State Of The Ravens

[PurpleClawsOfFURY]

Ok so everyones minds are so seperated with Trade talks and possible drafties. I wanted to take a second to analyze how our team is right now.

So here are some key facts of the Ravens.

=We are so much younger on all sides of the ball with the additions/emergences of Flacco, McClain, Gaither, Grubbs, Rice, Ngata, Suggs, Foxworth, Washington, and the much needed depth behind the starters.

=We have experienced and great leaders in Mason, Lewis, Reed, and Birk.

=Kelly Gregg, Dawan Landry, Willis McGahee, Derrick Mason, Ed Reed, Todd Heap and Samari Rolle should all be dramaticly healthier this year.

=Mark Clayton and Justin Bannan showed signs of promise last year. (Bannan more consistant)

=Speaking of promise, Ray Rice - Jameel McClain, and the combat twins show a lot of potential.

=Ozzie has silently had a great offseason,
-Cam got extra weapon in LJ that he is excited about.
-With the addition of a blazing fast Foxworth paired with Washington, there speed is forgiving for mistakes they make. This will free up our resident hall of famer Ed Reed.
-We lost Jason Brown but we got better at the position short term with all pro baltimore native center Matt Birk. He, Gaither, and Grubbs will solidify the line.
-We lose product of our enviroment linebackers all the time, Bart Scott is no different. With all the hype around Tavaris Gooden i'm excited to see what our fastest linebacker can do with Lewis.
-Chris Carr might be my favorite addition souly because Yamon Figurs, who i had high hopes for, completly went away from the teams mentality and went towards the girly side.
- We lost Ivy, Rolle, and McCalister. We ended up with a young defensive back group but we had no experience. Rolle came back and he will definetly be 4 times the nickleback Ivy is.


Negatives/

Sophmore slump for Flacco.
If we draft a wide out he probably won't produce.
We don't know how Dawan Landry or Kelly Gregg will recover.
We've lost leaders like Anderson, Neal, Brown, and Scott.
I don't think Ray Lewis was good last year and i think he'll be worse last year without Scott taking on all his blocks.
Matt Stover is gone.


Overall Grades for next years team
QB - C ( He was good not great last year remember he's still inexperienced and might have a sophmore slump.)
RB - A ( Compared to other teams McClain, Rice, and a revamped McGahee seems pretty good to me)
WR - D ( Mason is unhappy, Clayton is still getting better, Williams keeps getting injured but the draft and trades are coming up)
TE - C (LJ Smith a passing threat along with Heap will be big targets for Flacco. But both are injury Prone.)
T - C ( Gaither is a absolute great left tackle, right tackle is a different story. Adam Terry/ or David Hale? maybe resign Anderson? or the draft?)
G - C ( Grubbs, Chester, Yanda, and Johnson are solid but not great.)
C - B ( Birk is great but has some age, Great leader at a spot that should be a leader)

NT - B (I'm guessing Bannan and Gregg will rotate in the middle)
DE B ( Ngata is amazing and could be a HOF if he steps up his game a little more/ Pryce is very old and losing his bull rush.) A - C = B lol
OLB - B (Johnson is a workhorse, Suggs is a playmaker, McClain and Barnes are the pass rushers we need (we face the colts and patriots this year)
ILB - C (Lewis is one of the best but i don't think he had a probowl year last year he's losing a step and a tackle. How will his partner Gooden do.)
CB - B (SPEED, Washington and Foxworth can man the edges pretty well, Rolle is a excellent Nickle, Martin and Carr are good Dimes.
S - A (Reed is the best ever. He is in his prime and better from his neck injury, if we get Landry back he is a solid SS. But if not Nak and Zibby will pick up fast)

Offense - C
Defense - B
Special Teams - B
Coaching - A

Overall B+.... A- on a good day.

[Alexir]

I wouldn't call Brown or Scott leaders by any means.

as for Ray not being productive last year, I can name only one game where he didn't play that well and that was against the Giants. Give me some examples to help jog my memory.

[Alexandra]

When did we lose Anderson or are you talking about someone other then Willie

[codizzle]

[quote name='Alexandra' post='182135' date='Apr 19 2009, 10:39 PM']When did we lose Anderson or are you talking about someone other then Willie[/quote]
he's just mistaken. we still have willie. just a lot people on here have gave examples of offseason moves which include cutting him to make cap room

[BloodRaven]

[quote name='PurpleClawsOfFURY' post='182099' date='Apr 19 2009, 10:56 PM']Ok so everyones minds are so seperated with Trade talks and possible drafties. I wanted to take a second to analyze how our team is right now.

So here are some key facts of the Ravens.

=We are so much younger on all sides of the ball with the additions/emergences of Flacco, McClain, Gaither, Grubbs, Rice, Ngata, Suggs, Foxworth, Washington, and the much needed depth behind the starters.

=We have experienced and great leaders in Mason, Lewis, Reed, and Birk.

=Kelly Gregg, Dawan Landry, Willis McGahee, Derrick Mason, Ed Reed, Todd Heap and Samari Rolle should all be dramaticly healthier this year.

=Mark Clayton and Justin Bannan showed signs of promise last year. (Bannan more consistant)

=Speaking of promise, Ray Rice - Jameel McClain, and the combat twins show a lot of potential.

=Ozzie has silently had a great offseason,
-Cam got extra weapon in LJ that he is excited about.
-With the addition of a blazing fast Foxworth paired with Washington, there speed is forgiving for mistakes they make. This will free up our resident hall of famer Ed Reed.
-We lost Jason Brown but we got better at the position short term with all pro baltimore native center Matt Birk. He, Gaither, and Grubbs will solidify the line.
-We lose product of our enviroment linebackers all the time, Bart Scott is no different. With all the hype around Tavaris Gooden i'm excited to see what our fastest linebacker can do with Lewis.
-Chris Carr might be my favorite addition souly because Yamon Figurs, who i had high hopes for, completly went away from the teams mentality and went towards the girly side.
- We lost Ivy, Rolle, and McCalister. We ended up with a young defensive back group but we had no experience. Rolle came back and he will definetly be 4 times the nickleback Ivy is.


Negatives/

Sophmore slump for Flacco.
If we draft a wide out he probably won't produce.
We don't know how Dawan Landry or Kelly Gregg will recover.
We've lost leaders like Anderson, Neal, Brown, and Scott.
I don't think Ray Lewis was good last year and i think he'll be worse last year without Scott taking on all his blocks.
Matt Stover is gone.


Overall Grades for next years team
QB - C ( He was good not great last year remember he's still inexperienced and might have a sophmore slump.)
RB - A ( Compared to other teams McClain, Rice, and a revamped McGahee seems pretty good to me)
WR - D ( Mason is unhappy, Clayton is still getting better, Williams keeps getting injured but the draft and trades are coming up)
TE - C (LJ Smith a passing threat along with Heap will be big targets for Flacco. But both are injury Prone.)
T - C ( Gaither is a absolute great left tackle, right tackle is a different story. Adam Terry/ or David Hale? maybe resign Anderson? or the draft?)
G - C ( Grubbs, Chester, Yanda, and Johnson are solid but not great.)
C - B ( Birk is great but has some age, Great leader at a spot that should be a leader)

NT - B (I'm guessing Bannan and Gregg will rotate in the middle)
DE B ( Ngata is amazing and could be a HOF if he steps up his game a little more/ Pryce is very old and losing his bull rush.) A - C = B lol
OLB - B (Johnson is a workhorse, Suggs is a playmaker, McClain and Barnes are the pass rushers we need (we face the colts and patriots this year)
[b]ILB - C (Lewis is one of the best but i don't think he had a probowl year last year he's losing a step and a tackle. How will his partner Gooden do.) [/b]
CB - B (SPEED, Washington and Foxworth can man the edges pretty well, Rolle is a excellent Nickle, Martin and Carr are good Dimes.
S - A (Reed is the best ever. He is in his prime and better from his neck injury, if we get Landry back he is a solid SS. But if not Nak and Zibby will pick up fast)

Offense - C
Defense - B
Special Teams - B
Coaching - A

Overall B+.... A- on a good day.[/quote]


This defies logic, Ray Lewis was the [b]concensus #1 All-pro middle linebacker,[/b] he got more votes than Harrison did at OLB. He was the starter for the AFC in the pro-bowl.

He wasnt as good in 07-08, but this year he was the best MLB in the NFL. How do you give him a C?

[Ravens52]

RAY WASN'T GOOD LAST YEAR?


lol ok

[Ravenoid]

[quote name='Ravens52' post='182146' date='Apr 19 2009, 11:46 PM']RAY WASN'T GOOD LAST YEAR?


lol ok[/quote]
I agree! He was the only defender we had last season that was knocking people out!!

[Reddawn36]

uhm... i think we still have rolle... unless i misread you i thought it said we had lost him... but i swear we resigned him

[codizzle]

[quote name='Reddawn36' post='182151' date='Apr 19 2009, 10:49 PM']uhm... i think we still have rolle... unless i misread you i thought it said we had lost him... but i swear we resigned him[/quote]
correcto for 1000 points

[McBoller]

Im gonna have to correct you on one small thing. Matt Birk is from Minnesota, not Baltimore

[McBoller]

one more thing, but this is probably just semantics and sometimes i like being really particular ...How can you say Gaither, Birk, and Grubbs will solidify the line when Gaither and Grubbs were there all last year? By saying "they will solidify" you are suggesting that by addition they will improve performance. This makes sense for Birk since he's new, but not for Grubby and Gaither. I think it may have been better to say "The 3 of them will keep the line solid."

*anal retentive rant off*

[PurpleClawsOfFURY]

Jesus you guys are anal.

I know we have Rolle back its in that post..
Birk is a baltimore native.
Gaither Grubbs and Birk make our line solid. not like there additions...
Ray Lewis made a couple big hits and what not but he constantly missed tackles and coulnt get off blocks last year.

[McBoller]

[quote name='PurpleClawsOfFURY' post='182335' date='Apr 20 2009, 03:42 PM']Jesus you guys are anal.

I know we have Rolle back its in that post..
Birk is a baltimore native.
Gaither Grubbs and Birk make our line solid. not like there additions...
Ray Lewis made a couple big hits and what not but he constantly missed tackles and coulnt get off blocks last year.[/quote]
Dude, you must be thinking of a different Matt Birk
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Birk"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Birk[/url]

Born in St Paul, went to school in MN, graduated from Harvard, played in minnesota for 11 years. I just heard him on the radio the other day talking about getting used to steamed crabs and crab cakes versus the fish hes used to in MN.

[3Zach21]

[quote name='PurpleClawsOfFURY' post='182099' date='Apr 19 2009, 10:56 PM']Ok so everyones minds are so seperated with Trade talks and possible drafties. I wanted to take a second to analyze how our team is right now.

So here are some key facts of the Ravens.

=We are so much younger on all sides of the ball with the additions/emergences of Flacco, McClain, Gaither, Grubbs, Rice, Ngata, Suggs, Foxworth, Washington, and the much needed depth behind the starters.

=We have experienced and great leaders in Mason, Lewis, Reed, and Birk.

=Kelly Gregg, Dawan Landry, Willis McGahee, Derrick Mason, Ed Reed, Todd Heap and Samari Rolle should all be dramaticly healthier this year.

=Mark Clayton and Justin Bannan showed signs of promise last year. (Bannan more consistant)

=Speaking of promise, Ray Rice - Jameel McClain, and the combat twins show a lot of potential.

=Ozzie has silently had a great offseason,
-Cam got extra weapon in LJ that he is excited about.
-With the addition of a blazing fast Foxworth paired with Washington, there speed is forgiving for mistakes they make. This will free up our resident hall of famer Ed Reed.
-We lost Jason Brown but we got better at the position short term with all pro baltimore native center Matt Birk. He, Gaither, and Grubbs will solidify the line.
-We lose product of our enviroment linebackers all the time, Bart Scott is no different. With all the hype around Tavaris Gooden i'm excited to see what our fastest linebacker can do with Lewis.
-Chris Carr might be my favorite addition souly because Yamon Figurs, who i had high hopes for, completly went away from the teams mentality and went towards the girly side.
- We lost Ivy, Rolle, and McCalister. We ended up with a young defensive back group but we had no experience. Rolle came back and he will definetly be 4 times the nickleback Ivy is.


Negatives/

Sophmore slump for Flacco.
If we draft a wide out he probably won't produce.
We don't know how Dawan Landry or Kelly Gregg will recover.
We've lost leaders like Anderson, Neal, Brown, and Scott.
I don't think Ray Lewis was good last year and i think he'll be worse last year without Scott taking on all his blocks.
Matt Stover is gone.


Overall Grades for next years team
QB - C ( He was good not great last year remember he's still inexperienced and might have a sophmore slump.)
RB - A ( Compared to other teams McClain, Rice, and a revamped McGahee seems pretty good to me)
WR - D ( Mason is unhappy, Clayton is still getting better, Williams keeps getting injured but the draft and trades are coming up)
TE - C (LJ Smith a passing threat along with Heap will be big targets for Flacco. But both are injury Prone.)
T - C ( Gaither is a absolute great left tackle, right tackle is a different story. Adam Terry/ or David Hale? maybe resign Anderson? or the draft?)
G - C ( Grubbs, Chester, Yanda, and Johnson are solid but not great.)
C - B ( Birk is great but has some age, Great leader at a spot that should be a leader)

NT - B (I'm guessing Bannan and Gregg will rotate in the middle)
DE B ( Ngata is amazing and could be a HOF if he steps up his game a little more/ Pryce is very old and losing his bull rush.) A - C = B lol
OLB - B (Johnson is a workhorse, Suggs is a playmaker, McClain and Barnes are the pass rushers we need (we face the colts and patriots this year)
ILB - C ([b]Lewis is one of the best but i don't think he had a probowl year last year he's losing a step and a tackle. [/b]How will his partner Gooden do.)
CB - B (SPEED, Washington and Foxworth can man the edges pretty well, Rolle is a excellent Nickle, Martin and Carr are good Dimes.
S - A (Reed is the best ever. He is in his prime and better from his neck injury, if we get Landry back he is a solid SS. But if not Nak and Zibby will pick up fast)

Offense - C
Defense - B
Special Teams - B
Coaching - A

Overall B+.... A- on a good day.[/quote]

yada yada yada yada yada lol

[purple52-92-20pain]

[quote name='McBoller' post='182341' date='Apr 20 2009, 03:50 PM']Dude, you must be thinking of a different Matt Birk
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Birk"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Birk[/url]

Born in St Paul, went to school in MN, graduated from Harvard, played in minnesota for 11 years. I just heard him on the radio the other day talking about getting used to steamed crabs and crab cakes versus the fish hes used to in MN.[/quote]

Wikipedia info can be changed by anybody it's probably wrong.

[McBoller]

[url="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ross_tucker/04/10/mail/index.html"]http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writ...mail/index.html[/url]

pay particular attention to the fourth paragraph - "He was born and raised in St. Paul. I know he is energized by opportunity in Baltimore..."

that is all...

[Ngata Chance]

Ray Lewis has 117 tackles, 85 of which are solo. Ranks 16th in the league during regular season, and 2nd in the post season, and nummy here thinks he had a bad year.

Riiiiiiiight.

[Reed The D]

[quote]Wikipedia info can be changed by anybody it's probably wrong.[/quote]
hahaha

there's no way they move Ngata out of NT after the year he had
hes 336 pounds to greggs 305

Ray Lewis played in a 3-4 last season which lead to less tackles then in a 3-4
and he still racked 117 up
didnt he knock Mendenhall out for the year?
so many times he was knocking RB's back hes not declining thats forsure

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='Ngata Chance' post='182392' date='Apr 20 2009, 04:42 PM']Ray Lewis has 117 tackles, 85 of which are solo. Ranks 16th in the league during regular season, and 2nd in the post season, and nummy here thinks he had a bad year.

Riiiiiiiight.[/quote]

The guy didn't say Ray had a bad year. I think Ray had a Pro Bowl but to some, it could be debatable.

[RoflDogs]

Kelly's weight is prolly around 330 ish....

plus I think this is a VERY pessimistic view of our team IMO, we aint that bad...

Plus, you guys don't realize that Rex hid Ray's flaws by using him in mostly run situations, making him a usual 2 down LB (with scott patrolling the field during 3rd downs, prolly in the Nickle)

[hallmark]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' post='182457' date='Apr 20 2009, 06:06 PM']The guy didn't say Ray had a bad year. I think Ray had a Pro Bowl but to some, it could be debatable.[/quote]

What did you think the OP meant when he said "I don't think Ray Lewis was good last year..."

I guess it all depends one's definition of "good".

[McBoller]

woooooooow...I post the truth and everyone ignores it. I dont believe Im the only one that knows Birk is from MN.

[MagicianCamille]

Birk is from Minnesota.

I believe Foxworth is the Baltimore native that we acquired.

Ray Lewis was very good last year.

[kash96ravenstotalfan]

[quote name='PurpleClawsOfFURY' post='182335' date='Apr 20 2009, 03:42 PM']Jesus you guys are anal.

I know we have Rolle back its in that post..
Birk is a baltimore native.
Gaither Grubbs and Birk make our line solid. not like there additions...
Ray Lewis made a couple big hits and what not but he constantly missed tackles and coulnt get off blocks last year.[/quote]
You're the one that is being anal. Think you should have checked Ray's stats last year before you made your uninformed statement about him

[McBoller]

[quote name='MagicianCamille' post='182707' date='Apr 21 2009, 05:22 PM']Birk is from Minnesota.

I believe Foxworth is the Baltimore native that we acquired.

Ray Lewis was very good last year.[/quote]
I wouldnt say foxworth is from Baltimore per se...but he is from MD. That may have been the confusion with Birk and foxworth as to who was from MD.

[Alexir]

I still want examples of Ray missing tackles besides the Giants game.

[neepo13]

[quote name='PurpleClawsOfFURY' post='182335' date='Apr 20 2009, 03:42 PM']Jesus you guys are anal.

I know we have Rolle back its in that post..
[b]Birk is a baltimore native. [/b]
Gaither Grubbs and Birk make our line solid. not like there additions...
Ray Lewis made a couple big hits and what not but he constantly missed tackles and coulnt get off blocks last year.[/quote]

Foxworth is the baltimore native.