Looking Forward to the 2019 AFC North

Josh Gordon #SMDH

 

It could have been both.

 

This is very intriguing to me and unfortunately it will probably go unanswered but what has caused the decline in draft success for the Ravens over the last 4-5 years? Ozzie gave DeCosta control of the draft a few years ago if I am remembering correctly. Was it not enough? Or too much?

I know the Ravens have lost a lot of their older scouting personnel over the last 3-4 seasons so maybe that's the real answer but I can't honestly sit here and say what kind of impact Ozzie's departure (at least officially) will have on their draft.

 

According to Spotrac, the need to sign 16 players just to get to the 53 man team.. I realize only 51 count against the cap, but those last two are irrelevant money wise.

2019 Free Agents:
Ramon Foster G 33 PIT TBD $3,200,000 UFA -
Tyson Alualu DE 32 PIT TBD $3,000,000 UFA -
Jordan Berry P 28 PIT TBD $1,907,000 UFA -
Anthony Chickillo OLB 27 PIT TBD $1,907,000 UFA -
Coty Sensabaugh CB 30 PIT TBD $1,300,000 UFA -
Darrius Heyward-Bey WR 32 PIT TBD $1,266,667 UFA -
Daniel McCullers DT 27 PIT TBD $880,000 UFA -
Justin Hunter WR 28 PIT TBD $870,000 UFA -
Nat Berhe SS 28 PIT TBD $790,000 UFA -
Stevan Ridley RB 30 PIT TBD $790,000 UFA -
L.J. Fort ILB 29 PIT TBD $660,000 UFA -
Xavier Grimble TE 26 PIT TBD $630,000 RFA -
Kameron Canaday LS 26 PIT TBD $630,000 RFA -
B.J. Finney C 27 PIT TBD $630,000 RFA -
Eli Rogers WR 26 PIT TBD $630,000 RFA -
Jesse James TE 25 PIT TBD $622,228 UFA -
Leterrius Walton DE 27 PIT TBD $599,233 UFA -
Zach Banner T 25 PIT TBD $555,000 ERFA -
Mike Hilton CB 25 PIT TBD $555,000 ERFA -
Jordan Dangerfield FS 28 PIT TBD $555,000 ERFA -
Trey Edmunds RB 24 PIT TBD $555,000 ERFA -
Matt Feiler RT 27 PIT TBD $495,000 ERFA -
Jake McGee TE 27 PIT TBD $480,000 ERFA -
Keith Kelsey ILB 24 PIT TBD $480,000 ERFA -
Malik Golden S 26 PIT TBD $480,000 ERFA -
Le'Veon Bell RB 27 PIT TBD - UFA -

That's 6 starters, and you would a need replacement for Morgan Burnett if you are cutting him...

 

One last thing on spending...

Even with all the cap space the Browns have yet to indicate they are going to be major free agency players. Maybe this year will be different but I don't think we can assume that because they have 80M in cap space they are going to spend it.

 

I think this question may be more perception than reality.

Looking back to 2014, the Ravens have probably fared higher than 'middle of the pack' when it comes to draft classes.

Now, that is off of a quick glance so it may be my perception that is off.

Time to do a little digging...

 

Really not sure that Jimmy is going to be a Raven next year. Something has to be done about that contract and trying to extend him with the amount of leverage he has right now would be incredibly foolish. Maybe they just bite the bullet and let him play on the final year but that seems unlikely.

 

No, you're right. People seem to be comparing previous drafts to when the Ravens drafted hall of Famer. The last 3 drafts have actually been fairly good. 2015 was trash though.

I'm currently mobile so I may go more into it later

 

Depends on how you are judging probably. If you're talking about finding contributors certainly they have retained their fair share of guys from the middle rounds who contribute to their team. If you're judging them at finding impact guys or drafting in the early rounds they have come up really short and they've done so with really solid players staring them right in the face (ex. Juju 2017 2nd round). It's still early but 2018 seems to be a continuance of this pattern. They drafted a TE in the 3rd round who appears to be better than the the 25 year old TE they drafted in the 1st.

 

I'm currently expecting every AFC North player under contract in 2019 to still be with their teams with the exception of Flacco who the Ravens have already said they plan to trade. For the sake of this discussion, it wouldn't make sense, to me, to start guessing who gets cut and who doesn't.

 

To be a little more specific:

2014
2. Timmy Jernigan (never a scheme fit)
3. Terrence Brooks

2015
1. Breshad Perriman
2. Max Williams
3. Carl Davis

2016
1. Ronnie Stanley - average football player taken #6 - Ozzie nixed a deal to move to #4 and take Jalen Ramsey because he didn't want to give up a 3rd (Kafusi)
2. Kamalei Correa
3. Bronson Kafusi

2017
2. Tyus Bowser

 

That's not six starters. Banner hasn't played a snap. Coty is a semi-starter who could be retained easily. The other two are special teams players, neither of which who are more than average at their job. I've already addressed James and Foster.

As to the total number of players under contract OTC has them at 38. They will re-sign as ERFAs Hilton, Dangerfield, Feiler, Golden and McGee at roughly 600k each. They will have a 7-8 man draft class that will cost them roughly 7M. So to fill out their roster before they sign anyone else it will cost them roughly 11M. This season things were pretty tight because of the Bell tag. Next year will be more like 2017 when they went after Hightower. They have plenty of space and plenty of flexibility.

 

RE: Baker over throwing in Denver

I heard Bernie Kosar say that playing up there can add 3-5 yards to your passes and you have to learn to adjust. That could have contributed

 

They also let a first round WR go, that seems to be doing pretty well for us.

Could it be that Juju wouldn't have excelled if taken by the Ravens?

I hate to admit this, but if Jackson develops as a QB, HE could help them with their draft classes more than Ozzie leaving them will hurt... A QB that develops the talent on the roster is immeasurable.

 

Sorry, I was just going off the ourlads depth chart...

Regardless, you have to sign bodies at least for those that are leaving. Even if you signed them all to an average of $500K that's $8M just to fill the paired down roster with bodies

This is why I like everyone in the league to join in on these convos...Thanks beach.

Too bad there isn't anyone from the Bengals to chime in.

 

1. Why are we only judging first through third rounders? Do good 4th rounders not matter?
2. What makes Stanley average? A quick search shows that in three seasons, he's allowed 4.5 sacks. I don't have something to measure run blocking.

Since we're rating the draft themselves, what about the rest? I argued the last 3 years so I'll stick with that.

2016
Ronnie Stanley
Tavon Young
Willie Henry
Chris Moore
Matt Judon

Some people would count Alex Lewis due to starts and Kenneth Dixon due to potential. I won't because I never considered Lewis that could and Dixon's missed too much time. Just because Kaufusi and Correa didn't work out doesn't trump the many players that did. At the end of the day, the round doesn't matter if you still add quality talent.

2017
Marlon Humphrey
Tyus Bowser
Tim Williams
Jermaine Eluemunor

Humphrey alone trumps any "oh he hasn't lived up to potential" comments that can be made on Bowser, who still has time to improve. Eluemunor was someone I personally didn't like his entire rookie season, but when he's come in this year in place of injury, he's been excellent which is what you'd love to get out of a 5th round project in year two.

2018 aka the way too soon draft
Lamar Jackson
Orlando Brown
Mark Andrews
Kenny Young

These are players that have already contributed and showed serious talent.

If anybody wants to focus on one player and think "oh, because he's a second rounder and didn't work out then that trumps the fact multiple 4th rounders are playing well, then okay.

 

Meh. We suck at developing WRs. That's why I don't pay much attention to some of the "they should have drafted Juju" comments from fans and non-fans, and it's why I won't count on Scott or Lasley until they actually do something.

Now cornerback, there's a position the Ravens develop very well. I'd bet even Artie Burns would look decent here.

 

Attempting to get back on track . . .

So far, we've discussed QB and RB and, from what I can ascertain, it looks like this;

Quarterback

1. PIT - Roethlesberger
2. CLE - Mayfield
3. BAL - Flacco/Jackson
4. CIN - Dalton

Running Back

1. CLE - Chubb, Johnson
2. CIN - Mixon, Bernard
3. PIT - Conner, Samuel
4. BAL - Allen, Collins

Next up . . . Wide Receiver. I currently have this at;

1. PIT - Brown, Smith-Shuster
2. CIN - Green, Ross
3. CLE - Landry, Calloway
4. BAL - Crabtree, Snead

 

While this doesn't account for the other bodies on the roster, I do think that Cleveland's receiver roster is more complete than Baltimore's. I would agree with this order and assessment, though Cincy fans might feel a little slighted - if the receivers were switched between CIN and PIT, would they have as much success as the Steelers are currently enjoying? Just pure hypotheticals, as we consider the division, here.

 

I GOTTA READ ALL THIS! GOD DAMN IT GUYS! usually i read the OP skip all the people i dont usually agree with and boom- all caught up.

Now i gotta go back and read every bloody post, but i will guess that i side with RR1 just for shits and giggles- birds gotta stay together

2k