thundercleetz

You wouldn't be shocked if Cal or Griffey took steroids?

Foxworth is a good corner too, and a UMD boy.

Michael Jenkins signed an extension during the season, so cross him off of the list. Reggie Williams certainly stands out to me. He doesn't have consistent hands, but he is a big target who can get downfield, make tough catches, has good YAC ability, and is a great redzone target. As for corner, Check out this topic RavensNest. There is plenty of solid corner depth out there. Maybe not a shoe-in starter, but certainly guys who are already solid sub-package defenders with #2 corner potential. http://forums.extremeravens.com/index.php?showtopic=623 Other than Bryant McFadden, I would look at Eric Green, Jabari Greer and Kelvin Hayden among a few. There is plenty of corner talent on the market, we just have to find the right guy who fits our system.

I understand your frustration Crav. I cannot say I am surprised by this report that A-Rod took steroids. After Brian Roberts came out and admitted usage, nothing else surprised me beyond that. The only way I would go into a similar shock as you are in is if Cal and Griffey (the players my generation idolized) were proved to have taken steroids.

2010 uncapped year B) Flacco signed a 5-year, $30 million deal, he is locked up for awhile (I think 5-years is the minimum for a first rounder). You are right though, Ngata and Gaither will be due soon. I agree with your second point as well, the big name free agents we will be signing are our own. Suggs (who I think will be franchised), Brown, and Ray should be the guys. As for Gooden, he got hurt in the Indy game. The coaches have liked what they have seen from him. Gooden was a relatively high draft pick as a third rounder, the team must have starting expectations of some sort. He will certainly get a chance to start alongside Ray/Scott (I am heavily assuming that we will re-sign one of these guys), as will Greisen, Burgess, and any other draft pick. Going young or old? How about this scenario: We franchise Suggs (26) and re-sign Brown (25). Ray (33) gets that big deal and bolts, in which we then re-sign Bart Scott (28) for less money. Cmac (31) and Rolle (32) could be on their way out in order to shed cap space. Thus, while big guys like Nnamdi Asomugha and Dunta Robinson are probably out of the question, how about a mid-range guy like Kelvin Hayden (25) or Bryant McFadden (27)? Then we can add further corner depth with one of Eric Green (26), Vincent Fuller (26), Leigh Bodden (27), Tramon Williams (25), or Jabari Greer (26). Whether we re-sign Ray or Scott, I still believe we will be going young. Suggs and Brown are entering their prime years and should be retained no matter what. Do not be surprised to see older guys like Cmac and Rolle cut in order to free up space. There is plenty of young, talented corner depth on the market. We should be able to fill that hole through free agency leaving us with plenty of options for the draft. In the draft, it would not surprise me to see us go WR/TE in rounds one and two. WR is the glaring need on this team that will probably have to be addressed through the draft as TJ Houshmandzadeh (who I would love for us to sign) and Antonio Bryant will probably be priced out of our range.

Really? Someone is not going to be a happy camper at all!

Completely different styles of play between Sharper and McClain/Barnes. The comparison is not even valid. As for Boulware, he was much more of a complete player than McClain and Barnes. Boulware played both a 4-3 OLB and a 4-3 DE, I believe he is one of the only players to have this type of ability. There was a reason he was a top five draft pick. His combination of size, athleticism, and intelligence allowed him to do that. Barnes and McClain do not have the linebacker skills that Boulware had, that is why these guys were late rounders/UDFA. Barnes and McClain are undersized defensive ends playing a 3-4 OLB, their skill sets are not those of a traditional LB. Their roles up until this point have been those of a defensive end: containment, rushing the passer, and backside pursuit, maybe a little dropping in the flats. They have not been asked to read and react like 4-3 backers and 3-4 ILBs have to do. Nevertheless, the point remains, why sign Peppers when we can just re-sign Suggs and save our defense a lot of trouble of not having to learn a new defense? What you are proposing just makes no sense once soever unless we were backed into that situation by force. In which case, Peppers would probably play a 3-4 OLB, something he has expressed desire in doing.

So dc, I am not sure if you have thought out your predictions yet, but how do you see this season turning out for our beloved O's?

That does not make much sense signing Peppers and letting our three LBs walk. First, Peppers is going to command just as much money, if not more, than Suggs. Why not just re-sign Suggs? Second, Barnes and McClain are 3-4 OLBs, they are not 4-3 OLBs and would be too small to play as 4-3 DEs. Switching full time to a 4-3 completely devalues their talents. The plan should be to franchise Suggs, then re-sign Brown and Ray. While Suggs is franchised we can either sign him long term or trade him in a Jared Allen-type deal (Allen got a first and two thirds). There is plenty of corner depth out on the market, I am sure we will be looking at guys there (Bryant McFadden? I wish, but he is probably going to be too expensive). Nevertheless, I am positive we are going to shore up the secondary through free agency with Fabian Washington-type acquisitions. We should then also take a look at TJ Houshmandzadeh and Antonio Bryant, but those guys will probably be priced out of our range as well. Keeping Ray, Suggs, and Brown in any way and order possible should be a top priority.

Thanks for sharing that bit about Jim Leonhard. That is pretty funny. I hope we can bring him back!

I like it! Goodbye to Biaz too!

The only way he can "make him" stay is by franchising him. That is probably unlikely.

I am also choosing a play from the first Pittsburgh game. The play where Joe rolled out of the pocket to his left avoiding the sack, then ran to the other side of the field to find Mason for a big gain. That was when I thought "we really have something special here."

I disagree. Housh wants to win now. If we don't re-sign Ray, it could make Housh think that we are not in as good of a position to win the Super Bowl as this past season, which very well might be true.

I have never been a fan of naming successors like that as well. However, I do believe it to be more appropriate in the college ranks than the pro's.

How do you guys feel about Braden Looper? The O's are still rumored to be talking to Looper. He would certainly be a solid middle of the rotation guy who can eat up 200 innings. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3805 I'm ready for baseball! I really think the O's will be competitive this year. I'm really feeling a winning record this season!

Completely agree. Suggs and Brown first, then Ray. Brown IS one of those players you can break the bank for. In my opinion, he is clearly among the best at his position.

Another thing I love about TJ is that he brings a defensive attitude to the offensive side of the ball. He is like Hines Ward, he blocks with attitude. Also, he works everywhere on the field, knows how to get open and come back to the QB, and will catch anything not caring if he gets hit hard. TJ would be a great Raven. Here is the catch: TJ is going to be a hot-ticket item on the market this offseason. Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle and San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee, the New York Giants and Jacksonville are teams that are rumored to be interested in TJ. However, as TJ said in this interview, he wants to win now. He essentially said he does not want to play for Chicago. Cross Seattle and San Fran off of the list as well. Jacksonville already has a lot of money invested at WR, so I would cross them off as well. The Giants are dependent upon what happens with Plaxico Burress, and they already have a stable of solid young receivers. Although, Toomer is not coming back next season. Basically TJ will probably choose between Philly and Tennessee. I really hope we are in that mix as well. TJ already said he would be interested in playing for us, lets make it happen.

Ozzie will give Ray a fair, competitive offer. In no way will Ray be low-balled. If some team comes and blows our offer out of the water, then Ray just has to ask himself how much that extra money is worth to him. By a hometown discount, we are not asking Ray to take a below-market contract. We just hoping he will take a fair, market value contract because we are not going to break the bank.

Might as well jump right in.

Talk about bad management. Last season Anderson could have fetched a first round pick and possibly more, now he is worth next to nothing and the Browns have no idea what they have in Brady Quinn.

I have a good feeling that Ray will be back.

Not only does Gary not "ask" enough, but kids in PG County simply grow up Georgetown Hoya fans. There was an article in the Post about why the Terps have not been successful in that area historically, those kids consider the Hpyas the home team. They hear names like Allen Iverson, Jeff Green, and Alonzo Mourning and it is more appealing than anything UMD has to offer. Kids from DeMatha, Northwestern, Riverdale Baptist School, Montrose Christian have two choices: they can either stay home and go to Georgetown, or they are recruited by bigtime programs (ala Michael Beasley and Kevin Durant). The fact that the last DeMatha recruit Gary has gotten is Travis Garrison is pretty pathetic when the campus is less than 20 minutes away from CP. Speaking about football recruits, how about UMD's recruiting class this season? Not bad at all. I trained with corner recruit Travis Hawkins once at my gym and I have seen him play, he is the real deal. My little brother played against runningback recruit Caleb Porzel, Friedgen is not joking when he says the kid has breathtaking speed. It is literally Reggie Bush-like speed. Rumor around my area is that he ran in the 4.2s.

So I guess it comes down to, would you trade our first rounder for Boldin? He is certainly worth it, but I am not sure if I would.

TJ would be a great fit in Philly. He is a good fit with Kevin Curtis and DeSean Jackson. Jackson and Curtis are deep threats, but are not a reliable target like TJ. McNabb has never had a target with as reliable hands as TJ. I'll tell you what, I would love to have TJ on the Ravens. I do not care if we already have Mason, TJ is a bigger target, and could have an Anquan Boldin effect on this team. TJ also brings us some size, and is a guy who can get open in the redzone and perform in the clutch. Who said having two Derrick Mason's is a bad thing? Teams always double Mason, if we had another Derrick, Joe would be that much more effective. Mason is great, but he doesn't have the size to be that clutch possession target like a Hines Ward, Anquan Boldin, etc. Get TJ and draft a deep threat like Harvin or DHB and we are in business!