[News] Late For Work 3/23: Kyle Juszczyk, Kamar Aiken Speak Out About Leaving Ravens

[rmcjacket23]

  27 minutes ago, rmcjacket23 said:

  47 minutes ago, david thomas said:

E David Thomas
agree with Aiken, he deserved more reps or at the very least constructive feedback on what needed improvement to get more play time. my sense is, my beloved Ravens just don['t have a good Reciever Game strategy/route trees/creative plays to take advantage of skills of WR's - they are to predictable and limited to keying on 1 or 2 WR's for any play (lacks flexibility) and simple progression reads that either go to #1 or #2 or very quickly to the dump-off outlet - come on guys, let's get it together for 2017.

I'm pretty sure he identified already that the Ravens were identifying things that he didn't do well or needed to work on. Seemed he just simply disagreed.

The problem with Aiken is that I don't see a particular set of skills that he brings to the table that differentiates himself from his peers, and I think the league knows that.

Aiken's skill set was being sure handed on 3rd down and moving the chains, which he did when he played.
His peers: Perriman- deep threat with no hands
Wallace- deep threat who occasionally had no hands
Ironically, his best shot for playing time would've come with this years Ravens since, with the departure of SSS, he would have had the surest hands on the team aside from getting one of the top 3 WR in the draft.

Another myth though. Aiken had a higher drop rate (4%) in 2016 than Steve Smith (3%), Mike Wallace (1.7%), and Pitta (1.7%), two of which will be on the 2017 team.

In terms of being a "chain mover", his 1st down % isn't much different than most of his peers in 2016.

Aiken: 62%
Wallace: 60%
Steve Smith: 56%
Perriman: 58%

Pitta was the only one with a pretty low number.

[rmcjacket23]

  15 minutes ago, ByTheBay said:

Is it me or does the tone of Aiken and Juice feel like night and day? Juice sounds more appreciative while Aiken sounds bitter and whiney. 

They're complaining of 2 different situations...Juice's position was underutilized, Aiken's position was crowded and he could catch better than 2 of the 3 people ahead of him on the depth chart. Juice would sound bitter too if there were other FB's getting more playing time with Juice feeling as if he could contribute more than them.

Granted, Wallace and Perriman have other qualities that might have made them rank above Aiken such as better route running, more separation, more YAC, etc., but when your JOB is to CATCH THE BALL, it seems as if the Ravens valued the wrong attributes and maybe Aiken realized that.
You can't blame him for feeling the way he does.

Or they looked at his 4% drop rate (which isn't terrible, but not great either) and determined that maybe he wasn't all that great at doing that either...

[RoamingRaven]

  12 minutes ago, RoamingRaven said:

  38 minutes ago, rmcjacket23 said:

  58 minutes ago, david thomas said:

E David Thomas
agree with Aiken, he deserved more reps or at the very least constructive feedback on what needed improvement to get more play time. my sense is, my beloved Ravens just don['t have a good Reciever Game strategy/route trees/creative plays to take advantage of skills of WR's - they are to predictable and limited to keying on 1 or 2 WR's for any play (lacks flexibility) and simple progression reads that either go to #1 or #2 or very quickly to the dump-off outlet - come on guys, let's get it together for 2017.

I'm pretty sure he identified already that the Ravens were identifying things that he didn't do well or needed to work on. Seemed he just simply disagreed.

The problem with Aiken is that I don't see a particular set of skills that he brings to the table that differentiates himself from his peers, and I think the league knows that.

Aiken's skill set was being sure handed on 3rd down and moving the chains, which he did when he played.
His peers: Perriman- deep threat with no hands
Wallace- deep threat who occasionally had no hands
Ironically, his best shot for playing time would've come with this years Ravens since, with the departure of SSS, he would have had the surest hands on the team aside from getting one of the top 3 WR in the draft.

Apparently, Aiken was not hearing that from management. So it seems Ozzie feels he could do better.

Yeah, I agree, Aiken walking is obviously him reading the writing on the wall from the front office. I also agree that Ozzie can do better than Aiken. Any of the top 3 WR in the draft would be an upgrade over Aiken.
But we don't for sure have any of those guys, they could all 3 get drafted before us in which case Aiken would've found himself on a team where he knows he can catch better than Breshad, and can catch just as good as Mike.
Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

[budman]

1 minute ago, RoamingRaven said:

Yeah, I agree, Aiken walking is obviously him reading the writing on the wall from the front office. I also agree that Ozzie can do better than Aiken. Any of the top 3 WR in the draft would be an upgrade over Aiken.
But we don't for sure have any of those guys, they could all 3 get drafted before us in which case Aiken would've found himself on a team where he knows he can catch better than Breshad, and can catch just as good as Mike.
Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

Doesn't even have to be "Top 3" quality. When teams start cutting players in training camp there will be quite a few who are semi-talented that are better than Aiken. Why are people thinking that he is even a reliable #3 on any team? He's just not as good as he might think which is why there was not a lot of teams even interested. They have seen the tape on him even from his 1 good year and still----crickets

[Raven1995]

I said for four years while Pitta was out that we had a great talent in Juszczyk and we totally underutilized him. Aiken didn't make it on several teams and in his entire career he had one season where he had almost 1000 yard season and the best he can ever hope for is a 3rd or 4th receiver. Juszxzyk however, was another Danny Woodhead but better. He can run as well, is a better pass receiver, and he can also block when necessary which Woodhead can not do.

I am not a person to call for the coaches head, but the decisions to hire the OC's we have has been horrible except for the one where Ozzie told John he was hiring Kubiak and that was the best coach that Harbaugh ever hired but Harbaugh never hired him. I am seeing this team turn into a dumpster fire and if we don't have a playoff season this year, it is time to move on from Harbaugh as he has lost complete focus, or never had it, on what was important.

7 times in four Years how would you know he can run better? He had one great run in the Pittsburgh game and that is it. Woodhead has rushed 503 times for 2182.

[OriolesMagicPlease]

4 minutes ago, budman said:

Doesn't even have to be "Top 3" quality. When teams start cutting players in training camp there will be quite a few who are semi-talented that are better than Aiken. Why are people thinking that he is even a reliable #3 on any team? He's just not as good as he might think which is why there was not a lot of teams even interested. They have seen the tape on him even from his 1 good year and still----crickets

That is why he only got a one year deal. He definitely thinks he is better than he really is. He should just go play and prove that he is better instead of blaming the Ravens.

[budman]

1 minute ago, OriolesMagicPlease said:

That is why he only got a one year deal. He definitely thinks he is better than he really is. He should just go play and prove that he is better instead of blaming the Ravens.

Yep. Agree. And when he gets very little playing time in Indy, who's he going to blame then?

[Drew P]

Juice was just a check down option.

Aiken will be replaced by some project from Presbyterian

[billiejean]

I can not put my finger on it, but for some reason I've always been immediately field with all sorts of doubt and hesitation as soon as I see Jensen trot onto the field. It's just probably me.

That said, if Jensen really was the FOs whole plan at C for us, we would have probably been better of retaining Zuttah.

I think that type of reaction is warranted. He has had some impressive games though. They usually come after he strings together a few starts due to injury. I am hoping that if he wins the job and takes all first team reps he will at least be able to settle into the spot and at least be an adequate center. Although I may be overly optimistic in that regard. Either way he is going to have to compete with some rookies and UDFAs. If the coaching staff isn't comfortable with any of them they can always pick up a vet. One thing I do like about the guy is his mean streak. He is going to give it all he has on every play, whether his "all" is enough to win the starting job is yet to be seen.

[Purple_Polo89]

I said for four years while Pitta was out that we had a great talent in Juszczyk and we totally underutilized him. Aiken didn't make it on several teams and in his entire career he had one season where he had almost 1000 yard season and the best he can ever hope for is a 3rd or 4th receiver. Juszxzyk however, was another Danny Woodhead but better. He can run as well, is a better pass receiver, and he can also block when necessary which Woodhead can not do.

I am not a person to call for the coaches head, but the decisions to hire the OC's we have has been horrible except for the one where Ozzie told John he was hiring Kubiak and that was the best coach that Harbaugh ever hired but Harbaugh never hired him. I am seeing this team turn into a dumpster fire and if we don't have a playoff season this year, it is time to move on from Harbaugh as he has lost complete focus, or never had it, on what was important.

You do know Coach was a huge advocate for the hiring of Kubiak don't you? And Pitta still proved he was a great target and option for Flacco regardless of the hip injuries.

[billiejean]

  2 hours ago, The Mom Gene said:

I'm sorry... but Aiken sounds like he's whining. He had opportunities. Quite a few times I saw where he was basically hit right in the numbers with the ball and dropped the pass. Come on man....  He had a ton of chances to prove himself.

I loved Juice. As a fullback, and where the position has taken a back seat to RB's and Receivers, you can basically understand where he's coming from. The play at the end of the Steeler's game is one I will not forget. He laid it out to make that TD.

Good Luck to both of them.

Agree. Aiken really isn't THAT good to be honest. He had his chances to prove himself but couldn't out perform a retiring vet or 2nd year rookie. His route running is also suspect. Lets see just how much he actually plays in Indy. He might just live on special teams. Notice just how much interest teams had in him....Ummmm hardly any. When he signed with them it wasn't a long deal so that should tell him something. I hate whiners! Blame everything and everyone but himself. Geez.

Yea, it is hard to envision Kamar getting much time on offense unless someone gets hurt. I don't think that anyone has ever thought that Kamar was THAT good. I had a hard time last off season trying to justify the FO move to tender him as a second round RFA last year. I still cant come up with any logical explanation for why they made that decision. That said I really don't think what he said is as incendiary as you and others are making it seem. I wish him well.

[J.O.14]

  1 hour ago, rmcjacket23 said:

  2 hours ago, david thomas said:

E David Thomas
agree with Aiken, he deserved more reps or at the very least constructive feedback on what needed improvement to get more play time. my sense is, my beloved Ravens just don['t have a good Reciever Game strategy/route trees/creative plays to take advantage of skills of WR's - they are to predictable and limited to keying on 1 or 2 WR's for any play (lacks flexibility) and simple progression reads that either go to #1 or #2 or very quickly to the dump-off outlet - come on guys, let's get it together for 2017.

I'm pretty sure he identified already that the Ravens were identifying things that he didn't do well or needed to work on. Seemed he just simply disagreed.

The problem with Aiken is that I don't see a particular set of skills that he brings to the table that differentiates himself from his peers, and I think the league knows that.

Aiken's skill set was being sure handed on 3rd down and moving the chains, which he did when he played.
His peers: Perriman- deep threat with no hands
Wallace- deep threat who occasionally had no hands
Ironically, his best shot for playing time would've come with this years Ravens since, with the departure of SSS, he would have had the surest hands on the team aside from getting one of the top 3 WR in the draft.

Aiken isn't better than Wallace or Perriman, and definitely wasn't better than SSS. I'm not sure that he is better than Campanaro if Camp can stay healthy.

Here's what I remember from Aiken: He missed a great opportunity on a seam route against Pittsburgh (might have dropped it if I'm not mistaken) and I think it was the Raiders game where he dropped a 4th and 10 that Flacco put right in his chest. It was a difficult catch, but he was dropping that before he got hit. As people pointed out, he had a higher drop percentage than any of our WRs. If you want to play, stand out. He hasn't stood out.

If he was so good, he would have gotten more than a 1 year prove it deal again. Could he have played this year? Yeah maybe. But we are also trying to improve, not continue to go 8-8.

[ByTheBay]

59 minutes ago, budman said:

Yep. Agree. And when he gets very little playing time in Indy, who's he going to blame then?

Yup, Aiken appears to just be one of those people we have all come across in out lives. You know the type of person that always blames others for why their life isn't want they want it to be. Wowes me, why not me, bla bla bla. People generally distance themselves from that sort of personality unless you also feel that way as well. Then its a pitty party. Cant stand it. Glad he is gone gone gone. It is more than likely that we will never hear his name again. Good riddance. 

[roamingcharges]

Kamar Aiken dropped quite a few passes two seasons ago when he had that 900+ yard season. He did nothing exceptionally well-- yes he wasn't BAD and he wasn't great, he was okay and "okay" we can find at any league corner. Unfortunately (for him) we are looking for great so... no hard feelings bro, enjoy your time in Indy.

[EddiOK]

And the haunting legacy of Gary Kubiak's too-short successful tenure as OC continues...

[stixfix69]

I think Flacco heard Aiken, as at the end of the season he seemed to look for him more....We have speed in Perriman and Wallace, what we need is a slot WR who has no fear running crossing routes.....I would have had no issue if Aiken came back....But lets give Moore a shot, he seemed to be pretty physical....our WR corp really isn't in that bad a shape, we have Mattthew's at 6-5, Camp who can be a tough to cover, and has shown he can run that jet sweep with success....draft BPO, and groom them...and sign a veteran ILBer....I also think Judon is going to be a beast this year with more snaps....

[RoamingRaven]

  2 hours ago, budman said:

  3 hours ago, The Mom Gene said:

I'm sorry... but Aiken sounds like he's whining. He had opportunities. Quite a few times I saw where he was basically hit right in the numbers with the ball and dropped the pass. Come on man....  He had a ton of chances to prove himself.

I loved Juice. As a fullback, and where the position has taken a back seat to RB's and Receivers, you can basically understand where he's coming from. The play at the end of the Steeler's game is one I will not forget. He laid it out to make that TD.

Good Luck to both of them.

Agree. Aiken really isn't THAT good to be honest. He had his chances to prove himself but couldn't out perform a retiring vet or 2nd year rookie. His route running is also suspect. Lets see just how much he actually plays in Indy. He might just live on special teams. Notice just how much interest teams had in him....Ummmm hardly any. When he signed with them it wasn't a long deal so that should tell him something. I hate whiners! Blame everything and everyone but himself. Geez.

Yea, it is hard to envision Kamar getting much time on offense unless someone gets hurt. I don't think that anyone has ever thought that Kamar was THAT good. I had a hard time last off season trying to justify the FO move to tender him as a second round RFA last year. I still cant come up with any logical explanation for why they made that decision. That said I really don't think what he said is as incendiary as you and others are making it seem. I wish him well.

That's exactly my point, people in this thread are acting like Aiken said "Screw Baltimore, I hate them, they suck, I did amazing things in Baltimore, Indy ftw." People talking about him like he spray painted a swastika on the field before he left. Jeezz

No one is saying Aiken was great, never said he was better than Perriman or Wallace- just that when given playing time, he's more dependable to catch the ball.
Keep in mind, all those stats about his 1st down %(which led our receivers) or 4% drop rate came in the year where he saw his reps decrease cause SSS, Periman, and Wallace were 1, 2, & 3 in the depth chart.

Everything Aiken said is valid.
Are there better options, OBVIOUSLY.
But to Aikens point, there is a difference between not playing cause you suck, and not playing cause the front office wanna see what the rookie can do.

Aiken is not that great BUT, when put in his shoes, if in 2015 you led the team with 75 receptions for 944 yards and five touchdowns, then see your self on the bottom of the depth chart for what is in your mind no other reason than some bigger names came in.... tell me you wouldn't feel the same way???

[billiejean]

9 minutes ago, stixfix69 said:

I think Flacco heard Aiken, as at the end of the season he seemed to look for him more....We have speed in Perriman and Wallace, what we need is a slot WR who has no fear running crossing routes.....I would have had no issue if Aiken came back....But lets give Moore a shot, he seemed to be pretty physical....our WR corp really isn't in that bad a shape, we have Mattthew's at 6-5, Camp who can be a tough to cover, and has shown he can run that jet sweep with success....draft BPO, and groom them...and sign a veteran ILBer....I also think Judon is going to be a beast this year with more snaps....

Aiken made 15 catches n the first 8 games and 14 in the last 8.  8 catches in the first 5 games and 6 catches in the last 5 games.  Im pretty high on Judon as well.  That man has some heavy hands.

[billiejean]

1 hour ago, RoamingRaven said:

That's exactly my point, people in this thread are acting like Aiken said "Screw Baltimore, I hate them, they suck, I did amazing things in Baltimore, Indy ftw." People talking about him like he spray painted a swastika on the field before he left. Jeezz

No one is saying Aiken was great, never said he was better than Perriman or Wallace- just that when given playing time, he's more dependable to catch the ball.
Keep in mind, all those stats about his 1st down %(which led our receivers) or 4% drop rate came in the year where he saw his reps decrease cause SSS, Periman, and Wallace were 1, 2, & 3 in the depth chart.

Everything Aiken said is valid.
Are there better options, OBVIOUSLY.
But to Aikens point, there is a difference between not playing cause you suck, and not playing cause the front office wanna see what the rookie can do.

Aiken is not that great BUT, when put in his shoes, if in 2015 you led the team with 75 receptions for 944 yards and five touchdowns, then see your self on the bottom of the depth chart for what is in your mind no other reason than some bigger names came in.... tell me you wouldn't feel the same way???

Its a product of ones inability to be objective.  People were saying the same things about KO last year.  And they would chastise the guy for being "selfish" and taking the money.  And that kind of thing just blows my mind.  Its a physical sport.  Every single game there is a chance that a guy could suffer a career ending injury.  You have to take as much as you can get in your first contract because there in no guarantee that you will get another one.  After he signed with Oakland there were people that were so bitter that they would say irrational things like...  Its a black hole in Oakland....  He is never going to win there.....  If It was me I would take a hometown discount so I could play on a winning team.  yada yada.  The last one is the one that gets me though.  Heck I would trade all of our players for all of their players in a heartbeat. I wouldn't even have to think about it.  That team is going to be a legitimate contender in the playoffs for many years to come.  I feel sorry for the city though.  Just when the franchise is getting back on track they move. It reminds me of the Supersonics.  

Edited March 23 by billiejean

[rmcjacket23]

  2 hours ago, billiejean said:

  4 hours ago, budman said:

  5 hours ago, The Mom Gene said:

I'm sorry... but Aiken sounds like he's whining. He had opportunities. Quite a few times I saw where he was basically hit right in the numbers with the ball and dropped the pass. Come on man....  He had a ton of chances to prove himself.

I loved Juice. As a fullback, and where the position has taken a back seat to RB's and Receivers, you can basically understand where he's coming from. The play at the end of the Steeler's game is one I will not forget. He laid it out to make that TD.

Good Luck to both of them.

Agree. Aiken really isn't THAT good to be honest. He had his chances to prove himself but couldn't out perform a retiring vet or 2nd year rookie. His route running is also suspect. Lets see just how much he actually plays in Indy. He might just live on special teams. Notice just how much interest teams had in him....Ummmm hardly any. When he signed with them it wasn't a long deal so that should tell him something. I hate whiners! Blame everything and everyone but himself. Geez.

Yea, it is hard to envision Kamar getting much time on offense unless someone gets hurt. I don't think that anyone has ever thought that Kamar was THAT good. I had a hard time last off season trying to justify the FO move to tender him as a second round RFA last year. I still cant come up with any logical explanation for why they made that decision. That said I really don't think what he said is as incendiary as you and others are making it seem. I wish him well.

That's exactly my point, people in this thread are acting like Aiken said "Screw Baltimore, I hate them, they suck, I did amazing things in Baltimore, Indy ftw." People talking about him like he spray painted a swastika on the field before he left. Jeezz

No one is saying Aiken was great, never said he was better than Perriman or Wallace- just that when given playing time, he's more dependable to catch the ball.
Keep in mind, all those stats about his 1st down %(which led our receivers) or 4% drop rate came in the year where he saw his reps decrease cause SSS, Periman, and Wallace were 1, 2, & 3 in the depth chart.

Everything Aiken said is valid.
Are there better options, OBVIOUSLY.
But to Aikens point, there is a difference between not playing cause you suck, and not playing cause the front office wanna see what the rookie can do.

Aiken is not that great BUT, when put in his shoes, if in 2015 you led the team with 75 receptions for 944 yards and five touchdowns, then see your self on the bottom of the depth chart for what is in your mind no other reason than some bigger names came in.... tell me you wouldn't feel the same way???

Ideally he would have realized that Steve Smith missing a big chunk of the season had a lot to do with that, as well as the fact that the team spent most of the season trailing and had to throw constantly.

If I were him heading into last offseason, I would have said to myself "well, Steve is coming back (even though he said he was going to retire, Perriman is getting healthy, AND they signed Mike Wallace... I'm not sure they really think much of me at this point".

[ellicottraven]

The whole fan base knew that Marty wasn't doing a good job, maybe he knew it as well. Now both Juice and Aiken confirm that they weren't being utilized appropriately. Yet Harbaugh stood by him with some misplaced sense of loyalty at his own peril and at the peril of our offense. Unless internally some arrangements have been made top down to have Greg Roman design the offense moving forward, I see us in big trouble frankly.

All we know is Joe and Pitta wanted him back perhaps due to comfort level they had developed (even though it stifled our offense) and hence the whole organization starting with Harbaugh caved. It is just depressing to know that despite clear evidence we are trying to do the same thing over again expecting a different result. It doesn't work that way unless of course Greg Roman was brought in precisely for that not to happen.

[Mahatma_Sloth]

  4 hours ago, budman said:

  5 hours ago, bioLarzen said:

As for Aiken and Juszczyk: time will tell if they were right or wrong. What I cannot help noticing however, is that while I cannot really remember defensive players leaving Baltimore then thropwing back darts, there were 3 offensive guys (these two plus KO last season) who don't really speak really fondly of the Baltimore offense... That less and less seems a coincidence...

I've long said, and I still think Harbaugh simply doesn't understand the NFL offense, and that's why he keeps appointing the wrong guys to command our O (with the sole exception of Kubiak), but knows too little to overrule their mistakes in offensive strategy, game planning and play calling. I fiormly believe that as long as Harbaugh is our HC, the only way we can have a good offense is by chance - because nobody who is responsible for it is good enough. I believe all the offensive success we've had since 2008 was not because of our coaching stuff, but in spite of it - out of the virtue of the players.

And that's why I think that no matter who we draft and acquire in free agency, we don't really have any real reason to hope for better a season that what we had - because the by far biggest cause of our offensive impotence: the incapable HC - has not been removed from the system. And until that happens, you can count on players leaving Baltimore to throw back shade like this...

Totally disagree. Our offensive success has to be credited at least in part to the coaches. The inmates do not run the asylum in Bmore. Players just cant say screw them, I'm doing it this way. Credit is rarely where it is due. So I guess the coaches had nothing to do with winning the Superbowl in New Orleans, it was all Ray Lewis and the players.

well, to be fair, other than Kubiak, have we had any "offensive success" worth crediting to anyone?

don't you miss cam R.I.P 2008-2012

[Crusader]

  On Thursday, March 23, 2017 at 11:54 AM, RoamingRaven said:

  On Thursday, March 23, 2017 at 11:28 AM, rmcjacket23 said:

  On Thursday, March 23, 2017 at 11:09 AM, david thomas said:

E David Thomas
agree with Aiken, he deserved more reps or at the very least constructive feedback on what needed improvement to get more play time. my sense is, my beloved Ravens just don['t have a good Reciever Game strategy/route trees/creative plays to take advantage of skills of WR's - they are to predictable and limited to keying on 1 or 2 WR's for any play (lacks flexibility) and simple progression reads that either go to #1 or #2 or very quickly to the dump-off outlet - come on guys, let's get it together for 2017.

I'm pretty sure he identified already that the Ravens were identifying things that he didn't do well or needed to work on. Seemed he just simply disagreed.

The problem with Aiken is that I don't see a particular set of skills that he brings to the table that differentiates himself from his peers, and I think the league knows that.

Aiken's skill set was being sure handed on 3rd down and moving the chains, which he did when he played.
His peers: Perriman- deep threat with no hands
Wallace- deep threat who occasionally had no hands
Ironically, his best shot for playing time would've come with this years Ravens since, with the departure of SSS, he would have had the surest hands on the team aside from getting one of the top 3 WR in the draft.

Another myth though. Aiken had a higher drop rate (4%) in 2016 than Steve Smith (3%), Mike Wallace (1.7%), and Pitta (1.7%), two of which will be on the 2017 team.

In terms of being a "chain mover", his 1st down % isn't much different than most of his peers in 2016.

Aiken: 62%
Wallace: 60%
Steve Smith: 56%
Perriman: 58%

Pitta was the only one with a pretty low number.

What was Perriman's drop rate?

[Crusader]

  8 hours ago, fusuymada said:

I said for four years while Pitta was out that we had a great talent in Juszczyk and we totally underutilized him. Aiken didn't make it on several teams and in his entire career he had one season where he had almost 1000 yard season and the best he can ever hope for is a 3rd or 4th receiver. Juszxzyk however, was another Danny Woodhead but better. He can run as well, is a better pass receiver, and he can also block when necessary which Woodhead can not do.

I am not a person to call for the coaches head, but the decisions to hire the OC's we have has been horrible except for the one where Ozzie told John he was hiring Kubiak and that was the best coach that Harbaugh ever hired but Harbaugh never hired him. I am seeing this team turn into a dumpster fire and if we don't have a playoff season this year, it is time to move on from Harbaugh as he has lost complete focus, or never had it, on what was important.

Source where Ozzie told John to hire Kubiak?

Pretty sure that didn't actually happen. Most likely a fan-generated myth.

The closest article I found. "The last tweet from Baltimore Sun columnist Mike Preston is telling, considering that Jim Hostler was leading the way for the job it seemed. That would insinuate that Harbaugh wanted Hostler and that Ozzie Newsome and Steve Bisciotti were thinking otherwise."

http://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2014/1/27/5350924/ravens-to-hire-gary-kubiak-as-offensive-coordinator-official

[Crusader]

As for Aiken and Juszczyk: time will tell if they were right or wrong. What I cannot help noticing however, is that while I cannot really remember defensive players leaving Baltimore then thropwing back darts, there were 3 offensive guys (these two plus KO last season) who don't really speak really fondly of the Baltimore offense... That less and less seems a coincidence...

I've long said, and I still think Harbaugh simply doesn't understand the NFL offense, and that's why he keeps appointing the wrong guys to command our O (with the sole exception of Kubiak), but knows too little to overrule their mistakes in offensive strategy, game planning and play calling. I fiormly believe that as long as Harbaugh is our HC, the only way we can have a good offense is by chance - because nobody who is responsible for it is good enough. I believe all the offensive success we've had since 2008 was not because of our coaching stuff, but in spite of it - out of the virtue of the players.

And that's why I think that no matter who we draft and acquire in free agency, we don't really have any real reason to hope for better a season that what we had - because the by far biggest cause of our offensive impotence: the incapable HC - has not been removed from the system. And until that happens, you can count on players leaving Baltimore to throw back shade like this...

That"s two statement you made that I agreed with .....Scary. The OT over WR was the other.

[Crusader]

Wagner, Juszczyk, Orr, and Guy I believe are hug loses for the Ravens. I re watched Ravens vs Skins and Ravens vs Eagles and Guy was awesome. No articles on Guy leaving but that's going to show this season Compare that to what Ravens gained.

[hen826957]

  4 hours ago, RoamingRaven said:

That's exactly my point, people in this thread are acting like Aiken said "Screw Baltimore, I hate them, they suck, I did amazing things in Baltimore, Indy ftw." People talking about him like he spray painted a swastika on the field before he left. Jeezz

No one is saying Aiken was great, never said he was better than Perriman or Wallace- just that when given playing time, he's more dependable to catch the ball.
Keep in mind, all those stats about his 1st down %(which led our receivers) or 4% drop rate came in the year where he saw his reps decrease cause SSS, Periman, and Wallace were 1, 2, & 3 in the depth chart.

Everything Aiken said is valid.
Are there better options, OBVIOUSLY.
But to Aikens point, there is a difference between not playing cause you suck, and not playing cause the front office wanna see what the rookie can do.

Aiken is not that great BUT, when put in his shoes, if in 2015 you led the team with 75 receptions for 944 yards and five touchdowns, then see your self on the bottom of the depth chart for what is in your mind no other reason than some bigger names came in.... tell me you wouldn't feel the same way???

Its a product of ones inability to be objective.  People were saying the same things about KO last year.  And they would chastise the guy for being "selfish" and taking the money.  And that kind of thing just blows my mind.  Its a physical sport.  Every single game there is a chance that a guy could suffer a career ending injury.  You have to take as much as you can get in your first contract because there in no guarantee that you will get another one.  After he signed with Oakland there were people that were so bitter that they would say irrational things like...  Its a black hole in Oakland....  He is never going to win there.....  If It was me I would take a hometown discount so I could play on a winning team.  yada yada.  The last one is the one that gets me though.  Heck I would trade all of our players for all of their players in a heartbeat. I wouldn't even have to think about it.  That team is going to be a legitimate contender in the playoffs for many years to come.  I feel sorry for the city though.  Just when the franchise is getting back on track they move. It reminds me of the Supersonics.  

I wouldn't trade our defense though or our special teams that's for sure. Lol.

[Somerset Ravens]

It was sad to read the comments from both Juszczyk and Aiken, I had thought that they both had more class.

Edited March 23 by Somerset Ravens

[Halshayeji]

9 hours ago, rmcjacket23 said:

Well we don't really know what the Browns were offering, but my guess is he didn't leave much money behind. We don't even know if the guaranteed money was much different either.

I will almost guarantee that it wasn't a case of the Browns offering like $12M a year and him choosing the Ravens for like $8.5M. We're talking maybe $1M a year difference in most of these cases.

Jefferson himself said he turned down 1.5m per yesr to accept the Ravens offer. 

[billiejean]

1 hour ago, hen826957 said:

I wouldn't trade our defense though or our special teams that's for sure. Lol.

I cant really tell if you are serious or if you are being sarcastic but either way I would check out thet guys they have.  They  D haven't put all the pieces together yet and didn't have as good a year statistically as the Ravens did last yea,r but they have a lot of young guys at key positions.  Once that D starts clicking the Raiders are going to be a tough team to beat.  There offense is already in the top 5.  That 2014 draft was special and was the catalyst that has turned that team around.  Carr - one of the best young QBs in the league.  Mack - one of the best pass rushers in the league. And in the next draft they picked up amari cooper, one of the best young recievers in the league.  They hit on a few others that year as well.  Jack should certainly get some credit as well the FO.  Although if you are GM and have three consecutive season where you pick in the top 5 it increases you chance of hitting.  But regardless of that they have found some guys in the laster rounds and Carr in the second was a slam dunk