thundercleetz

Even if Torrey catches a TD there Brady has 1:40 to get in FG range. With the way our secondary was playing he probably gets a TD. Sure Torrey could have made a play on the ball but it was a poor decision from a time management stand point. Everything was working on offense, especially the run game and intermediate passing game. We should have continued to dink and dunk down the field.

Thanks for the analysis! It would be nice to finally get Flacco someone with a big catch radius who can also get open downfield. Marlon Brown has a pretty decent catch radius but he isn't very strong and goes down too easily. Jeremy Butler was an interesting prospect last season, I wonder how he progresses into his second year? Preston mentioned Kubiak told Ozzie he wanted a true #1, hopefully Kubiak continues to fight for it. I've liked what I've seen on Kevin White so far. Tim, what do you think of Green-Beckham?

I was looking at your WR analysis from earlier in the topic. Pretty bold statement on this draft class but interesting nonetheless. Who do you think are targets for us at this point? Do you think there will be a WR worth taking? Or will they be snatched up?

Good stuff. There is a huge gap between Johnson/Fitzgerald and Harvin/Wallace. Remember, Johnson and Fitzgerald were top three picks with enormous rookie deals easily over $50M with large guarantees. Both guys had huge cap numbers prior to the contract ending and had to sign extensions. They had leverage. While Bryant and Thomas are certainly as good, will they get as much money on the open market where a team isn't technically restructuring a contract? It will be interesting to see. I'd put Torrey as comparable to Wallace. Torrey's numbers are a little less. He's better than Garçon was and considerably younger than Jennings. No doubt Torrey's agent will ask for Wallace money. I'm not sure if the Ravens would go that high though. He might be worth more to a team that runs a traditional deep ball offense like Cam Cameron.

I agree with you, but what does that mean in actual dollars? While DT is a top 5 receiver and Torrey is maybe top 20, there is a point of diminishing return with respect to the salary cap. Who do you see as comparable contracts to Torrey, and then Thomas and Bryant? As a starting point let's use this: Mike Wallace got $60M over five years with over $30M in guarantees. Calvin Johnson got $130M over eight years with over $53 in guarantees (signed before he hit free agency, remember Calvin had a big rookie deal before the new scale. Six years $64M with over $27M guaranteed. His later year CAP numbers were enormous this he had a lot of leverage with the Lions.) Would you say Torrey is comparable to Wallace and Bryant/Thomas are comparable to Johnson?

How much more money can Thomas be over Torrey? If we can't get Thomas because of cap space, I wouldn't be optimistic we could retain Torrey.

Good article from Preston: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bs-sp-preston-ravens-column-0113-20150112-column.html Preston goes on to state: So here's the question: how much more money is Thomas or Dez Bryant in comparison to Torrey Smith? If we are going to pony up for Torrey, should we just pay a little more and get a #1 receiver in Bryant or Thomas? The Broncos have both Demaryius and tight-end Julius Thomas as free agents. The Cowboys have both DeMarco Murray and Bryant as free agents. If Bryant or Demaryius are unrestricted, do you go for one of them and let Torrey walk?

Aaron Wilson is tweeting Kubiak was aware of the Denver-Fox rumors yesterday and took them into account when making his decision to stay. Kubiak didn't have to announce his intention to stay as quickly as he did, so I believe AW's story. AW also tweeted that Kubiak is building a home in OM.

This is the best news we could hope for after the loss. Even better considering he announced it right away as opposed to thinking it over and possibly taking a few interviews. Sounds like Kubiak is sure about his decision. Hopefully he is actively involved with WR scouting and drafting this offseason.

As good as our defensive line was this past season, remember we have Kapron Lewis-Moore and Brent Urban coming back. You have to love the way Ozzie has rebuilt the offensive and defensive lines. So much depth!

Not to pile on Torrey, but from my vantage point I don't think he had a good game run blocking at all. Forsett had lots of yardage left on that field because Torrey failed to block his guy on a few plays. I thought all the other receivers gave a great effort run blocking. What do I know. Mike Wallace got $60M from the Dolphins to be a pure deep threat (Wallace said he turned down $75M from the Vikings too). Torrey has every right to ask for that kind of money, that's what the market dictates. I want Torrey back. He's one of those players that goes beyond the football field for the organization. He's wildly popular, I think Ozzie finds a way. I also think Torrey's best football is still ahead of him.

This team is on the upswing. A couple of corners and we're set.

At first I thought Torrey should have jumped for that ball. It looked catchable to me. However a friend told me he popped up gimpy after the play. He may have hurt his hamstring with is why he didn't fight for the ball.

Not one player in the league that can guard that Brady-to-Gronk quick slant one-on-one. Hard to fault Hill there. Either the pressure gets to Brady, there's a batted ball or its a TD.

Good first half. This is going to be a thriller.

Don't mind that drive, you put them in a couple of tough third downs and stuffed the run. Pass rush is getting close. They know they can't run.

This start is huge, not only take the crowd out of the game, but with the media hyping the whole Ravens have the Pats number, do we get in their heads? Does Belicheck deviate from his gameplan?

Perfect start. When an offensive coach scripts his first fifteen plays I don't even think he expects this as a best case scenario.

Shocking challenge. Good call by Harbaugh. Even if we didn't win that, we slow the momentum. Our offensive line is killing the Pats front seven.

Well it depends on the public support. You can't force an owner to spend his own money where he doesn't want to. A investment that large in St. Louis probably isn't smart (for both the owner and the city I'd say). If St. Louis doesn't want to pay for a stadium, the owner should be allowed to move if he is going to pay for a new stadium elsewhere with no public money. IMO, owners need to start paying for their own stadiums. If a city like St. Louis loses their team, then that's an unfortunate consequence. If St. Louis wants to keep the team, put it on a ballot and let the public decide. But the real message here is new taxes being levied for a stadium when the public doesn't want it or doesn't benefit.

Touchdown!!!!!

I don't think I've ever seen you so excited for something before.

Things are about to get interesting: St. Louis proposes a new $860M stadium. No new tax burden, supposedly. Will the NFL let the Rams leave when there is a new stadium offer on the table?

Ok I just researched this some more. The NFL isn't commenting because the state has until the end of the month to come up with either a plan for a new stadium or accept the $700M upgrades to the current dome. We'll see what happens. It will be interesting if the state offers a new stadium, because I believe a team can only move if all options have been exhausted.

The guy wants to build a stadium with his own money, he should be able to move the team. Interesting the NFL hasn't commented yet. I imagine the NFL is in a tough spot: the Rams won an arbitration hearing that stated it would take $700M to upgrade the Edward Jones Dome to a first class facility as specified in the lease. Since the city isn't willing to pay up, the Rams can convert their lease into a year to year lease. The other option to stay in St. Louis would be a new stadium, which I imagine would cost at least that. So does the NFL force the Rams to stay in St. Louis and fight for public money that St. Louis hasn't been willing to pay? Or do they let the guy who wants to build his own stadium in LA, without any tax help, move the team? NFL has to be careful about the message they want to send. A lot of these publically financed stadium deals are already controversial. I guess the other option is the NFL says no, a team can only move to LA if it plays in an NFL owned stadium.