DreamKid Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 Let's keep the "shoulda picked" out and focus on what we have going forward. Our roster has a whole new vibe now and some excitingly different discussion points. Let's open it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamKid Posted April 29, 2018 Author Share Posted April 29, 2018 Right away I think Lasley is going to push up our depth chart. I see him being the number 2 option to Crabtree's 1 and Snead will work the slot with Brown coming in as the 4th option. Also we should see Jaleel Scott get plenty of opportunities in the redzone, as will Mark Andrews. Having diverse attack options will be a strange new world for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamondbull424 Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 Yeah, I’ve been trying to figure which thread to fit this in. Good idea. I think our offensive strategy is clearly looking to develop into more of an inside-out type of strategy similar to the Gronk/Hernandez Patriots units. Therefore with that in mind, it sort of makes sense why the Ravens were so aggressive in wanting to get Hayden Hurst over the rest of the TE options. Hurst is essentially the DJ Moore to Mike Gesicki’s Calvin Ridley. He’s much more of a threat after the catch but still has the speed to stretch the defense deep. Like Moore you can line him up in multiple spots along the offense, just different positions; everything from fullback to Y receiver to H-back to the in-line blocker. He’s done all of those alignments at the collegiate level within a pro-style system. His Michigan game is probably the best game example that displays his full alignment versatility. Granted this isn’t his best game mind you, just versatile. I think the best pro comparison for Hurst is Zack Ertz. Though Hurst is a bit more physical after the catch, he’s also three years older. Mark Andrews is split out a lot, isn’t the best blocker but could improve there to be somewhat respectable. I think my best comp for him from a speed and YAC physicality standpoint would be Chris Cooley, I could see us utilizing him a lot as the Y receiver and H-back only, but providing more in line duties after a few year There aren’t many highlights of Chris Cooley, but I think you can kind of see enough of the nuance both players have. Neither look as explosive or athletic as Ertz/Hurst above, but use nuance and strength to gain separation, they both have nice YAC ability as well to be legitimate threats. ======================== Lamar Jackson makes his best passes in between the hash lines and on deep balls. Joe Flacco has the arm to do damage outside the hash marks but generally excelled most when he had his tight end (Heap, Dickson, Pitta, Clark, Watson) or Ray Rice running simple routes across the middle. Joe Flacco in the early phases of his career with Cam Cameron was a deep ball quarterback, choosing to air it out a lot. That hasn’t been the case of late with NFL lows in passing average. So what it looks like to me is that we’re going to work towards utilizing our tight ends in different alignments to give our sets more flexibility to run or pass out of while confusing the defense. Then on the outside we’re going to work our way towards more athleticism deep to take advantage of the play action pass. Crabtree likely is utilized very similar to Derrick Mason within Cam Cameron’s offensive system. A few deep shots a game to set up his comeback route. All the attention to the middle of the field with the tight ends should also allow Flacco to get nice Iso opportunities with Crabtree on out breaking routes. On the other side of the field, I think John Brown is the obvious deep threat to stretch the defense. I don’t expect him to remain healthy though, so Jordan Lasley, Chris Moore, and Jaleel Scott will likely be the main competition for that deep threat role on the other side once Brown inevitably goes down. Willie Snead? He’s the top slot option (unless Moore beats him out). He probably sees his a lot more attention on obvious passing situations. Out of our RBs only Buck Allen seems to have reliable hands (maybe Dixon?) so we might drop Hurst into the RB position in shotgun situations to work as blocker/receiver that we could motion out (ala Kyle Juzszyk and Ray Rice). This gets an extra set of gloves on the field in Snead. I think we also see Philadelphia going toward this same type of offensive scheme with Zack Ertz and Dallas Goedert being the goons inside with Alshon Jeffery as the big deep threat and Nelson Agholor as the intermediate option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mancunian Raven Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 The Ravens have definitely lived up to their promise, and changed the look of that receiving corps. New guys across the board, and a nice blend of big/little/fast/strong, as opposed to too many of the same type of player. It's definitely going to be the best group that Joe Flacco has had to work with. Listening to Ozzie talk in the press conferences at the draft, it seems clear that he's been as pissed as most fans about the failures of the receivers, and he's going all out to put Joe in a position to win games. His comments also seemed to indicate that the team would have no qualms about cutting Perriman or Maxx Williams, or any other relatively recent draft pick who isn't performing. And there will be guys who don't make it. They might have flashed ability in the past, they might be Training Camp warriors, but there shouldn't be any room on this team for players who aren't going to be assets. What interests me is whether the Ravens are going to try starting Orlando Brown right away. Because I don't think he's ready. Currently the starting O-line looks like Stanley/Hurst/Skura/Yanda/Lewis (or switch Hurst and Lewis). On paper, that's not going to pull up any trees, but Joe D'Alessandris certainly got the best out of the players at his disposal last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamondbull424 Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 I disagree about Orlando Brown not being ready. I think the biggest struggle for him will be adjusting his pass blocking drops from LT to RT, which is certainly an underrated adjustment for sure. But what he has are traits that you can’t teach. He will never look pretty on tape, but he’s very effective. His pass protection concerns also aren’t concerning enough to take him off the field. He compares to Austin Howard, but with more length and power. Austin Howard 6’7” 333 lbs 10 yard: 1.86s; 20 yard: 3.10s Bench: 19 reps; VJ: 30”; Broad: 9’1” Short Shuttle: 4.62s; 3-cone: 8.10s Orlando Brown Jr 6’8” 345 lbs; 35” arms; 9 3/4” hands 10 yard: 1.88s; 20 yard: 3.29s Bench: 18 reps; VJ: 25 1/2; Broad: 7’5” Short Shuttle: 5.38s; 3-cone: 7.87s Now I’ll be the first to say that a freak athlete will give him problems. His tape against Nick Bosa does not look nearly as good, but at RT he’s going to receive assistance from our tight end in such cases. We have two very talented receiving tight ends that we just drafted and both Williams/Boyle are nice blocking tight end options with reliable hands. So Brown will have offensive sets that will cater to his strengths (running the ball), while covering up his biggest weakness (reaction speed against elite athletes). So in the end, what Baby Zues will give us is an upgrade in our run blocking with similar pass blocking deficiencies as Howard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drd23 Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 5 hours ago, diamondbull424 said: He compares to Austin Howard And that is a good thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danand Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 10 hours ago, drd23 said: And that is a good thing? Baby Zeus is ascending, Howard wasn't (he was also surprisingly weak against bullrushes at times) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coordinator0 Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Looking at the roster and size of the draft class this year it's going to be really, really hard for an UDFA to make the team. Injuries happen of course but as of right now my roster prediction after final cuts is: QB: Joe Flacco / Lamar Jackson RB: Alex Collins / Javorius Allen / Kenneth Dixon WR: Michael Crabtree / John Brown / Willie Snead / Chris Moore / Jaleel Scott / Jordan Lasley / Tim White TE: Nick Boyle / Hayden Hurst / Mark Andrews OT: Ronnie Stanley / James Hurst / Orlando Brown OG: Marshal Yanda / Alex Lewis / Jermaine Eluemunor C: Matt Skura / Bradley Bozeman DL: Brandon Williams / Michael Pierce / Willie Henry / Brent Urban / Patrick Ricard / Chris Wormley / Bronson Kaufusi OLB: Terrell Suggs / Matt Judon / Za'Darius Smith / Tyus Bowser / Tim Williams ILB: C.J. Mosley / Patrick Onwuasor / Kamalei Correa / Kenny Young CB: Jimmy Smith / Brandon Carr / Marlon Humphrey / Tavon Young / Maurice Canady / Anthony Averett S: Eric Weddle / Tony Jefferson / Anthony Levine / Chuck Clark / Deshon Elliot K: Justin Tucker P: Sam Koch LS: Morgan Cox --------------------------------------------- The final bubble cuts came down to Robert Griffin III, Maxx Williams, Carl Davis, Zach Seiler, Albert McClellan, and Jaylen Hill. Anthony Levine, Bronson Kaufusi, and Kamalei Correa just edged their way in. Like I said in the other thread Tim White makes it because of the complete lack of returners (especially punt returners) on the roster otherwise. This was tough. Hopefully one or two of the defensive linemen are traded and not cut. That's a position of strength and maybe with Pees gone the team won't waste so many roster spots on guys they have no intention of playing on the field anyways. Seven is a good number, especially with Ricard playing fullback too. I could maybe see an undrafted center edging Bozeman out but it would probably take quite a bit. There just isn't room anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paraven Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 10 minutes ago, coordinator0 said: Looking at the roster and size of the draft class this year it's going to be really, really hard for an UDFA to make the team. Injuries happen of course but as of right now my roster prediction after final cuts is: QB: Joe Flacco / Lamar Jackson RB: Alex Collins / Javorius Allen / Kenneth Dixon WR: Michael Crabtree / John Brown / Willie Snead / Chris Moore / Jaleel Scott / Jordan Lasley / Tim White TE: Nick Boyle / Hayden Hurst / Mark Andrews OT: Ronnie Stanley / James Hurst / Orlando Brown OG: Marshal Yanda / Alex Lewis / Jermaine Eluemunor C: Matt Skura / Bradley Bozeman DL: Brandon Williams / Michael Pierce / Willie Henry / Brent Urban / Patrick Ricard / Chris Wormley / Bronson Kaufusi OLB: Terrell Suggs / Matt Judon / Za'Darius Smith / Tyus Bowser / Tim Williams ILB: C.J. Mosley / Patrick Onwuasor / Kamalei Correa / Kenny Young CB: Jimmy Smith / Brandon Carr / Marlon Humphrey / Tavon Young / Maurice Canady / Anthony Averett S: Eric Weddle / Tony Jefferson / Anthony Levine / Chuck Clark / Deshon Elliot K: Justin Tucker P: Sam Koch LS: Morgan Cox --------------------------------------------- The final bubble cuts came down to Robert Griffin III, Maxx Williams, Carl Davis, Zach Seiler, Albert McClellan, and Jaylen Hill. Anthony Levine, Bronson Kaufusi, and Kamalei Correa just edged their way in. Like I said in the other thread Tim White makes it because of the complete lack of returners (especially punt returners) on the roster otherwise. This was tough. Hopefully one or two of the defensive linemen are traded and not cut. That's a position of strength and maybe with Pees gone the team won't waste so many roster spots on guys they have no intention of playing on the field anyways. Seven is a good number, especially with Ricard playing fullback too. I could maybe see an undrafted center edging Bozeman out but it would probably take quite a bit. There just isn't room anywhere else. Looking at the roster for next year, I think its safe to say, getting a true center field FS should be high on the priority list for next draft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coordinator0 Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 3 minutes ago, paraven said: Looking at the roster for next year, I think its safe to say, getting a true center field FS should be high on the priority list for next draft Let's just hope that a true center field FS is something Martindale actually wants/knows ow to utilize. Pees surely did/does not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFlaccoSeagulls Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 3 minutes ago, paraven said: Looking at the roster for next year, I think its safe to say, getting a true center field FS should be high on the priority list for next draft This all depends on if Martindale actually runs a system this year where we utilize Jefferson to his fullest potential instead of trying to play him as a deep safety a lot of the time. And right when I post this, @coordinator0 ninjas me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berlin calling Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 so who's the rookie thats getting the IR ticket to stash him this season? Averett? DB seems set if everybody returns healthy (big if) could be a WR potentially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamondbull424 Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 53 minutes ago, coordinator0 said: The final bubble cuts came down to Robert Griffin III, Maxx Williams, Carl Davis, Zach Seiler, Albert McClellan, and Jaylen Hill. Anthony Levine, Bronson Kaufusi, and Kamalei Correa just edged their way in. Like I said in the other thread Tim White makes it because of the complete lack of returners (especially punt returners) on the roster otherwise. This was tough. Hopefully one or two of the defensive linemen are traded and not cut. That's a position of strength and maybe with Pees gone the team won't waste so many roster spots on guys they have no intention of playing on the field anyways. Seven is a good number, especially with Ricard playing fullback too. Agree with the overall points made. The only thing I would change is Kamalei Correa making the team. Guy couldn’t beat out an undrafted free agent for a starting position that he had to almost be a shoe in to make. Also looking at the Hayden Hurst video where he was new to the locker room, Correa just seemed very Debbie downer-esq. So if we’re cutting Perriman to send a message about poor play and mindsets to the offense, then I have to see us making the same statement along the defense. I’d much rather carry RG3 along the team. That should allow Jackson the time to make adjustments to his throwing mechanics and completely dispel any bad habits before stepping in for passes. Plus RG3 is hungry and humbled now. It’s always good to have guys like that in the locker room that just want a chance and want to win. We should have enough special teams contributors without him. I would just cross train guys like Levine and Elliot (maybe Zadarius) as an ILB in case of injury and call it a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berlin calling Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 second question. whats your expectation of #5 for this season? - they drafted him TEs and WRs - Oline set any excuses left not to perform? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paraven Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 15 minutes ago, berlin calling said: second question. whats your expectation of #5 for this season? - they drafted him TEs and WRs - Oline set any excuses left not to perform? no excuses left at all IMO. But I expect him to play well and will be back in 2019 as the starter giving us one more deep playoff run before being cut after the 19' season for LJ and due to obvious cap savings. He then he will retire because I dont see Joe going to another team. Hes made his money, won a superbowl MVP, he will hang it up and ride off into the sunset while his brain still is functioning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.