thundercleetz

I don't like what I see of Stephen Hill. Don't get me wrong, the size, speed, and body control is tempting. However he does not go up for the ball at its highest point, he body catches, and in those highlight videos he had some painful drops. I am not saying Hill won't be a good player, but I think a guy like AJ Jenkins has just as much of a chance to have an immediate impact. Jenkins reminds me a lot of Jeremy Maclin coming out of college. Similar playing styles. This draft is deep in receiver, very deep. No reason to take Hill in the first when there might be a guy in the third that has just as much of a chance to succeed.

Good stuff, I love all those picks. I really hope Hightower falls. I think he could be an impact player for us from day one. He is versatile enough to replace JJ and play OLB on first and second downs. He can then move inside and play pass coverage on third down. And he has the passion and leadership qualities to learn under Ray and eventually take over. I am going to be devastated if the Steelers take him.

Ben Jones would be a really good pick. Has experience at both guard and center. Tough guy with good insticts. He could give us immediate contributions at guard and could possibly be a quality long-term option at center.

Sneaky sneaky sneaky... Adding Jen Royle at the end was a joke, right? You have a lot of the good ones. Aaron Wilson (@ravensinsider) and KVV are the best IMO. @ravens is the official Ravens twitter feed. If you are looking for other good writers in general, Andrew Brandt (@adbrandt) is the president of NFP and former GM of the Packers. NFP is an awesome website in general. Albert Breer (@albertbreer) I like a lot too.

Here's how I see our pick going down: - LB Hightower is the guy we are hoping slips and would take him in a heart beat. - WR Hill would be the sexy pick and is very tempting due to his speed paired with T. Smith and we do not have a receiver with his size and ability to go up for balls downfield. - OT Cody is a smart pick due to his immediate ability to come in and play guard, as well as long-term potential at tackle. - C Konz represents a mix of Hill and Cody. Smart pick due to the position he plays, his football IQ, his on field success, and ability to be a long-term fixture at a critical position. He is risky due to his strength and durability. Based on what I know of Ozzie and our draft strategy and history, I have it down to these four guys (provided we do not trade out of the pick or someone ridiculous slips). What do you guys think?

No way Webb goes to FS with this type of contract. If we re-sign Cary Williams to a more CAP friendly deal he is the more likely candidate to move to FS once Ed is gone. Like Webb, Cary played safety in college I believe. Williams has the speed and rangy build to cover a lot of ground in the secondary. Who really knows how many more years Ed has though.

Considering the guy was around 380 this time last year, I say being 360 and in the same shape as he was at season's end is a good thing. He has a whole offseason to improve on that. Ozzie met with McKinnie a few weeks ago in person to decide whether to pick up his roster bonus or cut him and go after a guy like Eric Winston (possibly moving Oher back to LT). However Ozzie decided that McKinnie was in the right mindset. I trust Ozzie's decision.

Thanks max! Good to be back.

Lets not lie to ourselves... As long as the Steelers have Roethlisberger they will be very tough to beat.

He will probably sign with us for a Bart Scott-type of deal when Bart signed with us the first time he hit free agency in 2005. Like McClain, Scott was an undrafted free agent who played four seasons with us. Scott's deal was three-years for $13.5 with a $6.5 million guaranteed bonus. Additionally, Denver just re-signed linebacker Joe Mays to a three-year, $12 million ($4.5 million guaranteed) instead of signing McClain. With the top ILB's still on the market (Tulloch, Lofton, Hawthorne), not to mention a pretty solid MLB draft class coming up, McClain has very little leverage at this point.

Same story every season, just different names. The schedule always looks intimidating at the beginning of every offseason. Studs will become duds, and duds will become studs. The bottom line is that we will be competitive in every game.

Mike Wallace was just interviewed on Sirius NFL Radio. Here are the highlights: - He said his "heart is in Pittsburgh" but he needs to take care of his family first and wants to sign a long-term contract. Repeatedly mentioned he wants to stay in Pittsburgh but understands its a business - His top priorities are: a long-term deal, going to a winning team, and playing with a proven QB. Wallace said he would not want to sign with a losing team. - Adam Schein brought up New England and San Francisco as ideal fits, and told Mike the Pats would be the Super Bowl favorites with Mike. Mike thought both teams were a good fit and Super Bowl contenders - Schein also asked Mike if Alex Smith would qualify as a proven QB. Mike said he likes Coach Harbaugh a lot, the "sky's the limit" for that team and likes how Harbaugh puts that offense in "good situations." - Mike was completely blindsided by Arians (BA he called him) being fired. Really liked him. Wondered if something happened "behind the scenes." Said he has not spoken with Haley nor does he see it as important until his contract situation is cleared up. - Got a little ticked when the hosts brought up his drought down the stretch of the season, challeneged "anyone to look at the film" with him. - Wants to improve his short game and his YAC skills And finally the last question asked... - Mike laughed when asked if he would sign a contract with the Ravens. Said it would be difficult and would never want Steeler fans to hate him, but if that's what it took for him to take care of his family financially he would have to consider it Schein stated from what it sounds like, if the Steelers cannot reach a deal with Wallace before the beginning of free agency, he's as good as gone. He kind of put words in Wallace's mouth, but Wallace seemed to agree with that statement.

I love the move. As a QB coach we are not asking Caldwell to run the offense. We are asking him to keep up on Joe's mechanics (something Zorn did very well and Joe's mechanics would become sloppy at times this year without the attention to detail he received in 2010). And add in whatever insights he feels Joe might not be seeing on the field. Caldwell was bound to pick something up from Peyton since working with him in 2002 that would be useful to any NFL QB (by the way, even though Peyton is very much self-made, he was not a seasoned vet in 2002, so I'm sure there was a lot of mutual learning and growth for these guys). When you think about it, how do great coaches become great? Most of the time it is by who they surrounded themselves by. Whether it's players or other great coaches. A lot of the great coaches today didn't play the game themselves in the NFL, so they've become great by their ability to learn. Caldwell played DB in college, but somehow became an offensive coach for five different college teams and two (now three) different pro teams. So Caldwell must be knowledgeable enough where a team would want to hire him for his knowledge after interviewing him. Especially in our situation where the QB coach is essentially an expendable position for us where we would only hire one if we felt he had useful knowledge to bring. You have to think that Ozzie and DeCosta remembered his head coaching interview back with us in 2008 and Caldwell left a favorable enough impression to reach out to him to join the staff. The guy went 24-8 in his first two seasons as head coach. He has eight years of college head coaching experience. He made the Super Bowl his first season as head coach too. I don't care how good the team is you coach, making the Super Bowl as an NFL coach is impressive regardless. At the very least we got ourselves a very qualified QB coach. I like the move.[/indent] A guy at my work is a huge Colts fan. He is a big fan of Caldwell and wanted to keep him. He stated Caldwell has Dungy traits. He is quiet, reserved, and respectful, but he has a quiet fire and is extremely intense. Sure this move might not pay huge dividends, but at the very least it will not hurt us. Oh yeah, and the fact that he chose us over the Steelers... I'll take any win over the Steelers I can get!

I completely agree on Zibby. Not only does Zibby look slow but for someone who is supposed to be a big hitter, Zibby is pretty soft. He looks a lot smaller this season. It is not good when your strong safety is not very fast and not very physical at the same time. Prime example: see his blitz from the edge in the second quarter in the Redskins game. He was a free rusher off the edge and was one-on-one with Hightower and then tried to juke him. In that situation, as a strong safety, you need to blow the guy up into the QB’s lap. You’re the bigger and stronger guy, juking will not do anything. Pollard has to be the guy at safety, he blitzes like a runaway freight train and has the physicality we need at strong safety. Pollard has the attitude we need at strong safety.

One thing to consider about last night: The Ravens kept a very vanilla look when the first team was out there. They did not blitz and pretty much ran exclusively out of an 21 personnel. The Eagles on the other hand brought multiple blitzes and had multiple receivers on the field against us. I was impressed with Kruger. He has gotten a lot better. He has a great motor and seems a lot more comfortable this year at OLB than he was at DE. It was also good to see Kindle out there. He put on good pressure and is quick to the ball. As a whole we got a lot of pressure on the QB. Which is pretty impressive considering we did not blitz. One thought about the secondary. Could Jimmy Smith and Ladarius Webb be the next McAlister and Starks? They are a very similar pair talent wise and physically. McAlister was a rookie in 2000 when he was paired with Starks. We have seen Webb's potential from a great rookie year. Last year was shakey, but he was still playing on a bum knee. Another year recovered and Webb could have a breakout year. If Jimmy Smith is as good as advertised, we could have something special. Smith didn't play much yesterday, but he was very aggressive in the run game which was nice to see. Throw E-Reed in the Rod Woodson role and Bernard Pollard in the Kim Herring role and this secondary could be great. As we saw last night, Carr can be a liability on the outside. He is an average starter, but a good nickel back, and that's where he should stay. Cary Williams also looked good, very long and athletic. I would like to see him get more PT in meaningfull situations. Foxworth could have some value as a #4 corner if he can get healthy. Zibby and Hakumura scare me as starters. Zibby can never seem to stay healthy and looks like a liability in coverage, and Hakumura is not a very good tackler, not sure if that would work as a strong safety. I loved what I saw out of Pollard. He looked like a bat out of hell on the blitz and he had that INT. He is a big guy too, could be a great compliment to E-Reed. The undrafted rookie from Hawaii, Silva, has had a solid training camp. I would like to see more PT for him. Seems like a playmaker. This secondary could end up being a strength for us. They are big, fast, and have guys with many different skill sets.

Love the moves. It's all about business and there is no doubt in my mind that Ozzie is going to replace these guys with younger, more durable, and hungrier players. It's all about the team and we cannot afford to have distractions like Mason or McGahee. Sad to see Heap and Gregg go, but it is hard to count on players with their injury history. I'M PUMPED!!! LET'S GO!!!

I don't think what he said in the first place was all that bad.

Honestly, the only must re-sign free agent I see is Yanda (outside of signing Ngata long-term of course). Outside of that maybe re-signing one of Carr or Wilson, Jameel McClain, and maybe Chris Chester as a back-up. Remember this, there are going to be A LOT of young free agents available (four and five year guys). Re-sign Yanda and Ngata (Ozzie already re-upped Koch and Cundiff before the lockout which was HUGE) and I believe in Ozzie's magic to find sleepers in free agency.

It's going to be a big boost to get Brian Matusz back.

I love the Smith pick. Bottom line is that Smith is a playmaker, and this defense needed another playmaker, especially in the secondary. Smith has shutdown corner potential, and is a gamer. Should he stay clean there is a very gold chance he will reach his potential and be one of the best corners in the league. He could easily be a cornerstone player for us. The secondary has turned into a position of strength for us. Foxworth, Webb and Carr or Wilson suddenly don't look so bad as 2/3 guys.

Wow great work with the mock, ravensfanatic! You definitely put a lot of effort into it and the detail is very informative! I love the trade with the Cards and it is definitely the type of move I would want to make if a prospect like J. Smith, R. Kerrigan, or A. Smith doesn't drop. Love the pick of A. Williams with the first second. The only reason I gave the Ravens draft a B is because I am not sure if I could pass on a deep threat like T. Smith when we have such a big need for his skill set. I completely understand your logic however, and you went with who you thought was the BPA. Can't argue with that, I would just be disappointed haha.

My point is that Joe is putting up similiar numbers to Ryan now with less speed to work with on offense. Also, we have Ray Rice and I would like to think that our offensive line is in better shape for the long-term than Atlanta's is.

That is a *** I'm stupid for thinking this game is easy *** way to end the season, but we do have the 31st ranked strength of schedule (Steelers have the 27th ranked). If we take care of business, it should not matter what the Steelers do. Pittsburgh did get the Pats while we didn't. And we get to play Pittsburgh the week after they play the Pats. Baltimore Ravens schedule analysis Pittsburgh Steelers schedule analysis

This looks like a pretty favorable schedule at first glance, a lot more favorable than schedules we have had the past few years. Of course, duds become studs and vice versa every season.

I feel Ryan has a more natural feel for the game and more poised in the pocket than Flacco. Ryan is very Brady-esq in his drop back, reading the field, and delivery. In all fairness to Joe, Ryan has a lot more freedom with his offense is allowed to go into a more uptempoed pace when he wishes. It is debatable, but I believe Joe would thrive if he was given such freedom. However, at this point Ryan is probably a little more advanced than Joe. One thing to consider is that Ryan's competition is a lot easier than Joe's, as the analysts pointed out.