Mancunian Raven

If the Ravens had just stuck at #22, they could have had both Moore and Jackson. Two exciting, dynamic playmakers to build an offense around for the next decade. Not to be, unfortunately. I can't understand how they played it so disappointingly safe with Hurst, but then shot for the skies with Jackson less than an hour later.

He does look a bit slimmer, yeah. Maybe he's working on his mobility, to get a bit of RPO going, prove he can play Lamar Jackson's game. But look at that smile and that hair. Swoonworthy.

Joe's fifth child was only born about a month or so. With all those children, and his wife, to look after, I doubt he even remembers to return calls from his parents, so I've no idea how he could remember to return non-existent ones from a new teammate he's not even met yet. It just goes to show how desperate some in the media are to create controversies, especially in this part of the year, post-draft and pre-Training Camp.

I'd guess that the Ravens' joint practice sessions in previous years have been well received by coaches, and talked about in coaching circles. Harbs always comes across as a coach's coach, and seems to get on very well with his colleagues around the league. And one who is probably willing to share his experience and knowledge with younger guys like McVey. As for Ravens as Avengers, two that immediately spring to mind are Justin Tucker as Hawkeye and Brandon Williams as the Hulk.

The idea of the Ravens having some tradeable assets to take advantage of would be nice. Not sure who would be likely to garner much attention, though. Weddle is too old, Jimmy Smith is too injured, Tony Jefferson wasn't great last year. Any of the younger guys would struggle to attract even a 6th round pick.

The only examples RGIII needs to set for Jackson are repeated viewings of the play where he tried to scramble against the Ravens and got squashed by Haloti Ngata, and the proof of what happens to scrambling QBs who don't learn how to play inside the pocket as well. Having said that, I'm more than happy for RGIII to be the backup QB for 2018. I don't want Jackson stepping onto the field before he's ready, and especially not in an offense built for Joe Flacco, who only scrambles when he's completely had enough of incompetent receivers botching every catch.

Doubling down on defense while leaving the offense to free agency and chance is just about the least surprising thing the Ravens could do. Ozzie is just saying this because it's what GMs do at draft time.

I don't really care how Joe played for most of last season. He was clearly hurt for at least the first ten weeks, still recovering from his back injury, and not completely comfortable with the knee brace. Yes, he has bad habits that have gone unchecked, but that's what the new QB coach has been brought in (long overdue) to address. We've seen how well Joe can play, and I'd prefer to believe he'll get back to that level, with the right coaching and offensive support. He's never going to be Tom Brady, or Aaron Rodgers, and we shouldn't expect him to be. But he is a guy who can take bad WRs and make them borderline serviceable, as long as he has a clean pocket. So make sure the O-line is right, and get him someone who is better than Perriman, Maclin, Moore and Wallace. It's not that complicated.

Graham will be far too expensive for what he'd offer the Ravens. Especially when you take into account how unreliable he was for Seattle outside the red zone. As for Harbs offering Pees a new deal? Either Pees is lying to avoid the embarrassment of being canned by the Ravens, or Harbs is a lost cause. It seems to be the culture in Baltimore now to foist the blame onto players, and always keep the coaches clean. That's not a good way of getting anyone to want to play for you.

Hopefully he doesn't think Aggressive defense=blitzing all the time. He may just mean that he likes more man coverage, jamming WRs, playing a more proactive defense that looks to make plays, rather than just allow teams to have their way on short and intermediate passing routes. If he does just mean he wants to blitz more, then next year will be a long, painful one.

Young is coming back off a serious injury, and will need time to get up to speed. And I'd rather have him playing at nickel anyway. Canady still has to prove he's more than adequate depth, and Jaylen Hill is still an unknown commodity. With Jimmy Smith likely to start on PUP, getting rid of Carr just isn't a good idea. He played up to his contract this year, in the role the Ravens signed him to play - a complementary CB to Jimmy Smith. I don't mind losing Weddle, but he's the only one of the three that I'd be willing to see cut. Like you say, he can't tackle, but his football IQ makes up for it a lot of the time. But unless the Ravens can find another FS who has some of his strengths but less of his weaknesses, there's no real point in cutting him.

No thanks on Jimmy Graham. Another vet who appears to have all of his best days behind him. Talk to any Seahawks fan about his drops this season. Cutting Carr, Weddle and Jimmy Smith would be a terrible idea. That would gut the secondary completely, and leave Jefferson as the only guy with more than a year of experience, unless you can get another expensive FA in.

This is true. I desperately wanted Ramsey as well, and was very sceptical of Stanley. But OT was a greater need, because Monroe just wasn't interested in playing. And Stanley has worked out pretty well. Lord knows where we'd be without him. Humphrey looks far better as a rookie than many thought he would, and still has plenty of scope to improve further. I think the Ravens did pretty well with both drafts. Sure, Kaufusi seems to be just another of the string of mid-round D-linemen the Ravens take, who don't always work out, but those are the odds you get with mid-round picks. What frustrates me more is seeing players who are drafted not get opportunities, or who get utilised badly by the coaching staff. Like drafting an OLB then immediately trying to convert him to ILB, or using box safeties to cover. Things like that.

Agreed. We were all very down on Mornhinweg in the first half of the season, but hindsight now indicates that he was working around a QB who was limited mentally by his knee and limited physically by his pre-season back injury. As Flacco has regained his confidence and his full health, the offense improved significantly, and that included the playcalling (though there were still some boneheaded calls, but there always will be). He also had to contend with a makeshift O-line, which took a while to gel and become effective, and the fact that they didn't find their starting RB until a third of the way into the season. I think he's done enough to merit another season, with a more talented offensive cast. And Joe does deserve to have some consistency and the chance to build real chemistry with an OC. But I do still think the Ravens need to find a dedicated QB coach whose job it is to just focus on Flacco's mechanics and footwork and mental processes.

Unless Steve explicitly says, "playoffs in 2018 or you're gone" Harbs will just promote another buddy to DC. We all know it. He likes his coaching team to be made up of trusted friends, guys who won't rock the boat or challenge him. That's the only explanation for why he's kept mediocre coaches with the team for so long. Pagano or Austin would be great choices, in my view. But I don't really expect them. The reports about it probably being Martindale feel like they're ream coordinated.