drd23 Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFlaccoSeagulls Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 Love this signing. Should immediately boost our OL. Just grab a C an we're set. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drd23 Posted March 16, 2022 Author Share Posted March 16, 2022 That durability was probably key in him being targeted. Shame this wasn't the deal we signed instead of rushing in to sign AV last year. Presumably this also means that Boze is still not a potential signing and that Mekari will be lining up at C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Reed Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 (edited) Very pleased that the Ravens didn’t go into next season expecting anything of significance from Juwan James at all (was crazy to me seeing fans talk about him as a presumptive day 1 starter). Feels like they’re at least trying to be a bit more proactive on the OL this time around, which is nice. Felt it was seriously neglected last year, and with either another OT or C/G added from the first ~3ish rounds I think we’re looking at a (hopefully) much upgraded unit from 2021. Edited March 16, 2022 by Ray Reed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFlaccoSeagulls Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 10 minutes ago, Ray Reed said: Very pleased that the Ravens didn’t go into next season expecting anything of significance from Juwan James at all (was crazy to me seeing fans talk about him as a presumptive day 1 starter). Feels like they’re at least trying to be a bit more proactive on the OL this time around, which is nice. Felt it was seriously neglected last year, and with either another OT or C/G added from the first ~3ish rounds I think we’re looking at a (hopefully) much upgraded unit from 2021. It feels like Moses is literally just a direct upgrade over Big Al, but is going to fill the same slot (swing OT). If Stanley can't go, he moves to LT and we put Ju'Wuan James at RT. Otherwise, it's just a MASSIVE upgrade over Big Al. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamKid Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 9 minutes ago, drd23 said: Presumably this also means that Boze is still not a potential signing and that Mekari will be lining up at C I guess there will be some sort of competition between Mekari/James/Moses, but yea MM is likely the presumptive starter. Which means Mekari will go back to either Guard or Center, while also serving as our deep swing tackle option. Harbs isn't big on starting Rookie offensive lineman either, so unless we sign a Center in FA the line will probably look like this Stanley-Cleveland-Mekari-Zeitler-Moses to start the year. Cleveland is obviously the easiest to move off that spot but we'll see. Either way the line is in much better shape heading into 2022. Draft a couple talented Rookies and we'll be rolling. This Moses deal feels like a better version(player/price) of the Austin Howard deal from '17. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Reed Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 9 minutes ago, DreamKid said: I guess there will be some sort of competition between Mekari/James/Moses, but yea MM is likely the presumptive starter. Which means Mekari will go back to either Guard or Center, while also serving as our deep swing tackle option. Harbs isn't big on starting Rookie offensive lineman either, so unless we sign a Center in FA the line will probably look like this Stanley-Cleveland-Mekari-Zeitler-Moses to start the year. Cleveland is obviously the easiest to move off that spot but we'll see. Either way the line is in much better shape heading into 2022. Draft a couple talented Rookies and we'll be rolling. This Moses deal feels like a better version(player/price) of the Austin Howard deal from '17. Never forget a damn near 40 year old Big Willie Anderson absolutely dominating for us at RT back in like 08/09 on the cheap lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngusMcFife Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 My guess is they want Mekari at C as a starter. After he proved last year that he could play RT at a decent level, he should be even stronger at C, which requires less athleticism but more technique. If he devotes himself to C he could be quite good. Just work on those snaps. If Mekari is starting C then he is no longer the swing tackle, though. I'd say Stanley, Moses, James, and Tyre Phillips are enough bodies at T for now. I would not rule out upgrading LG. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boodgyman5220 Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 I feel like mekari will be solid anywhere he plays. But I certainly do remember 2 years ago and snap problems. That was a bigger issue with an option based offense, but after last year it seems like we moved away from the read option looks. I wonder if that was in result of losing all of our running backs, or if that was the plan all along! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Reed Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 10 hours ago, AngusMcFife said: My guess is they want Mekari at C as a starter. After he proved last year that he could play RT at a decent level, he should be even stronger at C, which requires less athleticism but more technique. If he devotes himself to C he could be quite good. Just work on those snaps. If Mekari is starting C then he is no longer the swing tackle, though. I'd say Stanley, Moses, James, and Tyre Phillips are enough bodies at T for now. I would not rule out upgrading LG. If something happened to our starting RT in-season, and James never recovers or is cut in camp, I think I would still be more comfortable with Mekari at RT and putting in Colon at C rather than Phillips out at RT. Phillips is just that bad of a liability imo. I don’t want him on the field ever unless it’s at G after an injury. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFlaccoSeagulls Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 2 hours ago, Ray Reed said: If something happened to our starting RT in-season, and James never recovers or is cut in camp, I think I would still be more comfortable with Mekari at RT and putting in Colon at C rather than Phillips out at RT. Phillips is just that bad of a liability imo. I don’t want him on the field ever unless it’s at G after an injury. Isn't James recovered at this point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Reed Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 9 minutes ago, AFlaccoSeagulls said: Isn't James recovered at this point? Not that I know of. I think last update was that he was on track throughout his rehab though. Either way we shouldn’t be talking about a guy who was average at best when healthy who hasn’t been healthy for 3 years as any sort of viable option imo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngusMcFife Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 3 hours ago, Ray Reed said: If something happened to our starting RT in-season, and James never recovers or is cut in camp, I think I would still be more comfortable with Mekari at RT and putting in Colon at C rather than Phillips out at RT. Phillips is just that bad of a liability imo. I don’t want him on the field ever unless it’s at G after an injury. As a principle, though, I think it's not a good idea to swap out the C position to fill other positions. Having continuity at C is too important. We'd be better off getting another body at T then, rather than expecting Mekari to move from C to T. Ultimately, the Ravens absolutely need their medical team to make sure they know how much they can rely on Stanley and James. The entire season depends on their evaluation, which they completely blew last season with Stanley. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coordinator0 Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 I'm not as hyped about this as most but it's fine. There should at least be some stability on the right side and that's good. It will be interesting to see if the draft investment will be made at center leaving Mekari to be the pivot guys as the main backup at LT primarily and then wherever else he's needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamKid Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 2 minutes ago, coordinator0 said: I'm not as hyped about this as most but it's fine. Whatever he is, he's still a passable talent at the Tackle position with displayed contributions at RT and in the running game. Which after last year is an addition we can all get behind. I'd agree that he's nothing to pound our chest about though. I'm not putting blind faith behind any OL addition until we see the on field product. We've been burned too much recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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