thundercleetz

I'm really excited to see Urrutia play too. Our DH against RHP has been pathetic. Hopefully Henry can solidify the role. The guy seems like a gamer.

I didn't want to start a new topic so I thought I'd put this in the topic that had to do with shooting and being scared: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/towson/bs-md-co-body-found-20130717,0,2293567.story This was on my block nearly right in front of my house. Our street was blocked off today. It was a circus. This was a freaking semi-automatic that was fired in a very quiet neighborhood. I'm a registered Republican and all for the second amendment rights but our unintelligent and reckless society getting to the point where people can't be trusted and need to be babied. This morning the second ammendment could have eliminated my "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness." I left to go to the gym ten minutes before the shooting that occured 100 yards away. I understand the second ammendment was created to give people a means of self-defense in the event of a corrupt government. I don't own a gun. I'll take the odds that we never get to such a situation in my lifetime. And if we do, I'll happily listen and obey the side that has the most guns. Once again playing the odds.

Got me thinking that 2006 defense was INCREDIBLE. I think that defense was our second greatest in our history. Pryce had 13 sacks, AD 11, Bart Scott 9.5, Suggs 9.5. That was a very fun defense to watch. Not nearly as stout as the 2000 defense but the 2006 defense was very flashy and made a lot of big plays. I'd rank the 2003 defense third.

Ozzie restocked this team with depth, youth, speed, and talent. Prior to this season it looked like our window was about closed however we have as good a chance as anyone these next three years to win another Super Bowl. With the great coaching staff we have in place, I have no doubt they will be able to develop the young talent so we do not miss a beat and ultimately are better.

Wow watching those gave me goosebumps! I love the We Are Ravens Nation song. This will always be my all time favorite video: http://youtu.be/GcSBw76_tpk It is going to be really weird not seeing Ray on the field. He set the bar so high from 1999-2005 or so that it is easy to forget how great he was at his best. Nevertheless, the intensity never left. The NFL may never see a leader as great as Ray again. Has there ever been a defensive player as good as making his teammates better as Ray? Here is my game-plan for our season opener: I will watch NFL Network's Football Life following Ray Lewis during the 2011 season culminating with the Pats loss. I will immediately watch the Ravens 2013 Super Bowl Blu Ray covering the whole 2012. Between those two it is the ultimate story of overcoming the odds and triumph. Only then will I be ready for 2013!

Seth Rogan is hilarious. I hadn't heard of the movie until Rogan was promoting it on Stern this week. I want to go see it now.

I think if Smith and McClain are healthy, they are the starters. Starters is a misleading term however. I think Brown is going to require a full year in an NFL weightroom before he can be an every snap player. That is not to say he will not have an immediate impact. I think Brown is going to be very heavily used in passing situations to spell McClain and Smith. That is Brown's strongsuite with his speed and instincts. With how much of a pass happy league we have become, Brown will get a lot of snaps no doubt. We better hope that Smith and McClain stay healthy because at this point I am not sure if Brown's frame could hold up a full season taking on guards within the tackles. Brown also has a tendency for missed tackles. Remember, for every small athletic ILB like Ray or Navarro Bowman there are ten Tavares Goodens. Now Brown has a lot better instincts than Gooden, and is more willing to be aggressive. Brown is really going to be a beast once he gets experience and in our weight program. We are in a good position for our ILBs that we have a lot of size and depth upfront. Our defensive line should do a much better job this season of wearing down offensive lines and taking up blockers.

Gausman's stuff is incredible. It is nice finally having a starting pitcher that is hitting the upper 90s consistently and missing bats with his off speed stuff. Gausman is going to get better down the stretch. He has a great demeanor where he can shake off a bad start, he just needs to work out the kinks of being a major league starter. I like this kid's future.

And Joe's nowhere near done, that's the great thing. I do not want to get ahead of myself, but Joe is picking up both regular season and postseason wins at an incredible pace. With Joe's durability, he could be near the top of the list in all time QB wins for both regular and post seasons. Ozzie has put this team in a great position with our mix of vets and young talent to make a serious run these next three years.

No surprise to see Smith doing well, he has run the Jacksonville defense for most of the past decade. With Smith it is all about health. Before last season Smith was one of the NFL's most consistent and underrated defenders. If he can stay healthy this could be another Cory Redding-type signing for Ozzie. Btw Suggs looks great! With Dumervil on the other side Suggs could be in store for another defensive MVP!

More than anything this probably means we will not being using a fullback as much. Juice is more of an H-back and is an asset in the passing game. Leach really didn't see the field much once Caldwell took over. Not worth it to pay Leach that much money for only being on the field for 35% of the offensive snaps.

Wish I could have been invited to that party.

I almost forgot Dickson had over 50 catches in 2011. Not out of the question for him to get back to that number, or more, in 2013.

Continuing Dee's almost happened but lucky it didn't happen: how about the Viking botching the draft day deal where we would have gotten Byron Leftwich instead of Suggs?

Youth, speed, depth, and an awesome coaching staff: this defense is vastly improved and has all the tools for being elite.

I agree your Steelers have had a great offseason. I even said as much on your Steelers board. With you it all comes down to protecting Ben (who's been hit more time than any other QB and its not even close) and developing a run game (which is not a given at this point). If Ben can play 16 games you have as good a chance as anyone. At this point I have the consider that a big if. Your defense is great but where are the turnovers? Number one defense looks great on paper but if you're not forcing turnovers you're not giving your offense easy points. You guys haven't forced turnovers at a high level the past three years. What have the Ravens done? Our defense was only sixteenth in the league, there was lots of room for improvement. First off the Ravens have stolen the Steelers motto: two star OLBs who can post at least twenty sacks between them. Backing up Dumervil and Suggs we have Courtney Upshaw, B1G defensive player of the year Jon Simon, and sack specialist Adrian Hamilton. And that is just the outside. Inside Ozzie rebuilt the interior line for pennies on the dollar. Marcus Spears and Chris Canty were brought on board to join Ngata, budding star Arthur Jones, and Pernell McPhee. Those are just the proven guys too. We drafted a monster of a man Brandon Williams (6'3 325 pounds, benched 225 38 times) and if Terrence Cody can ever get his stuff in line, he'll be in the mix too. How many other teams can legitimately go six deep on their front three? Cody and Kemoeuato were starters last year and were ranked by PFW as two of the worst run stoppers in the league. We drastically upgraded our defensive front against the run and pass, and will wear out offensive lines with our depth. In the secondary we got faster and younger. We are very solid with our nickel package at corner with Webb, Jimmy Smith, and Corey Graham. Safeties we drafted Matthew Elam out if Florida with our first round pick and signed Michael Huff, who was second team All Pro in 2011 before the Raiders insanely moved him to corner in 2012. James Ihedigbo is a solid third safety. Sure we lost Ed Reed, and he was a playmaker and leader in the secondary, but he left a lot to be desired in the run game and his range was declining. Heck Ed might not even play the first few games of 2013 due to injury. Pollard was a hitter and intimidated offenses but he wasn't much in coverage. Pollard's physical style had him always beat up. We now have two guys who can play the run and pass and are durable. I told you I like your rookie safety out of Syracuse but Clark and Troy and old. Thomas is going to be expected to play immediately as a fourth round pick. Our weakness is definitely ILB. Jameel McClain is coming off of serious injury. Daryl Smith is solid but also coming off of injury. Arthur Brown, our second round pick out of KSU, is a good looking prospect with elite speed, but his size conerns me as a day one starter. As good as Ellerbe was last season he only played 13 games and was on the injury report every week. Yes, our biggest loss is Boldin. He was a guy who defied X's and O's and could Make a catch even when coverage was great. WR is a question mark. You guys lost Wallace. You have Brown and Sanders and unproven behind them, we have Smith and Jones. Wheaton brings more straight line speed than Wallace? I'm fact checking you there; check the 40 times. And until Wheaton produces Wallace's numbers there is no way to prove otherwise. I do not anticipate WR being a problem for you guys, and I do not anticipate major drop off with us. Here is where we will make up for Boldin's loss: Boldin had 65 catches last season. Dennis Pita had 61 catches, I think he could easily be a an 80 catch guy as Joe's top target. Ed Dickson only had 21 catches in 2012 but had 54 in 2011. I do not think its unrealistic he gets back to that number. That's about fifty catches made up right there. I say there's an excellent chance Torrey Smith gets more than the 49 catches he caught in 2012. If Torrey gets 60 we are in good shape. Any improvement from young guys like Tandon Doss (best hands on the team), Deonte Thompson (fastest guy on the team with legit 4.2 speed, Harbaugh said he could be the favorite for the #2 WR) or Tommy Streeter (6'5 redzone target with 4.4 speed) and we will be beyond fine. How's the Steelers tight-end situation looking? Ray Rice old in the tooth? He's 26 years-old. Check LT's or any other elite back: prime years are 25-28 with a steep drop off from 29-31. Ray has three elite years left in him so don't you worry. And don't forget we have Bernard Pierce as a backup, who is an elite talent. All Pro Vonta Leach at FB and versatile rookie H-Back Kyle 'Juice' Juszczyk (22 TDs for Harvard) and we have one if not the best backfield in the NFL. And finally Joe Flacco. The guy was a new QB under Caldwell. In six games with Caldwell Joe had 15 TDs and 1 INT for 1,703 yards. This is Joe's team now and he is finally comfortable with the OC and play calling. Joe playing at the level he was down the stretch is as good as any QB in the league. I do not want to underrate leadership with us. We will miss Ray and Ed's film study and on the field audibles. But these guys have had a profound effect on our younnger players who are extremely hard workers. Torrey Smith, Lardarius Webb, Ray Rice; these guys are our next set of leaders. Elvis Dumervil is already a leader for us. Not to mention we have an extremely cohesive, intelligent, and experienced coaching staff. Don't worry about us we will be just fine. The division is as much our's now as it is your's.

I'm really excited for this team. I think on paper we are much better than going into last season. We are younger, faster, more talented, and have much more depth than last year. Not to mention we have an excellent group of coaches with the additions of Castillo and Spagnola, and a full offseason with Caldwell at OC. If we can get a guy or two to be servicable at WR, the sky is the limit.

Good news. The kid has all of the talent in the world. J Smith responded in a big way down the stretch last season. It speaks volumes of his bright future that he rebounded from a terrible first half of the season. Smith got picked on a lot, lost his starting job, and had to get surgery mid-season. He definitely lost a lot of confidence, but despite that he got on the field and played strong in the playoffs. This could be Jimmy's big year we've been waiting for. Hopefully the weight loss and core work helps increase his durability.

This is no big deal at all. Upshaw came into last season overweight as well. Two months is plenty of time to get into shape. We are in no way dependent upon Upshaw. Dumervil and Suggs are the main stays, but young guys like Hamilton, McAdoo, B1G DPOTY Jon Simon, and McClellan are going to be gunning for Upshaw's position. If Upshaw is out of shape, that is his loss, not the team's. We have plenty of guys behind him that will be ready to go.

I have said it from the beginning: Denver's "homefield advantage" worked against them. I firmly believe the altitude caused that ball to sail. Even watching the on TV I'm thinking "that ball isn't going to make it far enough." I thought for sure it was going to land in Moore's arms and not Jacoby's. The ball just kept sailing and sailing. Moore definitely didn't anticipate the pass going as far as it did. Truly a miracle. The best game I've ever seen in my life!

What a win! I was about to be very angry if we couldn't score a runner from third with no outs. The two pop outs were very frustrating. Luckily Dickerson bailed us out with the walk off HR. Wow the ball is really carrying in he humid weather!

Jacoby's true value is his return elite ability. Our special teams turned around when Jacoby took over full time duties. As much as we'd like Jacoby to be that number two guy it would be even more ideal for one or two of the young guys to step up and Jacoby can be a solid deep threat while taking full time return duties. Jacoby doesn't need to have a huge move for us, just give us a little more production, use his speed to open up the box, and keep up the big plays in the return game. Jacoby's stats look average but he did have two big TDs called back due to bogus offensive PI calls. He could be a redzone target for us as well. I am sure Streeter could compete in the redzone too. Each guy will have his own role in this receiver by committee.

No different really than what the Steelers are doing with Brown, Sanders, and now Wheaton; all speed guys.

Good point. We were linked to Clayton from the beginning in all mock drafts. I remember arguing after Oklahoma's BCS Championship blow out to USC that we should stay away. He was jammed the whole game and disappeared. I remember last year Ozzie said he had identical grades for Roddy White and Mark Clayton but we went with Clayton because he played in the Big XII. Real shame too. Clayton had an awesome 2006 with McNair as the QB. Kind of similar to Travis Taylor's 2002 season. Everyone thought they'd break out after those seasons but never did. With Clayton it always seemed like he was a step too slow or an inch too short. A little bigger and a little faster and I'm sure he would have been an excellent NFL receiver.

I do too. With Boldin gone Pitta is primed to be Joe's top target and get a lot of catches. With that said Pitta probably knows that as well and is willing to wait and really cash in.