare insticts for the position that you can't teach, not the fastest guy but many of the best RB's aren't either. Vision >>> Speed.

Edited August 29, 2016 by sflegend89

[kjbmore]

7 hours ago, K-Dog said:

Does anyone know what really happened with the "unsportsman " call on the Ravens bench ?

Not to stir the pot, but has anyone said that it is the fault of the natural turf that Watson tore his achilles ? 

We have fantastic depth at RB.  Dixon will not be rushed back. 

i blame the fact that watson is 35 years old - dudes nearly 40 - absolutely no surprise something like this has happened ( wish him well and a speedy recovery of course) but if we dont have a guy whos closer to 40 than 30 out there, putting in first team work - we walk away from that preseason game with one injury to dixon and we chalk it up to football, which it just was - nothing you can do about it

i feel we are getting the freak / football injuries which are part of football, like last year - perriman, elam, forsett, flacco and then i think we are compounding this with fact we have a lot of old guys we really, really count on because we're not getting that young blood through.

We're relying so much on these older guys - like Suggs who was 32 last year when he blew his achilles, sss was 36 and carrying our wr corps when he should have been cherry picking his spots - really cant be shocked he went down and cant be a surprise doom is hurting after the work he had to put in last season

need to start hitting on these draft picks, develop these players, get younger and lessen the workload on the older players if we expect to get and stay healthy

[Jacquouille]

3 hours ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

I think Levine is gonna be a big deal here in baltimore. I just have this feeling that he's gonna play just as well and continue to get better in the regular season, and MAYBE we will finally see a low investment guy develop into a great player and actually stick around instead of leaving for a big pay day. 

He looks like he could be a big piece moving forward

Admit it, Levine is exactly what you wanted Cravens to be for us

 

2 hours ago, Boddiebroadus said:

I think West will take over the RB1 job. Anyone stashing west or Dixon on there fantasy bench?

This year I'll trying the zero RB draft so I'll definitely take West if available. I'll probably take Dixon off the waiver later. 

[Filmstudy]

4 hours ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

I think Levine is gonna be a big deal here in baltimore. I just have this feeling that he's gonna play just as well and continue to get better in the regular season, and MAYBE we will finally see a low investment guy develop into a great player and actually stick around instead of leaving for a big pay day. 

He looks like he could be a big piece moving forward

The great Ravens defenses have all had big contributions from a dime.  Under Marvin Lewis, with the legendary 2000 front 7, they still managed to run 34.5% of the snaps with 6 or 7 DBs on the field.  The last 3 years under Pees, that number is just 2.3%.

Why is that important?  Because vanilla nickel has made this team one of the easiest defenses to game plan against in the entire league.

Levine has been practicing for the dime role this summer, but in 3 PS games to date:

--Panthers: He played 18 dime snaps as anticipated

--Colts: The Ravens were short at nickel, so he played SCB and the Ravens didn't play any dime

--Lions: The team was down 3 safeties with Webb and Lewis sitting and Elam's injury, so Levine played exclusively safety and the team again didn't play any snaps with 6+ DBs.

His aggregate contributions have been outstanding this preseason, but the last 2 games, he's been in roles dictated by emergency.  While he has the talent to fill in at other positions, I hope he'll be able to stay as the dime for the entire season, because that is where the team needs him most schematically and they don't at present have another player who fits the position well (Elam was the backup, Onwuasor might be the next most logical).

Edited August 29, 2016 by Filmstudy

[BmoreBird22]

3 hours ago, Jacquouille said:

Admit it, Levine is exactly what you wanted Cravens to be for us

 

This year I'll trying the zero RB draft so I'll definitely take West if available. I'll probably take Dixon off the waiver later. 

I took Dixon and put him on my bench. He just runs harder and better than the other backs and he was pretty clearly the number two preparing to take over the one.

[Jacquouille]

8 minutes ago, BmoreBird22 said:

I took Dixon and put him on my bench. He just runs harder and better than the other backs and he was pretty clearly the number two preparing to take over the one.

True but with the injury I'm pretty sure people won't draft him and he'll be available by the time he comes back. 

[BmoreBird22]

8 hours ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

he has been shaky starting with last year, but he used to be very good in run support and tackling on short catches. his first 3 seasons he really lit up some guys on screens and sweeps and quick outs, he seemed to do best with the sideline giving him the advantage. but ill say ive noticed he tends to struggle to tackle receivers who had already beaten him for the catch, exhibit A being AJ green last season, he beat him in more ways than one and did it often.

I actually should amend to say that he hasn't been a shaky tackler; he's go the size and length to tackle and doesn't often miss tackles. He doesn't always lay the wood, but he'll at least wrap up and take his man to the ground.

However, his run support I would say has slowly regressed as his coverage has gotten better. I've seen more and more weak effort as a run defender, but that may just be that he's really not paid to be a run supporting corner; he's paid to shutdown the best and that's what he was doing.

[BmoreBird22]

Just now, Jacquouille said:

True but with the injury I'm pretty sure people won't draft him and he'll be available by the time he comes back. 

I did a 12 team league and RB was getting thin. I took a chance on him in like the 12th round, so 140+ picks and I figured it was worth the risk.

[JoeyFlex5]

4 hours ago, Jacquouille said:

Admit it, Levine is exactly what you wanted Cravens to be for us

 

This year I'll trying the zero RB draft so I'll definitely take West if available. I'll probably take Dixon off the waiver later. 

So far he has been and I'm totally ok with it. I had a feeling that Levine was either gonna burst onto the scene or just fade out this year, I'm real happy seeing the former happen so far.

[RavensFanMania]

31 minutes ago, Jacquouille said:

True but with the injury I'm pretty sure people won't draft him and he'll be available by the time he comes back. 

I would have stashed him on my bench with the last pick but had already taken 4 backs (max).  I did this back in 2012 with Alfred Morris.  Boy did that turn out to be a good choice.  Anyway, I'll probably end up with Dixon through waivers as he wasn't drafted. 

[Ravenslifer]

On 8/27/2016 at 10:19 PM, hawkprey said:

The WRs played great. Remember the days of Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones? Dark times.

I remember the days of Travis Taylor and what we almost had with Michael Jackson, not to mention Mark Clayton and the "Demetrius Williams watch" years.  We were fortunate to have gotten what we did out of Torrey and JJ.

Edited August 30, 2016 by Ravenslifer

[atomicfront]

On 8/27/2016 at 10:19 PM, hawkprey said:

The WRs played great. Remember the days of Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones? Dark times.

You mean the year we won the Super Bowl?  Dark because the lights went out?

Edited August 29, 2016 by atomicfront

[ludy51]

5 hours ago, BmoreBird22 said:

I did a 12 team league and RB was getting thin. I took a chance on him in like the 12th round, so 140+ picks and I figured it was worth the risk.

I nabbed him in the 14th in my league 

[Sami84]

12 hours ago, sflegend89 said:

Guys like Dixon (among many mid rounders from previous drafts) are the reason you don't draft a RB in the top 5. While I still think Zeke Elliott is the best RB from this class it was a bad value pick by Dallas. 

Hope Dixon picks up where he left off upon his return. Easily the most impressive RB this preseason and has also received praise from Flacco. Just has rare insticts for the position that you can't teach, not the fastest guy but many of the best RB's aren't either. Vision >>> Speed.

 

 

Priest Holmes like wouldn't you say?

Edited August 29, 2016 by Sami84

[hawkprey]

1 hour ago, atomicfront said:

You mean the year we won the Super Bowl?  Dark because the lights went out?

No, I meant 2013 because those were our starters that year

[Filmstudy]

I've posted notes for the offense if you are interested:

http://russellstreetreport.com/2016/08/29/filmstudy/ravens-lions-offensive-line-grades/

Of particular note was the play of 3 offensive linemen:

--Stanley had his 3rd straight outstanding game despite 2 partial pressures.  He's now allowed 1.33 pressures, 0 QHs, 0 sacks, and not been penalized in 80 PS snaps (approx 1.3 games).  It's no wonder he's PFFs top rated rookie so far.

--Jensen was nearly flawless with 4 highlight blocks and just 1 negative event.

--Lewis had some terrific highlight blocks (6!) and showed good mobility, but had another tough night in pass protection.

[rmw10]

9 minutes ago, Filmstudy said:

I've posted notes for the offense if you are interested:

http://russellstreetreport.com/2016/08/29/filmstudy/ravens-lions-offensive-line-grades/

Of particular note was the play of 3 offensive linemen:

--Stanley had his 3rd straight outstanding game despite 2 partial pressures.  He's now allowed 1.33 pressures, 0 QHs, 0 sacks, and not been penalized in 80 PS snaps (approx 1.3 games).  It's no wonder he's PFFs top rated rookie so far.

--Jensen was nearly flawless with 4 highlight blocks and just 1 negative event.

--Lewis had some terrific highlight blocks (6!) and showed good mobility, but had another tough night in pass protection.

I've been very surprised by Lewis.  I expected him to need some work so the negatives aren't surprising, but he's also had some very high highs so far.

[Filmstudy]

Just now, rmw10 said:

I've been very surprised by Lewis.  I expected him to need some work so the negatives aren't surprising, but he's also had some very high highs so far.

Yes.  I'm most surprised by his mobility and ability to combo.  That's much less in a tackle's job description.

Also, watching Hurst try to pull from LG was painful (see 3/1 and 4/1 in PS1 vs. Panthers if you have the video still), but Lewis moved well and got a piece of a block on both pulls vs. Lions. 

[berad]

Glad to hear Jensen rebounded from that negative highlight, too

[BOLDnPurPnBlacK]

Chris Moore's 1st down diving grab was really, really impressive. Got completely horizontal, caught the ball away from his body, and secured it no problem. That was a very high level of difficulty and he made it look easy.

Butler is making it near impossible to cut him. He catches everything. There's literally nothing more he could have done with the opportunities he was given.

I think Mallett secured his job. Good showing.

 

Ronnie Stanley is a gem. I have to admit - my immediate reaction upon drafting him was - "what?!?" - but it looks like they've got it right. PFF has named his the most impressive rookie thus far (granted it's only PS). But, still. He's kept our QBs completely clean in near 2 full games of work with a good amount against NFL starters, and a full half against an elite pass rusher.

He's also been way better than advertised in the run game. He has regularly generated a push.

Alex Lewis is a real find too. Getting a potential day 1 starter that late in the draft.... beautiful. This is why Ozzie is Ozzie. People doubt him after a couple years, and then he has a draft like what this one is starting to look like. Landing a couple studs, a couple day 1 starters, and a slew of helpful, rotational guys that could be starters eventually.

Stanley definite impact player day 1. Lewis potential day 1 starter. Dixon could be starter (he's been our best back for my money). Judon day 1 contributor. Moore could be day 1 contributor, and looks to be a real talent. Young should contribute in sub packages and on ST early. Correa should be Day 1 contributor. Henry should be a nice piece soon if not a contributor this year. Canady and Reynolds show real potential. And Kaufusi is TDB.

But, this should shape up to be a real keeper of a draft.

[Boddiebroadus]

8 hours ago, RavensFanMania said:

I would have stashed him on my bench with the last pick but had already taken 4 backs (max).  I did this back in 2012 with Alfred Morris.  Boy did that turn out to be a good choice.  Anyway, I'll probably end up with Dixon through waivers as he wasn't drafted. 

Same here I got west right now seeing as he'll probably get goal line work. Then right before Dixon comes back I'll drop west and pick him up. Both on bench so no big deal

[Jacquouille]

@Filmstudy, I'd like your opinion on Mosley. I know he's not a player you watch but while PFF has given him a good grade, Tony Lombardi noted him in the "bad" category. Having watched this game more than any of us, what is your feeling about Mosley? I feel like he covered a lot, justifying his lack of big plays, is it just me?

Thanks in advance.

[RavensFan34950]

How realistic could it be that Will Davis starts over Shareece Wright on the outside? 

[allblackraven]

12 minutes ago, RavensFan34950 said:

How realistic could it be that Will Davis starts over Shareece Wright on the outside? 

It won't happen right off the bat I think but he will get some snaps either on that side or in the slot / nickel.

[Filmstudy]

1 hour ago, Jacquouille said:

@Filmstudy, I'd like your opinion on Mosley. I know he's not a player you watch but while PFF has given him a good grade, Tony Lombardi noted him in the "bad" category. Having watched this game more than any of us, what is your feeling about Mosley? I feel like he covered a lot, justifying his lack of big plays, is it just me?

Thanks in advance.

I need to go back to my notes for all 3 games to give you a grounded opinion.  Will probably be later tonight.

[Filmstudy]

1 hour ago, RavensFan34950 said:

How realistic could it be that Will Davis starts over Shareece Wright on the outside? 

Davis is clearly no worse than "1st man up" with an injury to any corner spot.  I hope he's not the extent of the Ravens useful depth.

As to starting over Wright, I don't see it happening for several weeks if it's due solely to ineffectiveness.  If Davis were to replace Jimmy Smith for 2 games and light it up, Shareece could be out of a job when Jimmy returns.

[Ravens4Real]

20 minutes ago, Filmstudy said:

Davis is clearly no worse than "1st man up" with an injury to any corner spot.  I hope he's not the extent of the Ravens useful depth.

As to starting over Wright, I don't see it happening for several weeks if it's due solely to ineffectiveness.  If Davis were to replace Jimmy Smith for 2 games and light it up, Shareece could be out of a job when Jimmy returns.

The Ravens are a Jimmy Smith injury away from possibly the worst starting CB's in the league. 

Outside of Flacco, if Jimmy were to get hurt, that would be the worst possible scenario. Our pass D would be epically bad in that scenario. I feel like we almost have to add a veteran presence with the final wave of cuts.

[kjbmore]

32 minutes ago, Ravens4Real said:

The Ravens are a Jimmy Smith injury away from possibly the worst starting CB's in the league. 

Outside of Flacco, if Jimmy were to get hurt, that would be the worst possible scenario. Our pass D would be epically bad in that scenario. I feel like we almost have to add a veteran presence with the final wave of cuts.

2014 all over again - please God no, we really haven't improved much in that area- we just seem to keep shuffling our deficiencies- it's crazy that we've had a couple drafts now and all we've added is couple of mid round CBs - RIP Tray Walker and a few leftovers here n there.

Am I missing something? Not sure what FO is seeing that I'm not

[Sami84]

1 hour ago, Ravens4Real said:

The Ravens are a Jimmy Smith injury away from possibly the worst starting CB's in the league. 

Outside of Flacco, if Jimmy were to get hurt, that would be the worst possible scenario. Our pass D would be epically bad in that scenario. I feel like we almost have to add a veteran presence with the final wave of cuts.

 

 

This is where the team needs to develop a guy that maybe isnt well known or up to this point conidered great..thats how teams become succesful..you cant just get every established FA out there..some guys need to take their game to another level.

[Filmstudy]

1 hour ago, Sami84 said:

This is where the team needs to develop a guy that maybe isnt well known or up to this point conidered great..thats how teams become succesful..you cant just get every established FA out there..some guys need to take their game to another level.

I agree.  They have 2 decent length projects on the outside, Price and Canady.  One of those needs to become a useful CB by next season.