Dominant Units

[raven94]

I've always loved the idea of having a dominant unit on a team. Not necessarily a dominant offense or defense, but a dominant unit on the offense or defense. Take for example the Cowboys OL, the Seahawks DB'S, the 49ers LB'S when Jim Harbaugh was the coach, the steelers WR'S etc.... I feel like with the examples I've given you you can see that really any dominant unit can give you a successful team. I want to know if A) you think we should pursue this model of team building and B). what unit would you like to see be dominant to help us win the division, the conference, and the SB

Edited March 19 by raven94

[ravensnation5220]

Front 7. The game is won in the trenches. Although I think our secondary is ahead of our front 7 at the moment

[JoeyFlex5]

our secondary appears to be pretty dominant right now. with 5 healthy starters, and either a drafted guy or a re-signed webb as depth/situational guy our secondary could be the best in the league, and it has an identity, we have everything you want in a secondary; a true shutdown corner, a 2nd corner who is smart savvy and highly consistent, a very heady FS who is a natural field general back deep, a shifty and explosive slot corner who plays feisty and plays the ball great, and the enforcer who can man up on TEs, sniff out screens, run support, and blitz incredibly well, our starting secondary is the absolute prototype and health willing they should carry us through a lot of games, you just wont be able to pass on the ravens. expect a lot of coverage sacks from suggs and judon who are both very savvy rushers who find their way to the qb when given an extra second to rush. with bwill back and jefferson at SS our run D should be as good as ever. 

 

that said, if i had to choose one unit to be absolutely dominant, id take OL every time, flacco has shown time and time again that when he has an effective run game and time in a clean pocket, that he will light you up. he can pick apart some of the best defenses when he has a great OL and does so with average wr corps. finally getting a LT will go a long way for us, but unfortunately the rest of our line is falling apart, so it could be tough to build it up

[SepticeyePoe]

I would also want an elite OL or an elite front 7. I think either one would really help our team.

[raven94]

I really like what's being said here. I think to win the division you've got to be able to run the ball at will for 4 or 5 yards a carry. I love our defense, and it will be a glorious defense barring injuries next season, but it's still almost impossible to defend against a healthy steelers or a healthy Bengals offense for the 30 minutes that they'll have the ball. You've got to be able to keep them on the sidelines. I think to win the conference you're going to need a front seven that can stop the run and get after the passer. Oakland is a punishing offense with the OL they have plus the weapons they have at the skilled positions, New England is New England and you've got to be able to play in Foxborough, and defense travels. So I feel like the secondary is already there, the front seven is really just 2 pass rushers and a DE away from being completely ferocious, and the O line and WR'S are the farthest behind. I would like to complete the front 7 in the draft and bolster the OL with Mangold and some rookies in the draft. I agree Flacco can do things when he has play action, and a run game regardless of who is at WR/TE.

[JoeyFlex5]

13 minutes ago, raven94 said:

I really like what's being said here. I think to win the division you've got to be able to run the ball at will for 4 or 5 yards a carry. I love our defense, and it will be a glorious defense barring injuries next season, but it's still almost impossible to defend against a healthy steelers or a healthy Bengals offense for the 30 minutes that they'll have the ball. You've got to be able to keep them on the sidelines. I think to win the conference you're going to need a front seven that can stop the run and get after the passer. Oakland is a punishing offense with the OL they have plus the weapons they have at the skilled positions, New England is New England and you've got to be able to play in Foxborough, and defense travels. So I feel like the secondary is already there, the front seven is really just 2 pass rushers and a DE away from being completely ferocious, and the O line and WR'S are the farthest behind. I would like to complete the front 7 in the draft and bolster the OL with Mangold and some rookies in the draft. I agree Flacco can do things when he has play action, and a run game regardless of who is at WR/TE.

 i think we are built to beat the steelers and patriots first and foremost. barring injuries, the patriots smallball offense will n,ot be moving the chains against this secondary. tavon young is the ideal corner you want covering antonio brown and brandin cooks, jimmy is one of the only corners man enough to give edelman a hell of a time and both brady and ben are scared to throw jimmys way, they are forced to throw into a cluttered field because they dont bother looking jimmys way, having that solid CB2 and 2 excellent safeties should lead to turnovers when teams pass often against us. and obviously we should be able to shut down their run.

[ravensnation5220]

22 minutes ago, JoeyFlex5 said:

 i think we are built to beat the steelers and patriots first and foremost. barring injuries, the patriots smallball offense will n,ot be moving the chains against this secondary. tavon young is the ideal corner you want covering antonio brown and brandin cooks, jimmy is one of the only corners man enough to give edelman a hell of a time and both brady and ben are scared to throw jimmys way, they are forced to throw into a cluttered field because they dont bother looking jimmys way, having that solid CB2 and 2 excellent safeties should lead to turnovers when teams pass often against us. and obviously we should be able to shut down their run.

We just need someone to get after Brady and Ben, make their lives miserable. Make them feel it every time he hits them. Make them scared to hold on to the ball too long. A guy that comes to mind....

it's time our defense becomes feared again

[RaineV1]

1 hour ago, ravensnation5220 said:

Front 7. The game is won in the trenches. Although I think our secondary is ahead of our front 7 at the moment

I agree. A great front 7 can carry a mediocre secondary. But a great secondary will still struggle a lot to carry a front 7 that doesn't have much pass rush. Along the same line of thought, a dominate o-line is extremely helpful too.

Edited March 19 by RaineV1

[ravensnation5220]

5 minutes ago, RaineV1 said:

I agree. A great front 7 can carry a mediocre secondary. But a great secondary will still struggle a big to carry a front 7 that doesn't have much pass rush. Along the same line of thought, a dominate o-line is extremely helpful too.

Ya I'm a big believer that the game is won in the trenches so I'm all in for Oline or front 7. Of course the qb but those 2 units affect the quarterbacks play the most. Protect yours and get after theirs

[JoeyFlex5]

18 minutes ago, RaineV1 said:

I agree. A great front 7 can carry a mediocre secondary. But a great secondary will still struggle a lot to carry a front 7 that doesn't have much pass rush. Along the same line of thought, a dominate o-line is extremely helpful too.

i always believed the same but when we had no pass rush, our secondary carried our pass defense. sure our front seven forced teams to be one dimensional which obviously factors into your argument, but as far as pass defense goes, as much as i love a great pass rush unit, im beginning to think that maybe the secondary is more important. i mean, pass rush helps the secondary but with quick release being so popular these days you need a secondary to be effective. 

and @ravensnation5220 derek barnett is my guy, id take him over anyone except for garrett and adams, and i think hes probably the safest pick in this class. even with his average speed and explosiveness though i think he goes long before our pick.

[ravensnation5220]

@JoeyFlex5 I'm not so certain he couldnt fall to us. We've always seen that players who lack athleticism can fall. Barnett doesn't have the best measurables and he isn't the greatest athlete and we've already heard reports about teams being worried about that. Looking at the mock he ranges anywhere from 9-20. That's right in our range. I think there is a very realistic Crap he did be there for us. The one team I think that could take him, cincy, I think might feel reluctant to grad Mike Williams and get Dalton help opposite green. I don't think he fits well with other teams schemes either and that's another issue with his athleticism and measurables. He's not exactly your prototype 4-3 DE that the saints would like. And I see the eagles going offense and Colts making some bone headed choice to be honest lol

[JoeyFlex5]

4 minutes ago, ravensnation5220 said:

@JoeyFlex5 I'm not so certain he couldnt fall to us. We've always seen that players who lack athleticism can fall. Barnett doesn't have the best measurables and he isn't the greatest athlete and we've already heard reports about teams being worried about that. Looking at the mock he ranges anywhere from 9-20. That's right in our range. I think there is a very realistic Crap he did be there for us. The one team I think that could take him, cincy, I think might feel reluctant to grad Mike Williams and get Dalton help opposite green. I don't think he fits well with other teams schemes either and that's another issue with his athleticism and measurables. He's not exactly your prototype 4-3 DE that the saints would like. And I see the eagles going offense and Colts making some bone headed choice to be honest lol

youre relying on teams who all need an edge rusher to make a boneheaded move though lol. i mean if reuben foster is there at 9 then i think cinci takes him, but NO and indy both desperately need edge rushers, and barnett fits just fine as a 43DE, solid edge setter, holds down the point of attack, and sheds well, and rushes frequently from the 3 point. were also ruling out a team in the top 5 deciding they want the top remaining edge rusher after garrett, a move i could certainly see tennessee doing, or chicago if they decide the mcphee experiment was a failure due to the money and injuries. also with carolina trading away ealy they really need a DE and they could take him. edge rusher is just too valuable for a guy like barnett to fall that far, i mean i dont even think ive heard anyone debate that he isnt clearly the 2nd best edge rusher in the class(aside from the sillies who think solomon thomas is an edge rusher).