Baltimore Ravens Thread

kevohmsford

Not sure how I feel about Trent Richardson being brought in. The guy obviously has the talent but not sure if he will succeed.
Eric Weddle and Mike Wallace are two players we really needed. Looking forward to the draft. I hope we keep our first round pick and draft a decent player we can use.

Paully D

Great news for us today with that big trade. It means a QB is definitely going #1 and possibly #2 also.

Picking at #6, I was worried the chips wouldn't fall in our favour and all of the truly elite guys would go in the top 5 and we'd be left with someone like Stanley (who is a very good player so no disrespect, but after the season we endured I'm hoping for a better player with a top six pick).

Now we are guaranteed to have at least one, possibly two of Tunsil, Ramsey, Bosa, Buckner or Jack - the real top tier guys - on the board at #6.

youngco87

Brilliant news indeed! At this point my head wants Tunsil but my heart wants Ramsey or Jack. Its going to an exciting draft this time around

Paully D

Schedule released and while last year was tough going with the road trips (no team since ourselves in 2000 had started with 5 road games out of the first 7 until we did in 2015), we really have no excuses on that this year.

This year we face 1 playoff team from 2015 in the first 7 games, have a bye week just before the Steelers at home in week 9, have 13 of the 16 games at 1pm eastern with only one game outside the eastern timezone and just 2 primetime games. That said, the end of the season is very tough but there's no excuse for us not to have a solid winning record with a bit of momentum built up before then. We should really be aiming to be 6-1 or 5-2 at worst heading into that bye week.



The Steelers game is on Christmas Day. :eek::D

Paully D

More good news for us tonight with the Eagles trading up to #2. That'll be a QB going #1 and #2, meaning at least two of Ramsey, Tunsil, Bosa, Buckner or Jack are going to be on the board when we're on the clock.

HigginsJ

Paully D wrote: »

More good news for us tonight with the Eagles trading up to #2. That'll be a QB going #1 and #2, meaning at least two of Ramsey, Tunsil, Bosa, Buckner or Jack are going to be on the board when we're on the clock.

Hard to know what way things would fall with that group but who would be your preferred pick out of that lot?

Paully D

HigginsJ wrote: »

Hard to know what way things would fall with that group but who would be your preferred pick out of that lot?

Ramsey all day long for me mate. Fills a huge need with one of the best players in the draft.

I'll be over the moon with any of those listed players however.

HigginsJ

Paully D wrote: »

Ramsey all day long for me mate. Fills a huge need with one of the best players in the draft.

I'll be over the moon with any of those listed players however.

With all the Hargreaves pressure in the mock draft I assumed as much.

Paully D

HigginsJ wrote: »

With all the Hargreaves pressure in the mock draft I assumed as much.

Secondary has been so, so poor for us. Most touchdowns allowed in the NFL last year and fewest interceptions too. The addition of Weddle along with Jimmy Smith getting back to health (hopefully, but I do remain skeptical he can ever get back to the level he was at) should see an improvement but adding a playmaker in the draft could completely turn it on it's head.

That said, how can you complain about adding rushers like Bosa or Buckner when Suggs is coming off his injury and may never be the same again, a LT like Tunsil when Monroe has struggled to stay on the field and Flacco has been getting eaten alive, or Myles Jack who is a freak.

Mel Kiper gives us Bosa and Mackensie Alexander in the first 2 rounds of his latest mock. Something like that would be dreamland stuff, but where we are picking we definitely should be targeting 2 big playmakers early on.

Paully D

I'm gutted with the Stanley pick, especially when Buckner was still there. Absolutely gutted.

kevohmsford

Hopefully Ronnie Stanley will be around for many years. Eugene Monroe will probably be moved on now. We did need a offensive tackle.
Who is likely for round 2 ?

youngco87

The pick is a bit underwhelming but probably a safe pick that turns out to be solid in a few years!

Really want Jack in Round 2 but not sure what the Ravens doctors thing of the knee

Paully D

Confirmed that the Ravens tried to get up to #4 ahead of the Cowboys to take Ramsey once the Chargers took Bosa, but the Cowboys didn't want to go down two spots as they were worried they wouldn't get their man at #6.

Balls.

http://espn.go.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/post/_/id/27321/ravens-attempted-to-trade-into-top-five-for-jalen-ramsey

The Baltimore Ravens looked to trade up into the top five to get the best athlete in this year's draft.

The Ravens contacted the Dallas Cowboys about moving up two spots to No. 4 to draft Florida State cornerback Jalen Ramsey, a league source confirmed. It was first reported by the Dallas Morning News.

Baltimore offered its first-round pick and one of its four fourth-rounders, but the Cowboys feared they wouldn't get Elliott by dropping two spots, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Ramsey was taken at No. 5 by the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Baltimore eventually selected Notre Dame offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley at No. 6. After making their pick, team officials acknowledged they talked about trading up.

"We had some conversation in the room, and I would say we talked to a team," general manager Ozzie Newsome said Thursday night.

It's no surprise that Baltimore tried to get Ramsey after he fell past the San Diego Chargers at No. 3. It's presumed Ramsey was one of the two top-ranked players on the Ravens' board.

Ramsey would've been a great fit for a Ravens pass defense that ranked last in the NFL in 2015 with six interceptions and set a franchise record by allowing 30 touchdown passes.

kevohmsford

Thanks for that Paully. I just think we needed this new guy to get our run game back on track. Flacco has been getting hammered the last 2 seasons also with little protection..

kevohmsford

We have plenty of picks left to stock up our defense so hopefully a corner and pass rusher next.

Paully D

kevohmsford wrote: »

We have plenty of picks left to stock up our defense so hopefully a corner and pass rusher next.

Completely agree. If we come out of rounds 2 and 3 with a good CB, rusher and/or a WR I'll be pleased with tonight's work.

Pudsy33

The Cowboy's would have definitely got Zeke picking at 6, strange they turned it down.

youngco87

Pudsy33 wrote: »

The Cowboy's would have definitely got Zeke picking at 6, strange they turned it down

Don't sure if thats strictly true! If Ravens take Ramsey at 4 then Jags could easily have trade out of 5 for somebody that wanted Elliot!

Paully D

Ozzie is going full Ozzie tonight. 2 trade backs already, so we've gone from #36 to #42 in the 2nd round (for the moment anyway!) but we now have five 4th round picks.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy night. :pac:

Paully D

So here's our full draft class:



The experts love it (I know they love everyone's draft class, but they seem really high on ours) but I have to be honest and say I'm not all that impressed. Admittedly I'm still a bit sour over the Stanley pick which I hope makes me look silly, but at every slot apart from Dixon, there's probably an alternative player available that I'd have preferred. And the failed trade for Ramsey was a huge disappointment though obviously that's not anyone's fault.

When you think we could have had Tunsil/Buckner and Jack in rounds 1 and 2 and we ended up with Stanley and Correa, well it will either look very smart or very foolish in a couple of year's time. Schefter has reported that the Ravens were all set to take Tunsil until the video surfaced too.

Ozzie rightly gets lots of praise for his draft ability, but our drafts of late have been very average. We need to make numerous hits this year after making 11 picks or questions need to start being asked IMO which is fair enough all things considered.

That said, keeping Dean Pees on as DC means we could have had five 1st round picks and used them all on defense and we'd still be likely to struggle. How on earth has he managed to keep his job?

kevohmsford

Was looking at some of Kamalei Correa's highlight's and he is going to need loads of work. He is very young still but he looks aggressive and willing to attack the qb. He will need to bulk up and hit the weights room though.
This guy could be great.

Paully D

kevohmsford wrote: »

Was looking at some of Kamalei Correa's highlight's and he is going to need loads of work. He is very young still but he looks aggressive and willing to attack the qb. He will need to bulk up and hit the weights room though.
This guy could be great.

Good report on him from CBS here:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/2061725/kamalei-correa

STRENGTHS: Sports a compact, well-built frame with room for additional muscle mass without sacrificing quickness. Possesses an explosive initial burst off the snap as well as when closing on the ball, generating a combination of speed and power to surprise ballcarriers (five career forced fumbles). Versatile edge rusher comfortable rushing out of the two- or three-point stance.
Offers a variety of tricks as a pass rusher, showing the speed to beat tackles wide as well as a powerful initial shove to generate space and rip his way into the backfield. Locates the ball quickly and has a knack for splitting gaps. Plays with his legs wide and knees bent to anchor in the running game, showing surprising strength at the point of attack to set the edge.

Occasionally asked to drop into coverage, showing enough balance, agility and awareness to warrant development in this role at the next level. Good effort in pursuit, showing vision and speed to get back into the action.

WEAKNESSES: Starred mostly as a defensive end for the Broncos but currently lacks the bulk to remain there full-time in the NFL. A bit straight-linish as an edge rusher, lacking ideal flexibility to turn the corner in one fluid motion.

Doesn't string together his pass rush moves well enough, lacking a plan to set up opponents with a series of counter-moves. Relies on his burst and initial pop as rusher, too often failing to break free if blockers are able to latch on until the ballcarrier is downfield.

Experienced in coverage, but looks robotic when dropping back and relies on reading the eyes of the quarterback.

IN OUR VIEW: While a bit undersized to remain as a full-time 4-3 defensive end, Correa could intrigue teams looking for a versatile edge defender, as he possesses an explosive burst to rush the quarterback as well as the flexibility and awareness to handle coverage duties. A terrific athlete expected to impress in workouts, Correa could join former Broncos edge rushers Shea McClellin and Demarcus Lawrence as steady risers leading to the draft.

Paully D

Perriman all but gone for another season.

Such a shame for the kid. It must be so frustrating.

kevohmsford

That must be Perriman finished now. Very bad news for him and the Ravens.

Paully D

I don't know how I only saw this now as it's a 3 week old story, but Perriman didn't tear his ACL at all as initial reports indicated. He had stem-cell treatment and is expected to be back for the regular season. Great news for him and the team.

Paully D

Well this isn't good and has the potential to get very messy:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/07/14/report-justin-tucker-wont-re-sign-with-ravens-if-no-deal-by-deadline/

The Ravens used their franchise tag on kicker Justin Tucker this offseason and there have been frequent reports about optimism on both sides about a long-term deal getting done before the July 15 deadline to sign one.

A quick check of the calendar shows that tomorrow is July 15 and no contract has been signed. That appears to have dimmed the optimism in Baltimore a fair amount.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Tucker is “frustrated” by the way negotiations with the Ravens have played out to this point and that he has “vowed” not to re-sign with the team after the 2016 season in the event that a deal can’t get done by Friday’s deadline.

Tucker has been one of the best kickers in the league since joining the Ravens in 2012 and stands to make over $4.5 million under the franchise tender he signed after being tagged. Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski signed a four-year deal worth $17.2 million last year, which would seem to be the same neighborhood Tucker is trying to wind up in when the contract process reaches its conclusion.

UPDATE 6:25 p.m. ET: Schefter expanded upon his initial report with more details, including that the Ravens’ current offer to Tucker pays him less than previous ones and less than the four-year, $16.1 million that Mason Crosby got from the Packers in March.

“Justin’s disillusioned with the process right now and the Ravens position with him on his contract,” Tucker’s agent, Rob Roche, said. “If we don’t get a long-term deal done by Friday, Justin will not entertain offers from Ravens after the season.”

Strange tactic from the front office in offering him less than they have before. I think we'd all agree he's worth something in and around that Gostkowski range.

PADRAIC.M

Yeah it would be upsetting to see him as anything other than a Raven, hope they can work something out,

Good to see Steve Smith back on the field doing sprints.

johnciall

Tucker resigned for 4 years

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/Justin-Tucker-Signs-Four-Year-Contract-Extension/a1b19196-d0f1-4782-9846-4430bb1e833f

dropping_bombs

The Ravens are likely going to have an all-Rookie left side of the O-line for the start of the season. Ronnie Stanley and 4th rounder Alex Lewis are set to start. I amn't sure how I feel about this, as Joe has a tendency to hold on to the ball and take sacks at the best of times, this could lead to more injuries for him. Source

kevohmsford

Justin Forsett cut. Ravens must like the look of Terrance West.

Paully D

Ravens 13-7 Bills.

Good to get the season going with a W. The game went as I expected - a close, tight defensive battle.

Very early days obviously and the Bills are hardly a machine offensively, but there was really promising signs from the defense. Keeping them to 65 yards rushing and 95 yards passing is superb and reminded me of Baltimore D's of old.

Offensively, the second half was a struggle but it was nice to see Flacco and Wallace combine for a 66 yard TD. Perriman had a great catch too, while Forsett and West kept the run game honest. Flacco himself looked like he was very flat footed which is concerning but it's understandable given the injury and I'm sure he'll get more comfortable as the weeks tick by.

Tucker making his 50 yarder while Carpenter missed one from 49 was key also. That's why we pay the man.

Overall, a positive day and we should be expecting to go 2-0 @ Cleveland next week.

kevohmsford

It was great to get the win yesterday. Never thought I would see Dennis Pitta back playing for the Ravens. It will take the offensive line a few games to settle with all the new players.
When Perriman caught that ball out wide I jumped out of my chair. Delighted for the guy.

Paully D

Watching the game back again and I can't believe I forgot to give Shareece Wright a mention. He played like a man possessed.

Paully D

RIP Clarence Brooks.

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/Ravens-Assistant-Coach-Clarence-Brooks-Passes-Away-At-65-Years-Old-/680b3183-dd1a-4c9e-b8a5-fb59082ed195

The Ravens will travel to Cleveland with heavy hearts this weekend.

Long-time assistant coach Clarence Brooks passed away Saturday morning at a hospital in Weston, Fla., after a battle with esophageal cancer. He was 65 years old.

“We knew he loved his players,” his wife Justa said. “Through all of this, we've found out how much his players loved him. We thank everyone for the loving support."

Brooks was the longest-tenured member of Baltimore’s staff.

He joined the Ravens in 2005 as the defensive line coach and quickly established himself as hard-nosed coach who was beloved by his players. He coached some of the best players in team history, and helped continue the Ravens tradition of dominant defensive play.

John Harbaugh called him the greatest defensive line coach he has ever been around.

Brooks was revered throughout the Ravens organization. His shouts during practice echoed throughout the fields, and his energy never seemed to waver. The locker room had the utmost respect for Brooks and what he meant to the team, and that was evident throughout the last two seasons as he continued coaching despite the cancer diagnoses.

Brooks is survived by Justa, their son, Jason, and daughter, Adrienne, and their two grandchildren, Aviana and Avery.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/09/17/ravens-assistant-clarence-brooks-passes-away/

During Brooks’ tenure as defensive line coach from 2005-2015, the Ravens allowed the NFL’s fewest rushing touchdowns (89), second-fewest points per game (18.9) and the league’s second-fewest rushing yards per game (94.2).

Paully D

Browns 20-25 Ravens.

One word can describe this one - phew!

It was far from pretty, and there's no excuse for going 20-0 down to the Browns, but it takes a lot of heart to come back from 20 points down in the NFL and to hold a team scoreless for 3 quarters.

Flacco is still a bit rusty obviously but he was stepping into throws a bit better today which is a positive and I'm sure that week by week he'll be even more confident. Over 300 yards and 2 TD's today, but there were 2 sloppy INT's too. However, he made some big throws when we really needed it down the stretch. It was kind of a typical Flacco performance I suppose. :pac:

The run game was poor today on both sides of the ball. Only 80 yards offensively and we conceded double that on the ground, though our D-lineman especially have had a difficult week this week to be fair and I'm sure their minds were (understandably) a little bit away from football this week.

Special mention to Dennis Pitta, over 100 yards on 9 receptions today. Astonishing considering his injury problems were so bad it looked like far more likely that he would have to retire as opposed to ever playing a snap again. His chemistry with Flacco is well documented and he is a huge weapon. He's almost like a new addition considering how much time he has missed.

We won this one ugly for sure, just how us Ravens fans like it. :P

kevohmsford

Great to get the win. One or two calls did go against the Browns late on.

Corey Coleman was a standout player for them. Gave our defence numerous problems with his speed and ability. Nice to see Steve Smith making some big plays and Mike Wallace will be huge for us.

Jaguars up next.

Paully D

kevohmsford wrote: »

Great to get the win. One or two calls did go against the Browns late on.

Corey Coleman was a standout player for them. Gave our defence numerous problems with his speed and ability. Nice to see Steve Smith making some big plays and Mike Wallace will be huge for us.

Jaguars up next.

Yeah, Coleman looked very good. It was like he was playing for Baylor watching him at times yesterday evening.

Jaguars will be tough IMO. They ran the Packers very close on opening day and although they are 0-2, they were many people's offseason pick as a surprise package. They have plenty of talent that can hurt us. On paper many will say we should win it quite easily but we were 20 points down on the Browns last night and only put 13 points on the Bills a week ago.

I think the Ravens (-1) line is about right. It's a difficult one to call.

Paully D

Justin Tucker = $$$

Paully D

Watched the game back and 2 things/players stood out to me even more on second viewing.

1) Timmy Jernigan is becoming a heck of a player

2) Jalen Ramsey will be the real deal. We must have targeted him about 10 times and if he gave up more than 20 yards I'd be very surprised. Also, that tip play for their INT was something else. I'm still gutted we didn't manage to get that trade done to jump up and take him.

Paully D

Ugh.

Good:

- Run game was finally brought back to life. Terrance West had an excellent game. It was a brave decision to bench Forsett completely but it paid off. 113 yards for West is some showing.

- Run D was superb again, holding the NFL's best rushing attack through 3 games to 62 yards and Murray to 19 was superb.

- Steve Smith and Juszczyk

Bad:

- The o-line was terrible on passing and beaten all ends up. Flacco has just returned from a serious injury and spent most of his time getting smashed into the ground. Unacceptable.

- As a result of the above, the pass game couldn't get going as Flacco was running for his life for 4 quarters.

- That said, 2 horrible plays from Flacco on the last drive.

- Stupid indiscipline, the greatest example of which is Mike Wallace giving up extremely costly yards after taunting when getting the 2 point reception. Utterly idiotic and he has had a huge part to play in costing his team today.

- Somehow being up by 6 with less than 3 minutes left, and then blowing the lead anyway.

- Special teams defense. Another fumble by Hester and the Raiders had over 160 yards on kick/punt returns. Just not good enough and it was an issue last week too.

Look, I know our performances so far have meant that 3-1 at this stage of the season rather than 4-0 is a much fairer reflection on where we are at the moment, but it's so frustrating to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and it further highlights that we are miles away from where we need to be despite the record.

Redskins at our place next week means we will be aiming to be 4-1 after 5 games which any of us would have taken at the start of the year, but if we are 3-2 instead then it would be a huge kick in the balls.

kevohmsford

Disappointing from the offensive line last night. It just fell apart and Flacco got hammered. He could have been badly injured. We had a go for 2 extra points when we should have let Tucker done his work.
I had a feeling before the game that Michael Crabtree was going to give us problems. Terrance West had a great game alright.
Hopefully Ronnie Stanley can be back soon.

Paully D

3-0 coming into 2 home games against the Raiders and Redskins. Now I know we were not as good as our record suggested, but you have to be winning at least one of those games.

3-2 is probably a much fairer reflection of where we are as a team at the moment but it's still very frustrating to come out of those 2 home games empty handed. Coming into a much tougher stretch of games now too.

We are very, very average, there's no other way of putting it. I predicted 8-8 at the start of the season and I feel it's looking about right as things stand.

Ivefoundgod

Agree with all of the above. Our offense is so bad its unbelievable. I'm struggling to watch our games we are so bad. We seem to be back to the days of Cam Cameron where every possession was 1st down - run, 2nd down - run 3rd down screen/pass 4th down - punt. Perriman made one good catch but then dropped what should have been an easy catch for him which would have put us inside the 10. We were in the red zone twice and come out of it with 3.

And as if all that isn't bad enough we had a chance to land a killer blow with a pick six from Mosley and fires the ball into the endzone. Theres no excuse for that kind of sloppiness and it seems like theres a few players out there who are consistently showing poor decision making and discipline. One bright spot was West who likes like a decent back. Wallace has his moments but overall our WRs are very weak.

Apologies if this is a bit ranty but its just so frustrating. Feels like the season is as good as over already.

kevohmsford

Marc Trestman surely has to go at this stage.

Disappointing again last night from the offense. Defense is doing so well. The key last night was Mosley going for the touchdown when he should have held onto the ball. The game started so well but the offense gradually fell apart. Steve Smith going off injured was huge.

kevohmsford

Marc Trestman has been fired.

Paully D

Yanda, Smith, Stanley, Mosley and Dumervile inactive today. Ugh.

Looking forward to seeing how the new O looks but it could be a long evening with those key players out.

HigginsJ

Paully D wrote: »

Yanda, Smith, Stanley, Mosley and Dumervile inactive today. Ugh.

Looking forward to seeing how the new O looks but it could be a long evening with those key players out.

Ye're up against the Giants, ye'll be fine!!

Paully D

Sigh.

The secondary absolutely pathetic yet again.

7 trips to the red zone and only 2 TD's.

Now this won't be popular but that's 2 games in a row now that in isolation decisions by Harbaugh to go for it on 4th rather than take the easy points has cost us games. I know he likes to be aggressive and he said he won't apologise for that, but there's a fine line between aggressiveness and stupidity.

Harbaugh has been an amazing coach for us, he has been with us 8 full seasons and we have gone to the playoffs 6 times and won a Super Bowl and I think every Ravens fan is happy to give things a pass for last season because of the injuries and the fact it was a completely anomaly, but if we were to fail to make the playoffs again this season (which looks increasingly likely by the week) that'd be 3 of the last 4 seasons!

How long does this go on for before (fair) questions are asked?

Paully D

Season done.

4 losses in a row for the first time since 2007.

Another season of hoping for defeats in order to get better draft position as there's no way we will get a playoff spot from here.

For **** sake.

matthew8

Unfair to blame Harbaugh, Flacco is one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the league but he's playing like one of the worst. The defense has been perfectly good, the run game satisfactory, if Flacco could even play like an average QB the Ravens would be 4-3 or 5-2.