Grade The Ravens Draft

[futurerRaven]

ok so now we kno out of the firts three picks since 2002 7 have been lineman and rb out of 12 players now atleast 2 were qb's and at least 2 were wr's who were busts

so now again i state this ozzie neglects the offense

[flynismo]

[quote name='Ravnet' post='187183' date='Apr 26 2009, 10:00 PM']Someone please point out who should have been drafted in place of Kruger?[/quote]

The only guy I liked better than Kruger was Jarron Gilbert. But I think Kruger was the safer pick of the two, while Gilbert has a higher ceiling but bigger chance to bust out.

[jezzy]

[quote name='theFRANCHISE' post='186985' date='Apr 26 2009, 04:59 PM']In Week 4, the Ravens dominated the Steelers for 3 quarters by running the ball. In Week 15, the Ravens kept pace with the Steelers by running the ball. In the AFC Title game, the Ravens kept it close with the Steelers despite never breaking away, by running the ball.

The ground attack is the team's bread-and-butter. Sure, an extra dimension to the passing game would be nice, but there's ways to substitute the lack of a true #1 receiver. This is where the creativity of Cam Cameron comes into play, in using the tight ends on more passing routes (which Michael Oher allows us to do), as well as incorporating more receivers out of the backfield (whether they be running backs or actual receivers).

You don't beat a smashmouth team like the Steelers with finesse; you fight fire with fire and beat them by punching them in the mouth. That's how the Ravens have done it before, and that's how the Ravens will continue to do it. You can't play a physical, defensive team like the Steelers with a high-powered aerial attack and assume it's a win.

The Cardinals struggled against the Steelers in the Super Bowl until the 4th quarter because they tried to force the pass when it wasn't there. The Eagles struggled (yet beat) the Steelers earlier in the season because they forced the pass. Pass-first teams cannot beat a defensive team unless they outsmart the scheme -- and there is no outsmarting Dick LeBeau, no matter what we hope Cam Cameron can do.[/quote]you fight fire with fire u said it every game last year pitt beat us it wasnt willie parker smashing the ball down our throat it was big ben tourching our secondary with wr making third down conversions it was big ben throwing td to holmes to win the game at home it was holmes who scored that td in the playoffs so how do we fight fire with fire bra when are wr are cold as ice so watch what u say cuz everyone here knows the ravens blew the chance to get a wr who will actually draw attention and keep defenses honest so troy harrison timmons n just trying to kill joe

[52Kia Kaha92]

Micheal Oher - A+
We get Flacco a moster at RT and are building him a great wall, great value at 23 as he was my 3rd rated OT and in my top 10 players, love this pick

Paul Kruger - A-
Kruger is a guy that i love, great awarness and just doenst stop the motor, always in the quaterbacks face and just seems to make plays, will be a rush linebacker for this year and then be Trevor Pryces replacement next season, builds great depth on the defensive line

Ladarius Webb - B
Although i think we should of traded down and got a guy like Coye Francies who is a physical and big guy im still happy with Webb, he reminds me a lot of Asante Samuel, whenever he is on the field he makes play, great player and solid pick

Jason Phillips - A+++++++++++
Okay so IMO this has got to be the steal of the draft, i dont car about Maualuga or any one else, this is the steal of the draft, Phillips will start day one and be a great ILB for us, the smartest player in college football and will onlg get smarter next to Ray Lewis, with Phillips playing the thumper role it allows us to only use gooden when ray is out of the game so Gooden doesnt damage his 230 pounds as a thumper, an IBL core of Phillips and Gooden in a few years excites me, i love this pick alot

Davone Drew - B-

Good overall player, although i would have prefered Ingram or James Casey i think he is an okay player, great hands from what i have read and a reliable blocker, i trust the scouts with this one

Cedric Peerman - A
Many people who follow coolege football closey and scout player believe he is the Next MJD, the guy is electric and will be a great compliment back for us, i could see this as a move that means ARI is interested in Ray Rice so we send them our 2nd next year, Todd Heap and Ray Rice for Boldin but thats just speculation, would of prefered a WR here like Gibson but i love the pick

Overall - A
I am just pissed we didnt get Cornelius Lewis, Jason Watkins, Jamarko Simmons, Kevin ogletree, Chris Baker, Frantz Joseph, Darnell Ellerbe or Domonique Johnson

Great pick up in Gano BTW aswell, he will be our next Kicker

[AlaskanRavensFan]

I think that one thing to keep in mind was that this draft was supposed to be very weak and that next year's is predicted to be much stronger. That is why the Pats traded all the way out of the first round, according to Mike Mayock.

If we have been able to turn late rounders like AD, Bart Scott (undrafted), JJ, Gregg, Bannan, and others into solid defensive players, then why can't we start to do that with our offensive players.

Just because we don't have any guys that we know for a fact will turn out to be good at WR doesn't mean that the staff in Bmore doesn't.

I don't think anyone saw LeRon McClain being as productive running the ball as he was this year. Nor did anyone think that Leonard or Barnes or Jameel McClain would do what they did.

We can't assume that drafting a WR early will guarantee a solid #1 (Mayock said that Nicks and Britt were not #1's anyways)

If any of the guys (Smith, D. Williams, Clayton, Wheelright, Harper, Ed Williams, Maxwell, Figurs) turn out to be a solid #2 then we will be fine.

Let's not forget that players like Brandon Marshall, Lance Moore (had 928, 10 tds), Houshmandzadeh, and Greg Jennings were either drafted late or not at all.

If you compare our recievers to pittsburgh here's how it shakes out

Ward 81 rec., 1,043 yards 7 tds

Mason 80 rec., 1,037 yards 5 tds

Holmes 55 rec., 821 yards 5 tds

Clayton 41 rec., 695 yards 3 tds.

It's not that different especially when you also consider that we threw it 41 less times than the steelers and we had a rookie quarterback. So if they can win with numbers similar to what we had last year, then we can too.

[AlaskanRavensFan]

sorry that was off-topic, but i'm just so tired of hearing WR talk that I had to say something and at least present this.

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='jezzy' post='187319' date='Apr 27 2009, 12:23 AM']you fight fire with fire u said it every game last year pitt beat us it wasnt willie parker smashing the ball down our throat it was big ben tourching our secondary with wr making third down conversions it was big ben throwing td to holmes to win the game at home it was holmes who scored that td in the playoffs so how do we fight fire with fire bra when are wr are cold as ice so watch what u say cuz everyone here knows the ravens blew the chance to get a wr who will actually draw attention and keep defenses honest so troy harrison timmons n just trying to kill joe[/quote]
When I said fight fire with fire, I was referring to the Ravens' smashmouth offense vs. the Steelers' smashmouth defense.

Big Ben didn't torch anyone, when it was poor tackling that led to massive yards after the catch. Most of Ben's gains through the air were made on short passes that happened after he improvised to keep the play alive. Those passes never would've been thrown or completed if the pass rush had done its job and taken him down when they literally had their hands on him.

[raylewislapsu]

I'm good with Oher and Kruger in the first two rounds but we should have drafted either Patrick Turner or Jared Cook in the 3rd round instead of Webb. Both are physical specimens that make plays with good hands and high ceilings. What frustrates me is that besides Oher every pick we made this draft is a 3 year project, and we are super bowl ready now. I feel like there is no sense of urgency to get our pass game going. Do you think that the Giants win it without Burress or the Steelers win without Holmes? I know that both have great defenses but it has been proven year in and year out that you have to play great D to win superbowls. We have a great defense but no go to receiver, which is essential for fourth quarter comebacks. We would have two different superbowl champions over the past two years had it not been for 4th quarter TD passes to go to elite receivers. We lost to Pittburgh at home because of a Holmes TD in the final seconds. If we do go with either Turner or Cook in 3rd round then go with Phillips and Macho Harris in the 5th instead of Drew to address ILB and corner. Harris has size and is a ball hawk not to mention a hard hitter. I was just disappointed with nearly every pick this year, it reminds me of the 2004 draft that tanked.

[20ravens52]

Oher - [b]A[/b] stud that will only get better with proper coaching.

Kruger - [b]A-[/b] High motor...and physicality. He will get faster and stronger this year being he is nearing a full recovery after his stabbing incident.

Webb - [b]B+[/b] Not a big guy, but plays big and is versatile...can you say another possible jim leonhard?

Philips - [b]A+[/b] Love this pick this late. Fast, aggressive, great instincts in pass coverage for a ILB.

Drew - [b]B[/b] Good blocking TE, too free up are receiving TE's, but has decent hands as well.

Peerman - [b]B+[/b] Very good last pick, Fast and strong RB. The biggest concern is his hand size. 8 inches

Overall- [b]A-[/b]

[DocMartin]

Not bad, but I'm dissapointed that we didn't draft WIDE RECEIVER.
Why not? That's what we all talked about since the end of the last season,
and quess what? Nothing happened. When Ravens move up from 26th to 23rd,
and gave up 5th rounder, I thought we were going after WR, right? Nope.
We got OT Oher, which is good OT, but, maybe we could of gotten WR Kenny Britt?
So, I'm hoping, maybe 2nd round, and boom, we get DE Kruger, good DE, but look
at Cleveland, they got themselves 2 very good WR's already?!!! I'm sure we would like to
have one, so then maybe we get someone later, right? Wrong. We got nobody!!!
Why we didn't get one in 3rd, 4th or 5th round, I will never know. Maybe Demetrius get healthy,
or they put Wheelwright as 3rd receiver, but who knows. Maybe we should get Braylon Edwards,
since Cleveland has 3 or 4 WR's now !?
We did get some very good players in other positions
Based on that, my grade is : C-

[DocMartin]

[quote name='futurerRaven' post='186977' date='Apr 26 2009, 05:52 PM']it doesnt matter if were a run first team we need ppl who can keep defenses honest look at the steelers as much as we hate them santonio "handstonio" holmes keeps us honest because he can take the top off of our defense hines ward can keep us honest cuz he can get down field and make a key catch on third downs we need that he doesnt have to be superman but he has to be able to be a threat our guys now arent scaring anyone at all they should be moved to db cuz they tackle better than they catch we have a #2 guy as our #1 and 2 #3 guys as our number 2 guys we have bad recievers thats it they are good in spurts not every week no matter what you say the facts are the facts we dont have a number 1 guy[/quote]


Finally someone, who knows something !!! Bottom Line is, our WR's don't scary anybody's defense !!! And how many times we talked
about our need of tall WR, who can catch the balls in the endzone? How many times we settle for field goals instead of scoring touchdowns? Ravens aquired ofensive weapons this year: TE L.J. Smith and K Hauschka, !!!??? And we lost Stover and Wilcox.
So, now, does this makes our team any better? No, not really. There is still one piece missing in the puzzle and that is
EXPLOSIVE WIDE RECEIVER, just get one.

[Pääjärvi]

Oher: Did you hear his story ? That book will be a best-seller and the movie will win several awards. A!
Kruger: that's the most awesome name , how can you fail with a name like this ? A!
Webb: He loves Ed Reed, He wants to meet Ed Reed , He will love to carry Ed Reed on his back after the practice..and that means a well rested ready to roll Ed Reed ! A !
Jason Phillips: You can't go wrong with the most american name lol .) A!
Davon Drew: Big , strong , phyiscal kid , high character ! A !
Peerman: The guy will pray for the wins and for Ed Reed int's ! A !


Love the draft:)

[Slim]

Oher : A+
Kruger : B
Webb : B+
Phillips : B+
Drew : C
Peerman : B+

[funky141]

[quote]Finally someone, who knows something !!! Bottom Line is, our WR's don't scary anybody's defense !!! And how many times we talked
about our need of tall WR, who can catch the balls in the endzone? How many times we settle for field goals instead of scoring touchdowns? Ravens aquired ofensive weapons this year: TE L.J. Smith and K Hauschka, !!!??? And we lost Stover and Wilcox.
So, now, does this makes our team any better? No, not really. There is still one piece missing in the puzzle and that is
EXPLOSIVE WIDE RECEIVER, just get one.[/quote]

Nail Head Hit....

Ravens need that home run threat..that #1..that special player...

[Troy SmiTH Xx]

[quote name='funky141' post='187404' date='Apr 27 2009, 08:31 AM']Nail Head Hit....

Ravens need that home run threat..that #1..that special player...[/quote]


Al Gore?

[AlaskanRavensFan]

[quote name='funky141' post='187404' date='Apr 27 2009, 05:31 AM']Nail Head Hit....

Ravens need that home run threat..that #1..that special player...[/quote]

I hear what you're saying, but I'm not sure that after Maclin and Harvin were gone that there were any of those left. If you're asking for speed or quickness then we have a very fast (figurs) and a very quick (clayton) as well as height D. Williams 6'2'', Harper 6'4'', Wheelright 6'5''

It would have been nice to get a playmaker like Crabtree, a speedster like DHB, Maclin or Harvin (perhaps despite his foolishness in failing the drug test for the combine) but they weren't there at our pick.

So ozzie and crew must have seen Oher there and said, let's protect Joe and then see what our WR's can do this year when Joe has more time and more experience under his belt.

I wouldn't have minded seeing us pick up someone in the second at WR, but whoever that was probably wouldn't have even started.

[funky141]

[quote]I hear what you're saying, but I'm not sure that after Maclin and Harvin were gone that there were any of those left. If you're asking for speed or quickness then we have a very fast (figurs) and a very quick (clayton) as well as height D. Williams 6'2'', Harper 6'4'', Wheelright 6'5''

It would have been nice to get a playmaker like Crabtree, a speedster like DHB, Maclin or Harvin (perhaps despite his foolishness in failing the drug test for the combine) but they weren't there at our pick.

So ozzie and crew must have seen Oher there and said, let's protect Joe and then see what our WR's can do this year when Joe has more time and more experience under his belt.

I wouldn't have minded seeing us pick up someone in the second at WR, but whoever that was probably wouldn't have even started.[/quote]

I like the Oher as the Ravens first pick, solid linemen and should let the TE get down the field more. I just wish they would drafted a WR after that.

[AlaskanRavensFan]

Robiskie would have been a nice addition, but i'm hoping that ozzie still has something up his sleeve. May not be the Boldin or Edwards trade that many are screaming for, but there may be some other guys that were not up for trade earlier but are now after the draft. We'll see.

[theGoldenArm]

honestly I thought the draft was terrible on our side of the fence. just my opinion though. reason being i think we drafted what we already had. In other words, if we needed a WR we obviously didnt get one and the picks to trade for Boldin are now long gone. Don't get me wrong the players we drafted are great, but my point is that its not exactly what we needed.

so, for the long haul and future of the team: A

for this season and immediate improvement: D-

[Reddawn36]

look up eron riley...... the kid is pretty big (looks that way on the tape) and i believe he ran as good of a 40 as DHB


we got him as an UDFA

but believe me this draft may have you look at it now and be like uhhhhh but the picks we made were almost all the right choices

however im not going to lie we probably would have gotten a WR in the 3rd round but there was a pretty big run on them right before us.... and the giants stole ramses barden 3 picks before us

[justifythegame]

[quote name='Ravnet' post='187183' date='Apr 26 2009, 10:00 PM']Someone please point out who should have been drafted in place of Kruger?[/quote]
Sean Smith
of if a DE was needed that bad, Michael Johnson

[futurerRaven]

idk MJ had the skills and physical tools but he needs way to much attention and coaching harbs would have had to be on top of him all the time

[DocMartin]

[quote name='theFRANCHISE' post='187231' date='Apr 26 2009, 10:35 PM']I'll break it down in segments:


Again, what good is a WR if the QB is flat on his back? The main objective of the Ravens if they are to make a Super Bowl run next season is to beat the Steelers; after all, the Steelers are the defending champions and had the Ravens' number last year. In three meetings (including the playoffs) with Pittsburgh, Flacco was sacked 10 times; out of 35 total sacks for the year, that's roughly 28.6% of his sacks caused by just one team. Upon further examination, the Steelers forced 3 of Flacco's 11 fumbles on the year, accounting for 27.2% of his fumbles. Finally, the Steelers hurried Flacco into throwing 5 of his 15 total picks for the year, accounting for exactly a third of his interceptions in '08.

If the QB is to make good decisions and protect the football, then he needs to be protected himself. Michael Oher will help provide that protection. What good is a WR if there's no time to properly deliver the football?

How has Ozzie neglected offense?

2009: 6 total players drafted; 3 offensive players taken.
2008: 10 total players drafted; 7 offensive players taken.
2007: 7 total players drafted; 5 offensive players taken.
2006: 10 total players drafted; 4 offensive players taken.
2005: 7 total players drafted; 5 offensive players taken.
2004: 7 total players drafted; 5 offensive players taken.
2003: 11 total players drafted; 6 offensive players taken.
2002: 10 total players drafted; 6 offensive players taken.

And so on and so forth. It's not as if the man isn't trying.[/quote]

[DocMartin]

[quote name='theFRANCHISE' post='187231' date='Apr 26 2009, 10:35 PM']I'll break it down in segments:


Again, what good is a WR if the QB is flat on his back? The main objective of the Ravens if they are to make a Super Bowl run next season is to beat the Steelers; after all, the Steelers are the defending champions and had the Ravens' number last year. In three meetings (including the playoffs) with Pittsburgh, Flacco was sacked 10 times; out of 35 total sacks for the year, that's roughly 28.6% of his sacks caused by just one team. Upon further examination, the Steelers forced 3 of Flacco's 11 fumbles on the year, accounting for 27.2% of his fumbles. Finally, the Steelers hurried Flacco into throwing 5 of his 15 total picks for the year, accounting for exactly a third of his interceptions in '08.

If the QB is to make good decisions and protect the football, then he needs to be protected himself. Michael Oher will help provide that protection. What good is a WR if there's no time to properly deliver the football?

How has Ozzie neglected offense?

2009: 6 total players drafted; 3 offensive players taken.
2008: 10 total players drafted; 7 offensive players taken.
2007: 7 total players drafted; 5 offensive players taken.
2006: 10 total players drafted; 4 offensive players taken.
2005: 7 total players drafted; 5 offensive players taken.
2004: 7 total players drafted; 5 offensive players taken.
2003: 11 total players drafted; 6 offensive players taken.
2002: 10 total players drafted; 6 offensive players taken.

And so on and so forth. It's not as if the man isn't trying.[/quote]

[DocMartin]

I like your passion, the Franchise.
Look, I like our 1st pick OT Oher, he is very good, he could be great. A+
I'm also happy with 2nd rounder DE/LB Kruger, we needed pass rusher. A
But now, on the 2nd day of the draft we could of taken WIDE RECEIVER !!!
3rd rounder would be nice, even the 4th or 5th maybe. And we didn't.
The most pressing need of drafting WR, and we didn't get one. Is it a part of Ozzie's
plan? If so, I'd like to hear about it. Quite frankly, the only ofensive weapons we got
this offseason are TE L.J Smith and K Hauschka, and that's not good enough !!!
I'm glad someone mentioned the comparison between Steelers and Ravens receiving yards production from last
season.
Folks, we have pretty much same numbers as they do. And I tell you this, our receivers are better than theirs,
our guys play their guts out for 60 mins, even if we play the Bengals, we play hard Ravens football, and I love it!!!
But the only thing they do better than us, is, they catch the damn ball in the end zone, they make the play,
when they need to, and that's all the difference. We settle for field goals, which in the end, it's good enough to beat
Dolphins and Titans, but not enough to get in the Superbowl. That's why I really think, if we have that last piece of puzzle,
tall & explosive WIDE RECEIVER, we could be great, we could be UNBEATABLE !!!!!!! Or maybe I'm just dreaming.

[codizzle]

[quote name='DocMartin' post='187948' date='Apr 27 2009, 11:39 PM']I like your passion, the Franchise.
Look, I like our 1st pick OT Oher, he is very good, he could be great. A+
I'm also happy with 2nd rounder DE/LB Kruger, we needed pass rusher. A
But now, on the 2nd day of the draft we could of taken WIDE RECEIVER !!!
3rd rounder would be nice, even the 4th or 5th maybe. And we didn't.
The most pressing need of drafting WR, and we didn't get one. Is it a part of Ozzie's
plan? If so, I'd like to hear about it. Quite frankly, the only ofensive weapons we got
this offseason are TE L.J Smith and K Hauschka, and that's not good enough !!!
I'm glad someone mentioned the comparison between Steelers and Ravens receiving yards production from last
season.
Folks, we have pretty much same numbers as they do. And I tell you this, our receivers are better than theirs,
our guys play their guts out for 60 mins, even if we play the Bengals, we play hard Ravens football, and I love it!!!
But the only thing they do better than us, is, they catch the damn ball in the end zone, they make the play,
when they need to, and that's all the difference. We settle for field goals, which in the end, it's good enough to beat
Dolphins and Titans, but not enough to get in the Superbowl. That's why I really think, if we have that last piece of puzzle,
tall & explosive WIDE RECEIVER, we could be great, we could be UNBEATABLE !!!!!!! Or maybe I'm just dreaming.[/quote]

which receiver would u have seen us taking on the 2nd day? would it be an upgrade over all the ones we have now. we had a lot of injured young receivers last year. it is obvious we went BPA on day 2.
All the players we selected day 2 are able to fill in depth, even fight for a starting spot except peerman.

I was all for the boldin trade, but i think the draft went perfectly for us

[saver509]

Oher: A- (I hope i am wrong about the minus symbol)
Kuger: A (very solid and plays with a chip on his shoulder)
Webb: C- (much better players were available at this pick. We were reaching!)
Phillips: A+ (great pick. High motor)
Drew: D (with Ingram still available? Come on OZ! I know Cornelius was hurt, but he is better then Drew even if he had two broken Legs.)
Peerman: A (This is the best player that was available)

Overall: B

[saver509]

Franchise, I love the fact that you listed this! The problem is that there is NO Ray Lewis on the O to make those guys play at a higher level..... Every great offense or defense has at least one GREAT teacher! We have had alot of waisted talent on the Ravens offense for this reason....

[ROH522155]

[quote name='saver509' post='188130' date='Apr 28 2009, 04:56 PM']Franchise, I love the fact that you listed this! The problem is that there is NO Ray Lewis on the O to make those guys play at a higher level..... Every great offense or defense has at least one GREAT teacher! We have had alot of waisted talent on the Ravens offense for this reason....[/quote]


um......Derrick Mason??????

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='ravensorioleshoyas522155' post='188695' date='Apr 30 2009, 09:28 PM']um......Derrick Mason?????? [/quote]
Even though Derrick Mason is definitely a leader on that offense, he doesn't have the same effect on that unit that Ray Lewis has on the D -- even with Mason's toughness in playing with one arm.

I'm not implying that the offense needs a rah-rah player on that unit to give them that extra push, but it's hard to pinpoint one person on that side of the ball that has the so-called Ray Lewis effect.