thundercleetz

I forgot who did you use those two first round picks you got from the Redskins on?

Being Ogden is the first true Raven to go in, I wonder if the Ravens will be selected to play in the game.

No to the heckling, but yeah, stay clear of papa

Haha we were just joking. Crav is a big T. Smith fan, like most are here. No one is worried about Torrey. Like Crav said a lot of us have been on this board since 2001, just an inside joke.

Haha thanks for explaining crav

The fact that Crav doesn't like him is enough for me to believe we'll have a good season. With that said, I'm worried about T smith this season...

Jacoby is here to be a #3 receiver. While he has had some drops in training camp, most reports have been positive desribing him as having game breaking speed and explosiveness off of the line of scrimage. Defenses are going to have to account for Jacoby's speed. We are not talking about Yamon Figurs here, Jacoby is physical and can get open. At the very least, he will spread the field allowing Joe to hit other targets like Smith, Boldin, Pita, and Dickson.

Lets just win the Super Bowl and let him and Ray ride off into the sunset.

I love In the Air Tonight as well, gives me goosebumps.

Ouch... harsh!!!

I am pretty sure AJ Green was playing on a bum knee the last fourth of the season.

That is an awesome logo though. If you could change the 9-7 to 13-3 or something, I'd have that as my sig

Torrey Smith is really awesome, but AJ Green is a beast and probably a better all around receiver. It's like comparing Mike Wallace and Larry Fitz. Wallace is very dangerous, but Fitz is the all around better receiver. I expect Green to absolutely blow up this year, but Torrey Smith is going to have some sick numbers as well. You cannot go wrong with either guy. IMO, Torrey will definitely be well into that top 10 list next year.

I am completely baffled how some of these guys are still on the team. Flaherty at 2B is an absolute joke. Reynolds' baseball IQ is completely disgraceful. And if Tolleson cannot play defense, why is he and his .610 OPS still on the team? And do not even get me started on Andino going up there striking out every at bat on three pitches in the dirt. I am going to be extremely angry if some of our young guys in the minors do not get a chance soon. LJ Hoes is absolutely tearing up Norfolk (which is typically a hitter's graveyard) at only 22-years old. Sure, his defense at 2B was said to be iffy, but we played Ty Wigginton's fatass 40 games at 2B in 2010, I am sure we can give Hoes (who is a decent athlete with a very high baseball IQ) a shot with Andino injured. Duquette this offseason said we needed more players who could work counts and get on-base. Well, wake-up call, you have a true baseball player who's forcing his way into Baltimore in AAA! I know Xavier Avery is developing as far as pitch recognition, but he brings some much needed speed, excitement, and quality defense to the lineup. Avery has shown that he is a hard worker, and his development is not going to be hindered by taking some lumps in the majors. He is ready to play everyday. Third base is an absolute disaster for us. We do not have a true third baseman on the roster now. People give Wilson Betimit a hard time for his play and third and at the plate, but we must remember he was brought in to be a part-time utility player. No one predicted a complete metdown from Mark Reynolds. I think the Meat has played admirably considering the circumstances. He does best in a part-time, utitlity role, and we need to get him back to it. With that said, Flaherty and Tolleson are an absolute disaster at the plate. Machado and Schoop provide an interesting option for 3B. Whereas Hoes and Avery are seasoned minor league players with at-bats at AAA whose development would not be hurt by major league slumps, Machado and Schoop are a different story. Both guys had a tough start in Bowie, but have been on a tear as of late (I think Schoop has something insane like 10 home runs in 30 games, his power is legit). Both guys are also described as having a high baseball IQ and fluid in the field. While we may risk their development (although I personally do not buy it), you have to think adding Machado or Schoop at 3B would give us better defense and they would at least top the sub .620 OPS of Flaherty and Tolleson. And one more thing, why is Chris Davis not playing first base? I know he made a couple of boneheaded plays early in the season that got him into Buck's doghouse, but he is the only true first baseman on the team (and I really do not understand, because Reynolds makes a boneheaded play at first every night). Davis has played the position his whole career, and with his youth and surprising athleticism you have to think he will improve with time. Here would be my line-up: LF. Avery SS. Hardy RF. Markakis CF. Jones DH. Thome 1B. Davis C. Wieters 3B. Machado 2B. Hoes Meat and Chavez can be platoon guys, and Andino can be the utility middle infielder when he gets back. Obviously some of the guys in the middle of the lineup could be moved around, or maybe even put Hardy lower in the lineup and hit Markakis second, but this would be the general lineup. Flaherty, Tolleson, and Reynolds are all aidos!

Yeah, I'll guarantee it, why not?

Prisco can kiss Rice's butt when he takes the podium in Canton for his HoF speech.

Apparantly it's not true? If that is the case, what an epic prank! People were absolutely destroying him on Twitter! I was kind of hoping he'd take Edsall with him. If it's not true, I'm really bummed.

Bears sign Forte for four-years, $32 million. I wonder if this helps RR get done? All the runningbacks have signed, the market looks set.

Congrats DC!!! Very exciting! My wife and I are looking in the Towson area as well.

No way McAdoo's career is over. The guy is only 22-years old and is still the youngest player on the team. Even still, I doubt he would have received much playing time this year anyways.

Actually he did cut his pay to min wage as well. The ironic part to me: the guy is a Democrat and is about to piss off the unions I agree his measures are extreme, but the guy is identifying a major problem.

Ed Reed will be on the Fan with Younes tonight at 7:30. Always an interesting listen. I wonder what crazy things he will say tonight?

I am not worried about Jones. He is out there to stretch the field and keep defenses honest. We have plenty of young guys behind him to push him if he starts to slip. Jones also provides us with a tall redzone target, something we did not have last season. Last year we were dependent on Evans because everyone behind him was unknown. This year if Jones fails, it's not a big deal. Low risk, high reward in my book.

Wow, Preston predicting a first place finish? I thought for sure he'd peg us as a third place finish.

Doesn't hurt at all, but cash does not sound like a problem at all to the O's. Our payroll is typically in the top half of the league around $80M. Could you imagine what Billy Beane would do with $80M? We gave old as dirt players Vlad Guerrero and Derrek Lee a combined $12M last year (and the list goes on and on with such players). Do you know how top prospects that could have signed in the DR? Oh yeah, the O's are also in the top five the past five years in the whole league on money spent in the draft. I am still waiting on us to develop a star player... I think the real problem is asset allocation and coaching as opposed to spending cash. We spend the cash, just not smart. (By the way, I don't mean to sound as if I am arguing with you, I am just moreso venting my frustration with the O's )