tsylvester

I think we can say good bye to McPhee, even if this is just a ploy by them......

Here you go in case you missed it and want to hear the spew....... And Biscott, the crack about suicide was not funny, it is no joke. http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/State-Of-The-Ravens-Press-Conference-Preview/558e0a56-0522-4d90-926d-8226a0270e04

Gaines I would expect to go in the late second, maybe middle 3rd; the Ravens have a real chance to land him. They don't really need a ready to go corner like Waynes, though that would be nice, but a player like Gaines or Grant would be perfect. I think for what the Ravens need at corner, there is depth that just needs to develope. Wide outs, as we have talked about in this thread, no worries there at all, it is very, very deep with ready to play receivers. The only worry for me is; do the Ravens think they need one early.... I was not a happy camper when they let Jordan Mathews slide by them last year, I will be a very grumpy camper if they do the same with Strong, Parker or even Shaq Washington (who they can get later) or his teamate Mekale McKay later, if they both came out, not sure if they did.... both are keepers,

I noticed Ozzie really sitting up straight when the kid from Lousiville, Charles Gaines, ran his 40 (4.4) and went through the db drills including the gauntlet; he was very, very impressive. Doran Grant, 4.44, OSU, and while Trae Waynes, MSU, 4.31 was fabulous as expected, I doubt the Ravens get a shot at him...

TC, did you see the db from UConn had a 12'.3" broad jump and 44" high jump! He didn't run the 40 (estimates out to a 4.34), didn't need to with those measurables.... He is a project player, late round pick but I am sure some team will take him early because of those numbers.

DGB is lazy, he clearly did not prepare for the combine, he was out of shape. I was not surprised by his 40, I mentioned players who play faster than they time and he is one of them. He has shown quickness and agility, along with the ability to get off the jam in games, but this combine, something was up with him which only leads one to believe to stay away, given his off the field issues. Parker, I love, I think I covered him early in the thread. He is a play maker just like the Ravens need. To me, White is far & away the best in this draft, then, in my opinion, it is parker. His length, body style, speed, hands, quickness all lead me to believe he will be very productive and stay healthy (key) in the NFL. I don't think he will be there when the Ravens pick, if he is, they have to take him, he would be both the best player on the board and best player they need. the 40 is a key yes, but as you touched on, look at the vertical, the long jump, short shuttle and 3 cone drill times. They all speak to explosion, quickness, elusiveness in a player, no matter the position.

Conley has suspect hands, he often loses focus over the middle & on the deep routes, taking for ganted the "easy" catches. One name who did very, very welland I would not be surprised to see the Ravens take at 26, Jaelon Strong, ASU. 4.4 in the 40, great route runner, strong, big hands & he can return punts if need be.... My dream would be white, no surprise, I started the thread about him his sic 4.35 for a man his size, wowed even me, dude just glides & strides... Funches did nothing to move his stock up, likely moved down. Some players play faster than they time, he plays about the same and his suspect hands, lackadaisical route running leave a lot to be desired. He would fit the nix for the Ravens though, a mix between tight end and wide out; problem is, he hates going over the middle based on what I saw of him over the past couple years......

Clive Wolford from the U would be a great pick, though he is a bit raw, 3rd or 4th round. Jesse James,a nother high potential guy with great body control and hands, 4th round or so.... Even Ben Koyak from ND ( a Pita clone) would be nice in the 4th or 5th.

If you mean MAX Williams, from Min, yes, solid player, ran a 4.78 today, likely to go in the second round, maybe even the early 3rd. I like him, but would be not a happy camper if the Ravens took him at 26. Solid hand, but another Gilmore type tiht end who needs to work on blocking. We can't have two tight ends who can't block..........

That hip popped with out a hit, that spells end of career type injury. Shoot, were it a shoulder, pop it back in keep on playing no big deal until you hit 40 years old at least.......... Can't do that with a hip...

His production really dropped off as the season went on, I am not sure he will have a great impact next year, hope he does.. but.....

Between 140 and 143 million butter beans.... per ESPN via the NFL, @ $1.5 mil more than expected....

No, they do not need him. There is plenty of young, talented depth, as shown in the games last year, including the four games he missed. The player they need is McPhee, not Ngata.

out of highschool is quite different than out of college. The coaching and type of system they go into plays a big role in their development. Taylor, for instance, was a run & shoot quarterback, going into a run & shoot system, thus his ranking. Smith is maybe the 15th ranked receiver in the the NFL, so not much of a change there.... 15 might even be a bit high for him, honestly...

Or when some were critical of him about learning the playbook.............

OK, I've come full circle.... After Mr Smith, T, ripped a part pinky on twitter, show him the money!

This may be the most difficult draft to determine where these backs will go. You know the draft well, once one position goes, there seems to be a run on then, The top backs, Gurley, Gordon, and to some extent Yeldon, should go in the middle to late first round, possibly even the 2nd. The rest of them, middle to late second possible, but likely not until the 3rd or 4th round. I just hope the Ravens, Ozzie, don't decide Yeldon is the "best player available" in the 2nd or even 3rd round. While he is good, he has bad wheels, runs too high, very prone to injury and tries to make the big run on every play often leading to lost yardage.

I was just thinking this the other day. Theoretically, this line should be great next year with good depth on the bench. Best part, they are young.

He should be a good one, but Duke Johnson would be my pick. He has the right attitude to both work hard/play hard, and also be a great team player. I'm just not sure where he goes and frankly, I think rb should be their least concern, pending Forsett. Even with him they should look to improve. Tal is ok, should be better with a year under him, but the rest are not very good at all. Forsett could also be one of those one year wonders we have seen over the years, so I would tread lightly with him....

Yes, the Ravens do, several players who can do as good if not better than Ngata. Williams is the main man to replace him, however, McPhee may leave and to me, that would hurt the defense because of his versitility. I would take him over Ngata any day, he fits this system perfectly.

Big deal, so was Brown the year before, who had what, 8 or 10. Smith's are largely red zone touchdowns, pretty easy to replace from a receiver such as him, Now were his touchdowns from long range, then you would have a point. However, they are not and for the reasons I outlined above. If you want an average receiver with speed, there are plenty of them out there both in FA and draft, especially for much cheaper than the Ravens offered him last summer. He is barely worth that contract, I would argue it is too much, but he certainly is not worth more....

Well stated, he is a terrible blocker. Most of the long runs over the past few years have come when he is on the side lines. To have long runs you have to have good blocking receivers, sometimes even to get the edge outside and be able to turn it up field. Smith, yep,a great guy, a great team player. But he can't find the ball in the air, he doesn't have the timing down on his routes, even a simple 9 route. This is why often times the ball looks to be over thrown, under thrown, off target. The qb has to throw it early, to a spot down field. That spot is determined and practiced in camp, in practices, in preseason. Yet in real games, Smith routinely gets rerouted by db's, slowed up by them or just flat out runs past them when he is supposed to put a stutter move there. These stutters are not always just to get him some separation but they allow the play time to develop, no different than some crossing routes where the man coming across has to slow play it sometimes to allow the zone to clear out. Most pass plays are built on timing. This is the issue with RGIII with the Skins. His timing on his drops are off, making it appear the receivers can't get open, when in fact, if he took the proper drop, or used the proper timing on the drop, they are open. Here, yes, some of the throws are just off, hey, it happens with every quarterback. But many of them are right where they need to be, but the receiver, in this case, Smith, is not where he needs to be when he needs to be there.

He suffered a toe injury and was "trying" to rehab. So yep, they needed to see if he would be ready for camp. Lazy is as lazy does.

I posted the numbers, Smith is not on the same level as the aforementioned receivers, it is not even close. Those other receivers all get off the jam better, all find the ball easiler, all have much better body control than Smith. He may draw some penalties, but teams do not game plan for him any longer. They know he will run one of three routes and he makes it easy to tell each time he lines up, which route he is going to run. Yes, even a rookie with speed will do the same thing to a defense, maybe even better since he would be a virtual unknown as far as route running and combinations. I wish writers would stop using the "teams game plan for him" since it simply is not completely true. Teams game plan for everyone.... duh,,

I'm not sure who will. Dez Bryant- 88, 1,320, 16 tds, D Thomas, 11, 1,619, 11 tds, Randall Cobb, 91, 1,287, 12 and Jeremy Maclin 95, 1,318, 10 tds. Compared to Smith, 49, 767, 11 tds. Yes his tds are nice especially the ratio to catches, his 30 tds in his short career also very good. But his deficiencies are glaring. We've talked about them over & over here, far out weigh his production and the key, those are the same issues he had coming out of college.