EDC last straw, imho

[oldno82]

I see your point, Tsyl. I just would have liked to see if Fagnano was constrained by Doyle and Co. not to throw downfield. Maybe he was and maybe he wasn't. Can't really be sure his ankle was affecting his ability to throw hard. Can't be sure he wasn't told to play so conservatively but the fact that they went with the wildcat with Henry back there makes me think they had Nano under wraps because they lacked confidence in a rookie. I just don't know.

I think Brissett gives them a good chance of being able to handle the Chargers this week whereas with Nano it would have been an unknown.

I'm glad to see Vorhees is gone. We'll have to see what the new center can do, either in that position or at guard.

Humphrey in a reduced role and Vorhees gone just might be an attempt to send a message to the team to wake up and play more to their potential. We'll see. Certainly Humph has now 'earned' a lesser role and Vorhees has been a disaster. I'm glad to see Ioane coming back being able and willing to play through his injury.

What I can't forgive is the ongoing botched attempt to get a kicker. It's freakin' embarrassing to be in a position 5 days before a game and not have a kicker on the team. It smells of incompetence in the F.O. Now, I'm sure they're working to bring somebody in. I wonder if they're considering Tucker. I read where he made all 30 field goal attempts in his workout with the Chiefs. But if not him there are still other kickers out there. Matt Prater is available though his 42 but there are a few other free agents around as well. Still, they should have signed Moody even though he wanted a guarantee he'd be the kicker for the rest of the season.

Right now, the organization just looks to me to be out of sync internally.

But with the rest of the schedule we have, we amazingly could still be in the playoffs if things break the right way. Question is, as Papa has might say, do we want to go to the playoffs and be one and done and then have 25 guys potentially hitting free agency or should we have cut the cord and settled for restocking with draft picks in a deep draft? And, finally, do we keep Lamar or let him find a willing trade suitor?

I just have no feel for what the near future of this franchise is.

[tsylvester]

Oh I agree on the kicker situation, I cannot believe they left him on the ps, knowing that they had no one else. Regardless if they never thought another team would grab him, a team they traded with, they should have been far more conscious of the possibility.

Even if this was about how they apply his salary, the difference can't be that much

[tsylvester]

From the home site

The Ravens are working out Riley Patterson, Harrison Mevis and other free-agent kickers after losing Jake Moody with Tyler Loop on injured reserve

[oldno82]

Well here's the pick for placekicker, Riley Patterson:

https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/ravens-sign-kicker-riley-patterson-jake-moody-tyler-loop-2026

[tsylvester]

10 or 11 different teams since leaving college, career 86% on field goals, 96% on extra points, with a career long field goal of 54 yards.

I guess beggars can't be choosers

[tsylvester]

But what about guard, I notice he only made a veiled reference or was I reading too much into it?

That knowledge should help Neuzil pick things up on the fly, but head coach Jesse Minter said Neuzil’s arrival doesn’t mean current center Cam Jurgens will be knocked out of the lineup.

“I think he brings versatility,” Minter said, via the team’s website. “I don’t anticipate anything changing with Cam and what position he plays. We think he’s like the future of our offensive line. I think it’s just a piece that adds depth. I do think he’ll have flexibility as he gets here, as he gets going. Wherever that leads I think we’ll see as we go.”

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/ravens-not-planning-change-to-starting-offensive-line-after-ryan-neuzil-trade

[oldno82]

I don't know either. Looks like they consider it purely as a depth move. If that's the case it looks like we gave up too much. 

[tsylvester]

13 minutes ago, oldno82 said:

I don't know either. Looks like they consider it purely as a depth move. If that's the case it looks like we gave up too much. 

Not necessarily, given his age, and what it take to draft a lineman with those picks, have the right one be there, teach them etc. To me, either way it is a good move provided he pans out, which, all indications are he will.

[oldno82]

Oh I think he has the ability and will pan out but isn't he just an 8 week rental? Isn't he a FA next year?

[oldno82]

I guess you can never have too many kickers?

https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/ravens-sign-harrison-mevis-kicker-practice-squad-riley-patterson

[tsylvester]

Officially a dislocated and broken thumb, ouch. 6-10 week recovery according to The Minter, for Lamar.

[oldno82]

1 hour ago, tsylvester said:

Officially a dislocated and broken thumb, ouch. 6-10 week recovery according to The Minter, for Lamar.

Sounds like he's done for any attempt to make the playoffs happen at the very least. If somehow we do get in, we might see him again.

It's really all up to Jacoby and the coaching staff now. A real test for both. 

[tsylvester]

Given how slowly he heals from other injuries, I would think 10 weeks at the minimum, best to just sit him until next season. 

[papasmurfbell]

best to move him.

[oldno82]

I think he wants to come back and play to show he's still 'got it'. He's in a kind of contract year and will feel if he doesn't play any more this year it would diminish his value. Maybe.

3 hours ago, papasmurfbell said:

best to move him.

That's a real possibility given the cap hit of $84mil if they can't agree to an extension.

[GrubberRaven]

11 hours ago, oldno82 said:

That's a real possibility given the cap hit of $84mil if they can't agree to an extension.

Yeah, with that cap hit no...I'm tired of the generational talent talk.  He wants to win, then allow the team to financially build that around you.  There's no denying his talent, but without him we're shit and that speaks to the talent we can't pay for to build a winning team.  We're not going all the way with him, so bring in something that allows us to build a better overall team, when we don't have him.

Brisset is a better piece than our two backups, that's for sure.

[oldno82]

4 hours ago, GrubberRaven said:

Yeah, with that cap hit no...I'm tired of the generational talent talk.  He wants to win, then allow the team to financially build that around you.  There's no denying his talent, but without him we're shit and that speaks to the talent we can't pay for to build a winning team.  We're not going all the way with him, so bring in something that allows us to build a better overall team, when we don't have him.

Brisset is a better piece than our two backups, that's for sure.

I'm beginning to think that just maybe having a 'franchise' quarterback is overrated in these days of cap constraints and higher salaries at all positions. All you need is a competent quarterback manager who can make all the short and medium throws and be able to throw long enough to hit it deep occasionally. Having a Joe Burrows or Lamar is fun and fine when they're young and healthy, but when, not if, they get hurt, the whole team falls apart. 

Joe Flacco was a solid quarterback, not a great one, and he took us to our last Super Bowl. Then we overpaid him and couldn't keep it going because there wasn't enough cap to keep him surrounded by other talented weapons and the team went into a steady decline until Lamar appeared. Lamar was effective through his rookie contract but the team was never quite good enough around him to really keep it going. Then we gave him beaucoup dollars and the team has been stagnant at best since then.

Well, enough rambling for now...just wanted to say basically that I agree with you.

[tsylvester]

4 hours ago, GrubberRaven said:

Yeah, with that cap hit no...I'm tired of the generational talent talk.  He wants to win, then allow the team to financially build that around you.  There's no denying his talent, but without him we're shit and that speaks to the talent we can't pay for to build a winning team.  We're not going all the way with him, so bring in something that allows us to build a better overall team, when we don't have him.

Brisset is a better piece than our two backups, that's for sure.

Well, Minnesota is having no problem winning without a qb. I guess they got tired of relying on theor defense so they traded for Cousins. 

But clearly they had very good drafting, building that defense, the lines on both sides, through draft and a few key "cheap" free agents. 

This team would look remarkably different had the drafting been better, on defense, on the lines on both sides.

Yeah, we can say the 100 million plus qb is why we suck when he is out, but maybe, just maybe, it goes deeper than that..mmm

[papasmurfbell]

you have to draft well but you also really have to have a great cap makeup.  Remember Mahomes is the only QB to win a SB being at least 15% of the cap.  That was for their last SB win.  Before that win no QB had been over 12.5%.