RAVENS 2018 SEASON THREAD

It's rare that the Ravens cut a guy under his rookie contract and almost unheard of for a 2nd round pick. Remember Arthur Brown?

 

Faulk, I'm guessing Zing was talking about LJ in that post, not Woodrum

 

LOL! Maybe so. In either case (11 on 11 or route practice) he still throws them wobbly more than you want your QB of the future to do. RG3 needs to show him how HE does it.

 

If the defense shows up and is slightly better at holding leads than last year. With Jimmy Smith back, if he stays healthy and has regained form, that should happen. If the offense finds its stride with the new weapons. If Joe bounces back from sub-par seasons the last three years. If the Ravens don't get hit too badly with the injury bug.

Lot of "ifs"

I can as easily see them going 10-6 or 9-7 as I can 6-10 or 7-9

 

Keep in mind that as of right now, Bam Bradley is on the PUP list. No telling when or if he'll be back, and I haven't heard a thing. I don't know what the extent of his injury is or when he's expected back. Young is listed #2 behind Onwausor on the first depth chart released, which means nothing.

Quincy Adaboyejo, currently on the PUP, is one of the WR's I've been interested in seeing this camp. He caught everything thrown his way in pre-season last year and looked like a keeper. Being on the PUP certainly can't help his chances.

 

I actually think being on the PUP helps Quincy immensely in staying with the team. With him on PUP (assuming he stays there a while), the Ravens don't have to make a decision on keeping/cutting him. I think they already have an issue with numbers at receiver this year (moreso if somehow they keep 3 QB).

Crab/Brown/Snead/Moore
Scott/Lasley
White

Then there is Grant who is my hopeful to stick around a little if he can return in the NFL, but I don't think there are the numbers for him already. Where does Quincy fit above? I don't think he does unless there is an injury.

 

as we talk about all the roster jockeying that is going to happen, it makes me look back and find that it is one of the drawbacks of accumulating so many draft picks. There is going to be movement somewhere and us collecting so many rookies in the draft will make for some tough decisions.

Look at the receiver group, for instance. There are a few draft picks that will have to potentially be discarded in order to pare down and get to our number. Either Perriman (1st rounder) or Lasley (5th rounder) or Scott (4th rounder) will be dropped. Obviously, Perriman had his shot and wet the bed, so he is as good as gone, but one of our current rookie draft picks is likely to either be released (not very probably) or develop a mystery injury to be stashed on PUP.

Either case looks like sort of a waste of a draft pick given we signed so many free agent WR these last few months.

Unless the plan is to use Brown as a rental this year and let him go next season while Lasley or Scott gets some seasoning this year and they take Brown's vacated spot next year.

 

Brown signed a 1-yer prove it deal. $5 mil with $1.5 mil in incentives.

 

Exactly my point. If Brown was on a prove it deal, then why draft a prospect with a 4th and 5th round pick if you already planned to have Brown tied up with the money. Why not use 1 pick for a receiver and the other for another position, like inside linebacker, that we need more quality depth? It feels like we either threw away a 5th round pick or threw away 5 million, regardless, it seems very wasteful.

 

They drafted an ILB in the 4th rd. Kenny Young.

I get what you're saying, but by the time a team gets to the late 4th rd and beyond, it's either BAP or fill some holes. I personally didn't like either WR they picked, and feel they probably could've used at least one of those picks for the OL, but if the WR's were the BPA then so be it. Hopefully they can be useful on ST's, but I do have a feeling at least one of them will come down with a mystery injury.

 

Breeland gonna be a Raven? How did Carr perform last year?

 

Lasley probably has the inside track even though he was drafted after Scott. Most reports simply have him as a guy who dropped due to off the field issues, although he has issues with deepa also. Outside of a few inches in height, it seems like Scott doesn't offer anything Crabtree cant provide. I expect him to catch some season long injury. Like a severe hangnail or something

 

Agreed here Jazz. I did not like either of the WR they drafted and thought they may have looked for more ILB depth considering Bradley was hurt, McClellan was hurt and Correa was being moved back to OLB. It was pretty darned thin at ILB as of draft time. I understand Young and I like hit potential, but I think you need to take a few extra shots at hiotting on a good player there.

OL would have been a great option as well. I don't really know, they know way more than me when it comes to value and potential of what was available at that time in the draft process.

 

I'd be disappointed if we spent money on that guy and not allowed our own draft picks to get on the field. I think our CB depth is already pretty stellar, so I would rather see the FO spend the money on a better ILB or OL help.

 

As things are right now, I can see 10-6 as being easily reachable. They are looking really good overall. Joe looks healthy and confident. Jimmy is getting healthier. The only issue I see now is Yanda with is shoulder. He's got lots of miles on him and always plays hurt, but his is major piece in the OL that isn't 100% replaceable in a next-man-up scenario.

So all those "ifs" to me are being addressed and looking good. The only wildcard is the injury bug and so far so good there. Let's just hope this is finally our year to avoid the worst of it.

 

Agreed. We are one proven player away in each corps from having solid, quality depth in both. No much else needed.

 

I could also see it if they have a potential trade in place to send Carr somewhere for a player we need. OL and ILB as I had mentioned would be nice but as teams start to make roster cuts, we could surely have the pick of a veteran player to plug in. I would love to repeat the process we did before when we had Darryl Smith drop in our laps and he was a very solid veteran for a few seasons. Same thing with Matt Birk if I recall....

 

I understand your optimism, I have some too. But I think all true fans take hold of whatever they can to justify their team winning. And I truly believe the Ravens are an improved team this year, especially if they are healthy. Which begs the question, If Jimmy Smith is healthy, with Tavon Young and Brandon Carr back, why are they bringing in Breeland? Something going on we don't know about?

I will remain optimistic! But.. with that said, I still say that until they show me something that makes me think this year's Ravens will be any better than last years Ravens, I can't predict great things just yet.

The defense should be improved with the healthy return of guys like Smith, Urban and Young. And the battle between Onwuasor and Kenny Young is really interesting. Quite an accomplishment if a rookie 4th round pick starts day one. But beyond that, the defense is the same that gave up late leads.

A healthy, motivated Joe Flacco with some new talented receivers and TE's to go along with what should be a productive run is a great combination provided the O line stays healthy. Stanley, Lewis, Skura, Yanda and Brown could have the makings of a real good O line if they can stay healthy for a full year. After all, it comes down to the line to make the Offense work. The saving grace is that at least they will have some experienced players backing them up.

If anything, I think the Ravens have the look of a team with a deeper roster from an overall talent point of view than last year's team.

The Optimistic me say's they could win 10 games. The realist me still says they could as easily lose 10 if they get snake bit.

 

Is it annoying to anyone that Jackson keeps saying the "I'm a quarterback" line while Flacco is out there catching 1 handed passes?

I have a hard time believing in the regular season that the better option in the 2 QB trick plays will be for Flacco to be the runner/pass catcher as opposed to Jackson.

 

I hesitate too to go over 10 wins right now just because of their recent history. So far (fingers crossed) no major injuries to key players and from what I've seen so far the team is looking crisp, confident and well drilled. The roster is indeed deep with my only real concern is how the the OL will perform overall and hold up on the year - Yanda's health being my biggest concern and the "lesser" players in squad being question marks.

Remember, the defense is now run by Martindale, not Pees. That 3rd/4th qtr meltdown stuff will be addressed. Not sure if he has the answers, but I have to think that this was a major project for Pees' replacement. Not sure what you mean by bringing in Breeland. Did you mean Baptiste? He's talented (2014 2nd rd pick) and apparently doesn't have his head in the game/has a 'tude. Six teams in 5 years is not a good sign especially when your drafting coach has seen chewing you out on the sideline in a game. Best guess here is that they are giving him a shot to revive his career with a famous defense and using his talent to challenge our new WR corps.

I'm a realist at my core and 10 wins to me is real. I think 6 wins this year requires a serious implosion on par with 2015. Remember, even in most of their heavy injury-laden seasons they still managed 8-8.