Ravens Training Camp News and Notes

I have not started a thread in a long time so I thought this might be a great time to create a catch all area for commentary about Training Camp since there seems to already be a ton of news coming out (albeit all injury related) that can be shared and discussed.

1. Joe injures his back and is out some amount of time from 6 days to 6 weeks.
2. Position Battles-ILB,OL,OLB,RB,DL etc.

 

Urschel just retired according to my Ravens app.

We're about to win the division and superbowl after this offseason

 

So the Ravens tried to claim Lucky Whitehead. Only thing that worries me a little is that it may be an indicator that they are still really unsettled with the return position. I mean as a fan, it's one of the biggest holes I see, but i was hoping that internally they might feel good about it.

 

The best option right now is Keenan Reynolds and that's not really very comforting

 

Or Griff Whalen.

 

I want Keenan Reynolds to work because I think he can be dangerous with a football, but I just don't know that I have faith in him

 

Annnnnnnndddddd Urschel retired

I'm fine with this because it's been well documented over the past year that I didn't think he was very good. I know most penciled him in as the starter, but I didn't see how he was going to win the job. Still, with him gone, the competition that might have made Jensen better is all but gone. It's either that, sign Mangold who is too injured to pass a physical, or trade for some backup center (because who really is going to trade their starting center?).

 

Regarding Joe's back, it sounds like much ado about nothing. As one who's personally managed back injuries, his seems like a minor flare up and a week's rest means it's tiny tweak. Hell, give him 2 weeks just to be sure! However, if it were more serious, that would destroy the season. Still, the talk of signing Collin Kaepernick doesn't alleviate my concern 100%. He is a starter caliber player and Mallet is is only paid $2M this year. So considering a b/u QB that's not a pocket passer strictly to compete with a QB that is already cap-friendly and familiar with the system is a little puzzling.

*EDIT - I just put 2 and 2 together and saw Greg Roman coached Kaep in San Fran and didn't realize he was 25-24 under him. That squashes any little concern over whether Joe's back could be worse than than the week's worth of rest reportedly needed. I'd love to see him compete with Mallet now.

Regarding Urschel, it was a matter of time. He was never going to make football a long term career and this was coming sooner than later given his intellectual talents. He wasn't lighting the world on fire with his play, but he definitely leaves us thinner at G/C than we want. Particularly center, where we have just Jensen and Skura. And the $690k he leaves for us to work with is not going to buy any veteran talent either through FA or a trade.

 

So I'm reading that Tim Williams has been a nightmare as a pass rusher. I really hope Pees gives him that 2014 McPhee treatment. Just rush him from everywhere, especially on obvious passing situations.

I can't wait to see the defense this year. Because with Flacco potentially having back issues that could flair up again, we'll need a dominant defense

 

Makes me sick to my stomach thinking about facing that guy for the next 4 years. I realize Colbert has forgotten more about football than I'll ever know but sometimes he's over conservative. When I guy that good is still there in the 3rd you gotta go get him.

 

I can't lie, I'm still surprised we drafted him where we did. I figured he'd fall out of the first. I was surprised he fell out of the second. But when we didn't draft him with out first 3rd round pick, I was absolutely positive that was Baltimore's last chance. Yeah we got him 4 picks later, but that was still one of those "of my freaking god, I can't believe we actually got him here" moments

 

Anyway, more training camp news.

- Carl Davis is proving too much for the second team o-line
- Correa is actually making plays during full contact drills
- Reynolds is still muffing punts even though he's received credit for fielding them better overall

There are other notes, but these three are the most substantial at the moment for me

 

I wanted to point one thing I read out. James Hurst is proving to be a guy that has really improved in the off season. The article said that he has greatly improved his strength and footwork and is really holding his own at the point. I wanted to make sure the dude got a fair shake in the notes, since it seems he really worked his tail off to attempt to grab the open right tackle spot.

I can't find the article now, but it may have actually been a Sun article I read through over the weekend. I will try to find it.

 

I found it.
http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news...-Winning/7611c334-1602-4d55-9a82-a27dd6b95720

Excerpt from the article by Ryan Mink:

"Most of that action has been at left tackle, but Hurst started making the transition to the right side late last season. He started at right tackle in Week 17 against the Bengals and got strong grades from his coaches.

While Hurst hasn't gotten many high marks from Pro Football Focus, he gave up pressure on a lower percentage of his pass-blocking snaps (4.5 percent) last year than Wagner (5.6 percent). Hurst's biggest problem has been his strength, but he's improved that this offseason.

Hurst said he's gone from 305 or 310 pounds to 320. New Ravens Director of Performance Steve Saunders has helped transform Hurst's body.

"I needed to get stronger; that was one of my weaknesses," Hurst said. "You've still got to be able to move. Lucky for us, we've got some speed guys out there that will let you know real quick whether or not you can move."

Another big help to Hurst this season is that he's able to lock in on one position. While the switch from left to right tackle means flipping all his movements – which isn't easy, as Marshal Yanda attested to last year in switching guard spots – Hurst is getting the reps to make it work.

The next big test will be when the pads come on for the first time today.

"I'm feeling really good," Hurst said. "We have a long way to go, but it's definitely been a good start.

"It's always good to know where you are in the lineup and feel confident in your position. When the coaches are feeling confident in you, that's what you want. You want to be the guy they can count on, that your teammates can count on."

 

I did read that article about Hurst and forgot to comment on it. I'm hoping he isn't too bad overall. Maybe LT simply isn't the position for him, like with Michael Oher, but he can thrive at RT. I have been incredibly down on him, as I'm sure most of the fanbase has been, but let's hope he can prove his doubters wrong

 

I just wanted to at least recognize the guy for the hard work he has clearly put in. If he fails and can't cut it, at least I feel confident he maximized his opportunity and gave it his all. Those are the dudes I tend to get behind and root for. If I can see you are busting your tail, I want you to succeed.

There have been some seasons past that I felt some guys did not give it their all, like Suggs for instance. I felt, in the past, that he kinda mailed it in in the off season and showed up out of shape and did not put in the work to be his best. I felt like he got by on talent and did not marry the hard work needed with the talent to be the dominant force he could have been.

I just enjoy seeing the guys who are given a chance seize the opportunity and succeed, but then I tend to always root for the underdog anyway.

 

I'd just like to say from April 30:

Still remains to be seen, but he's at least making positive news.

Correa was looking great last year too, and then he got yelled at by Flacco. It felt like after that, he simply disappeared. Now I'm sure there was more to it than that, but to be, it signaled him losing his fiery edge.

 

It's hard to judge some reports of players when it's full full contact drills. That said, I'm loving the reports on Perriman, Humphrey, and T.Williams the most

 

Did anyone go to the ope n practice Sunday night? I went and paid close attention to certain positions.

All this talk of Hurst and I really didn't have a good view of the OL group. I remember the article about him too but really couldn't see what he was doing. Here's what I saw:

Noteables (bad or good):

QBs: Without Flacco, this team is in trouble.
Ryan Mallet: Bring in Kaepernick NOW! If Joe misses any time, Mallet is NOT the ma you want under center. I'd prefer to see the new guy Olson over him. He had some good passes. Mallet, in what was essentially "show time" for the fans made horrible throws and at one point actually got chewed out by Mornhinweg. Now this report of "meltdown" recently seems more accurate. He'd count $1mm in dead money - something the Ravens are struggling with again this year.

Vaughn/Olson: Not great, but at least looked like they wanted to be there. They made some decent tosses and looked at least as good as Mallet.

Receivers:
Maclin: I sat in from of the offensive players most of the event. Maclin has seriously routes but he did flub some catches though which you don't like to see, but one was from an assistant and another was from guess who....?

Perriman: This kid can really fly. His long legs make his running look slower until he tucks the ball and gets moving. Then he just glides like he's not even touching the ground.

Wallace: Less about his performance (he did have one bobbled ball, but caught it) he was lining up on the outside opposite Perriman with maclin in X. We all expected this, but they ran this for several plas with the 1's in the scrimmage as the end.

Quincy Adeboyejo: This rookie looked really good. He's a talk kid (6-3) with some good hands, high point/radius and routes. Pay attention to him.

Tim White: Look out for this kid. He wsa used a lot and often and made some great plays even a TD over Shabazz and Boykin) and long grab over Smith by the sidelines. He's shorter (5-10), but is fast, twitchy and explosive. has good body control and high points very well. Very athletic did a back flip after his TD grab. He could make this roster with performances like this in preseason.

Chris Moore: Moore looked great. He looked fast, fluid and had sticky hands. He was in the end zone more than once with the ball. Granted that was with the 2's, but he dominated.

Keenan Reynolds: He struggled receiving and return duties. His athleticism is without question. I would not expect him to make the roster.

Griff Whelan: He looked like that screen play specialist we hoped Camp would be. He ran them effortlessly and confidently.

Vince Mayle: He had an incosistent showing. Hestayed in with the WRs so anything I saw about him listed a s TE is probably not accurate. Not sure if he makes the team with all the competition we have.

RBs:
Terrance West: He looked to be as good as you might hope. He had decisive cuts and was able to get small in the scrum for some extra yards. He was catching the ball nicely too.

Buck Allen: Ditto here, though he got used for pass plays in mid-field and had some nice grabs.

Bobby Rainey: He looked about as good as he was when here last. He's probably better than that and looked like a capable back up.

Danny Woodhead: Like Whelan he was used in screens a lot. He was as active as Tim White which is to say a lot. He's fast, fluid, and gets through the smalled seams. His ACL didn't appear to be an issue. I like what I saw and we can say good bye finally to Camp.

Ortiz/Taliaferro: Ortiz was not crisp. He showed a nice cut, but he is really a project even at FB. LT still loots like a RB and I doubt he can cut it at as a FB.

Taquan Mizzell: This kids has some talent. Keep an eye on the battle for the last RB spot with Rainey. He did get owned though by Correa getting punished for a loss. he sprang back up from a H@H hit and looked to take it in stride.

TE: Did not see Gilmore.
Benjamin Watson: He was used a lot and I didn;t see any affects from his Achillies. he does have good hands a great reach fo contested balls.

Maxx Williams: He looks bigger. Didn't see too much with him except for one catch where he was blanketed by Lokombo and Tony Jefferson. He stayed up long enough to gain 2 more yards. He looks healthy from what little I saw.

Nick Boyle: He has 3 Nice grabs and managed to gain some YAC. If he keeps his nose clean he should be pretty good for us.

Larry Donnell: Wearing 84, he was all over the field making great grabs. I thought he was Waller at first and his name wasn't in the program. He could be a really great TE for us.

Ryan Malleck: The kid represented proetty well. He had a lot of fire and had a high motor. He made some good blocks and even pancaked Judon held him on the ground and got chippy with him afterward. I doubt he makes the team, but he made the most of his exhibition.

OL: I didn't get to see this groups practice much. In scrimmage overall they did not hold up to the D-line in scrimmage which makes me feel good about the DL, and less so about the OL.

Outside of the QB play the team looks really good. Flacco coming back sooner than later would be great bc this unit has really nothing to show. I say sign Kaepernick and get rid of Mallet and put Olson on the PS. Running backs will have to play better than they look on paper especially now without Dixon. That means West will be the man. I like that a local kid is now our de facto starting running back and I hope he can be better than he hoped. I'm not sure he breaks a 1000 yrds, but I think we have enough variety to make up for that and spread the touches around a bit.

 

I had to post this in 2 parts (10,000 charactersis the limit). Here's what I saw on defense:

DL:
Brandon Williams: Outside of dancing in field in a showdown with a 10 y/o girl in the stadium, it's really what I expected of him. He collapsed the center on pass rush and swallowed up runners going up the middle. I few managed to slip passed but hard to tell how the hole opened in those cases.

Bronson Kaufusi: He was visibly one of the most active players on the field - high, high motor. He has that Ray Lewis like frenetic energy that just draws the eye. He has 2 balls batted and got in the backfield twice that I saw - what would've been a sack and the other a run stop. He's not the biggest player we have but he looks larger than them all with his play.

Michael Pierce: He had a solid practice. Nothing major that I noted, but he may actually be the biggest player on the field but he looks like a boulder sitting right in the middle.

Brent Urban: He'd just a big big. He played solid and looked pretty fluid out there. He had a ball battled and near INT. He looked healthy.

Carl Davis: Did not notice. Not sure if he was out there.

Chris Wormley: He looked like Kaufsi lite. As a rookie I'd expect him to not be at the same level yet, but he had 2 pressures on Olson and Vaughn that I saw.

Passrushers: Nothing to worry about here.
Suggs: What's to say really? We know what he is. I saw one play where he came in unopposed from the right on Mallet. He gave a lot of reps to the younger guys, but he looked healthy from what I saw. He also was less "hammy" than Brandon which was strange to see for a change.

Matt Judon: Judon looks like a monster. He just looks imposing (except for getting pancaked by that rookie TE Malleck). Another high motor guy. he was really rounding the corners and getting pressure. He's definitely getting better and I'd expect good things from him this year.

Za'Darius Smith: I saw him on one play where he managed to get to Vaughn and beat Eluemanor easily.

Tyus Bowser: Another high motor. He was pressuring QBs and making run stops. He'll be an immediate contributor.

Tim Williams: This guy is a pure passrusher. He was getting in the backfield all day it seemed. He has such a great bend around the corner it's amazing to watch. He did however, over commit and let rushers get by him. As a rookie, I'll take it. If they put him in situationally, expect him to around the passer more often than not.

ILBs:
Mosely: About what you expect. He's going top be force in the middle. He wrapped up West on a couple plays and stood him up. He looks almosgt as good as Ellerbe in pass defense swatting down 2 balls i saw come his way.

Correa: Correa looks like he grew a bit - physically and in confidence. He's thicker and faster than I remember. He nailed Mizzell right after a hand off having read the play perfectly and de-cleated him. Now it was a H2H hit and the replay showed a crown hit, but the refs didn't throw a flag on it. But he stopped him in his tracks and Mizzell showed he was somewhat elusive.

Onwuasor: Saw him on one play. He stopped Rainey and knocked him backwards to the ground. It wasn't a vicious hit, but showed he was an imposing presence.

Boseko Lokombo: I saw his number a lot and he was active. I did not see a lot that stood out.

Safeties:
Weddle/Jefferson: These are a legit combo. They are going to make the this a fun season to watch. Weddle had a pick and pass defended. He was pretty much everywhere a running back was at the 2nd and 3rd level. He even went step for step with Woodhead forcing him out on the sideline. Jefferson had 2 picks an few passes defensed. Outside of the lame tackle attempt on Maxx Williams (he jumped up high on his back) he was really a force.

Otha Foster: Foster had a big hit on Ricky Ortiz taking him out as a blocker. He was constant nuisance in the 2's and 3's.

Webb: Not much to expect here. He was solid, but no splash plays.

Levine: Did not see him play.

CB's:
Jimmy Smith: He did well on man coverage drills but was nearly beaten for a TD on a jump ball by Matthews. Perriman burned him in the end zone but came up without the long bomb play. He seemed better in scrimmage but the QB play was not the greatest anyway.

Brandon Carr: I noticed Carr more in the one-one receiver drills and in scrimmage. He had a pass break up I saw and was able to thwart Wallace and Matthews from what I saw. Not an impressive athlete, but he looks like a solid vet.

Humphrey: Reports of a learning curve seem accurate. He was beaten by Wallace in passing drills (no shame in that), but he also gave up one to fellow rookie WR Tim White. You could see that things were still moving a little too fast for him. However his footwork in CB drills was impeccable. He wasn't bad, just not impressive and I'm not that worried.

Brandon Boykin: Of all the CBs he looked like the one that burned the most in drills and scrimmage. I'm not sure what to make of the guy. I'm hoping he's not our next Jerraud Powers. In an otherwise good defensive diplay, he looked like a weak link.

Al-Hajj Shabazz: Ditto here. He may not make the team. Was burned by Moore for a TD.

Canady: I don't really notice Canady out there.

Sheldon Price: The surprise band-aid guy from 2015 just looks like a moldy old band-aid now. He did not hold his own and was not impressive in anyway.

Special Teams:
Tucker: He looked inconsistent, but it was only practice. he missed on a 65 yarder that bounced away on the right upright. He missed another 45 yarder wide right again. However, he naile a pair of 55 yarders that looked effortless.

Koch vs. Allen: What can you say about Sam Koch unless its compared to the "other guy." Patrick Allen looked raw with sloppy kicks but had some leg. He still was consistently kicking 5-8 yards less than Koch.

KR/PR:
Keenan Reynolds: This doesn't look natural for him. He muffled a punt and it didn;t get better from there. He is fast, but he looked clumsy with the ball.
Whelan: This does look natural for him. He Showed good heads up vision during and after the catch and he's pretty quick for a white guy.
Webb: yes, Webb in KR drills. No please.
Rainey: He looked good. Seemed comfortable and had a great burst right after his catches.
Woodhead: See rainey although I'd like to see him just in the RB corps.
Moore: Looked like he had some ability there.
White: This kid look good here too. He's faster than he looks and though small runs it in straight line. Another way he could make this roster.
Chuck Clark: he's a safety I didn;t see much of, but he was taking reps making returns. He has good size and is a straight line runner. Doubt they use him, here but it's possible. He didn't look bad at it.

Outside of some thinning that needs to happen at CB, I am not worried about this defense one bit. It's not a matter of "if" they be great as much as "how great will they be?"