varaven45

Ricky Williams ? Ozzie, you gotta be kidding me ? Are we going to be start playing the Doobie Brothers during pre-game now ? Whatever, these recent moves can't possibly give anyone a good feeling thus far : RB: Lose Mc Gahee ; pick up 34 yr old Ricky "Doobie Bros." Williams - Downgrade TE: Lose Heap; replace with Dickson/Pitta and pickup Buffalo castoff Stupar - Another downgrade that leves us all in a STUPOR ! WR: Lose Mason, replace with 2 , possibly 3 whiffs - Floyd, Mason and Cotchery - Another downgrade All these moves appear ill advised, at best, and signal some form of desperation by the FO who screwed up the Ngata deal but, had they done, we might have made some real upgrades rather than downgrades at key positions. Dont like any of these and it will show up on the field.

Yeah, but can he defend the pass ? I hear thats pretty important these days

Good points ! Maybe we get Kreutz or OHara at C. TE ? Shouldnt have let Heap walk. Plus, I gotta do something wiht my 86 jersey

Crav, Are you sure. Isnt this guy a rookie ?

Which RB is pounding the rock this year, now that McGahee and LeRon are gone ? Rice will do just fine and is a great back but we need a sledgehammer near the goal line and in the 4th Q. Who is that guy ? Please...no Parmele or Matt Lawrence answers.

I tend to agree with Outside Guy and see a 9-7 ot 10-6 team. As always, this could easily change depending on overall team health, especially at key positions - OL, C, CB , LB. I am most concerned about our lack of depth at RB and C. If we lose Flacco or Rice for an appreciable period - say multiple games - the record could easily dip to 7-9 or 6-10.

Crav, Agree but we werent apparently in the Aso sweepstakes. Still, a "gimpy" Fox, rookie Smith, Chris Carr and LWebb as our CB corps wont cut it against the elite AFC teams - Pitt, NE, NYJ and Indy. We need another healthy piece. Most pundits are claming Philly cant or wont keep Asante Samuel. He's 30, a former all pro, and apparently available. He might be the guy. He's probably the best CB out there. We will need to do something or we will get beat in those close games against the elite teams.

Now that we picked up Leach but lost the Heapster, what are we doing to comp for loss of Red Zone target ? Its a shame we lost Heap and poss D Mase. My question: if we are "talking " about reworking Ngata's contract, and those freed up dollars will/would allow us to sign a few guys, why didnt we do that before and what the heck are we waiting for ? Get er done Oz so we can snag up a red zone toy for Joe ! Zach Miller and Malcolm Floyd are still out there I hear.

Crav, Agree we are not set at CB for reasons stated. Dont agree the Jets cant afford Aso. Adam Schefter, ESPN, says the Jets have $10M to play with and hes surprised they heavent snatched him up. He also says the Jets GM (Woody Johnson) is a crackerjack at the cap game and he will get er done. I would be shocked if we get, even seriously pursue Aso.

Patience and ........low expectations. Look, aside from last year's FA splash - Stallworth, Boldin, TJ, etc - Ozzie and co generally dont make many moves - certainly not big ones. I am not expecting more than 1 (maybe 2) FA acquistions plus resigning Heap or Mase. Id be shocked if we did anything else.

Since McGahee and McLain are all but gone, who is our next "hammer" ? Rice is a good/very good back and will generate mega yards from scrimmage. However, he wont carry the rock or the team in crunch time. Since Harbs is intimating a return to smashmouth (not sure our OL will accomodate), who is going to pound the rock this season ? With our 1st practice days away and the Steelers game only about 6 weeks away, who is our guy ? Who is going to carry the load in the 4th quarter ? Please dont mention Matt Lawrence or Parmele. Any insight ?

I wonder what the over/under is on how many seconds it takes for Ryan to knock on front door of one of our FAs - e.g. Gregg ? If guys can sign as early as Friday 6:00 PM, Im betting Ryan plays footsies with his wife in the AM :biggrin: and is parked at Kelly Greg's front door at 5:59 PM Friday. I m sure his itinerary will be adjusted per the Ravens release plan. The guy is a nut job !

Dang Crav, you ve gotta trifecta ! BTW- I read and appreciated your thoughts and reflection on the "missed" camp. I never saw the Colts camps but have been to a few Ravens camp. By best memory was back in 2001, after our SB win. Gotta chance to hear Mike Preston throw barbs at Billick about the Dilfer release/gaffe. Also, shook hands with and got BB's signature on his book (aka Competetive Leadership ?). My two youngest sons were with me and we had a blast !

Crav and Yager, I hope you are right. Besides, my only other official jersey is Boller's. Nuff said

Aside from the painful "wailing and grinding of teeth" which would obviously ensue, we simply cannot permanently realease Heap. Here are three reasons: 1. All due respect to Dickson and Pitta, he is our only truly bonafide TE. 2. Heap's a gamer, has Joe's back and gives him a comfort level. We could possible tolerate the loss of McGahee, dont like the possible loss of Mase. Cant lose the vet presence and safety net that Heap provides. 3. What the hell am I going to do with my 86 Heap jersey ? Its my only official Ravens jersey of an active player. Dont like losin McGahee, loathe the idea of losing Mase, but cannot lose Heap. Not now. Not this year. I trust Ozzie will do the right thing !

Yager, Its that or the current lockout has bored players/media to death where anything trivial such as this sparks a tweet.

DOOOOOOOP !

Max, There's still hope - The Ravens who generally make the Right Moves. It all starts at the top - The Biscuit & Ozzie get it; while Angelos and McPhly.......well....... ? Like I said it sarts at the top !

We have got to and I mean got to have our OL in tact. Our lack of an effective OL killed our O and Joe last season . Cant have it again. Message to Oz: do what you will but have Oher, Yanda, Birk, Grubbs and Gaither in camp, healthy and ready to go, and be 2 deep in every OL position.

Yep. Time to turn the page on the Os, switch to the NFL and getting the CBA wrapped up.

Max, I wholeheartedly agree. Unfortunately, somebody's going to be left out. Hopefully, its not Bulger.

Our season thus far was epitomized by last nights 5th inning perfomance below: Baltimore - Bottom of 5th SCORE F Pie singled to right. 5 1 B Davis singled to right, F Pie to second. 5 1 J Hardy reached on infield single to third, F Pie to third, B Davis to second. 5 1 N Markakis grounded into fielder's choice to pitcher, F Pie out at home, B Davis to third, J Hardy to second. 5 1 A Jones flied out to left. 5 1 V Guerrero flied out to right. 5 1 0 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors When you cant score 1 single run with the bases loaded, 0 outs, and arguably your best 3 - Markakis Jones & Vlad- coming up, youve summed up our season thus far. Its analagous to the Ravens having 1st and goal against a mediocre defense and coming away with 0 points. Its unacceptable but has become the nrom for the past 15 years. Sad. Ive seen enough to conclude, like Max and others, this team is on course for another 65-70 win season. Again. The NFL season cannot get here soon enough

Is it me or do the Os have these weeklong hangovers after a tough loss. Case in point,we blow Sat night game vs rays and opportunity to reach .500. Since then, we are suffering a 3-4 day hangover vs Rays (sunday) and Jays (last night). Any best on when the hangover ends ? Whats the cure ?

Wow. Maybe Cody's been checking out hot yoga and greek yogurt !