oldno82

Other than Linderbaum, and he's injured, we don't have an excellent talent guy on the line. Stanley is hurt again too, Cleveland has never grown into a role, Vorhees is raw and suspect, and Faalele is just suspect. That's a hell of a line to depend on to protect Lamar and open holes for Henry. The front office staff just didn't address the dire situation of the line during the off season. I mean Wiggins is going to be great but we needed an Oline starter in the draft. Maybe Joe D could have fashioned an adequate line out of these guys but they sure don't look like first- rate NFL material now.

High Points were no major injuries, good defense which will be stifling with all 1st teamers playing, more efficiency shown by offense. Low point: offensive line consistency or lack thereof.

With D'Allesandris not coaching the Offensive Line, I have an even bleaker outlook on that unit than before. I hope I'm wrong but we appear to be very weak with not a lot of cohesion and chemistry what with all the players gone from last year and now with Linderbaum missing significant time and their excellent coach out for an extended period.

Good news. Could be a star in the making if his slight build holds up.

Some more info on the O-line: Brian Wacker, The Sun: Longtime Ravens offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris was hospitalized over the weekend for an acute illness, the team announced Wednesday. The 70-year-old assistant, who was hired in 2017 after a long coaching career in college and the NFL, will require ongoing treatment for an extended period of time, according to the Ravens. “Coach D’Alessandris is widely respected and cherished in our organization,” coach John Harbaugh said in a statement. “As he focuses on his health, we offer him unwavering support.” In the meantime, the Ravens have hired George Warhop to coach the offensive line. Warhop, 62, has been an offensive line coach for several teams around the league since 1996, including the then-St. Louis Rams, Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars and most recently the Houston Texans in 2022. He spent just one season in Houston. “With expertise in guiding top-level offensive linemen, his dedication and strong character will continue to develop our offensive line during Coach D’s absence,” Harbaugh said in a statement. Before the NFL, Warhop was an assistant for 11 years at the college level for Boston College, Southern Methodist, New Mexico, Vanderbilt, Kansas and Cincinnati. He also spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator for NFL Europe’s London Monarchs. This offseason, the Ravens also hired Travelle Warton as an assistant offensive line coach. He spent last year as the Washington Commanders’ offensive line coach. Being without D’Alessandris, however, is a blow. "

Just read where D'Allesanris is out with an acute illness that will require on-going treatments. We've hired an interim replacement. This is as big as any injury could be for the development of the O-line. Good wishes for him and his family.

Lamar has some flaws but I think he's got confidence now in both TEs.

Likely is a prize piece of the puzzle. He and Lamar have really hit it off, much like Jackson and Andrews. Glad to hear #8 is having success going deep. Now he just has to translate that to the regular season. I still think it's a more psychological thing with him. Anyway, he's on target now at least.

Agree about the ATL QB. Let's go get him, Eric! Meanwhile our defense will be awesome again this year. Looking forward to when the real games start. Hoping Wiggins is OK big time.

Probably your last sentence.

Hard to believe, but heart disease kills him at the young age of 40. Very sad here too.

Oweh and Batemen seem to be coming into thier own. Hoping they're not more seriously injured than currently believed.

Sounds like Zach Orr has got the defense smelling blood in the water plus I think Simpson is going to be as good as Queen. He played lights out in that last game of the regular season and Queen had nothing but praise for the guy. Looking forward to seeing him tee it up with Roquan this year. RT has me worried too. Mekari can fill in but hopefully the Rook earns a starting role very quickly.

Well my feelings of growing optimism just suffered a setback with that news. I'm gonna take a SWAG on it and say it ain't serious. Gulp!

Yep the news has turned positive on the Bateman-Jackson connection and I'm glad to hear it. If Flowers, Bateman, Andrews and Likely stay relatively healthy and if Henry still has 'it' the offense should be a marvel this year. As long as we can come up with a decent offensive line. The D has had an outstanding camp and it will be difficult for teams to move it against them if they can keep it up. I feel like the season is a bit more promising that it looked just a week ago.

Yeah, I was going to say that we'll see what's going on in the preseason games with Lamar but then I remembered that the starters won't even be playing until opening day. I guess we just have to wait and see, but I expect we'll see the same problem again this year. I hope I'm wrong.

What I heard/read is that they've had trouble connecting more than Lamar ignoring him, but Jackson is having his usual difficulties hitting him deep. I hope they can turn that around. Some info from Zrbreic: 'There has been plenty written and said about the need for Lamar Jackson to improve his deep ball accuracy this season. Thursday was not a great day in that regard for Jackson, but it wasn’t entirely on him. He did have a few overthrows, but he also made a very nice throw down the far sideline. However, the ball hit off the extended hands of Rashod Bateman, who was well covered by Brandon Stephens. On another deep shot, Jackson allowed tight end Mark Andrews to go up and make a play. Andrews had his hands on the ball, but it popped out as he hit the ground and landed in the lap of safety Kyle Hamilton for an interception.'

I'm willing to give a try, but if kickers are getting hurt, they should revise the rule even during the season.

Jackson's having a pretty good camp...so was Bateman before he got dinged...but now that he's returned, he and Lamar are back to having trouble hooking up. Damn!

Jackson signed for $1.25 million and a $250k bonus. Definitely reasonable for the situation.

Lamar is back today as well.

Bateman continues to shine...keeping my fingers crossed about injuries...so far so good.

Positive news on Bateman but we'll have to see what happens with him when Lamar returns. Will he be a force or melt back into the shadows like in the past with Jackson running the show?

Don't know what is up with Lamar. Maybe it's covid. Anyway, he was in camp everyday last week with the Rooks, I believe, so I'll cut him a little slack--for now.

Could be an important move, if he is recovered, as it frees up Hamilton to be Orr's chesspiece like MacDonald used him.