TBird

Did the Ravens have a good off season? We're about to find out. Kevin Byrne said Perriman is in the bldg and is huge with large hands and everyone is excited about him teammates and club officials. The top brass met in Bisciotti's home in Jupiter, Fla after the SB and formulated the plans they would follow for the rest of the year. They talked about Ngata's contract and trading him if necessary which they did. They talked about renegotiating Suggs which they did. They talked about the importance of signing Jimmy Smith which they did. They knew Torrey Smith would walk and he did. They knew Rex Ryan liked Tyrod Taylor and he signed him in Buffalo. Ravens then signed Schaub as backup. They talked about receivers and drafted Perriman. They talked about TE. They knew Daniels might follow Kubes to Denver and he did. They knew Maxx Williams was the best TE in the draft and got him. They knew they had to beef up the secondary and they did signing Arrington and Kendrick Lewis and drafting Trey Walker. All this came together from a 3-day meeting in Jupiter, Florida. Now we're about to find out if they had a successful off season. http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/Byrne-Identity-Smells-And-Looks-Like-Football-How-Did-Ravens-Do-In-Offseason/8d129406-34c7-445f-b356-7aaca2c2a565

He desperately wants a SB ring and he wants it this year. He's ready to go after having a successful rookie year until he was injured which forced him to miss the playoffs. Now he's ready and excited about Trestman's new offense and the way he uses RBs in the passing game. He said usually the RB is a last resort in the check down on any offense but here it's going to be a weapon and receiving is not a weakness. He did catch 102 yards last year as back up. Ravens also drafted Buck Allen who is noted for his receiving skills as well as his running. Some think Ravens drafted him just for his receiving skills. We'll see but there's gonna be plenty of talent behind Forsett if they need it and Tally is ready. http://www.pressboxonline.com/2015/07/22/ravens-lorenzo-taliaferro-working-to-become-complete-back

It's interesting that Steve said he could possibly sell within 10 years. He might not always be an owner and wouldn't want to be one at 65 and threatening the city to move his team ala Irsay. He's 55 now. I'd hate to go through a change of owners again. I thought Steve would leave the team to his sons.

Yup, that's world wide and includes all those famous pro soccer clubs in Europe and South America and Africa where it is king, not football. It also includes MLB, NBA and NHL in the US. Not bad for just being a small market. There are only about 5 smaller cities in the NFL like Charlottle and Jacksonville that we out rank and they got expansion teams over us but we all know why the expansion derby was rigged vs Bmore. Actually, this 24th ranking by Forbes is down from it;s last posting where Ravens were the 19th best franchise. I wonder why? Anyway, it's good to hear, especially for Bisciotti, truly a great owner. He paid $600M for the Ravens and his lawyer said he would make more money investing in treasury notes which got 5% at the time. Since the market crashed they were last seen around 2% or lower. This issue of Forbes puts Ravens value at $1.5B and I bet he would get $2B if the Buffalo Bils got $1B when their owner died. Hell, they never won anything and Ravens have been a dominant team for over a decade with a pair of SB trophies as the 6th seed. Not bad, not bad at all. http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/Eisenberg-Forbes-Ranking-A-Genuine-Baltimore-Sports-Triumph/bc3b2526-5fa3-467b-8a2a-78321c7885ee

Yup, that would be Joe at the top of the 2d teir or close to it.

Flacco and the midget.

So their #1 draft pick is a WR famous for dropping the ball?? Swell.

That's the way it was back in the 50s and 60s until Irsay came in the 70s and immediately shopped the team around the country. Only thing was Colts fans never went to pre-season games. They knew the difference. Then Irsay tacked the pre-season games on to the season ticket package so he got his money up front regardless but fans dropped their plans then. Batimore broke and held all attendance records during that time before Irsay.

Yes he is but don't forget, it's a 15 month injury sorta like an achilles tendon. Even if he can play in week 1, he hurt foot in week 5 last year, he won't be running as fast as normal. It could take half the season to get up to full speed but that is just a guess. He's still not 100% by week 1. Meanwhile, Ozzie has improved the secondary. He signed Kendrick Lewis whom I expect to beat out Elam. The safties could be Hill and Lewis this year. He also signed Arrington in a great move who will probably play nickel when Jimmy does return but he could take his place til he's ready. We still have AsA and Melvin is coming back with more experience and coaching. This is a much better unit even if it takes half season for Jimmy to get to 100%.

Good point. The last Sun article on the last mini camp was that he was there and he was progressing. It still takes time and he won't be running at full speed when he is cleared to play. Damn, we go to the SB last year if he's playing. NE wouldn't have scored on his side.

NO! The odds are in our favor that most come back from this foot injury within 15 months. Jimmy should have a bounce back year but he's still not going to be in 100% perfect condition running at full speed in the beginning. He was at the last mini camp. Other notable players had this injury and returned including Maurice Jones-Drew,Santonio Holmes, and Le'Veon Bel. Here's a detailed description complete with pics. http://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2015/7/11/8933189/jimmy-smith-an-injury-overview-and-2015-season-outlook

Great post and thanks for the link. I'm excited about Jernigan. I never thought he'd drop last year but wasn't because of a failed drug test that was diluted or something? Ozzie knew he might lose Ngata when he drafted Jernigan who filled in well when Ngata was on suspension. Youre right about position. On Brady's final TD for the win Jernigan was on the way to sack him but he slipped on the icey turf. He got by his blocker in one step, then he slapped him on the back with one hand and the guy went down - just a one hand slap and he's face down in the mud but Jernigan slipped and Brady scored. Greater things are in store and we still have KLM, Urban, Davis as a rookie and Zadarius Smith who made Dupree go by taking up blockers. They couldn't shut out both of them. Our system will be just fine as always.

No. I think DET is waiting to see how he turns out but he's still getting the full $16M. That would have counted vs our CAP ceiling if he stayed. We saved $8.5M. Then Sugges restructured plus a couple of others so we were able to sign Kendrick Lewis and others to build up the secondary. We're about $7M-$8M under the cap. As mentioned Ravens got Maxx and Zadarius Smith in the draft from DET's pics - a 4th and 5th rounders for trading Ngata.

Let's see if does as well in this new system he loves so much like Hartwell and so many other Ravens that left the system. Ellerbe is already gone from MIami. Kruger had just 1 sack his first year in Cleveland after 9 in Bmore and 2 in SB47 and he is still playing in situational d0wns which he bitched about upon leaving Bmore. Bart Scott went from 14 sacks his last two years in Baltimore to 2 in his first 2 yrs in NY. He had total of 7 in 6 years there. Adelius Thomas was perhaps the biggest Ravens bust outside the system up in NE in one of Bellicheat's bigger mistakes.

You mean this: Even without Haloti Ngata, the Ravens' defensive line will be just fine in 2015.

Nobody would have been upset if he had been more specific like never playing in a 4-3 D. Instead, it sounds like he's slapping a bunch of HOFers.

Exactly. The 2000 Ravens historic defense is always compare to the great 85 Bears D, not the one in Pissburgh in 76.

After studying his statement further, me thinks Ngata is referring as the style being the 4-3 instead of the 3-4 he was used to here where he had to take up 2 blockers all the time but that's gonna happen wherever he is on the field. They're still gonna put a RB or someone else on him. If that's what he meant he should have been more specific about it. A lot of fans were upset over this although many are not understanding what he meant but he still would have been better off not saying anything at all. Sounds like sour grapes for being traded which was another great move. With the 5th pick we got for him, Oz used it to trade up to steal Maxx from the Squeelers. He's projected to have around 500 yds and about 6 TDs as a rookie. The 4th pick we got for him turned out to be Zadarius Smith. Ozzied grunted in the war room when Pissburgh got Dupree but Smith made him go taking up blockers. He can play with his hand down in the dirt or dropping back into coverage. He's gonna be like a Journigan surprise last year. Mark my words. Thanks Ngata.

Best post of the thread and you're right, they had no business being in SB just like they had no business being in playoffs last year with Jimmy out and Webbie before that and all those other guys. Yet it took a trick play and some cheating and deflated footballs to beat them. Getting in SB47 makes up for not getting in on the Lee Evans drop, just 25 seconds from the SB and then the Billy Goat miss with 9 secs left. That and the 2006 were our SBs and we would have won them.

This: Yeah except Haloti was on our 2006 squad who could HARDLY be called "bend but don't break." That 2006 defense was one of the most dynamic, attacking and turnover producing squads I have ever seen. 2006 Ravens: 201 pts allowed (1st); 4225 total yards allowed (1st); 4.5 yards per offensive play (1st); 28 INTs (1st); 5.3 net yards per pass (2nd); 3.3 net yards per rush (2nd); 236 total first downs allowed (2nd); 60 sacks (2nd); 40 turnovers (2nd) 2014 Lions: 282 pts allowed (3rd); 4815 total yards allowed (2nd); 4.9 yards per offensive play (4th); 20 INTs (3rd); 5.8 net yards per pass (5th); 3.2 net yards per rush (1st); 310 total first downs (13th); 42 sacks (8th); 27 turnovers (8th) Detroit has a really strong defense, but to say he's never been a part of a defense like theirs is just silly. Unless he's actually giving a sly compliment to how GREAT our defenses have been.

OK, I'll re-phrase my statement to he's probably just kissing the asses of these great stars in Shit City. “It’s exciting [to be in Detroit], man. I’ve never been a part of a defense like this. You have so many athletes: J.J., Ziggy, Caraun, Darryl Tapp. You just have so many playmakers all over the front on the D-line. I’m just excited to be a part of it.”

Just 24 months ago he was on the champs and sporting a new SB ring. Det hasn't won championship in 57 years. He played on a lot of those great Ravens Ds with Ray and Suggs. He really needs to keep his mouth shut. On second thought, it's the off season so he's probably bored in Shit City.

First he said he would be willing to restructure when he arrived in Detroit so he could stay in the game. He was unable to do that here so Ravens traded him and thus the insult. Now he's at it again saying this is some defense. He never played on anything like it or words to that effect. Haloti Ngata caused something of a kerfuffle in Ravenstown with his recent statement that he has “never been part of a defense like this,” meaning the Detroit Lions’ unit, for which he now toils after being traded by the Ravens in March. Eisenberg believes he wasn't bad mouthing his former teammates and system because he won a SB ring and always got into the POs with that system and played with stars like Ray and Suggs just to mention two. He was just comparing styles and Eisenberg wrote a patronizing article to us about it. Perhaps he was just trying to jive up his new teammates but he just should have kept his mouth shut. He's sounding mighty bitter. http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/--Eisenberg-Haloti-Ngatas-Statements-Were-Misinterpreted/b5fab245-73b7-4d1a-94cc-a7f0d40821b7

Furthermore, I posted a link a few years ago that more of Ozzie's draft picks are still playing than any other GM. Not sure about now.