Competition will make for a strong 2016 team

[vmax]

The Ravens have a plan and that is to get as many fast, talented players in rabid competition for a starting position. The cream will rise to the top.

 

Look at the logjam at RB right now......

 

 

Dixon joins an incredibly crowded backfield competition that already includes Justin Forsett, Buck Allen, Lorenzo Taliaferro, Trent Richardson, Terrance West and Terrence Magee.Dixon, 5-foot-10 and 215 pounds, was a highly productive player throughout his college career. Dixon put up 87 touchdowns, which is the second most in FBS history.

Dixon churned out 1,070 rushing yards, 467 receiving yards and 26 total touchdowns last season despite missing two games with an ankle issue. He is a dual-threat back who can catch passes out of the backfield, and was college football’s top-graded running back as a receiver by Pro Football Focus.http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-draft/Round-4-Ravens-Draft-RB-Kenneth-Dixon-At-No-134/df89195f-601d-4014-a783-4bb23956baa3

 

Out of that group will emerge a strong corps.

 

Then we have them aggressively trying to develop enough talent to make life hell for quarterbacks....

 

 

Judon...The 6-foot-3, 275-pound product absolutely crushed his small-school competition this year, finishing with 20 sacks, 23.5 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.Judon will likely move to outside linebacker with the Ravens, where he can immediately be unleashed as a situational pass rusher.

The Ravens already drafted two pass rushers earlier in the draft with Kamalei Correa in the second round and defensive end Bronson Kaufusi in the third round. But Baltimore came into the draft targeting several pass rushers, and in today's NFL a team can never have enough, especially with Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervilin the twilight of their careers.

Judon won the Gene Upshaw Trophy as Division II's top defensive lineman and was the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's Defensive Lineman of the Year

 

They have 67 highly talented TE's, 587 receivers, 34 CB's, defensive lineman out the yahoo all of whom will battle it out for roster spots. You get the picture?

 

It will come together. I'm just beginning to see it and I'm getting excited.

Trestman is going to be able to do so many things with the offense....anything he wants to do.

Same for Pees.

And once again it will be raining talent on Special Teams.

 

Harbaugh and Ozzie set this tone and plan in place. They are dead set on stopping the nonsense and bringing Ravens football back.

 

[tsylvester]

Competition between average players leads to losses.

 

FBS running backs are dime a dozen who dominate that class. Adding another back only takes opportunities away from players who deserve a chance who put time in. Richardson is another wasted roster spot, teams can only take so many into camp.

 

Starting to look like the Browns woth theae drafts, they too have had competition at positions, with average palyers, how has that turned out for them?

[Robjr83]

I'm off the purple Kool-aid. This draft pissed the shit out of me. "Competition" means no one is good enough to be a day one starter like tsy said it's just the best of the averages. Harbs will give his "we drafted football players" speach..... no shit you didn't draft golfers. Oz's genius wore off when Ray and Ed rode off into the sunset.

[oldno82]

Pretty certain the team will not have a comeback year with what they drafted. I think the whole front office has lost its touch.

 

So we still need 2 more drafts to be competitive. Time for Oz to retire.

[vmax]

So all of you agree with Preston....

 

 

Preston: Ravens' risk-averse draft shows how Ozzie Newsome has lost his nerve. http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/sports/ravens/bal-preston-ravens-risk-averse-draft-shows-how-ozzie-newsome-has-lost-his-nerve-20160430-story.html

[thundercleetz]

So all of you agree with Preston....

 

Very hard to disagree with him. It seems our best player available grade places too much weight nowadays on character and is over sensitive to injuries.

[oldno82]

So all of you agree with Preston....

 

Afraid so. Preston is right on this one.

 

They're talking about having 5 fourth round picks as if they were first and second rounders.

 

Just saw Oz trying to blow smoke up our ass with how we 'addressed every need on the team'. Ozzie how dumb do you think we are? Worse, how dumb do you think the rest of the NFL is?

[varaven45]

Agree with most in this thread. Max, the "competition" is really a red herring and Ozzie and Co whiffed on the draft. Starting with the 1st pick, we failed to adequately address the key needs and ended up with a bunch of average to above average picks. No real bonafide or "ready to start" players. We needed Ozzie and Co to hit it out of the park.

It didn't happen.

[GrubberRaven]

Consensus over the web thus far gives the ravens draft a solid B. You guys are acting like it deserves an f. It's amazing what the off season seems like after a horrible season. Yeesh

[tsylvester]

Consensus over the web thus far gives the ravens draft a solid B. You guys are acting like it deserves an f. It's amazing what the off season seems like after a horrible season. Yeesh

 

 

Well, they pick two players who have fumbling issues. They turn away from a top prospect because of a past, misconstrued issue, then turn around and draft a tweener who has a past of beating a man unconscious. They avoid loading up on a position of need, they draft a player who has to change positions and has yet to do so, instead of drafting a player who has switched positions, and done so, well.

 

They draft a receiver who is extremely raw, not very fast, and is a body catcher with suspect hands. Tell me Grub, when was the last time they developed a receiver?

 

How easy is it to get ONE player to hang onto the ball consistently, let a lone two?

 

They claimed the injury of one of the best players in the draft did not play any role in how they rated him, yet they rated a player who has only been a rush end, never asked to cover, built his stats against lesser opponents over said player?

 

If Jack was completely healthy, do you honestly expect us to believe Correa is a better player, better prospect than Jack?

 

Do you think Reynolds is better than Cooper? Cooper is a slot receiver, is a return man, has great hands. Moore could have been had, or any player like him, much lower in the draft.

 

I will give them Stanley, can't trade out, can't trade up for Ramsey, they had no other options and were scared off by the mess Tunsil is going through with his ex step father.

 

I love the Kaufusi pick, so much, POTENTIAL, but so much work needed. Correa is a nice pick, but he too is a work in progress, Lewis should be a decent back up right tackle, maybe a guard, maybe, likely gone in two years. Henry is a good pick up to add depth to the defensive line and can play the 3 technique, so he could move to end in the 3-4 as well....

 

Judon, another good pick if a team has only a few needs because as good as his stats were, as he should be, he too is raw and needs time to learn the NFL game; he is strictly a rush end, but another project.

 

Canady is experienced, played against some good competition, but he has poor hands, little play making ability; another project. Young, a good pick, under sized, but he plays big. However, he is a grabber because of his size and prone to penalties, just what the defense needs... more penalties. They can train that out of him, he should make the team and contribute this year.

 

Five defensive backs on the roster before the draft, they only take a chance on two, at a position that always seems to suffer an injury, and is low on talent.

 

Safety has been an issue for years, Weddle is a nice addition, but he is older, the two safeties they drafted each of the past few years, suck, are busts, and not one safety taken.

 

Time will tell, an F? no, but certainly not a B at this point, maybe a C +

[vmax]

I share everyone's sentiment about this being a "timid" draft. The Ravens have been burned by players health and off the field issues. Prestons right as far as the Ravens playing it safe.

So they went looking for smart, good character guys who are fast with high motors.

They defined what being a "Raven" means to them today and went looking for guys that fit that profile.

Just about everyone of these guys is always around the ball. Fuck the 40 times and workout warrior numbers.

Brains will beat brawn. Not too bad having players whose head is in the game and who play whistle to whistle. McCrary types.

Speed kills in today's NFL and the Ravens have been a step too slow. It's been a long time since we heard "They don't know how fast we are". The rules have changed the landscape.

Ozzie got players to fit into their scheme to compete in today's changing NFL.

They can now hunt Rthsslssxbrrgrrr, Brady, Dalton and the rest.

 

The teams in good shape right now. Not Super Bowl potential shape, but this is a roster that will compete. It's improved this off season.

Lot of key guys coming back from injuries and they burned the phone lines off last night trying to bring some undrafted gems in.

 

 

 

Baltimore Ravens

Grade: B+

Analysis: This felt like a very classic Ozzie Newsome draft, which is a good thing. The Ravens got one of the draft’s best offensive tackles at No. 6 with Notre Dame's Ronnie Stanley. But the best two picks might have been on Friday, when they added DE/LB Kamalei Correa and DE Bronson Kafusi to reinvigorate the pass rush. The most interesting pick came Saturday with the selection of Navy QB Keenan Reynolds, who has said he intends to serve a two-year military commitment before he starting an NFL career playing a new position.

 

 

Baltimore Ravens

Thumbs up. This was a solid but not spectacular draft. The Ravens checked a lot of boxes with pass-rushers, offensive playmakers and even a returner in Navy's Keenan Reynolds. There just wasn't a lot of flash. The Ravens failed to trade up for Jalen Ramsey and passed on Myles Jack and Noah Spence. It was a safe draft with good upside. -- Jamison Hensley | Grading the Ravens

Edited May 1, 2016 by vmax

[varaven45]

Max,

 

I agree wholeheartedly they will compete this year.

[tsylvester]

When you call a player who runs a 4.5 a speedster, it is time to put the pencil down. When you call a former quarterback who has never returned kicks or punts a returner, it is time to hang the hat up.

[Tornado700]

Pretty certain the team will not have a comeback year with what they drafted. I think the whole front office has lost its touch.

 

So we still need 2 more drafts to be competitive. Time for Oz to retire.

 

What ????

[oldno82]

 

What ????

 

Read my post #240 under the 2016 Draft topic.

[GrubberRaven]

 

 

Well, they pick two players who have fumbling issues. They turn away from a top prospect because of a past, misconstrued issue, then turn around and draft a tweener who has a past of beating a man unconscious. They avoid loading up on a position of need, they draft a player who has to change positions and has yet to do so, instead of drafting a player who has switched positions, and done so, well.

 

They draft a receiver who is extremely raw, not very fast, and is a body catcher with suspect hands. Tell me Grub, when was the last time they developed a receiver?

 

How easy is it to get ONE player to hang onto the ball consistently, let a lone two?

 

They claimed the injury of one of the best players in the draft did not play any role in how they rated him, yet they rated a player who has only been a rush end, never asked to cover, built his stats against lesser opponents over said player?

 

If Jack was completely healthy, do you honestly expect us to believe Correa is a better player, better prospect than Jack?

 

Do you think Reynolds is better than Cooper? Cooper is a slot receiver, is a return man, has great hands. Moore could have been had, or any player like him, much lower in the draft.

 

I will give them Stanley, can't trade out, can't trade up for Ramsey, they had no other options and were scared off by the mess Tunsil is going through with his ex step father.

 

I love the Kaufusi pick, so much, POTENTIAL, but so much work needed. Correa is a nice pick, but he too is a work in progress, Lewis should be a decent back up right tackle, maybe a guard, maybe, likely gone in two years. Henry is a good pick up to add depth to the defensive line and can play the 3 technique, so he could move to end in the 3-4 as well....

 

Judon, another good pick if a team has only a few needs because as good as his stats were, as he should be, he too is raw and needs time to learn the NFL game; he is strictly a rush end, but another project.

 

Canady is experienced, played against some good competition, but he has poor hands, little play making ability; another project. Young, a good pick, under sized, but he plays big. However, he is a grabber because of his size and prone to penalties, just what the defense needs... more penalties. They can train that out of him, he should make the team and contribute this year.

 

Five defensive backs on the roster before the draft, they only take a chance on two, at a position that always seems to suffer an injury, and is low on talent.

 

Safety has been an issue for years, Weddle is a nice addition, but he is older, the two safeties they drafted each of the past few years, suck, are busts, and not one safety taken.

 

Time will tell, an F? no, but certainly not a B at this point, maybe a C +

 

I'll give you the receiver concern, as I have observed this as well. I have never been satisfied with our drafted receiver talent. It's kind of like the Orioles ability to develop a damn starting pitcher...it's a myth.

 

My comment was more along the lines of that we thought we were playoff/super bowl bound last year and it ended up one of the worst teams in the league. We were competitive though and didn't get blown out. I will say that I rely off the internet for any info on draftees due to not watching college ball. I take it all with a grain of salt due to it all being heavily based on individual biases. I refuse to gripe on a player's contributions to our team until they actually contribute. I'm not writing next season off yet...the consensus, my opinion, of the board on Saturday was that people already were.

[tsylvester]

 

I'll give you the receiver concern, as I have observed this as well. I have never been satisfied with our drafted receiver talent. It's kind of like the Orioles ability to develop a damn starting pitcher...it's a myth.

 

My comment was more along the lines of that we thought we were playoff/super bowl bound last year and it ended up one of the worst teams in the league. We were competitive though and didn't get blown out. I will say that I rely off the internet for any info on draftees due to not watching college ball. I take it all with a grain of salt due to it all being heavily based on individual biases. I refuse to gripe on a player's contributions to our team until they actually contribute. I'm not writing next season off yet...the consensus, my opinion, of the board on Saturday was that people already were.

 

 

We've "known" each other long time, many boards over the years. I too am not writing off the season, completely, no matter who they were to draft, finding two starters who will make a big impact is too much to ask for any fan, or even front office. This year will be largely based on health yes, but also the 2013 draft class with free agents thrown in.

[GrubberRaven]

 

 

We've "known" each other long time, many boards over the years. I too am not writing off the season, completely, no matter who they were to draft, finding two starters who will make a big impact is too much to ask for any fan, or even front office. This year will be largely based on health yes, but also the 2013 draft class with free agents thrown in.

 

That's true. Just felt a lot of negativity on the board this weekend. Get enough of that on fb.

[Robjr83]

My opinion on Ozzie isn't just from this offseason this has been brewing since the 2012 draft. Out of 8 players only KO panned out as a good pick. 2013 they had 10 picks and only 2 players have panned out (Wagner and Williams). His history of 4th round picks probably means only 1 will have a decent NFL career. Instead of using those 4-6th round picks to move up and get better talent they instead settle for project players. The Ravens policy post SB was that the team wont resign or restructure older players to jeopardize the future, so they've done that with Suggs and Webb and signed Weddle/Watson. Of all things I thought CB was the top priority going into the draft and they spend 2 late picks on it. Weddel will make an impact on the secondary but the idea of Wright and an injured Smith being our starting 2 CBs scares me.

[varaven45]

Well said Rob. To have overlooked the CB position is very unsettling and a huge concen. It should be interesting how Ozzie and co will address.

[tsylvester]

 

That's true. Just felt a lot of negativity on the board this weekend. Get enough of that on fb.

 

I hear ya old friend. I am happy with a few picks but the double talk from the front office has grown old. Rob outlined some of it, but the words of taking only stand up guys and ignoring players like Tunsil but draft Alex Lewis who has just as "bad" optics, is another example.

 

Their justification for not taking Jack, making Correa a a higher rated player; shocks me.

 

I am sure the injury has them worried. Any time words such as degenerative, chondral defect come into play, it is worth further scrutiny. It makes me wonder, did they really have the two players rated that way, or were they too afraid to say the injury was too much?

 

Maybe because it would cause an up roar with local media and fans who might think their first round pick from last year has the same issue?

 

Here is a decent read on some of the players who had the same injury and issue, who had the microfracture surgery. Some recovered, some, no, a few, the jury is still out. http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/nfl-draft-myles-jack-knee-injury-microfracture-overcome-reggie-bush-042916

[Tornado700]

I hear ya old friend. I am happy with a few picks but the double talk from the front office has grown old. Rob outlined some of it, but the words of taking only stand up guys and ignoring players like Tunsil but draft Alex Lewis who has just as "bad" optics, is another example.

 

Their justification for not taking Jack, making Correa a a higher rated player; shocks me.

 

I am sure the injury has them worried. Any time words such as degenerative, chondral defect come into play, it is worth further scrutiny. It makes me wonder, did they really have the two players rated that way, or were they too afraid to say the injury was too much?

 

Maybe because it would cause an up roar with local media and fans who might think their first round pick from last year has the same issue?

 

Here is a decent read on some of the players who had the same injury and issue, who had the microfracture surgery. Some recovered, some, no, a few, the jury is still out. http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/nfl-draft-myles-jack-knee-injury-microfracture-overcome-reggie-bush-042916

 

This is why I believe you just love criticizing the Ravens org. First you say that their failure to take Miles Jack shocks you, but then, almost in the same sentence, you explain how you understand why they did not take him. Which is it? I'm just trying to make a point here.

[tsylvester]

 

This is why I believe you just love criticizing the Ravens org. First you say that their failure to take Miles Jack shocks you, but then, almost in the same sentence, you explain how you understand why they did not take him. Which is it? I'm just trying to make a point here.

Make your point. I didn't blast them for not taking Jack, I was critical of them for 1) rating him lower than Correa 2) doing so claiming Correa is a better player and not because of Jack's injury.

 

 

There is a difference, sorry ifI was not more clear.

[Robjr83]

I agree with tsy. If they were scared of the injury due to Perriman thats understandable... but dont blow smoke saying you had him rated lower than Correa

 

they were also blowing smoke with the Stanley>Tunsil arguement

[oldno82]

My opinion on Ozzie isn't just from this offseason this has been brewing since the 2012 draft. Out of 8 players only KO panned out as a good pick. 2013 they had 10 picks and only 2 players have panned out (Wagner and Williams). His history of 4th round picks probably means only 1 will have a decent NFL career. Instead of using those 4-6th round picks to move up and get better talent they instead settle for project players. The Ravens policy post SB was that the team wont resign or restructure older players to jeopardize the future, so they've done that with Suggs and Webb and signed Weddle/Watson. Of all things I thought CB was the top priority going into the draft and they spend 2 late picks on it. Weddel will make an impact on the secondary but the idea of Wright and an injured Smith being our starting 2 CBs scares me.

 

Agree with that completely...use the 4th round picks to move up in other rounds. Question: should we have tried to trade two 4th round picks to Dallas instead of one in order to get Ramsey?