[News] Late For Work 5/1: Grades For Ravens' 2017 Draft Class

[Crusader]

First step, make it thru training camp. Ravens seem to lose two to three players there and then Preseason.

[Bilbo]

Most pundits have downgraded the Ravens draft because we failed to add a WR, not because of the players we did draft. Not sure we drafted a starting RT either. If we can convince Boldin to finish his career here, we will be much better off than adding a 2nd or 3rd tier WR in the draft. This was a very weak WR class once you cleared Davis/Williams, so why reach?

This solid defensive draft will serve the Ravens well for years downstream.

[rmcjacket23]

First step, make it thru training camp. Ravens seem to lose two to three players there and then Preseason.

Will likely happen again. Every team loses a couple players before the season starts.

Not really much can be done about that.

[rmcjacket23]

The only "surprise" of the offseason thus far is the failure to sign a possession receiver, though the offseason obviously isn't even close to being over yet.

Would point out that the FO has already stated publicly that they feel pretty good about internal options at RT and at ILB, and so fans need to start taking notice of this and understand that its simply not a realistic expectation to have 22 starting spots locked down in May.

Very easily may be August before we even know who is going to be starting at those positions, and those players may or may not even be on the roster at this point.

I also would point out something I've been telling you guys for months... don't expect wholesale changes in terms of acquisitions on the offensive side of the ball, mainly because its easily the youngest side of the ball.

We've got youth at WR, TE, RB, and in some ways OLine. In many ways, I think the FO's stance on the offense is simple... they've just got to play better. The defense had age issues at a lot of spots, and those seem to be addressed pretty well at this point.

[glen ferguson]

After the first 3 wide receivers were gone, i was happy we didnt pick one in the 2nd round.. I think our group of wide receivers will in fact step up. Lets give these guys a chance people . Go Ravens , love our picks, love the two o-linemen too. No Boldin please. We all need to move on from him. Perriman,Wallace and Moore. Lets go!!! Our defense is gonna be SICK

[mc_red23]

11 minutes ago, glen ferguson said:

After the first 3 wide receivers were gone, i was happy we didnt pick one in the 2nd round.. I think our group of wide receivers will in fact step up. Lets give these guys a chance people . Go Ravens , love our picks, love the two o-linemen too. No Boldin please. We all need to move on from him. Perriman,Wallace and Moore. Lets go!!! Our defense is gonna be SICK

Our group of receivers have to remain injury free for them to step up first though. Also, Moore can't catch a cold nevermind a football.

Edited Monday at 06:40 PM by mc_red23

[RavensBaltimore]

  3 hours ago, sami said:

I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at how well our current bunch of WR's do. And for goodness sake, NO MORE BOLDIN. Hes gone, get over it.

Exactly. I'm not sure why this Boldin pipe dream keeps gaining more momentum.

Maybe it's because we have plenty of speed at WR, but we don't have a reliable, physical possession receiver, and Boldin happens to be just that. Also, Harbaugh expressed interest in bringing him back, Ozzie emphasized the need to add a possession receiver, and as of right now, there isn't anyone else out there on the market, so I don't know why you would think it's just a pipe dream.

[FadetoBlack261]

  4 hours ago, robbie29 said:

  5 hours ago, sami said:

I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at how well our current bunch of WR's do. And for goodness sake, NO MORE BOLDIN. Hes gone, get over it.

Exactly. I'm not sure why this Boldin pipe dream keeps gaining more momentum.

The Boldin pipe dream comes from the fact that very few people believe our WR's will surprise anyone, and that based on who is out there, he is the best remaining (unless you want to take a chance on an oft injured Victor Cruz). It isn't so much a love affair as a last resort. I am in the group that thinks that we have seen the best of Perriman, Wallace is streaky, Chris Moore has shown nothing, Campanaro can't stay on the field, and neither can the majority of our tight ends who constitute the walking injured as far as I am concerned. Every TE has missed an entire year or multiple games, every single one, either injured or suspended. Other than Wallace, I don't see a reliable every down receiver on this team. Just my opinion.

Perriman only had 66 targets last year. That's just over 4 a game in his first year of playing in the NFL. A bunch of his targets were those horrible screens or 2 yard outs.

You think we've seen the best of a guy coming off of consecutive knee injuries in his first year playing?

You may prove to be right, but he's only had one season. Lets give the guy a chance before burying him.

[ByTheBay]

I'm just glad they didnt draft a WR so I don't have to read some of you complaining about how JuJu was a reach in the second and we should have chosen a pass rusher. Suggs is tough as nails but he is nearing the end. We possibly have the heir to Sugg's throne now. No guarantees but if that happens with a second round pick I will be jumping for joy. Great draft by Ozzie. This year and last will go down as the offseasons that turned this team around. Bank on it. Or complain if that's your thing. 

[rmcjacket23]

  5 hours ago, robbie29 said:

  6 hours ago, sami said:

I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at how well our current bunch of WR's do. And for goodness sake, NO MORE BOLDIN. Hes gone, get over it.

Exactly. I'm not sure why this Boldin pipe dream keeps gaining more momentum.

Maybe it's because we have plenty of speed at WR, but we don't have a reliable, physical possession receiver, and Boldin happens to be just that. Also, Harbaugh expressed interest in bringing him back, Ozzie emphasized the need to add a possession receiver, and as of right now, there isn't anyone else out there on the market, so I don't know why you would think it's just a pipe dream.

The better question to be asking is why would Boldin want to come back to Baltimore?

[eze17]

Yeah, solid "B" grade in my opinion. The BPA approach is great, but we really needed some more help( and depth) at WR. The FO can keep saying "were not done yet", but other than an aging Boldin, who's out there that really jumps out at you? The undrafted FA WR's we've brought in could hold a diamond in the rough, but I won't hold my breath waiting for one of them to excell, especially right away. And with Perriman and Campanaro's injury histories it's hard to feel confident that what we've got now will even stay healthy enough to play the full schedule. Hopefully Ozzie has a trick or two up his sleeve and can give us an upgrade before Sept. rolls around...

But overall, I'm still happy with the draft. I could easily see Bowser and Siragusa pushing for starter spots, Tim Williams has the potential to be a monster NFL player if he can keep his nose clean both on and off the field, Humphrey and Wormley need some more polish in my opinion, but could be excellent players if they put their nose to the grindstone, Eluemunor needs work but has the size and athleticism teams covet, while Chuck Clark has natural tackling abilities that should transfer over into a great special teams player.

[merryjman]

I watched the press conference, and I don't think they were lying when they said that defense was just how it shook out. Ozzie even said something like "believe me, if Leonard Fournette was there at 16 we would have taken him!" And with only 6 picks, trading up would have been a terrible idea. The draft is such a dice-roll that having lots of picks is a big deal.

The WR talent was simply not worth taking at 16 with the top three gone. And let's face it, Flacco is not the kind of guy that can elevate a 3rd round WR to #1 receiver status. I like him, happy he's our QB, but he's not that guy.

Besides, I am not ready to write Perriman off as a bust. Last year was basically his rookie season, and he was still recovering from injury at the beginning of it. Plus we can hope that the injury bug won't hit the tight end crew so catastrophically. Ben Watson will be back, so will Crockett. And oh yeah - remember that 21 year old developmental guy we got in 2015? I'm not ready to call Maxx a bust either.

I am more worried about the RB position. Don't think West is the guy, and Dixon is out for 25% of the season. Who else is there??

[The Mom Gene]

2 hours ago, rmcjacket23 said:

4 hours ago, RavensBaltimore said:

  5 hours ago, robbie29 said:

  6 hours ago, sami said:

I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at how well our current bunch of WR's do. And for goodness sake, NO MORE BOLDIN. Hes gone, get over it.

Exactly. I'm not sure why this Boldin pipe dream keeps gaining more momentum.

Maybe it's because we have plenty of speed at WR, but we don't have a reliable, physical possession receiver, and Boldin happens to be just that. Also, Harbaugh expressed interest in bringing him back, Ozzie emphasized the need to add a possession receiver, and as of right now, there isn't anyone else out there on the market, so I don't know why you would think it's just a pipe dream.

The better question to be asking is why would Boldin want to come back to Baltimore?

Cuz Boldin and Flacco had a good relationship. AND Boldin is hanging out thee "until after the draft", before he makes a decision where he might go. He liked it here. I don't think he wanted to leave in the first place. He even said he would retire before playing elsewhere.  I wouldn't rule it out completely.  Like I said #81 just became available again.

[Adreme]

7 hours ago, fusuymada said:

The Boldin pipe dream comes from the fact that very few people believe our WR's will surprise anyone, and that based on who is out there, he is the best remaining (unless you want to take a chance on an oft injured Victor Cruz). It isn't so much a love affair as a last resort. I am in the group that thinks that we have seen the best of Perriman, Wallace is streaky, Chris Moore has shown nothing, Campanaro can't stay on the field, and neither can the majority of our tight ends who constitute the walking injured as far as I am concerned. Every TE has missed an entire year or multiple games, every single one, either injured or suspended. Other than Wallace, I don't see a reliable every down receiver on this team. Just my opinion.

How can you possibly be of the opinion that we have seen the best of a player when we have never seen him after the coaches have had a chance to work with him?  That operates under the assumption that players are uncoachable and none of there weaknesses can possibly be improved and if that is what you believe then why bother having coaches in the first place.

[catgirl54]

I would like to see a more balanced draft. We had an anemic offense last year, with lots of blame to go around. I don't see our RB situation as wonderful, and as for wide-outs, forget about it! Ozzie will always be Ozzie, Mr. Alabama, defense is everything. Disappointed.

[frozen joe flacco fan]

The only "surprise" of the offseason thus far is the failure to sign a possession receiver, though the offseason obviously isn't even close to being over yet.

Would point out that the FO has already stated publicly that they feel pretty good about internal options at RT and at ILB, and so fans need to start taking notice of this and understand that its simply not a realistic expectation to have 22 starting spots locked down in May.

Very easily may be August before we even know who is going to be starting at those positions, and those players may or may not even be on the roster at this point.

I also would point out something I've been telling you guys for months... don't expect wholesale changes in terms of acquisitions on the offensive side of the ball, mainly because its easily the youngest side of the ball.

We've got youth at WR, TE, RB, and in some ways OLine. In many ways, I think the FO's stance on the offense is simple... they've just got to play better. The defense had age issues at a lot of spots, and those seem to be addressed pretty well at this point.

You nailed it! The FO's stance on the offense is simple... they've just got to play better. That's so easy to say. I am sure OC Marty will be relieved to hear it. Let's see. He has Wallace, Waller, Moore, Perriman, Matthews, Campanero and now Woodhead. Of the entire bunch, only two have proven they are starters - Wallace and Woodhead. The others have some potential but that's the worse thing you can say about an athlete. I would like to see Q come back to Bmore for an encore but don't count on it after the way the FO treated him after the SB. Ask yourself why Waller is a WR and not a TE. Get Perriman to make the routine chain-moving catches a pro is supposed to make for his QB instead of an occasional circus catch. Keep Campanero healthy for a whole season. Good luck, Marty! If we go into the season with Wallace, Perriman and Moore as the top 3 WRs, you are in serious trouble unless you can get them to "just play better". But what the heck, it will give the Flacco doubters and detractors some more cannon fodder. Not drafting a WR in this draft is symptomatic of a FO in denial, delusion or delirium. That's what is simple. In fact, its so simple its offensive (pun intended).

[Ugly Ball]

I'm just glad they didnt draft a WR so I don't have to read some of you complaining about how JuJu was a reach in the second and we should have chosen a pass rusher. Suggs is tough as nails but he is nearing the end. We possibly have the heir to Sugg's throne now. No guarantees but if that happens with a second round pick I will be jumping for joy. Great draft by Ozzie. This year and last will go down as the offseasons that turned this team around. Bank on it. Or complain if that's your thing. 

I saw a post draft power ranking thar had the Ravens as the 22nd best team !
I can't wait to see our defense come out and crush 90% of the 21 teams they put ahead of us !
With a more dominant defense our offense will have more breathing room this year.
It's about time Baltimore got back to it's roots and stopped setting the bar at "trying to win the close ones"..! It's time to dominate ! Winning by knocking the will out of teams ! Like in the old days. Ugly Ball . . !

[20306cab]

  6 hours ago, ByTheBay said:

I'm just glad they didnt draft a WR so I don't have to read some of you complaining about how JuJu was a reach in the second and we should have chosen a pass rusher. Suggs is tough as nails but he is nearing the end. We possibly have the heir to Sugg's throne now. No guarantees but if that happens with a second round pick I will be jumping for joy. Great draft by Ozzie. This year and last will go down as the offseasons that turned this team around. Bank on it. Or complain if that's your thing. 

I saw a post draft power ranking thar had the Ravens as the 22nd best team !
I can't wait to see our defense come out and crush 90% of the 21 teams they put ahead of us !
With a more dominant defense our offense will have more breathing room this year.
It's about time Baltimore got back to it's roots and stopped setting the bar at "trying to win the close ones"..! It's time to dominate ! Winning by knocking the will out of teams ! Like in the old days. Ugly Ball . . !

You got that right. The Offense is gonna be UGLY.

[20306cab]

I would like to see a more balanced draft. We had an anemic offense last year, with lots of blame to go around. I don't see our RB situation as wonderful, and as for wide-outs, forget about it! Ozzie will always be Ozzie, Mr. Alabama, defense is everything. Disappointed.

Yeah, that vaunted Alabama D was really stout against Clemson, huh?

[bigcatfrank1]

2017 Draft = B-

On position and need based only
troubled positions;
No clear #1 Center
No clear third WR
No clear #1 RB games 1-4 (and even further)
No clear third ILB

Obviously Ranking the Draft is really not fair until mid-season.

Last years draft was clearly an A.

[sizzlingdoom]

Howard could've gone as early as 4, and is the best TE coming out I've ever seen.Future all pro no doubt. He falls to us, SO we take a corner that gave up 19+ yards a catch, on one of the best defenses of all time.
Ju Ju, a younger and more explosive version of Q falls to us in the second, what do we do? Take a raw pass rusher from Houston.
Sweet.............................................................. The rams offense will probably be better next year. Get with the times FO

[sizzlingdoom]

D

[sizzlingdoom]

  4 hours ago, Ugly Ball said:

  10 hours ago, ByTheBay said:

I'm just glad they didnt draft a WR so I don't have to read some of you complaining about how JuJu was a reach in the second and we should have chosen a pass rusher. Suggs is tough as nails but he is nearing the end. We possibly have the heir to Sugg's throne now. No guarantees but if that happens with a second round pick I will be jumping for joy. Great draft by Ozzie. This year and last will go down as the offseasons that turned this team around. Bank on it. Or complain if that's your thing. 

I saw a post draft power ranking thar had the Ravens as the 22nd best team !
I can't wait to see our defense come out and crush 90% of the 21 teams they put ahead of us !
With a more dominant defense our offense will have more breathing room this year.
It's about time Baltimore got back to it's roots and stopped setting the bar at "trying to win the close ones"..! It's time to dominate ! Winning by knocking the will out of teams ! Like in the old days. Ugly Ball . . !

You got that right. The Offense is gonna be UGLY.

I think we'll be lucky if we can even call it ugly LOL!
good thing we didn't draft Howard or Ju Ju..........JEEZ

[budman]

14 hours ago, Crusader said:

Budman you have a better chance on getting on this team than Boldin.

Well, I know they want me but I am not happy about the way we parted when they traded me. I was out of the country and found out about it on the news. But I'm still pondering, it might come down to $.

[Halshayeji]

17 hours ago, Tenacious Faulker said:

Two things not making this draft a slam dunk A is a questionable pick on a CB in rd 1 and no receivers. They can address receiver in free agency and Anquan Boldin is still out there, but at what price? Will he give them a hometown discount? With the signing of Brandon Car at CB it makes the Humphrey pick look capricious - a pure BPA pick. Being picked in rd1 means immediate contributor and JuJu Smith-Schuster could've been a nice 2nd rd pick and perfect for the slot position. I'm not complaining about Tyus Bowser in the least, but they better have a solution for fortifying the WR position.

Humphrey is a top teir corner that the Ravens won't get the chance to draft if we pick in the 20s. He's a blue chip cornerback that finally solves our biggest problem since our SB run. (Secondary depth when Jimmy gets hurt.) we didn't push or panic and thankfully got a top ten talent at 16. I'm not complaining. Even if Carr is the starter week one. Our secondary is officially one of the best and deepest in the NFL. 

All 3 top teir WRs were gone by 16 and I'm glad we didn't reach for anyone there. I do agree that Juju would have been a solid pick at 47. That was the only round imh that WR wouldn't have been a reach.

That said, I'm so looking forward to Bowser. Looks like the FO really loved this kid. They passed up on some really talented guys to take him.

Its all in hind sight now but if the FO knew they would land Williams at 78 then they probably would have gone WR with our second.

All in all, I love this draft! But this all means nothing unless we get a starting C and another quality WR. Michael Floyd and Eric Decker make a lot of sense. Mangold would grace us with his presence if he finally made up his mind and decides to finally chase a ring for once...

[Halshayeji]

4 hours ago, sizzlingdoom said:

Howard could've gone as early as 4, and is the best TE coming out I've ever seen.Future all pro no doubt. He falls to us, SO we take a corner that gave up 19+ yards a catch, on one of the best defenses of all time.
Ju Ju, a younger and more explosive version of Q falls to us in the second, what do we do? Take a raw pass rusher from Houston.
Sweet.............................................................. The rams offense will probably be better next year. Get with the times FO

Agree 100 percent that OJ is probably the best TE prospect iv also seen. Disagree that he wouldn't add much more productivity than we already have. He's not gonna get 1800 yards and 14 TDs. At least not this upcoming year.

Juju in the second would have been a perfect fit if our FO knew they could land Williams in the third then they probably would have taken Juju.

relax, we can't have it all. We have a top 5 D and we're not done on offense. Give me a healthy Gilmore along with Pitta playing primarily in the slot. Give me a solid Vet WR like decker and that basically offsets the pass on Juju. I am 100 percent sure that we will have another solid WR to compliment the two studs that we already have. 

Oline is what really concerns me. Our FO have the tendency to just roll the dice with young guys. I love me some Yanda and Stanley. I like Lewis, but I'd be holding my breath if we send a rookie C out there along with another rookie on the line. If Yanda gets banged up then this Oline could literally crumble...

We don't need to get with the times. Flacco is not and should not be a volume timing thrower. Get the run game going and that'll open up single coverage deep. That's where Flacco is dangerous.  

[Halshayeji]

7 hours ago, bigcatfrank1 said:

2017 Draft = B-

On position and need based only
troubled positions;
No clear #1 Center
No clear third WR
No clear #1 RB games 1-4 (and even further)
No clear third ILB

Obviously Ranking the Draft is really not fair until mid-season.

Last years draft was clearly an A.

That's harsh.

there was no clear C in this class to start with so why reach? That should be addressed in FA or trade ASAP.

no clear third WR. Well you said it, a starting pass rusher is much more important and expensive if we don't draft one. That doesn't mean we just ignore I the position after the draft.

no clear #1 RB.... I agree 100 percent. Dixon showed a lot of promise but potential means nothing if he can't stay on the damn field! Just thinking outside of the box here but would the Titans trade away one of their RBs?

what do you mean by third ILB? 

[Crusader]

Can you grade this draft class? Really? heck were still out on 2016 class. This will be Perriman 3rd year what grade can you give him? Maybe by game 8 you can grade. If they are going to show anything they better by then.

[rmcjacket23]

  15 hours ago, rmcjacket23 said:

  17 hours ago, RavensBaltimore said:

  20 hours ago, robbie29 said:

  21 hours ago, sami said:

I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at how well our current bunch of WR's do. And for goodness sake, NO MORE BOLDIN. Hes gone, get over it.

Exactly. I'm not sure why this Boldin pipe dream keeps gaining more momentum.

Maybe it's because we have plenty of speed at WR, but we don't have a reliable, physical possession receiver, and Boldin happens to be just that. Also, Harbaugh expressed interest in bringing him back, Ozzie emphasized the need to add a possession receiver, and as of right now, there isn't anyone else out there on the market, so I don't know why you would think it's just a pipe dream.

The better question to be asking is why would Boldin want to come back to Baltimore?

Cuz Boldin and Flacco had a good relationship. AND Boldin is hanging out thee "until after the draft", before he makes a decision where he might go. He liked it here. I don't think he wanted to leave in the first place. He even said he would retire before playing elsewhere.  I wouldn't rule it out completely.  Like I said #81 just became available again.

Or he could just resign with Detroit, who also wants him back. All indications so far is that's precisely what will happen.

We're not the only team looking for a veteran chain mover, and there are several of them that can pitch the "come here and compete to win a SB" concept better than the Ravens can at this point.

[sizzlingdoom]

  5 hours ago, sizzlingdoom said:

Howard could've gone as early as 4, and is the best TE coming out I've ever seen.Future all pro no doubt. He falls to us, SO we take a corner that gave up 19+ yards a catch, on one of the best defenses of all time.
Ju Ju, a younger and more explosive version of Q falls to us in the second, what do we do? Take a raw pass rusher from Houston.
Sweet.............................................................. The rams offense will probably be better next year. Get with the times FO

Agree 100 percent that OJ is probably the best TE prospect iv also seen. Disagree that he wouldn't add much more productivity than we already have. He's not gonna get 1800 yards and 14 TDs. At least not this upcoming year.

Juju in the second would have been a perfect fit if our FO knew they could land Williams in the third then they probably would have taken Juju.

relax, we can't have it all. We have a top 5 D and we're not done on offense. Give me a healthy Gilmore along with Pitta playing primarily in the slot. Give me a solid Vet WR like decker and that basically offsets the pass on Juju. I am 100 percent sure that we will have another solid WR to compliment the two studs that we already have. 

Oline is what really concerns me. Our FO have the tendency to just roll the dice with young guys. I love me some Yanda and Stanley. I like Lewis, but I'd be holding my breath if we send a rookie C out there along with another rookie on the line. If Yanda gets banged up then this Oline could literally crumble...

We don't need to get with the times. Flacco is not and should not be a volume timing thrower. Get the run game going and that'll open up single coverage deep. That's where Flacco is dangerous.  

I hear ya, but what run game? Dixon is out 25% of the year, and unless we sign Mangold, we'll basically have 3 rookies on the oline.
Unless we make another couple additions to the offense, we'll probably have a bottom 5 offense.
Adding Mangold and Decker would go a long ways. Charles would be great if he's healthy.
We're running out of time now though, we're not the only ones looking for quality players