[News] The Breakdown: Eisenberg's Roster Projections

[BR News]

The final 53-man roster must be set by Saturday at 4 p.m., and John Eisenberg gives his final predictions with the preseason in the books.

View the full article

[styx36]

John, I like your roster, but I went with Onwuasor over Pierce. I'd be ok with Pierce too, but it's a tough call. I think "Onw-awesome" has had a strong preseason and been a playmaker too. He also brings special teams depth that we could use and is a real ILB that gives us needed depth at that position. I couldn't justify Corea and Levine as our only #3 and #4 options at ILB. I almost took Arthur Brown but decided Patrick was more of a play-maker than Brown. I'd be curious to hear other thoughts, but at the end of the day, I think we'll have a some touch cuts and a really talented practice squad.

[omar586]

they should expand the rosters to 60 or something, lol, so many good players, carter and ochi are toughest cuts, and its in a position we need pass rushers.

[Maryland]

How can you pick Hurst over Ducasse. Hurst has been awful at LG all preseason, and it's not like he was good at LT at any point in his career. Alex Lewis is the backup LT at this point, and he's better than Hurst.

Also puzzled how you can say Willie Henry and Brent Urban have had quiet preseasons. Henry had an excellent game 1 and played well again in game 4. Urban has been making tackles and swatting passes like crazy; he should split reps with Guy at 5-tech.

And Sheldon Price is not practice squad eligible; he spent 3 seasons with the Colts, this being his 4th season in the league. Only players in their 3rd season or less can be on the PS. 

Edited September 2, 2016 by Maryland

[designermaryland]

They whiffed again on CB this year and did not address that position strongly enough in free agency. No idea why that is a low priority every year when it is clear you cannot keep up if you do not have at least 3-4 solid DB's. Maybe we will get lucky and some decent veteran will be let go. If we are stuck with Wright, Powers and Davis as our next 3 behind Jimmy (who is not that great either) we are in trouble again. Couple that with inside LB's who can't cover and it is no wonder we get ripped for 300-400 yards a game passing. Correa and Kaufusi were wasted picks as clearly evidenced that they have not even sniffed reps with the first team. We need to either pick a starting caliber CB via trade, or sign someone and get rid of Powers.

[patmanley27]

Havent heard Kendrick Lewis's named mention once this summer I'm surprised he makes it, but I guess only having 3 safeties would cause issues depth wise.

[patmanley27]

56 minutes ago, Maryland said:

How can you pick Hurst over Ducasse. Hurst has been awful at LG all preseason, and it's not like he was good at LT at any point in his career. Alex Lewis is the backup LT at this point, and he's better than Hurst.

Also puzzled how you can say Willie Henry and Brent Urban have had quiet preseasons. Henry had an excellent game 1 and played well again in game 4. Urban has been making tackles and swatting passes like crazy; he should split reps with Guy at 5-tech.

And Sheldon Price is not practice squad eligible; he spent 3 seasons with the Colts, this being his 4th season in the league. Only players in their 3rd season or less can be on the PS. 

Could not agree more. 

 

[hen826957]

4 hours ago, designermaryland said:

They whiffed again on CB this year and did not address that position strongly enough in free agency. No idea why that is a low priority every year when it is clear you cannot keep up if you do not have at least 3-4 solid DB's. Maybe we will get lucky and some decent veteran will be let go. If we are stuck with Wright, Powers and Davis as our next 3 behind Jimmy (who is not that great either) we are in trouble again. Couple that with inside LB's who can't cover and it is no wonder we get ripped for 300-400 yards a game passing. Correa and Kaufusi were wasted picks as clearly evidenced that they have not even sniffed reps with the first team. We need to either pick a starting caliber CB via trade, or sign someone and get rid of Powers.

I agree. So far the picks of Correa and Kaufusi so far is scratching my head while we could've use one of those picks for a LB or CB. Correa might become a great player but he's a prospect meaning it would take him a year or two to develop. I kinda want a playmaker that could play right now in one of those rounds that could start and help us right away. The other picks Ozzie drafted were excellent.

Edited September 2, 2016 by hen826957

[hen826957]

Can someone explain the breakdown or highlights to me of how well they play tonight? I fell asleep and miss the game and forget to record it. LOL. ? I heard Perriman played well had 2 catches for 25 yards. Did he look sharp in his routes?

[n#7]

Can someone explain the breakdown or highlights to me of how well they play tonight? I fell asleep and miss the game and forget to record it. LOL. ? I heard Perriman played well had 2 catches for 25 yards. Did he look sharp in his routes?

He didn't get hurt so it was a success. One step at a time.

[law215]

I still believe the glaring weakness of the Ravens is the secondary. The Ravens went into the draft needing to improve at pass rusher, LT, ILB depth, and secondary. Correa gives them depth at ILB and can provide pressure on the outside. Stanley and Lewis have been outstanding so far. Judon and Z. Smith will make an impact this season. However, I don't trust Wright, Powers, Webb in the secondary. I think J Smith, Weddle, and Davis will need to be healthy and play at a high level to keep that group together. I think a vet may be added after cuts and someone else will be cut to make room for Waller.

[hen826957]

I still believe the glaring weakness of the Ravens is the secondary. The Ravens went into the draft needing to improve at pass rusher, LT, ILB depth, and secondary. Correa gives them depth at ILB and can provide pressure on the outside. Stanley and Lewis have been outstanding so far. Judon and Z. Smith will make an impact this season. However, I don't trust Wright, Powers, Webb in the secondary. I think J Smith, Weddle, and Davis will need to be healthy and play at a high level to keep that group together. I think a vet may be added after cuts and someone else will be cut to make room for Waller.

Yep. That's the only weakness of this team. We need a CB or two before the season starts. We should've sign Antonio Cromartie.

[bioLarzen]

I think this is a fair projection and will probably prove to be as close to perfect as such projections go.

What I'm not totally convinced about is that this - indeed spectacular - strip sack and fumble recovery TD Pierce had will be enough to grant him a spot. I'm rooting for him, but I'm not at all sure KLM or even Cris Carter won't push him down the list, south of #53.

Also, I think keeping only 5 CB's is a little risky. Sounds too few. Maybe a trademark Ozzie move scooping up a final cuts victim is in the folds?

As for QB, I totsally agree that Mallett's position for clipboard holding was never really in any kind of danger, as, although Josh Johnson had a terrific pre-season, Mallett was just as convincing. What I'm starting to consier is Joshnson's potential trade value... Maybe keeping him for trade bait may land us bigger value than keeping a depth player instead? I don't think it'll happen, but seeing Johnson's finale last night, I wouldn't rule it out completely, either. If he's cut, I think he won't be out of job for more than 10 minutes. He's gonna be on a roster Week #1 - we just don't know which team it will be (not the Ravens though). But for sure, the list of teams which doesn't need a QB of this caliber for at least backup duties is considerably shorter than that of those who don't (luckily we're on this list).

[bioLarzen]

As for the pre-season: it was a promising month. We all know pre-seasons are not to be taken as a serious ground for making predictions for the regular season - but going 4-0 is still much better than going 0-4, isn't it? Since 2000 we finished the pre-season 4-0 three times (2000, 2009, 2014), and both times advanced at least to the divisonal round of the playoffs...

Another piece of stat that stands out IMHO is how few TD's have been made on our D. Our 4 opponents combined for a total of 3 TD's - which would be two if Henry could behave last night... That's not bad... It shows that - presuming no catastrophic injury plauge will occur this time - our D depth will be something we can rely on.

[MYTH420]

This is the exact same roster I predicted, except one switch. You have us carrying Lewis as our backup Safety. Lewis is old, consistently grades out as one of the worst Safeties in the league, can't play ST, and would save you around a million dollars in cap space. So, I do not have Lewis making the team. With Levine being able to play Safety, and CB, I'm carrying him as our fourth Safety. So that opens one roster spot and I think it's for a 6th CB. Either Canady or Price. I have Price making the team, because he's a big CB who can play man, but it's close. I wouldn't be surprised if Canady was the 6th CB. The other battles: Butler over Matthews, again it's close, but Butler did more, he was more consistent. Pierce over Lewis-Moore, Pierce is bigger and faster and has more upside, he's under control, Lewis-Moore is in his last year. Hurst over Wesley and Ducasse, experience.

[FloridalovesRavens]

Can someone explain the breakdown or highlights to me of how well they play tonight? I fell asleep and miss the game and forget to record it. LOL. ? I heard Perriman played well had 2 catches for 25 yards. Did he look sharp in his routes?

It was a good start for him. I am happy for him.

[J.O.14]

I think this is a fair projection and will probably prove to be as close to perfect as such projections go.

What I'm not totally convinced about is that this - indeed spectacular - strip sack and fumble recovery TD Pierce had will be enough to grant him a spot. I'm rooting for him, but I'm not at all sure KLM or even Cris Carter won't push him down the list, south of #53.

Also, I think keeping only 5 CB's is a little risky. Sounds too few. Maybe a trademark Ozzie move scooping up a final cuts victim is in the folds?

As for QB, I totsally agree that Mallett's position for clipboard holding was never really in any kind of danger, as, although Josh Johnson had a terrific pre-season, Mallett was just as convincing. What I'm starting to consier is Joshnson's potential trade value... Maybe keeping him for trade bait may land us bigger value than keeping a depth player instead? I don't think it'll happen, but seeing Johnson's finale last night, I wouldn't rule it out completely, either. If he's cut, I think he won't be out of job for more than 10 minutes. He's gonna be on a roster Week #1 - we just don't know which team it will be (not the Ravens though). But for sure, the list of teams which doesn't need a QB of this caliber for at least backup duties is considerably shorter than that of those who don't (luckily we're on this list).

Don't forget Webby can play corner if we need him to. It's a risk because he can go down at anytime to, but I think keeping 5 is okay since we have players at another position who can jump in a play corner if the situations calls for it.

[stixfix69]

Pierce makes the team because....He is a true NT, and we don't know if we resign Brandon next year......Brandon is 6'1 340, and Pierce is 6'0 339 perfect NT size....

[RavenLunatic]

  6 hours ago, hen826957 said:

Can someone explain the breakdown or highlights to me of how well they play tonight? I fell asleep and miss the game and forget to record it. LOL. ? I heard Perriman played well had 2 catches for 25 yards. Did he look sharp in his routes?

It was a good start for him. I am happy for him.

I thought he looked good. Showed good hands, even caught one thrown behind him. Routes looked good too, he created some separation on the intermediate routes. Can't wait to see what he does with Flacco slinging him the ball. Should be sweetness.

[cobrajet]

I agree with some on here that I am worried about our secondary. The one area that stood out in preseason is how many third and long plays that were converted by opponents to keep drives alive. I will give them credit, we did keep teams out of the end zone.

[DaRupp]

I'm surprised by the Maurice Canady prediction. From what i saw in my limited exposure to preseason, he was really solid at the CB position. Maybe there was more bad than good, but i saw some serious flashes of brilliance.

[DaRupp]

I agree with some on here that I am worried about our secondary. The one area that stood out in preseason is how many third and long plays that were converted by opponents to keep drives alive. I will give them credit, we did keep teams out of the end zone.

the only consolation is a lot of secondary play relies on scheme. There wasn't any scheme being applied in preseason, there isn't the typical film study. They basically put the DBs out there and see what they can do, less about preventing a gain, and more about how do the players perform in that scenario.

So yes, I agree there could still be a problem, but I wouldn't assume there is one yet. Not enough information.

[eze17]

I would like to see if there's a veteran safety( that isn't to expensive) that gets cut due to a numbers game, Ozzie swoops in and grabs him and Kendrick Lewis gets waived. Doubt if it will happen, but I just haven't seen anything from Lewis since he came to Baltimore.

Also, Reynolds gets cut and signed by the Patriots. 1: he just seems like a Billicheck type project. 2: then there's that Annapolis connection. 3: the Pats have good enough starters and depth to keep a developmental guy better than most teams. Maybe they pass because of his pre-season, we'll see.

Camp makes team more because he's a coach/front office favorite than anything he's done, and Henry makes it for being a 4th rounder, although he does possess a lot of up-side. Project player we like enough to keep, but more than likely a healthy inactive come game days(although I still haven't heard of the Carl Davis ankle injury up-date yet, which could change things).

[Tenacious Faulker]

Regarding Josh Johnson I really don't think that Mallet Quashed" any debate over the b/u QB. May I just see things differently, but Johnson, if anything, proved he could pick up Trestman's system faster than Mallet. Malley, who had half a season as a starter in the system, didn;t really fair better than Johnson in preseason AND Johnson has that threat of running the ball over Mallet who reminds me of a giraffe when he's out of the pocket.

Yeah, Johnson certainly did enough to earn a job somewhere. I hope it's here. Mallet just seems to me like his name suggests - a hammerhead!

[kjbmore]

15 hours ago, bioLarzen said:

Another piece of stat that stands out IMHO is how few TD's have been made on our D. Our 4 opponents combined for a total of 3 TD's - which would be two if Henry could behave last night... That's not bad... It shows that - presuming no catastrophic injury plauge will occur this time - our D depth will be something we can rely on.

That is very promising - through 4 games

[kjbmore]

21 hours ago, designermaryland said:

They whiffed again on CB this year and did not address that position strongly enough in free agency. No idea why that is a low priority every year when it is clear you cannot keep up if you do not have at least 3-4 solid DB's. Maybe we will get lucky and some decent veteran will be let go. If we are stuck with Wright, Powers and Davis as our next 3 behind Jimmy (who is not that great either) we are in trouble again. Couple that with inside LB's who can't cover and it is no wonder we get ripped for 300-400 yards a game passing. Correa and Kaufusi were wasted picks as clearly evidenced that they have not even sniffed reps with the first team. We need to either pick a starting caliber CB via trade, or sign someone and get rid of Powers.

Agree 100% - lot of talk saying oh we picked up 2 picks for the trade back - that's awesome! Imagine if we'd hit on our 2nd and 3rd pick.

cant believe we grabbed a developmental guy with one of the highest second round picks we've had in a long time - when we had soooo many glaring holes in the secondary and then took a DE with our high 3rd pick

Going to throw it out there and say I don't expect much from Kaufusi moving on - guy was old to begin with, lost year - not holding my breathe for much from him - sorry Bronson