Trade deadline past

[tsylvester]

With the site down I did a little snooping around the web at various fansites.. my oh my what a melt down by many that ED did not make a trade for one position or another. Many of the opinion that he should be fired & or that this team missed its chance at a super bowl. Really?

I looked at Chase Young and Monty Sweat, two most notable that MIGHT, help this league leading defense.

I do agree, they have sharpened their teeth against some bad offenses, so subpar quarterbacks.

But then, if your teeth are dull, will you have much of a bite when you do play the higher grade offenses?

Sweat, a nice player, good punch, an okay swim move, some decent power. 17 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles in 8 games this year, averages 8 sacks per season and has only missed part of 1 season, played in 10 games in 2021...

But he does tend to take plays off and he will want big money in the off season.

Chase Young, another big name, young edge rusher, 15 combined tackles, 5 sacks (2 against the Giants terrible line). He has not played one full season since coming into the league, playing 15 his rookie year, the year he made a name for him self.

Word is he was more about his stats than the game plan, often ignoring his assignments, and doing his own thing to get the tackle, or sack. This is why the Skins wanted him gone. As for Sweat, they just did not want to pay him big money.

On the surface a 2nd & or a 3rd for either was a pretty good deal. The Ravens have a way of getting the most out of their players, and with the leadership on defense, either player might have straighten up. But both want big money next year so this would likely only have been a rental.

While I think this line as a whole needs depth, there are some injured players slated to return. If they can return to form, especially Bowser, then neither Young nor Sweat would be needed.

As for a runningback, the other rumor out there, Henry or the kid from the Raiders, Jacobs, again, money would be the main issue. Both have slightly hefty contracts that ED would have to rework other deals just to fit them in, this year.

While both are nice backs, and would augment this offense, I'm not sold on the high asking price, Ten nixed the 2nd round pick, the owner did not want to trade Henry.

The Raiders wanted more than a 2n for Jacob's.

Frankly, good. They are both power backs, Jacob's slightly faster than Gus.

This offense doesn't need that, it needs a true speed back who is naturally shifty. Hill tries to be, he is fast l, but he has to work hard to be shifty, planting hard, which causes him to slip and fall with out being touched.

Gus gets all he can out of each run, the line just had to block better, the wide outs and tightends too, that is how you get big runs, by blocking down field.

Without that right now, neither back if the trade has gone through would get more right now.

Would Henry force defense to play man? Or to drop safeties into the box? Sure to some extent.

But so too would Gus, has Gus, when the running game is working as it should.

I think it was a good thing the trades didn't go through. This coming draft class has a number of backs who are fast and naturally shifty.

With all of the pending free agents already on this team, adding more big name, big money contracts would cause more headaches down the road.

[oldno82]

I concur. And a lot of the other fan sites are just crazy...they've been harping on EDC all year. I think he's done a good job with this team and they shouldn't forget last year's deal for Roquan which invigorated the whole defense.

I don't think Keaton Mitchell, the practice squad back, has gotten a real shot yet. He was in for two or three plays and pulled a hammy. He might have the burst we could use if he can get and stay healthy.

The offensive line has me a bit worried because they are inconsistent. I'm pretty sure Ronnie Stanley has lost a step due to his bad ankle injury. Moses is inconsistent. We could use some young'uns here via the draft next year. In fact, that might be the priority.

Other than not being consistent  with the line play they did alright getting a W. When opposing teams are dropping 8 into coverage it's got to open up the running game. That calls for an in-game strategy shift and that wasn't there until late in the game and then the defense wore down.

I think this team will be alright. If one looks at the rest of the NFL, even the best teams look funky now then and lose games. At least we won this one.

Seahawks game will be a solid test. I think we'll do well.

[tsylvester]

Yep, I think the line will be fine. Remember, they have only gotten a few games playing together in this new offense under their collective belts. So I think going forward, if they stay healthy, we should see the running game improve and their consistency in game as well.

 

[oldno82]

And hopefully we'll get to see our Geno pick off their Geno this week.

[tsylvester]

Haha, that would be funny.

The odd part of the trades I think were that of the Bears. Why trade Smith last year, a better player, better leader, then trade for Sweat? Both will cost a pretty penny and it isn't as if they have a real shot at a super bowl with or without Sweat.

[oldno82]

Hard to figure what the Bears were thinking of after watching Roquan for a year now. He's made Queen into a near-star and just invigorated the whole defense. He's a great leader and great for a face of the franchise. Definitely worth a 2nd round pick.

[oldno82]

As we were saying: https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bs-sp-ravens-roquan-smith-trade-impact-20231102-vedot2ajsrcdlg5qhvhth5hciq-story.html

[papasmurfbell]

The bears are totally disfunctional.

[tsylvester]

I was reading an article on the Commandos & why they traded these two. One reason was they found that their defense was better, statistically, when those two were out for injury....

[oldno82]

Hah! That's like your boss saying office productivity improved when you were sick!