[News] Late For Work 2/10: Crockett Gillmore To Fellow Tight Ends: Enjoy The Bench

[sizzlingdoom]

that sounds good from Gilmore, but he is too injury prone to even say that. Boyle may be the best of the group but he has his problems too. One mock draft has us drafting McDowell form Michigan State, i hope not, he is too much of a risk to take with the 16 th pick.

Yeah McDowell would be an awful pick. There are going to be awful predictions out there cuz a lot of people don't know what we actually need and have. But then again our own front office has made many horrible picks over the past several years so who knows

[sizzlingdoom]

None of our TEs' short of Waller and Boyle can stay healthy. Cut Pitta and Watson immediately and designate Gillmore, Boyle and Waller as our 3 Res for the season. We'll be more than okay and it'll also force Flacco to accept more run plays since he doesn't have Pitta to throw 3 yd passes to.

Agreed 100 %. No TE at 16 either!

[whobilly]

I like Pitta, but he is a terrible blocker (that's being nice). In my opinion, I would cut Pitta post June 1 and cut Watson. Having Boyle, Gillmore, Waller and Williams is enough. They are cheap and if Gillmore balls out, pay him or have Maxx Williams step into the starting role full time. He was a 2nd round pick.

We moved up to get Williams because we "stole" him from the Steelers. TE in the NFL is now in the same category as RB's. There are "those" guys such as Gronk and a few others, but for the most part you could put every TE on different rosters and teams wouldn't miss a beat. All of all TE's are in that category.

[whobilly]

please stop calling the TE group strong and deep. it may be wide, but its extremely shallow and fragile

Thank you. A bunch of guys, who if released we wouldn't notice.

[rmcjacket23]

21 hours ago, mendii said:

Point #2 really resounded with me, and it sounds right. But I think Jackson has a lot to offer our team, especially considering that he would play opposite CJ. Jackson has consistently been one of the top tacklers in the league and clearly plays with enough energy to always be around the football. 10 year vets who get cut always play with a chip on their shoulder the next year, and the Ravens have frequently benefited from players in exactly that position. The reason we liked Zach so much is because he flew around the field and made a lot of tackles. If we think we can replace that production, why not bring him in? Wasn't Daryl Smith an 11 year vet when he signed with us? I'd take a do-over of that in a heartbeat. 

And what evidence is there that he can replace that production?

Tackling is not an attribute. Its a minimal requirement. Average linebackers can tackle. We could upgrade on Jackson in the 4th round of literally any NFL draft. 

Not every guy that gets cut should sign with this team. Jackson will be one of just several veteran or even young MLBs who will be available in FA. Lets pump the brakes hard on signing every player that gets cut.

[balfan23]

Those are some bold words, coming from IMO one of the bigger disappointments for the Ravens in the 2016 campaign. 

Gilmore COULD be all those things he says he IS ... but he hasn't shown the team that yet and to me, it isn't all about injury. He's was able to play through much of the season last year and did very little.

I feel like we need to save the money and move on from both Pitta and Watson, so one of these young TEs needs to step up and look like the player we drafted them to be. I really think we have little choice but to thrown them all into the fire and see who, if anyone, comes out.

So if Gilmore wants to be that guy, please, but all means Crockett, show us ... don't just tell us. 

[Ravenous_Ravens]

With 6 TE's know that 2 will be cut at least. Maybe more if they draft any. Reality suggests Pitta is staying for certain. There is little to gain for a trusted security blanket for your QB. When you can only suit 4 TE's it makes zero sense to keep 6 unless two TE sets are the standard.

I'm sensing a theme this off-season of thinning the herd. There is a bit a of a pile up at TE and WR with no clear favorites outside Pitta and Wallace. Time to turn them loose and feed them and see what they can do or move on. Spreading the snaps around is one thing, but the number of snaps some of these guys are getting is just too little to really get into a groove and improve and grow. There needs to be a trial by fire, it is the only way. Pressure builds character.

[mendii]

On 2/11/2017 at 0:13 PM, rmcjacket23 said:

And what evidence is there that he can replace that production?

Tackling is not an attribute. Its a minimal requirement. Average linebackers can tackle. We could upgrade on Jackson in the 4th round of literally any NFL draft. 

Not every guy that gets cut should sign with this team. Jackson will be one of just several veteran or even young MLBs who will be available in FA. Lets pump the brakes hard on signing every player that gets cut.

His stats speak for themselves, tackling is an attribute when you are the leading tackler on your team for both the seasons he played all 16 games in for the Colts. Even if you don't want to say it's a direct attribute, a high number of tackles speaks to a lot of other key attributes for a player like game speed, awareness, play recognition, strength, etc. I'm not here to advocate every cut player is one that we sign, but I am always in favor of solidifying positions before the draft. If we can snag a plug and play starter and have it not effect our compensatory pick status in 2018, it is nothing but a positive in my mind. 

[rmcjacket23]

55 minutes ago, mendii said:

His stats speak for themselves, tackling is an attribute when you are the leading tackler on your team for both the seasons he played all 16 games in for the Colts. Even if you don't want to say it's a direct attribute, a high number of tackles speaks to a lot of other key attributes for a player like game speed, awareness, play recognition, strength, etc. I'm not here to advocate every cut player is one that we sign, but I am always in favor of solidifying positions before the draft. If we can snag a plug and play starter and have it not effect our compensatory pick status in 2018, it is nothing but a positive in my mind. 

No, ONE stat speaks for himself, and its also a highly overrated statistic. There'a long list of guys on the top of the league high in tackles that you've never heard of and frankly aren't all that special of players. I can tell you for certain that nobody thinks Zach Orr is a top 10 MLB in this league, or that he's better than Mosley as a MLB, yet he tackled a ton last year. There's a reason why Buffalo has two of the top 6 tacklers in the league last season, and Jacksonville has 3 of the top 16, and its not because those are good defenses or even good linebackers.

I can see one major negative... it makes you target less one position in the draft, and thereby, take away the opportunity to draft somebody who might be a really good player. Maybe you pass on that 2nd or 3rd round MLB who turns out to be really good because you signed Jackson to play for a year or two.

So yeah, passing on a cheaper, better player who can play for 5+ years for you in order to sign an aging veteran who can play for 2 years for you would certainly constitute as a negative.

ESPECIALLY when you understand that we could just play more nickel and dime (which we play a ton of nickel already) and not play two MLBs as often as we have in the past. That's what many critics of Pees and his defenses would advocate.