Lost In Translation's Turkey Mock-Offseason

[LosT_in_TranSlatioN]

Happy Thanksgiving y'all. 
So here's my Thanksgiving gift to you. A mock offseason/draft

So here we go.

Starting Cap Space: $7,755,367(enough to sustain a draft class)
Cuts:
Elvis Dumervil(saves $5.64 million)
Dennis Pitta(June First Cut: saves $5.5 Million)
Ladarius Webb(saves $5.5 Million)
Benjamin Watson(saves $3 million)
Kyle Arrington(saves $2 million)
Shareece Wright(saves $2.66 million) 

The cuts give us about $31 million to play with. 

Resign:
Kyle Juszcyk FB-Cheap, a weapon, a good fullback. Should not be going anywhere. 
Jerraud Powers CB-Cheap. A good slot CB and nothing more. Good veteran presence. 
Lawerence Guy-He gets a decent deal. Good player, most underrated player on the defense 
Anthony Levine-Great depth. Should be cheap. 
Brandon Williams-Won't get a Damon Harrison deal but should get a very respectable contract. Around 7 million a year maybe. 
Matt Elam-One year prove it deal. 

I think Wagner and Aiken are gone. We already have Wagner's in house replacement on the team, and Aiken is honestly replaceable. Not too worried. 

Free agency-
Pierre Garcon WR
While it is unpopular in the eyes of many, the strategy of "bring in a veteran WR to help out Joe" has been extremely effective. Ozzie knows he's not great at drafting them, so he does this. Garcon is a bit younger than our typical veterans, but he's a damn good route runner with good hands. He's not a star, but we have Perriman and Wallace on the roster, and Perriman has star potential(to his doubters, yes he does. He flashes it a lot with no training camp whatsoever). 

Round One: Takkarist McKinley, EDGE UCLA
Matt Miller had him going in the top 20 in his most recent mock and I understand why. I watched him live vs. Colorado(who surprisingly has a good team) and he was getting into the backfield a ton. His tape is inconsistent, but he always makes one or two flash plays per game. He has the ability to put consistent pressure on the QB and has a hell of a motor, and unlike Correa, CAN USE HIS HANDS. He also has experience as an end as UCLA runs a weird front, making him ideal for a 3-4 Hybrid scheme. He plays likes a raven and fits like a glove. He's worth keeping. 

Round Two: Dan Feeney OG, Indiana
Feeney is a nasty guard with all kinds of a mean streak. He is willing to knock his opponent to the ground and spit in their face. He's a guard, and most guards go in the second round, meaning he will likely be available. With his strength and high football IQ, he's a day one starter and a pretty good one, providing an instant boost to our oline.

TRADE(The Ravens trade their compensatory third rounder, with a fourth rounder from 2017).

Round Two(2) : Pat Elfein, C, Ohio State: 
Ozzie Newsome has begun to salivate with the idea that we can trade compensatory selections, and given that we have one in the third round this year he figured we could put it to use. What? If Tampa bay can trade a third and fourth rounder to draft a kicker in the second round, then we can pull this off easily to draft a franchise center in addition to the guard we have drafted. 

Elfein belongs on the team. He can play guard or center, but belongs at center. He has a mean streak for days like Feeney, and would do wonders for the run game. We have two critical needs this offseason. Find a pass rusher, and go fix the oline. With this we'd have our oline set for the next five or so years with good depth. 

Round Three: Chidobe Awuzie, CB, Colorado
You all know I like him. He's an ideal fit for us as he's a good zone corner, and is a playmaker. He's all-around good. But given that this is a deep CB class he's more likely to go in the third round. Which is fine by me. Worst case scenario is he's much needed depth for us. Best case scenario is he steps up and we have a starting CB trio of Jimmy-Awuzie-Young, with Powers coming off of the bench which is as good as you can ask for. 

Round Five: Travin Dural, WR, LSU
Remember him? Got second round buzz here last year. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Which is fine. He's not an underneath threat by any stretch but he's a talented player with good hands who'd find a fit in a Joe Flacco offense. Chris Moore is more than just a deep threat. If Perriman goes down, we need more speed. Enter Dural. I know it'll be unpopular around here that Ozzie waits late for a WR again, but that's not the primary issue. It was the line, and it was pass rusher. 

 

 

 

[ravensnation5220]

Its ok but i dont like the double dip at gaurd in the second round. Its a weak oline class to begin with and compared to the corner back class it would be a shame if we waited till the 3rd round to nab one. Theres aught to be corners with first round potential in the second this year

[hn68wb4]

I don't really get the trade, I don't think any team would go for that, an extremely last 3rd rounder and pretty late 4th rounder (if we make the playoffs which we're on track to do) for a 2nd, even if it's a late 2nd I don't think any team would go for it.

I think Wagner will be re-signed, with the emergence of Pierce I think Wagner has replaced Williams as the priority. As poor and injury riddled as our oline has been this year I don't think we're going to part ways with him since he's been arguably our 2nd best lineman this year. More uncertainty up front should be avoided, and yes i know Lewis is a prototype RT, but that's no guarantee he'll be successful at it, before getting injured he was really starting to emerge at LG. That being said, I expect both to be re-signed, I think some are expecting Williams to get a way bigger deal than he's going to, he's a plug against the run but he provides literally nothing on passing downs, that'll hurt his contract big time.

I haven't watched any McKinley, so I'll reserve judgement here

Feeney is my favorite OG in the draft, would love to add him in the second to groom to take over for Yanda in a couple years.

Elflein is the only OC that I want, the rest of the class is not good in my opinion.

I really don't like Awuzie, everytime I watched him I just don't see it. Based on what others have said a third is about right where he'll go, but like I said, I'm not a fan of the player. Also I think we need to go CB earlier than the third, especially if we're cutting Wright as you suggested, the whole reason Wright started last game is because we have literally nobody else that can play outside besides Jimmy and Tavon, and Jimmy is almost a guarantee to miss a game or two per year. I don't see us passed on this class through two rounds, it's just way too good, as much as I love Feeney I think that pick is reserved for a CB for the moment if we don't take one in the first.

I never had Dural posted anywhere but a mid rounder, even last year, I don't see him really adding anything to our WR corpse, I think if we're going WR we should go with someone to replace Aiken as an over the middle guy since you have him leaving here, outside of Smith and Aiken we really have no one who can reliably do that and in this scenario we're losing both of those guys, we've got speed in spades, we need guys who can compete in traffic.

Edited November 23, 2016 by hn68wb4

[ravefan52]

Sounds nice getting Feeney and Elflein, but way to many teams have huge needs at OL. Its a weak class already and they're going to be overdrafted. A lot of teams are going to be looking for OL help that just isn't there. For this reason I'm starting to lean towards resigning Wagner, who shouldn't be expensive. I think Lewis could play RT, but he's been much better a guard. I'd prioritize Wagner over Williams honestly.

[JoeyFlex5]

On 11/23/2016 at 9:23 AM, ravensnation5220 said:

Its ok but i dont like the double dip at gaurd in the second round. Its a weak oline class to begin with and compared to the corner back class it would be a shame if we waited till the 3rd round to nab one. Theres aught to be corners with first round potential in the second this year

this is backwards logic and complete opposite of facts. 

it is a weak TACKLE class, the interior class is top heavy but seriously special in the first 2 rounds, we would be stupid not to grab one, especially with our current situation, and i dont even know if drafting myles garrett would have as much of an immediate turnaround as drafting elflein and feeney. those 2 picks immediately transforms our entire offense and turns the biggest weakness into a strength and gives us a seriously bright future with stanley and lewis at tackle and elflein and feeney at G/C, that leaves 4 out of 5 studs in years 1 and 2 of their rookie deals, thats a formula for contention. 

with a stacked cb class, and an extremely deep one, we can afford to skip out early, we may regret it again but in the long run we would praise a draft like this. 

[Davesta]

Everyone's gonna copy the Cowboys approach now. Olinemen galore

[JoeyFlex5]

2 minutes ago, Davesta said:

Everyone's gonna copy the Cowboys approach now. Olinemen galore

nah, a good line has always been a winning formula. high octane passing games and elite secondaries can very easily have a bad game and lead to a loss. especially when it gets cold out and you start facing the highest competition in the playoffs. its very difficult to win a game when you cant get pressure on your opponent and cant stop the run, it can make average qbs look great, it can let average wrs get wide open, etc.  

[ravensnation5220]

Tak McKinley is extremely impressive on tape. He jumps off the screen and finds ways into the backfield on a regular basis. He's better vs the run than I originally thought, much better actually. Still a little raw but his motor and explosiveness is just non stop. Really plays like a raven perfect fit for the hybrid 3-4 scheme. He's got a great name too, gonna start calling him sack McKinley ?

Just saw this on his school bio: he ran a 10.58 100 meter sprint in high school ?

According to this site thats a sub 4.4 40?

https://m.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/3e1vfa/ochow_40yard_dash_result_translated_to_100_sprint/

Edited November 30, 2016 by ravensnation5220

[jboy19]

My only issue is that I would be absolutely shocked if Brandon Williams didn't get a bigger deal than Damon Harrison. I'd be genuinely surprised to see Williams get anything less than 9.5 mil/year (I actually expect him to get 10mil/year personally). I love Brandon Williams, but if you're trying to resign Jernigan in the future, I don't think keeping Williams around makes that possible.  

[hn68wb4]

24 minutes ago, jboy19 said:

My only issue is that I would be absolutely shocked if Brandon Williams didn't get a bigger deal than Damon Harrison. I'd be genuinely surprised to see Williams get anything less than 9.5 mil/year (I actually expect him to get 10mil/year personally). I love Brandon Williams, but if you're trying to resign Jernigan in the future, I don't think keeping Williams around makes that possible.  

I think you're way overestimating how much BWill is going to get. Interior Dlinemen make their money in the pass rush department, not the run stuffing department. The reason guys like Harrison get so much is because they can generate pressure from the middle, something Williams really struggles with. Being the best run stuffing NT in the league is pretty much the job of the unsung hero. I'd be extremely surprised if he gets more than $8.5M per year, I expect him to sign somewhere around that mark, he takes a big hit from providing no real pass rush from the middle, he's fantastic at holding his ground but he isn't able to consistently move interior linemen back into the pocket.

[jboy19]

3 minutes ago, hn68wb4 said:

I think you're way overestimating how much BWill is going to get. Interior Dlinemen make their money in the pass rush department, not the run stuffing department. The reason guys like Harrison get so much is because they can generate pressure from the middle, something Williams really struggles with. Being the best run stuffing NT in the league is pretty much the job of the unsung hero. I'd be extremely surprised if he gets more than $8.5M per year, I expect him to sign somewhere around that mark, he takes a big hit from providing no real pass rush from the middle, he's fantastic at holding his ground but he isn't able to consistently move interior linemen back into the pocket.

Harrison was brought in to play NT in New York. He had 1.5 sacks in 4 years (3 as a starter) when he got his contract. BWill provides a lot more pass rush than Harrison did and is a better run stuffer. 

Edited November 30, 2016 by jboy19
Stat correction

[hn68wb4]

24 minutes ago, jboy19 said:

Harrison was brought in to play NT in New York. He had 1.5 sacks in 4 years (3 as a starter) when he got his contract. BWill provides a lot more pass rush than Harrison did and is a better run stuffer. 

I disagree entirely, there's more to rushing the passer than just sack numbers, watch Harrison play and he will consistently push interior linemen back into the pocket, that sort of thing doesn't get registered on the stat sheet but as a NT thats how they mainly contribute in the pass rush department. BWill is able to do that occasionally but he doesn't do it consistently, usually when he gets logged on the stat sheet, be it a sack or hurry, it's because he either got a mostly free run at the QB, the coverage was great, or he's playing one on one with a bad center. He's not out there shedding blocks or anything like that, usually on passing downs you don't see him move very much at all because, as I said, he's the best NT in the league at simply standing his ground and not being moved and that's what shows up on passing downs as well as running downs. You'd be hard pressed to find someone on these boards that disagrees with the last statement, that he's a better run stuffer, though it's not as big a difference as some would make it out to be, but that doesn't change my point at all, run stuffers simply don't get paid nearly as much as great pass rushers - and that transcends NT to other positions like DE and EDGE as well.

[jboy19]

4 minutes ago, hn68wb4 said:

I disagree entirely, there's more to rushing the passer than just sack numbers, watch Harrison play and he will consistently push interior linemen back into the pocket, that sort of thing doesn't get registered on the stat sheet but as a NT thats how they mainly contribute in the pass rush department. BWill is able to do that occasionally but he doesn't do it consistently, usually when he gets logged on the stat sheet, be it a sack or hurry, it's because he either got a mostly free run at the QB, the coverage was great, or he's playing one on one with a bad center. He's not out there shedding blocks or anything like that, usually on passing downs you don't see him move very much at all because, as I said, he's the best NT in the league at simply standing his ground and not being moved and that's what shows up on passing downs as well as running downs. You'd be hard pressed to find someone on these boards that disagrees with the last statement, that he's a better run stuffer, though it's not as big a difference as some would make it out to be, but that doesn't change my point at all, run stuffers simply don't get paid nearly as much as great pass rushers - and that transcends NT to other positions like DE and EDGE as well.

I think you are overstating Harrison's effectiveness as a pass rusher versus Williams-- it is important to remember that neither stays on the field very often for obvious passing downs. I agree that stats don't tell you much in a vacuum, but looking over two players' 4 year careers (a little less for Williams), production does matter at least a little bit (as long as you are keeping the scheme in mind- since both are NTs who get the occasional 3T passing snap). 

It's also important to remember that contract prices do increase every year, which will cause players to get paid more than other players that they are probably better then- that's how guys like Michael Brockers and Malik Jackson get paid bigger contracts than guys like Geno Atkins and Corey Liuget (Not that any of these guys is a NT or anything). A decent amount of teams have a lot of cap space, and we're only one offseason past seeing the Ravens' Left Guard become the 7th highest paid OL in the NFL- with a contract that was worth more than Joe Thomas's. My biggest worry is that the Titans have 24 Mil in space and a need at NT.