thundercleetz

I do agree that Matt Ryan is the better QB, however I do not think Atlanta is much better off than us going forward into the future. You can tell an analyst has never watched a Ravens game when they continually say we have an aging defense and that our window is closing. Outside of Ed and Ray, the defense is young. The offense is very young and we are really one speed receiver and a healthy offensive tackle away from being great (and possibly an offensive coordinator :biggrin: ). Our window is very much open, especially considering that Brady and Manning are aging. Look at the Falcons on offense, Tony Gonzalez is old, Roddy White is turning 30 this year and speed is a huge part of his game, and Michael Turner is going to be a 29-year old power back. Pretty soon Matt Ryan is going to be the only one on that offense. The Falcons best defensive player is on the wrong side of 30 as well (Abraham).

Scott is killing us in left field. He is the clear weak link in an otherwise stellar defense so far this season.

It's all about winning these series. Win today and we won the first two series of the year. LETS GO O'S!!! Boy I love watching Vlad swing the bat. That homer to dead center was typical Vlad. You knew it was gone just by the sound of the bat, very violent swing.

I would love to get rid of Mason, keep TJ, and just have young fast guys as the rest of the WR corp.

The ruling today really does not matter because any decision is sure fire to be appealed. These two sides really need to get back to the negotiating table.

You cannot really compare 2006 and now. First off, we now have a owner-favoring commissioner in Roger Goodell whereas last time around we had a player-favoring commissioner in Paul Tagliabue. Tagliabue and former NFLPA president Gene Upshaw were buddy-buddies and worked very well together. The opposite is the case with Goodell and Smith. Also, Tagliabue knew very well that he was leaving in a few years and that this deal was merely a band-aid. There was no urgency in 2006. The economy was booming and league profits were expanding at an exponential rate. 2011 is completely a different situation. First, league profits have flattened out so the issue of how to split future profits and expand the cap is much more prevelant. Second, our economy is in much worse shape than it was in 2006. These financial issues as to how to split league profits now and in the future require substantially more attention. As for expanding the cap, you would be very surprised how unified the owners actually are on this issue. Even a large market team like the Cowboys has it in their interest to level off the salary cap. Many owners made poor decisions by building new stadiums that they really could not afford, so cutting player salaries is the most obvious place to get some of that money back. And with the players asking for expanded benefits, you better believe the owners want those numbers included in the cap calculations. This is an issue where the owners are actually very unified. The owners wanted the cap at $131 million, the players proposed $151 million, and the owners countered at $141 million but the players declined. If the players attempt to overturn the lockout is denied, this lost time in negotiating could potentially hurt them a lot. Here's what it comes down to, the owners are well prepared in the event of a lockout. Sure, some players like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are set to wait this thing out, but what about the immature 23-year old player who made $350K per year and probably has no idea what retirement, health care, or how to open a savings account are? Not to mention he probably blew his money on cars and whatever else. And the league is filled with much more of these players than it is with Peyton Mannings and Tom Bradys. If the union is still decertified in July/August, these types of players will have two choices. They can continue to try and sue the league for denying them the right to work through class action lawsuits. However, this would only allow the owners to run the NFLPA dry as the owners will without a doubt file appeals for every court decision made to prolong this until the NFLPA gives in. And a class action lawsuit of 3,000 players could take forever to settle as there is most definitely going to be divide among the players for a settlement. Or, the players can re-certify as a union and get back to the negotiating table where they will undoubtably have to make more concessions after all this time lost. As for the media responsibility, it all comes down to today's court hearing. If the owners lose they are going to look like the bad guys. If the players lose, they are going to come off as greedy and manipulative for wasting over a month of potential negotiating time. Which goes back to my original point, the players are taking a big risk here. I can pretty much guarantee you that this whole situation is not going to be settled through the courts. Neither side wants this thing to drag out and eventually the court fees are going to be too much and it will be much more beneficial for the union to re-certify and get back to the negotiating table. And when it comes down to it, neither side may like what a judge has to rule. If you want evidence, see the NFL and Reggie White settlement.

Well if this arbitration on Wednesday does not rule favorably for the players then the union will have really screwed their own players. If it does rule in their favor, then they will be in good position to negotiate. In other words, the union is taking a big risk here. That offer by the owners before the deadline was by no means a final offer, it was meant to be a springboard for further discussion. That month of lost time could really end up biting the players in the ass as the owners are going to have leverage no matter what and that last offer is going to get less favorable as every day passes. There are nearly 3,000 players and there are only 32 owners, you tell me who is going to crack first (not to mention the owners have the commissioner in their back pocket). If this thing starts running into August and the union is still decertified, I guarantee you players are going to start running back to the owners instead of "sticking it to them".

Amazing catch by Kakis!! Hopefully this is the year he finally gets a Gold Glove! I seriously thought that was a walkoff 3-run HR when it left the bat. Did you hear the crowd? Everyone was in complete shock that Kakis caught that ball.

Exactly. This isn't anything personal against Joe, this is just how Ozzie works. Everyone waits their turn, and Ozzie takes care of business when it comes time. Now we have never had a QB who has been worthy of an extension before, but at the same time Ozzie has re-signed everyone who has been worth an extension. Ngata comes first.

Defense, defese, defense! That's the biggest difference I've seen so far between the team this season and the team from last season. Hardy must have saved a couple of runs by himself. His range and arm is very impressive at short. It is amazing how much of a difference having a true first baseman makes on the defense. Lee just makes everything look so easy and natural out there, whereas Millar, Huff, Scott, Atkins, and Wigginton all made the most routine plays look difficult.

Congrats man. We're going to Montego Bay for our honeymoon in September.

This is a big draft for us. With nine draft picks we have a good opportunity to really inject some youth and speed on this team.

Kiper has the Ravens taking Smith in his latest mock:

I haven't done too much research so far on draft prospects, but early on it seems like Jimmy Smith might be an absolute steal if he falls. Everything I have read on him suggests he is an elite talent with a top-15 grade.

Wilson played a lot better as the year went on. I would love to keep the hometown kid. This secondary is going to get a big boost with Foxworth coming back next season and Webb being two years off of his ACL surgery.

That all goes back to the offensive coordinator, the routes he's having his receivers running, and the personnel sets that he is having his receivers run out of. There is no excuse for this, especially with a receiver like Boldin.

Hopefully Mason just retires already.

A lot of these players that have been franchise tagged are signing before the CBA expires, they want their guaranteed money. I guess a look on the positive side would be if a CBA is reached, Ngata signing guarantees that he will be here for training camp.

Sounds like a plan! What do you think of Moore though? I love his ballhawking skills.

I agree with you, unless Jones is there for us I don't see any receiver worth taking in round 1. I think the value at offensive line is going to be there (I think Pouncey would be a very solid pick for us). I also like UCLA safety Raheem Moore a lot, I think he could be a sleeper pick for us. We could be looking wide receiver in round 2, especially if a guy like Hankerson, Baldwin, or Young is there.

Haha Preston said something along the lines of the Steelers were just as blown away as we were to see the Ravens use a pic play. Anyways in relation to the topic, 11 receivers ran an official 40YD time of less than a 4.5. Obviously straight line speed isn't everything (see Yamon Figurs) but we need to grab some of this speed out there.

He's a good special teams body though and can fill in on passing downs. I wouldn't expect us to re-sign him if he was an UFA, but as long as we can retain him for cheap it was worth keeping him around as he already knows the system.

Bingo

Like I said, I am not keeping my hopes up with Kindle, but look at a guy like Charles Johnson on the Panthers. He was a second round pick and didn't do anything in his rookie year and a lot of Panther fans had all but written him off. Even after a subpar-2009 he came back and posted 11.5 sacks in 2010. It just shows if a guy with the type of talent Kindle has can get on the field, he can maybe become a solid player some day. It is just getting him on the field which is the problem.

I did notice that. The UDFA haven't been there on offense, but guys like Jason Brown, Marshall Yanda, Ben Grubbs, Michael Oher, Ovie Mughelli, Jared Gaither, LeRon McClain, and of course, Ray Rice and Joe Flacco have all been very solid players for us. Yanda, Brown, Grubbs, Gaither, McClain and Rice have all given us Pro Bowl-calibur play at points in their career. We have been very solid developing the offensive line and runningbacks, it is the wide receivers and tight-ends that are missing. David Reed, Marcus Smith, Justin Harper, Yamon Figurs, Demetrius Williams, Mark Clayon, Devard Darling, and Clarence Moore, those have been all of our wide receiver draft picks since 2004. Not one of these players has turned into an impact player of any type (although the jury is still out on Reed and I do like his skill set very much). Ozzie simply has not been able to deliver on drafting us a receiver. The Steelers on the other hand have drafted Santonio Holmes, Mike Wallace, Emmanual Sanders, and Antonio Brown (and Limas Sweed) since 2006. All speed guys that fit their system very well. They did not initially ask too much out of these guys and let them ease into their roles, with Holmes and Wallace becoming Pro Bowl-calibur players and Sanders and Brown look very promising. This goes back to your point on how we mishandled Dickson. He most definitely should have gotten more reps earlier in the season. Not only that, we were using him in a baffling way. In most of the sets he would come in he would be lined up on the outside as an X receiver matched up against a corner. Why would Cam do this? Flex him as a slot and match him against a linebacker. Pitta should have most definitely gotten more reps too. I do think both guys have a lot of promise though.