Ravens News and Notes

[papasmurfbell]

Of course.  I am just curious if this ends his career.

[GrubberRaven]

11 hours ago, papasmurfbell said:

Of course.  I am just curious if this ends his career.

He is with the Ravens still.  May have had an agreement with Dallas to slip onto the practice squad, not expecting the Ravens to pick him up.

 

 

[papasmurfbell]

interesting

[tsylvester]

On 10/20/2021 at 6:55 PM, papasmurfbell said:

Of course.  I am just curious if this ends his career.

We have our answer, he is taking time away from the game to focus on his family, mental health. Per Espn

[GrubberRaven]

On 10/20/2021 at 6:55 PM, papasmurfbell said:

Of course.  I am just curious if this ends his career.

He is with the Ravens still.  May have had an agreement with Dallas to slip onto the practice squad, not expecting the Ravens to pick him up.

 

His Twitter profile says Baltimore Ravens, so who knows where his head is.

[oldno82]

There has been a perennial complaint about Lamar through his years here about his limitations as a passer. I've made a few of them myself. But this year #8 looks like the passer we all have always wanted and even Mike Preston has noticed it too. Here's an interesting article on the Ravens' passing game specialists and what they've done for our receivers and the offense as a whole:  https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/analysis/preston/bs-sp-ravens-preston-tee-martin-keith-williams-impact-20211023-3c64srbogjhqjp5ktueualmipq-story.html.

From the article comes this observation:

"

Jackson has completed 67.5% of his passes for 1,686 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions this season, and is averaging a career-high 8.7 yards per attempt. He looks so much more comfortable in the pocket compared with previous years, when he would take off running instead of being patient.

Back then, the Ravens would only attack one quarter or half of the field. They were content playing it safe and being conservative. But that’s not true anymore with Williams and Martin on staff. Jackson has been throwing consistently outside the numbers, from short hitches to long fly routes on the far side of the field."

 

 

 

 

[tsylvester]

Wait for the season to play out. Comfortable is not a word that I would use to describe him in the pocket. He took five sacks last game, several the game before. Are they all on him? No, the line has had issues with pass blocking. But he is hessitating, seems to struggle with when to take off or throw leading to sacks.

Sure, we want him to keep his eyes down field, but so far it appears that he has no pocket awareness. Burrow wasn't sacked at all in the first half, dispite multiple times when his line broke down. Yet he threw the ball away, escaped, after feeling the rush. But not Lamar.

It may be that he is stuck between the pocket passer and running quarterback. Shoot, he is even running into, tripping over his own linemen.

Has the passing improved? Sure, a bit, nothing consistent though. Receivers are still getting little seperation, Lamar is still hessitant to throw those outside the numbers passes.

One play yesterday, he connected with Brown early in the game, deep down the sideline, but lead him out of bounds for no catch. As the announcer pointed out later in the game, Lamar had Brown lined up against a linebacker, a linebacker!

Just trust and throw on time down the right sideline, let Brown run away and under the pass it's a touchdown. Lamar pulled it down and threw short..

These are just two plays where he either.missed a throw, deep outside the numbers or refused to make the throw.

He has improved to some extent, but also regressed in another.

[papasmurfbell]

That I think is defensive scheming.  The way they are crushing the pocket really looks like a hand being closed into a fist.  The OL is failing but the defenses are closing the pockets to not allow much in the way of running lanes.

[tsylvester]

Good point. The line coach should be working with them on creating lanes for him.

[papasmurfbell]

I have been noticing for about 3 weeks the ends going up field but only so far.  At the same time the middle of the line getting pushed into Lamars face.  The only time it seems to be failing regularly is if Lamar gets the pass off.  Yesterday the DBs slowed the plays down enough to close the fist.

[varaven45]

So what’s the answer  ?  Is Lamar ever going to work through this ?  I know he’s not yet 25 but we’ve been talking about this for three  years, right ?  Is there a point where the cerebral and physical are in sync ? 

[tsylvester]

18 minutes ago, varaven45 said:

So what’s the answer  ?  Is Lamar ever going to work through this ?  I know he’s not yet 25 but we’ve been talking about this for three  years, right ?  Is there a point where the cerebral and physical are in sync ? 

Should be, hopefully, Murray and Allen made the jump, the turn. Lamar is close, having a healthy Bateman will help, he seems to get open regularly. The line giving him a second more in time would help.

I think he just needs to relax and play, not try to aim passes, just hitch & throw. If it's not there, run.

We see young qb's struggle, shoot even Burrow was at what, 49% or so in the first half. Mahomes had a horrible game yesterday, even this season so far for that matter.

Time will tell, that's why I say wait until season's end to see where he stands. Preston's article was a bit premature, the offense does not look that much better passing wise, stats can lie, so praising the "new coaches" is a bit much, but then that is par for the course for Mikey.

[tsylvester]

2 hours ago, papasmurfbell said:

I have been noticing for about 3 weeks the ends going up field but only so far.  At the same time the middle of the line getting pushed into Lamars face.  The only time it seems to be failing regularly is if Lamar gets the pass off.  Yesterday the DBs slowed the plays down enough to close the fist.

Yeah, same type of rush you should do against running qb's, stay level, close in around him.

We knew this line would be a work in progress, there is a big difference in pass blocking for a pocket passer like say Brady, and blocking for an elusive runner like Lamar or even Murray.

I am sure they will work it out.

[vmax]

Field Yates (@FieldYates)
Most receiving TD since Week 12 of last season:

1. Hollywood Brown: 12
T-2. Mike Evans: 11
T-2. Davante Adams: 11
T-4: Tyreek Hill: 10
T-4: Cooper Kupp: 10
T-6. DeAndre Hopkins: 9

Brown, who had an ADP of WR38 this preseason, is the 6th-highest scoring WR in fantasy in 2021.

 

PFF BAL Ravens (@PFF_Ravens)
Patrick Queen the first five weeks:
 29.0 grade
 Lowest among all LBs

Patrick Queen the last two weeks:
 90.5 grade
 Highest among all LBs

 

Bo Smolka (@bsmolka)
Per @pfref, #Ravens CB Anthony Averett targeted a season-high 16 times against the #Bengals, gave up 8 completions, Burrow's quarterback rating on passes targeting him was 65.1.

He finished with 7 tackles, team-best 3 PDs. Bengals hammered away at him and Averett held up well.

Brian McFarland (@RavensSalaryCap)
And, on about 1/2 of those completions, Averett was right with his man and tackled him immediately. Definitely had a good game and it will be interesting to see what kind of market awaits him as a UFA in March

Bo Smolka (@bsmolka)
@pfref And Marlon Humphrey: Targeted 10 times, gave up 7 completions, 2 TDs, 1 INT, passer rating vs. him of 112.5.

Humphrey owned it after the game: "The biggest assignment was on me to kind of stop their top guy, and I lost that matchup. ... I’ve just got to play better."

 

Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer)
Here's where the Ravens stand in @fboutsiders' DVOA rankings entering the bye ...

Total offense: No. 9
Pass offense: No. 12
Run offense: No. 5
Schedule strength: No. 27

Total defense: No. 20
Pass defense: No. 20
Run defense: No. 13
Sked strength: No. 13

Special teams: No. 1

 

[oldno82]

Ed Reed wants Lamar to take fewer hits and I agree:

https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/late-for-work-10-27-ed-reed-wants-lamar-jackson-to-take-fewer-hits.

 

[vmax]

13 minutes ago, oldno82 said:

Ed Reed wants Lamar to take fewer hits and I agree:

https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/late-for-work-10-27-ed-reed-wants-lamar-jackson-to-take-fewer-hits.

 

 

Me too. I think everybody can see the end coming if he remains 95% of the offenses production. 

The help has to come from improvement here....

Quote

Improve production from running backs: Over the past four weeks, Baltimore’s running backs have totaled 242 yards rushing, which ranks sixth-worst in the NFL. The group of former Pro Bowl runners — Latavius Murray, Devonta Freeman and Le'Veon Bell — are averaging 3.7 yards per carry this season. This shouldn’t come as a shock after Baltimore lost its top two running backs (J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards) to season-ending knee injuries before the start of the season. The offensive line has dealt with several injuries, including a season-ending ankle injury with All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley. Baltimore hasn’t opened up holes as it has in the past, and the running backs are averaging a league-low 1.3 yards after first contact....QB Lamar Jackson, Ravens focused on not letting loss to Bengals linger - Baltimore Ravens- ESPN

 

[oldno82]

Absolutely right! But that won’t happen until next season unfortunately. 

[vmax]

The O line and Rushing attack went from Stanley - Bozeman - Skura - Powers - Brown in 2020 with Lamar, JK and Gus as runners.

to Villanueva - Powers - Bozeman - Zeitler - Phillips in 2021 with Lamar, Murray/Freeman/ Bell/ Williams as runners. 

Night and Day. Even Roman can't work miracles with that and I stopped doing them a while ago. 

[oldno82]

Yep, it's ridiculous to have to try and overcome all that. We'll be good enough to beat most mediocre teams but I don't see how they can compete with the Browns and Bengals until next season.

[oldno82]

And they really need to keep Lamar healthy.

[papasmurfbell]

33 minutes ago, vmax said:

The O line and Rushing attack went from Stanley - Bozeman - Skura - Powers - Brown in 2020 with Lamar, JK and Gus as runners.

to Villanueva - Powers - Bozeman - Zeitler - Phillips in 2021 with Lamar, Murray/Freeman/ Bell/ Williams as runners. 

Night and Day. Even Roman can't work miracles with that and I stopped doing them a while ago. 

Stanley was out for quite a long time and they produced.  Skura was trash and they have upgraded over him.  Bell should be cut.  He is trash so his diminished production is on the FO and the coaching staff.

[tsylvester]

Wolf will be back along with a few others after the break, so hopefully they can get some stability, consistency.

[vmax]

Jamison Hensley
Jamison Hensley on Twitter
“John Harbaugh said he’s optimistic that LB Malik Harrison is going to be ok.

“I don’t think it’s severe at all,” Harbaugh said.

Harrison was shot in the left calf Sunday night.”

Jamison Hensley on Twitter
“John Harbaugh said the injured players all have a chance of returning for Sunday’s game against the Vikings, which includes RB Latavius Murray (ankle) and WR Sammy Watkins (hamstring).

“Whether they make it or not is really up in the air,” Harbaugh said.”
 

 

[oldno82]

I take Harbs comments with a grain of salt because I think he's just trying to confuse the Vikings as to what to expect. We won't know more until they release the weekly injury report.

[vmax]

Jamison Hensley on Twitter
“Ravens' roster moves on Monday:

-ILB Malik Harrison placed on Non-Football Injury list

-TE Eric Tomlinson signed to practice squad after getting cut

-OT Andre Smith placed on practice squad IR”

 

Means Boyle is back.