O Line no longer Old.

[vmax]

When Oher, Harewood, Birk, Yanda and Osemele took the field I went "Woooa".

Another sneaky, surprise move by a Ravens offensive coaching staff that is not going to make the conservative, safe call.

 

They are going for it.

 

They got young over night. "The New Age" group at 26, 25, 107, 27 and 23.

 

You don't do that in the NFL. Teams want to start the same 5 guys every game. It's about continuity, communication and playing as one.

You don't do that to your franchise QB.

Do you?

 

It takes forever for a new guy to win a spot. That's what happened for "Project" Harewood. After 3 operations and 2 seasons on the bench he won a starting job. I was impressed by his post game comment that he was very comfortable in the new offense because he was so well prepared by the coaching staff. Physically he's imposing with a wing span of a 747.

Hats off to them!

 

The no huddle really helped them They did not have to hold blocks for 587 seconds. The D couldn't substitute which takes fresh legs out of the pass rush.

When you have McKinnie and Williams on the bench you now have quality depth.

How long Birk can last before Gradkowsky moves in is anybodys guess.

 

[papasmurfbell]

What was up with Harewood? When did he become an OG?

[thundercleetz]

Great post Max, I loved the new look line! With this no-huddle he need guys in shape who can play quick off the ball. The big guys looked great last night! I definitely think Oher likes the no huddle, he played a solid game last night.

 

BTW, it is almost unfair on the trap plays where we pull Yanda and then Leach comes screaming through the hole behind him! I would not want to be a linebacker have to take that freight train on!

[yagersports]

Ray had some gapping holes to run through, it was a thing of beauty! If they keyed on Ray, Flacco killed them through the air. That pass to Pitta in the open field was beautiful. If they key on Flacco we run it at em and Rice just kills em. I don't think Rice took one big hit all night. And his catch for a first down was awesome!

[Dunno]

What was up with Harewood? When did he become an OG?

 

In the last preseason game vs the Rams I believe. I think he only played OT before that. I thought at the time he was getting the Cousins treatment, one last chance to prove he could play any position before getting cut, not auditioning to be the starting LG.

 

Good for him though.

[vmax]

Some quotes about the O line....

 

Harbaugh on the line....

on how the offensive line performed) “Well, it looks like they performed well by the result. I think we didn’t have too much pressure. I thought we ran the ball pretty well. I look forward to seeing the tape. But, we probably have eight really good offensive linemen, and Jah Reid is the ninth when he gets healthy. So, we have to find a way to play all of our linemen. We want to find a way to get those guys out there, so that’s a good problem to have.”

 

(on what he saw in T Ramon Harewood that earned him the start) “We really thought highly of Ramon. He hadn’t had many practice reps, but he did have the whole offseason, he did have most of training camp, and we just thought he looked like a player. You look at Bobbie [Williams], and you look at Bryant [McKinnie], they both had really good training camps as well, so we’ve got a bunch of guys right now that we think we can play on our offensive line. So, it goes from a perceived weakness to what we always thought was going to be a strength, and we just got to build on that. It’s the first game. There were so many things that were not good. When we watch that tape, there are going to be a lot of thing we’re not going to like. We have to build on the things that we didn’t do well, and we have to build on the things we did do well. We are not the same team a week from now, four weeks from now, 16 weeks from now. We just have to make sure we’re getting better every way.”

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/Ravens-Postgame-Quotes/f1c58067-263b-442f-91d3-97a7d865956a

 

Ray Rice speaking...

(on his offensive line) “I didn’t see any timing issues tonight. The scoreboard told that. What you saw was guys that worked hard during camp and mini-camp and OTAs, and the guys I’m referring to are Ramon Harewood and Kelechi Osemele. You saw those guys’ hard work pay off. It’s great to see those young guys in there. Those guys were making plays for us tonight. Bobbie Williams and Bryant McKinnie are guys we know we have. It was nice to see young guys go out and make plays.”

 

(on the weapons the Ravens have on offense) “It’s really fun for me – I barely got hit tonight. You always want to come out in the first one and come out fast. We did that tonight. One thing you see with our offense, we’re explosive. I think this is the fastest group we’ve had since I’ve been here. I’m talking all over the board – tight ends, wide receivers and backs. Our offensive line is very athletic.”

 

And some more.... ...I'm a quote freak...love to get to know the players...

 

T Ramon Harewood

 

(on how he felt when he ran out of the tunnel before the game tonight) “I really can’t explain it right now. I want to say phenomenal, but that doesn’t even sum it up to be honest with you. The last [few] years have been so hard; to be able to run out of that tunnel tonight was an amazing feeling.”

 

(on whether it felt like all of his hard work came to fruition tonight) “I wouldn’t say it came to frutition, because there’s still a long way to go. But, I think I did my part, and it’s been a long ride. It’s been a long ride. But, I’d say, yeah, the time on [injured Reserve] definitely prepared me for tonight.”

 

(on how he felt he played) “It felt pretty good. There’s a lot of room for improvement, but like I said, I just want to come out here and do my one-eleventh, my part on the offense, and I think I did that.”

 

 

 

G/T Kelechi Osemele

 

(on the offensive line showing some continuity tonight) “Yeah, yeah that’s really good [and] we’re just going to continue to get better. And we have such a good veteran class with Matt Birk and Marshal Yanda, who are just really good at communicating and keeping our heads in the game and staying focused. We’re just going to continue to get better.”

 

(on how it felt to play in his first NFL game) “I felt really good. I was nervous at first, but the older guys did a really good job of just having me stay within myself and staying focused on my technique. So, I felt really good about it. They made it really easy for me; the communication was just so good. I just had to be out there and go ahead and be physical and throw my body around. So, I felt really good about it.”

 

(on playing in front of Ravens’ fans) “It was so loud, it was crazy. I don’t even know how the guys on the other side of the ball were even getting their plays off. You can tell that it’s just a really good home field advantage, and I’m excited to go play somewhere else next week to see what that’s going to be like. But it was just a good atmosphere and a good experience for us, and I just can’t wait.”

[oldno82]

When they first announced the line on TV I was stupified and thought it was a bad move...Just goes to show you what I knew. Harewood at OG?? Osemele at RT?? Shocked, yes, shocked by their superb play.

 

I think Matt Birk may have had it. He got bull-rushed badly on that sack of Joe. I mean when your a lineman and the defensive guy bowls you over onto your backside, thats a bad sign.

[papasmurfbell]

KO has been really solid at RT. It was LG I was shocked by.

[RavenMad]

When they first announced the line on TV I was stupified and thought it was a bad move...Just goes to show you what I knew. Harewood at OG?? Osemele at RT?? Shocked, yes, shocked by their superb play.

 

I think Matt Birk may have had it. He got bull-rushed badly on that sack of Joe. I mean when your a lineman and the defensive guy bowls you over onto your backside, thats a bad sign.

 

Birk got blown up at least twice! He was the weak link of the O-Line. If Gradkowski can learn the line calls quickly he needs to get in there because Birk will get Joe killed playing like that every week.

[cravnravn]

 

Birk got blown up at least twice! He was the weak link of the O-Line. If Gradkowski can learn the line calls quickly he needs to get in there because Birk will get Joe killed playing like that every week.

 

 

Gino first has to learn how to stand his ground. he did get bulled over quite a few times in the pre season, and that was against 1st teamers..

[yagersports]

Crav is right, Birk is the best option at this point. Gino will hopefully be ready by midseason so that we have a capable backup.

[oldno82]

You have to look at it that Birk is in there more for his brains now than his blocking ability as he makes the calls for the O-line.

[papasmurfbell]

But if he is pushed into Joe's lap he is about useless.