[News] Late For Work 1/13: Top 5 Questions After Ravens' Coaching Shakeup

[BR News]

What led to Juan Castillo’s reported departure? Now that Rick Dennison is free, could the Ravens scoop him up? Who can replace Leslie Frazier? Brandon Williams and Rick Wagner named in top-25 free agents list. Don’t read too much into Ozzie Newsome not saying pass rusher is a priority.

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[Chuckx999]

Pay Brandon Williams and right tackle Rick Wagner to keep them. As for the coaches, the Ravens had one of the largest NFL coaching staffs, and the best they could do is 8 & 8. Without the right players, keeping a QB that still can't read defences we will be lucky to stay at 8 & 8. Trade up in the draft and get at least 2 starters. RB and DB first then linebackers.

[hen826957]

Ravens should hire Rick Dennison as either a QB coach, offensive line coach, or offensive coordinater if they were smart.

[ellicottraven]

The question one must really ask regarding Dennison is this: Will Harbaugh's ego allow him to call Dennison. Remember the dynamic. Loyalty to Kubiak to the point that he didn't stay back as OC when Kubiak left for Denver but instead followed him there. I think that ruffled John's feathers and understandably so. Now, while what Dennison did hurt the Ravens progress with Kubiak's offense in 2015, I think John should still tap into his availability and give him a call and get him here. Because the team is bigger than John Harbaugh.

[RailBird]

Although Williams is a beast, we already have a promising backup in Michael Pierce, so it would surprise me if the Ravens offer him a big contract. Trying to keep Wagner might be more realistic since good RTs are harder to find and we don't have a decent backup on the team to replace him.

[TheKingFlip31]

Hire Ed Reed away as defensive backs coach and promote Chris Hewitt to lead the secondary.

Also, don't get why the pundits are saying the 2015 draft will be a worse draft for us....Perriman can develop, as can Maxx Williams, Boyle and Allen....My darkhorse pick for future pro bowler is Carl Davis

[Ravensfan4life2010]

I am getting tired seeing Ed Reeds name being popped up in the comment section, he wont be coming this year, and he is still green as a coach so I would wait 'till next year.

Maxx Williams is getting shunned way too many times, he was put in IR half way through the season, wait until next year. It takes time for TE to acclimate to the game. Lastly, Dennis Pitta needs to renegotiate his deal as well or else he would be cut because we got Nick Doyle who can block and catch at the same time. Too many times Dennis whiffed on blocks. We have a trio of good tight ends cant wait for next year.

[budman]

32 minutes ago, ellicottraven said:

The question one must really ask regarding Dennison is this: Will Harbaugh's ego allow him to call Dennison. Remember the dynamic. Loyalty to Kubiak to the point that he didn't stay back as OC when Kubiak left for Denver but instead followed him there. I think that ruffled John's feathers and understandably so. Now, while what Dennison did hurt the Ravens progress with Kubiak's offense in 2015, I think John should still tap into his availability and give him a call and get him here. Because the team is bigger than John Harbaugh.

I don't think that ruffled his feathers at all. Harbaugh has been around long enough to know that when a Head Coach is hired he usually takes "his guys" with him. Was he disappointed ? sure but nothing about his ego will stop him from calling Dennison IF that is the direction that he wants to go. He knows that he needs to get it right whatever he decides for next season because his seat is getting warmer.

[The Mom Gene]

  43 minutes ago, ellicottraven said:

The question one must really ask regarding Dennison is this: Will Harbaugh's ego allow him to call Dennison. Remember the dynamic. Loyalty to Kubiak to the point that he didn't stay back as OC when Kubiak left for Denver but instead followed him there. I think that ruffled John's feathers and understandably so. Now, while what Dennison did hurt the Ravens progress with Kubiak's offense in 2015, I think John should still tap into his availability and give him a call and get him here. Because the team is bigger than John Harbaugh.

I don't think that ruffled his feathers at all. Harbaugh has been around long enough to know that when a Head Coach is hired he usually takes "his guys" with him. Was he disappointed ? sure but nothing about his ego will stop him from calling Dennison IF that is the direction that he wants to go. He knows that he needs to get it right whatever he decides for next season because his seat is getting warmer.

Agreed: Dennison had only worked with Kubiak. He wanted to stay with Kubiak. I don't believe it had anything to do with an issue in Baltimore at all.

[jsarrocohome@yahoo.com]

Williams is so overrated he's not worth top dollar and wagner getting north of 10 mill a year are you kidding me he's a right tackle not left tackle he's good but not top 10

[The Mom Gene]

I am getting tired seeing Ed Reeds name being popped up in the comment section, he wont be coming this year, and he is still green as a coach so I would wait 'till next year.

Maxx Williams is getting shunned way too many times, he was put in IR half way through the season, wait until next year. It takes time for TE to acclimate to the game. Lastly, Dennis Pitta needs to renegotiate his deal as well or else he would be cut because we got Nick Doyle who can block and catch at the same time. Too many times Dennis whiffed on blocks. We have a trio of good tight ends cant wait for next year.

Reed's a coach; and an ex-Raven who is a first round HOF'er... Of course his name is going to pop up.

[jsarrocohome@yahoo.com]

Although Williams is a beast, we already have a promising backup in Michael Pierce, so it would surprise me if the Ravens offer him a big contract. Trying to keep Wagner might be more realistic since good RTs are harder to find and we don't have a decent backup on the team to replace him.

Only place Williams is a beast is at the dinner table ,he is so overrated he makes some plays but he takes plays off and at times gets man handled by 1 on 1's with guys that are smaller than him

[jsarrocohome@yahoo.com]

Pay Brandon Williams and right tackle Rick Wagner to keep them. As for the coaches, the Ravens had one of the largest NFL coaching staffs, and the best they could do is 8 & 8. Without the right players, keeping a QB that still can't read defences we will be lucky to stay at 8 & 8. Trade up in the draft and get at least 2 starters. RB and DB first then linebackers.

Williams is an average player easily replaced not worth top dollar and if you have to pay wagner 10 mill a year I say goodbye I like wagner but he is not top 10 at his position

[bioLarzen]

  44 minutes ago, RailBird said:

Although Williams is a beast, we already have a promising backup in Michael Pierce, so it would surprise me if the Ravens offer him a big contract. Trying to keep Wagner might be more realistic since good RTs are harder to find and we don't have a decent backup on the team to replace him.

Only place Williams is a beast is at the dinner table ,he is so overrated he makes some plays but he takes plays off and at times gets man handled by 1 on 1's with guys that are smaller than him

Apparently you know better than just about the complete NFL analyst and expert scene... Because the prevailing view on Brandon Williams is quite the opposite of yours...

[bioLarzen]

Hire Ed Reed away as defensive backs coach and promote Chris Hewitt to lead the secondary.

Also, don't get why the pundits are saying the 2015 draft will be a worse draft for us....Perriman can develop, as can Maxx Williams, Boyle and Allen....My darkhorse pick for future pro bowler is Carl Davis

As huge an icon as Ed was as a player, and as much as we all know he knows his trade inside and out, the truth is that his stint as a coach in Buffalo hasn't been really great. Ed still has to prove he can be a good NFL coach - and I'm not sure it should be in Baltimore...

Also, I'm not at all sure he's really into the idea of coaching under Harbaugh...

[bioLarzen]

Ravens should hire Rick Dennison as either a QB coach, offensive line coach, or offensive coordinater if they were smart.

I don't think the Broncos offensdive production in 2015 and 2016 would warrant Dennison long, serious looks at OC... Not really a success story.

[ByTheBay]

Over 10m a year for Wagner at RT? What makes Rosenthal think he is worth so much when the league wide average is between 4-6m? I think Wagner gets around 24m for 4 years and stays with the Ravens. If that happens then it takes one more need off of our list and oz just needs to find a C and a mid round backup to groom. I think Williams fits the mold of a player that is as good as gone. He disappears for stretches of the season and while not as good as Williams, we do have Pierce to fill in. 80/20 rule applies. Again draft a mid round lineman to rotate and hope for the best.

[BigUgly]

Nose Tackle an Right Tackle are two positions that Ozzie always seems to be able to fill with under-the-radar draft picks or free agents. If Williams and Wagner walk in return for 3rd or 4th round comp picks and we can effectively backfill them with cheaper talent (Pierce & Lewis), that may be a good thing strategically speaking.

Now, if we somehow accidentally had drafted and developed a stud #1 WR who was about to become a free agent, we would have to hold on to him like grim death and back up the Brinks truck.

[bioLarzen]

1 hour ago, Chuckx999 said:

Pay Brandon Williams and right tackle Rick Wagner to keep them.

And how would you manage this cap-space wise?

[ryananth]

Glad to see Castillo leaving. Don't know how he didn't share in some of the blame the last two seasons for the poor performance of the running game. I'm looking forward to Roman getting us moving in the right direction again.

Hate to see Frazier go but I think most of the credit for the improvement in the secondary should go to Eric Weddle. It's amazing how smart great players like like Weddle and Ed Reed make their coaches look.

We get two quality DBs that can stay healthy paired with Eric Weddle and it won't matter how good the secondary coach is.

Is it not plausible that Dennison wouldn't be brought back to be the QB coach?

Can we please quit talking about Williams and Wagner? Unfortunately, they won't be back. We'll just keep using our supplementary picks to replace them. The 3rd rounder we'll get for KO this year should come in handy.

[bioLarzen]

1 minute ago, ByTheBay said:

Over 10m a year for Wagner at RT? What makes Rosenthal think he is worth so much when the league wide average is between 4-6m? 

There are always teams with enough cap space to go well above the average for players they deem worthy enough. That, somehow, seems to happen a lot with UFA' leaving Baltimore... Ellerbe, Grubbs, Torrey Smith, Art Jones, McPhee... the list is long. Wagner may just be the next instalment.

[BigUgly]

  59 minutes ago, ellicottraven said:

The question one must really ask regarding Dennison is this: Will Harbaugh's ego allow him to call Dennison. Remember the dynamic. Loyalty to Kubiak to the point that he didn't stay back as OC when Kubiak left for Denver but instead followed him there. I think that ruffled John's feathers and understandably so. Now, while what Dennison did hurt the Ravens progress with Kubiak's offense in 2015, I think John should still tap into his availability and give him a call and get him here. Because the team is bigger than John Harbaugh.

I don't think that ruffled his feathers at all. Harbaugh has been around long enough to know that when a Head Coach is hired he usually takes "his guys" with him. Was he disappointed ? sure but nothing about his ego will stop him from calling Dennison IF that is the direction that he wants to go. He knows that he needs to get it right whatever he decides for next season because his seat is getting warmer.

It may make a lot of sense to try and lure Dennison in as a QB coach or even O-Line coach. That way, if the Ravens make the playoffs but the offense is still out of synch, Harbs can keep his job and swap Marty for Dennison and we can hope for a 2014 renaissance.

[Space11jams]

Please bring in Dennis! It would stupid not too! Especially when they wanted to retain him when Kub left.

[AVT417]

Frazier is a big loss! The secondary played leaps and bounds better this year than last and i am sure he had a lot to do with it. IMO we should have let Pees go or moved him to a lesser role and promoted Frazier to DC but thats just me.

The UFA issue is something that happens every year in Balt. Wagner is good but not worth a big contract you just don't pay those players top dollar. They can move Alex Lewis to RT and look for a Guard in the Draft, interior lineman are easy to find in the mid rounds (KO 2nd, Yanda 3rd, Lewis 5th ect...)

Dennison absolutely needs to be brought in as the the QB coach.

[RaRaRavens]

  1 hour ago, TheKingFlip31 said:

Hire Ed Reed away as defensive backs coach and promote Chris Hewitt to lead the secondary.

Also, don't get why the pundits are saying the 2015 draft will be a worse draft for us....Perriman can develop, as can Maxx Williams, Boyle and Allen....My darkhorse pick for future pro bowler is Carl Davis

As huge an icon as Ed was as a player, and as much as we all know he knows his trade inside and out, the truth is that his stint as a coach in Buffalo hasn't been really great. Ed still has to prove he can be a good NFL coach - and I'm not sure it should be in Baltimore...

Also, I'm not at all sure he's really into the idea of coaching under Harbaugh...

LOL, that's true, and I'm not so sure Harbaugh is really into the idea of having Ed as a coach either. Has too much of an opinion for Harbs' liking.

[Halshayeji]

48 minutes ago, jsarrocohome@yahoo.com said:

Williams is so overrated he's not worth top dollar and wagner getting north of 10 mill a year are you kidding me he's a right tackle not left tackle he's good but not top 10

I disagree with Williams being over rated. I think he stays if we offer an average salary of 8 mil or so. He won't make more than 10 anywhere he goes.

the Wagner part is just hillarious! I'd be dissapointed if the Ravens keep him for that price. Maybe around 5-6mil a year. Otherwise just let him walk. 

[Halshayeji]

55 minutes ago, jsarrocohome@yahoo.com said:

Williams is so overrated he's not worth top dollar and wagner getting north of 10 mill a year are you kidding me he's a right tackle not left tackle he's good but not top 10

I disagree with Williams being over rated. I think he stays if we offer an average salary of 8 mil or so. He won't make more than 10 anywhere he goes.

the Wagner part is just hillarious! I'd be dissapointed if the Ravens keep him for that price. Maybe around 5-6mil a year. Otherwise just let him walk. 

[reed20]

Could have a very solid coaching staff next season.

[merryjman]

 

1 hour ago, jsarrocohome@yahoo.com said:

Williams is so overrated he's not worth top dollar and wagner getting north of 10 mill a year are you kidding me he's a right tackle not left tackle he's good but not top 10

 

Disagree strongly with first statement. He's been basically the best nose tackle in the league, until our opponents figured out that we had zero edge rush - then they just started doubling and tripling Williams and Jernigan on the inside and QB pressure dropped to zero. I don't think Wagner is worth $10 million a year, but he has played great for us almost the whole time, and we should keep him if we can. Remember that before him we had Michael Oher and that guy was a nightmare for the most part.

 

2 hours ago, RailBird said:

Although Williams is a beast, we already have a promising backup in Michael Pierce, so it would surprise me if the Ravens offer him a big contract. Trying to keep Wagner might be more realistic since good RTs are harder to find and we don't have a decent backup on the team to replace him.

 

I agree much more with this - we should try to keep Williams but won't be able to; we should try as hard as possible to keep Wagner.

[merryjman]

1 hour ago, bioLarzen said:

As huge an icon as Ed was as a player, and as much as we all know he knows his trade inside and out, the truth is that his stint as a coach in Buffalo hasn't been really great. Ed still has to prove he can be a good NFL coach - and I'm not sure it should be in Baltimore...

Also, I'm not at all sure he's really into the idea of coaching under Harbaugh...

I agree - a good player doesn't often make a good coach.  I think Reed's four main assets as a player were his athleticism, passion, instincts and film study. The film study can help develop good instincts, but it's not like Reed can force his players to watch film at home, during off-days and in the off-season the way he and Ray Lewis used to - that takes passion! Reed can tell people to watch the QB's eyes carefully, but that's probably way easier said than done or else all the free safeties would be notching INTs like #20 used to.