Ravens Training Camp News and Notes

I don't think it matters releasing Gillmore since this is his last contract year anyway if I'm not mistaken. He'll probably clear waivers for that reason.

 

This is disappointing, but shrewd. I like Gillmore (when healthy) and the fact that he's out for the year means that few teams if any will be willing to sign him right now. That could make him a good IR stashing candidate if he passed waivers which there is a decent chance.

 

This is disappointing, but shrewd. I like Gillmore (when healthy) and the fact that he's out for the year means that few teams if any will be willing to sign him right now. That could make him a good IR stashing candidate if he passed waivers which there is a decent chance.

 

It's a procedural move, nothing more. There are no ramifications beyond 2017 because his contract up. So for the same reason no one will claim him he also isn't a "stash" candidate. In March he's a free agent.

 

Ravens trade; swap CBs.

Ravens acquired CB Trevin Wade for CB Al-Hajj Shabazz. This was a move for more experience although he he's not seen much playing time in his 6 seasons. There's not much news on Wade, but he had did recover a fumble for TD in 2 consecutive seasons. He's a 5-10 190lb nickel corner that is durable and could compete for a starting job.

After watching Shabazz at practice anything seemed an upgrade over him.

 

The 49ers released Zuttah. Obviously the Ravens still have an issue at center, but he's not the answer. If the Ravens were running a zone scheme like they were when they initially nabbed him, then sure maybe, but he's not right for whatever they tried last year of a power run scheme.

 

And Jimmy Smith apparently restructured his contract giving the Ravens 5.5M in cap space

 

Well, looks like he'll be finishing his contract here. Could have sworn he was around a 12M cap hit, so that's a huge restructure.

 

Yeah I didn't look up what he was on the books for, but his base salary was 8+M this year previously. Restructuring is never ideal, but I think the Ravens know how good and vital he is to the team. They probably think his injuries are more fluky than anything. Then again, if they need to create cap space, then you don't have infinite choices on where to get the money.

 

I agree Zuttah was not the answer at center, he never seemed to be strong enough at the point of attack to get any push, but I supposed that is based on the fact he is a zone guy. I also saw a note last week that the Seahawks released Arthur Brown. Not especially noteworthy aside from the fact that it is bittersweet to know what he just is not a great NFL football player and that the Ravens did not necessarily mishandle his development. I guess the worst thing to acknowledge is a player you draft relatively high and then release that goes on to be a stud somewhere else.

I think if the Ravens are patient, there will be other older but still solid O lineman that will be released as camps progress. I think at this point, Center is the focus but we will see the rubber hit the road tonight with Jensen in the middle of the line. Let's see what he's got. As I said before, he has the fire and nasty streak you love but I wonder if he will ever develop enough of his skill to be a viable starter.

 

and flipping salary to guaranteed money is typically never met with resistance from the player....

 

Picked up tonight's game after the second half. What I saw:

1) Tim White's TD catch. This dude is legit. He could really be special.
2) Josh Woodrum. Looks like they moved on from Olson (who had that Jersey # last week). I didn't see when he was signed, but he's been on a number of teams since last year. He showed a decent arm, good timing on long passes, good feet and running, and took a few hits. He didn't look too shabby.
3) Jaylen Hill. Missed his pick but he was all over the field in the second 2nd half. Nearly had a second. Had a good stop on Mac brown too.
4) Taquan Mizzell. This cat has some feet. He runs hard and is shifty. He might've fit better our previous run game, but he still looked impressive - 15 toches for 51 years.
5) ILB Bam Bradley landed a sack in the 4th.
6) Botha Foster almost had a sack.
7) In general 23-3 is a healthy win even in pre-season. The team beat Washington in every phase of the game. Defense looked really good. Team only had 5 penalties on the night.

 

I caught the 1st half:

Offense:
1) West already looks in mid-season form
2) Mizzell is the real deal
3) Buck Allen looks so slow compared West, Mizzell, and Rainey
4) Ortiz plays like a real FB. Taliafero missed a few blocks and didn't impress me at all.
5) Boyle and Williams looked good.
6) Hurst looked good; as did Jensen.
7) Matthews might not be much of a receiver, but he did some really nice downfield blocking, especially in the long West run where he took the CB completely out of the play.

Defense:
DOMINANT!!!!!!
1) Urban!
2) Bowser!
3) Jaylen Hill!
4) Correa and Onwuasor!
5) Levine!
6) The entire D-line including back-up's!
7) What little I saw of Tim Williams in the 1st and beginning of the 2nd, he has a ways to go. He was completely out of position on a couple of running plays that were run right at him. He will be a good situational pass rusher to start.

 

I missed the whole game so I've been checking everywhere online. Looks like Urban had a great performance. I've been arguing he'll be good this year so it's nice to see him put in a good performance against opposing starters.

Bowser seems legit also. As does West. Of course it's just one preseason game so there's still a lot more to see of all these players. Loved the defense holding the Skins starting offense to almost nothing on the night

EDIT: Also sounds like the o-line did pretty well. Gotta give them some attention here. I'll try and find a replay this weekend

 

I was at the game with my dad and youngest son, so I was not 100% focused all the time (my son is 10 so there is still some antsi-ness in sitting and focusing on the game) but my takeaways are this;

1. The defense is fast, sudden and relentless. I think they are only going to get better but they are all flying to the ball and I think our pass rush is going to be superb.
2. Overall, our defense could be really smothering as our coverage is clearly better than it has been in a few years (only basing this on the first drive or so when it was 1's versus 1's)
3. Our D line looks to be dominant. I love the starters and the back ups are not much of a step down.
4. West is a good back. He runs hard and will turn in a workmanlike performance. I think he will be a solid grinder to churn out the tough yards.
5. Our TE group, with very little to show last night, seems to be pretty weak.
6. I would have loved to have seen the starting WR group.
7. Chris Moore still seems lost
8. I love Tim White and would love to see him make the team.
9. Correa seemed to be settling in and at least in the right places, looked more comfortable anyway
10. Ryan Jensen also seemed to be pretty decent in getting good push and holding blocks. I saw him to the 2nd level a couple of times. It was hard to pick out the lineman, but he is not hard to pick out with his bright red hair sticking out!

I guess overall, with lots of starters missing, I thought the offense was good but not great. The defense has me energized and I think their swagger is only going to grow!

 

Williams is a pure pass rusher. He is not great in run situations. He'll take time to develop that skill like Suggs did. He'll be situational until then.

I couldn't tell much about the OL other than what the score board indicated. I did see Washington's 3's an 4's penetrate, sack and pressure a few times, but I only saw the 2nd half and don;t really know how good their defense is. Also,, Austin Howard didn't play and hasn't even practiced. I'd assume for $15M they'd have approved of his repaired should. I'm not sure what the issue with him now is.

 

The stream I watched last night was hot garbage. There was barely any video fidelity as it froze every 5 seconds with only audio to show for it. That being said, surprisingly #7 is on my radar now. I thought he was sure to make the team, but if White and Quincy make plays on offense and special teams while he does nothing, he could be off the team.

 

I think Chris Moore is about to join Justin Harper as a guy who got all these great reviews in practice but never showed up for games.

I'm all in on the Tim White hype right now. Especially considering the team needs a returner also. Let White be the #4 since I'm sure Campanero will be hurt by next game.

 

Y'all had enough of the injuries yet? Well, too bad. Alex Lewis and Tim White both set to have surgery that will end their seasons.

White I can get over, but with Lewis out and Siragusa already out, that's the starting LG and his backup. At this rate, the line that played yesterday may be the week 1 line

 

That sucks. I wonder if the restructure of Jimmy's contract was precipitated by the fact the FO knew Lewis was done for the year last week when they held him out which is why he would not give any details as to why he was out of practice? I think any cap space they have left needs to go to O Line personnel to make that line as whole as possible.

I saw Jacksonville released Brandon Albert, so there may be something there?

When are the next cuts to rosters where there may be better options available.

I saw Jermaine Eluemunor last night and he seemed to get beaten early and often so I think he is more developmental at this point than starter material.