Anxiety Gone

[vmax]

At the end of Thursday Night I was worried because I thought of the 2004 draft when the Ravens did not have a 1st round pick.

It was the worst draft in their history.

 

2004 Ravens Draft:

 

1 Traded pick to NE for Pats 2003 1st-round selection (19th overall) for (QB) Kyle Boller

2 51 Dwan Edwards DT Oregon State

3 82 Devard Darling WR Washington State

4 Traded pick to Jacksonville for WR Kevin Johnson

5 153 Roderick Green OLB Central Missouri State

6 187 Josh Harris QB Bowling Green

6 199 Clarence Moore WR Northern Arizona

7 244 Derek Abney, compensatory WR/RS Kentucky

7 246 Brian Rimpf, compensatory

 

I also thought of the great picks they had in the mid+20's...Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Michael Oher...even Todd Heap at 31.

I struggled to remember any 2nd round success they have had. Ray Rice is the only hit IMO.

 

Yet I felt it was the best move Ozzie could make in a deep draft. They needed those 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round picks to rejuvinate this roster.

And rejuvinate they did.

 

The D Front 7 is beginning to age but not anymore. Nobody will run on this group. Trying to run up the middle against Ngata, Cody and Ray is as stupid as intentionally smashing your finger with a hammer. With Suggs and Kendel comming off the edges it's 'pick your poison' on who to double team. Their speed will seal the edges and Kendel can bring a man down fast.

I think they will take time developing and working Cody into the mix because there is no pressing need with Gregg, Pryce and Redding available.

 

As for not getting the CB help they need...they were never in the right place to pick a good one. Just the way the cards fell. Why waste a pick on a longshot/stretch?

Ozzie put it straight by saying.

"I think how you affect the passer is you have to get after the passer and I think Sergio can do that,” Newsome said. “We feel good about it, because if you hit the quarterback and you hit him enough times you don’t have to be as good in the secondary.”

 

Joe Flacco has two big targets to add to Bouldin, Heap, Stallworth and Mason...getting David Reed just might turn into a great slot receiver. Weapons...Viable Options...when's the last time we've seen this Ravens fans?

 

Ozzie's done a great job this off season. He's delivered the goods.

It's up to the coaches to develop them and utilize them properly. I think the coaching staff is great so this is going to be one loaded team in 2010.

Edited April 25, 2010 by vmax

[millz58]

Nice; I was also a bit anxious Thursday, but reassured myself by realizing they recouped some pics and could bring depth, and that they knew this was a deep draft, and so would have performed due diligence in scouting players and communicating with other teams and college personnel. It didn't take me long (as soon as I saw Kindle's name next to Ravens') to feel really good about this draft. It is definitely good that they drafted players that could but don't necessarily have to step in, save maybe Kindle. Cody can and should be brought in sparingly while they work on training him up in conditioning and technique, and the TEs will have Heap to learn from (both were decent pass-catchers but need run-blocking work), so we build real depth in terms of age at position and not just positions. I like Ozzie's quote, and we did make it two the 2nd round (really, through most of the season) w/o overall quality 2ndary, so building up the front 7 is dreamy, especially at the rather minimal cost it will take in terms of contracts.

 

edit: also, let's get real, people (fans, media) were starting to doubt and dog Oz recently, doubt his skills and performance and the value of his role recently; he definitely showed it this year, making '04 and other less-spectacular drafts seem like anomalies and not strategic errors. And yeah, let's watch that 2nd round-funk stuff go bye-bye, between Rice and now Kindle and Cody, seems like that 2nd round is becoming more fruitful.

[thundercleetz]

Max, that 2004 draft had a lot of picks, but they were late rounders. A 2, 3, 4, 5, and two 6's do not compare to two 2's, a 3, a 4, and two 5's. This draft was also a lot deeper than the 2004 draft.

[millz58]

As for not getting the CB help they need...they were never in the right place to pick a good one. Just the way the cards fell. Why waste a pick on a longshot/stretch?

Ozzie put it straight by saying.

Regarding the CB issue (and general thoughts on the draft), Jamison Hensley reports...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bs-sp-ravens-draft-0425-2-20100425,0,3534177.story

 

edit: okay, this link isn't good, but Hensley has a story on the Sun's website, quoting Harbaugh and Oz:

 

After the Ravens took Pitta midway through the fourth round, only one cornerback was selected in that round, Akwasi Owusu-Ansah of Indiana (Pa.).

 

"I don't think it was a really deep corner class myself," Harbaugh said. "There was a group of corners at the top of the draft that you really liked. After that, it was a second tier of guys. Those guys are like rolling dice; you're never sure which one of those guys are going to make it. We were looking at those guys in the fourth round, but we couldn't justify one of those guys over Pitta. We just couldn't do it as far as being the type of player that we know he's going to be. We'll find a way to add a corner."

 

Harbaugh wouldn't rule out the return of Frank Walker, but the Ravens expect veteran cornerbacks to get released in the next couple of months. Teams who were keeping high-priced veterans as contingency plans might cut them after drafting a cornerback.

 

Newsome, though, said the Ravens didn't need to draft a cornerback to help their pass defense. "How you can affect a passer is you have to get after the passer," he said, referring to the addition of Kindle. "If you can hit the quarterback — and hit him enough times — you don't have to be as good in the secondary."

[thundercleetz]

I heard we liked Cook from UVA and Kareem Jackson a lot. Jackson was gone by 25 and Cook was gone before we picked in the second round.

[SpearSrai]

I heard we liked Cook from UVA and Kareem Jackson a lot. Jackson was gone by 25 and Cook was gone before we picked in the second round.

 

After Kindle gets the first shot on the QB, he'll be throwing jump balls for the rest of the game anyways. And Heaven Forbid if Cody ever lands on someone...

 

[Keveeno]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_8YV45pQog&feature=player_embedded

[Dunno]

After the Ravens took Pitta midway through the fourth round, only one cornerback was selected in that round, Akwasi Owusu-Ansah of Indiana (Pa.).

 

That's the guy I wanted. Well, now that he is with the Cowboys, hopefully he is a bust of epic proportions.