Ravens offseason and draft thread

As I said, Terry Bradshaw is a jabbering monkey as his Wonderlic score seems to indicate and he's a 4x SB winner and 2x MVP. Andrew Luck who's supposed to have an eidetic memory has a 37. My point here is that Lamar Jackson COULD achieve the same thing by building plays around him. He won't necessarily have to be a "thinking QB" like Peyton Manning or Aaron Rogers. Even Cam Newton had "intelligence" questions coming into the draft from an overly simplified offense and he's beat his critics.

Further to that, based on how LJ has handled his entry into the draft he's shown self reliance and wisdom that a Wonderlic doesn't account for. It's not often you see a rookie forgo an agent coming into the draft and betting on himself and his strategy (which paid off). That's reminiscent of Joe's contract gambit in 2012.

 

Wonderlic... my ass. Useless “tool”.

 

Watched LJ's rookie camp "highlight" on BR.com. EVERY pass shown was wobbly. No tight spirals. Hurst is shown catch a balls with his finger tips bc the ball is so wobbly and didn't even have a defender on him. These passes may have been in the right spot in these non-contact drills but it shows just how much farther he has to go to become NFL starting caliber.

 

BR.com today posted Willie Snead's highlites from training camp. He looks as impressive as he did in New Orleans. Given how Aaron Rogers has complained about Dez Bryant being seriously considered by the Packers I think we dodged a bullet, perhaps on the level of T.O.

Also in the same video they showed him catching passes from Flacco and Jackson.

 

Saw that yesterday. I am even more happy they signed him over Dez. I wanted Snead all along. A great compliment to Crabs and Smokey.

Did you see the catch from Smokey? He's a lot shorter than I thought.

https://www.baltimoreravens.com/video/check-out-smokey-brown-lighting-up-ravens-otas

 

That was a real nice catch. Nice to see a WR layout for a slightly overthrown, catchable ball, for a change.

 

And it looks like it's "catching" on (haha):

Check out Chris Moore's catch
https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/news-and-notes-chris-moore-shines-in-week-2-of-otas

 

Don't let the highlight footage fool you. There was a practice that was stated to be full of drops. Primarily from Lasley, but also drops by Brown and, I think, Scott also.

I'm trying not to get lost in training camp hype this year. They told us how great Joe looked the last two years in training camp, and Perriman has been a training camp warrior every year.......we all know how that's turned out.

That said, it's hard not to be excited about the team right now. Defenders showed excitement about new players last year, but this year they are showing excitement about the actual DC and the plays/freedom to play. The offense is generating excitement with all these new pieces. From the WRs, to the TEs, to Dixon returning, to Lamar (Weddle spoke highly of him). This should be in interesting season

 

Not the usual off season to be sure. I typically have a good feeling about what I've seen, hearing and surmising from the FO moves and comments. Not so much this year. All I can say for sure is that they did a good job in filling the holes with talent this offseason.

I do think that the young receivers will struggle. I think Perriman fails. I think Joe has a great season (barring injury). I think the defense will be improved, but by how much is anyone's guess. The offensive line should be improved.

 

Totally agree, but there seems to be a different feel this year. As you mentioned the defense is loving Wink Martindale. As we've suspected, Pees defense was stifling the progress of many players with his overbearing and "chalk board" play calling. I'm really curious to see what Correia can do now that he's being put back to his natural position of OL. He might not make the team, but it will be interesting to see.

The offense seems a lot looser. I think Crabtree, Snead, and Brown, each of them came from primarily passing offenses, are a calming, positive influence on the younger receivers. More so than Maclin, Wallace, and SSS. Joe is finally healthy AND he now has the benefit of having the same OC for 2 years in a row. I also believe that new QB coach James Urban is going the most underrated signing this year for the Ravens, both for Joe & the receivers.

As for the drops you mentioned, from BR.com:

From Hensley - "Thursday's practice was a bad one for the Ravens wide receivers. Rookie fifth-round pick Jordan Lasley had three drops, and John Brown, Willie Snead and Breshad Perriman each had passes go off their hands."

From Ellison - "The Ravens had 86 pass attempts with three drops during the competitive portion of practice, according to my colleague Garrett Downing. Zero drops would be best, but three of 86 is isn’t bad. Yes, Lasley had consecutive early drops, but it was during the warmup portion of practice, which is when receivers are specifically honing new elements of their technique. A drop’s a drop, and you never want to have one, even in warmups, but the “game” carries more weight. In this case, the “game” is the competitive potion of practice, which is when Lasley had nine catches. Snead dropped one during the competitive portion, but he also had one of the better overall practices of the group with eight receptions. He did a good job out of the slot, finding soft spots in the defense between linebackers and safeties. Outside of Crabtree, Snead is one of the savvier receivers that knows what he’s doing, and he seems to be creating a bit of an early rapport with quarterback Joe Flacco. “Willie Snead was a frequent target,” wrote Russell Street Report’s Ken McKusick. “After an early drop, he settled in and seemed to regularly find a hole in zone defense.” Breshad Perriman’s day was a mixed bag. He had one deep pass bounce off his hands and also hauled in four catches, including a touchdown. “Amid all the fresh faces, 2015 No. 1 pick Breshad Perriman has become something of a forgotten man, written off by many Ravens fans as a bust after his dismal 2017,” wrote The Baltimore Sun’s Childs Walker. “But he also made several deep catchesThursday, flashing the speed that tantalized so many evaluators in the first place.” Speaking of Perriman’s speed … Defensive Backs Coach Chris Hewitt yelled at rookie corner Anthony Averett, “Hey Anthony, I thought you ran 4.3,” after he was beaten on a vertical route by Perriman, according to McKusick. Chris Moore wasn’t mentioned in Hensley’s tweet, although he was in another one of his posts, and the third-year player easily had the play of the day. He may have even had the top two plays of the day. On the first, Moore got a step on cornerback Brandon Carr and hauled in a diving one-handed catch about 40 yards down field. On the second, he made a leaping grab in the end zone that drew praise from his teammates, including Snead who bowed to Moore after the play."

Again, it's just OTA's, but something feels different, better, and more exciting than the past 2-3 years.

 

Are we counting down the days until Perriman is cut? I feel bad because he seems like a nice kid, but he definitely doesn't have it between the ears for pro football (kind of like Arthur Brown). Is Perriman the biggest draft bust ever or does that go to Elam or Boller?

(I only include Boller now because of the loss of a future 1st rounder. We got far more out of him than Elam or Perriman.)

 

It definitely has a more positive feel closer to the glory years on the late 2000's and early 2010's. But we won't be able to really bank on any of this until preseason. 3 drops in 86 attempts is not bad. I'm more interested in how this translates to live situations.

 

I can't see Perriman making the roster either. He will be gone in the 2nd round of cuts if no injuries happen in the preseason. Biggest bust in Ravens history? Perriman is the biggest. Top 3 busts are Perriman, Elam and Travis Taylor....

What was in common with all 3 of those? All three went to Florida Schools. 2 from Florida and Perriman from UCF..... Stay away from the Gators, they produce decent college players but only rarely an NFL starter.

Mark Clayton ties with Travis as 3b. Ozzie's track record with WR just was never good

As for Kyle, he definitely wasn't starter material but he bridged the gap till Air McNair saved the day. He would be #5

 

Only round of cuts now.

 

Yeah I think it's the 3rd day of training camp where Perriman is owed a bonus. I'd be shocked if he gets that. My guess is after this minicamp or just before TC (to verify no injuries), he is gone. I don't even know if they could try to bring him back on a cheaper deal and have it make financial sense.

 

Jimmy Smith back on the practice field. He has a long injury history, but the man also has a fast healing history. It's only been about 6 months, and I doubt he's practicing at this stage of he wasn't healthy enough.

Speaking of injuries, Alex Lewis had back spasms and missed practice. Never understood the love he gets though. He's never played any position comparable to the level Jimmy has, but doesn't get any hate for consistently being injured.

John Brown hurt his knee but didn't leave practice.

Not injury related, but Perriman dropping passes every practice. I'd be shocked if he's not cut before that roster bonus kicks in. Lasley should get his reps. He can't be worse

 

Even with Lasley's concerns of drops in college and a few episodes in OTAs his upside is at least unknown. We've seen about all Perriman has to offer.

 

^^^exactly

 

TBH, I'm not overly impressed with the 2 drafted WR's, Scott or Lasley. I wasn't impressed with either of them during the draft as I thought there were better options available, i.e. WR's with better overall hands and route trees, not the one-trick pony Scott seems to be or the drop machine Lasley showed in college.

The Ravens seem to find their best receivers either as FA's or undrafted. Every now & then, a late drafted WR like Chris Moore will shine. Of course the Ravens will probably keep both Scott & Lasley even if some of the undrafted WR's, Canadian FA's, and 2nd/3rd yr undrafted WR's show better in camp or pre-season game situations.

I write this as I am reading BR.com latest report on Lamar Jackson which has these two reports:

Fourth-round wide receiver Jaleel Scott had a pass go through his hands and get picked off by cornerback Marlon Humphrey.

Undrafted rookie wide receiver Andre Levrone (Virginia) had a strong day and looks to have good chemistry with Jackson. Levrone is a muscled-up, bigger wide receiver (6-foot-2, 216 pounds) who has solid burst. He made one nice catch as he went low to the turf and also hauled in a pair of deep posts.

 

I am intrigued by Levrone. He is big, catches everything and is hungry. I also saw really great reports about Tim White. He was the player my son and I were rooting to make the team last season. I hope he gets a real shot.