i think it makes sense for this particular period to be in here given that this part of free agency is inherently tangentially related to the ravens future success/failure etc.
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Signings, Cuts, Trades
- Thread starter RavensMania
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i think it makes sense for this particular period to be in here given that this part of free agency is inherently tangentially related to the ravens future success/failure etc.
I'd consider teams in the AFC North ok for this thread, but other than that, it should go in the other Around the League thread.
JO_75
Hall of Famer
I guess.... then your dividing everyone up within two threads instead of one mega thread.
I'm doing what I always do post news related to other teams in the Around the NFL: News and Rumors thread. The more recent information in that thread is related to other teams Free Agency signings.
UPennChem
Hall of Famer
So I'm going through the roster and I'm going to in my personal opinion point out needs as in we need a player at this position and priorities, we desperately need someone at this position.
Offense priorities
OL
WR
Unfortunately, I'm really really scared about the line. Without Hurst who is the swing tackle/tackle who fills in during injury? Also the interior is a mess. Would the line be Stanley, Bozeman, Skura, Mekari, Brown day 1? Not in love with that at all.
Receiver, honestly I think this is a bigger need than people have been thinking. Our receivers were one of the worst groups in the league last year. I expect Hollywood to take a step. Snead will be Snead, and currently, success rests on a BIG step from Boykin which I don't trust.
Needs
TE
RB
Tight end is really just a body and running back is if we're fortunate enough to grab a more talented running back than justice Hill late in the draft.
Offense priorities
OL
WR
Unfortunately, I'm really really scared about the line. Without Hurst who is the swing tackle/tackle who fills in during injury? Also the interior is a mess. Would the line be Stanley, Bozeman, Skura, Mekari, Brown day 1? Not in love with that at all.
Receiver, honestly I think this is a bigger need than people have been thinking. Our receivers were one of the worst groups in the league last year. I expect Hollywood to take a step. Snead will be Snead, and currently, success rests on a BIG step from Boykin which I don't trust.
Needs
TE
RB
Tight end is really just a body and running back is if we're fortunate enough to grab a more talented running back than justice Hill late in the draft.
I'm not overly concerned about WR, solely because this draft class is so ridiculously deep. It's a risk but the FA market isn't all that. I could maybe see Seth Roberts returning at a close to the minimum salary, but otherwise, focus on the draft.
OL is definitely a concern. It's a super deep T draft, so I'd think we can find a better swing T than Andre Smith in the mid-rounds. The T depth might also help the lack of interior depth. I wouldn't be shocked at all if round 1 is another potential Jawaan Taylor situation from last year - a falling T (but due to depth, not injury) that we pick up with the intentions of sliding him in at G.
UPennChem
Hall of Famer
Defense
The defense is weird. The defense seems really really bad to me. Brockers for pierce is plus or minus a little. Not a big change imo. If we keep Judon then the addition of Campbell looks pretty good. If we lose Judon, then I think that's a net loss in my personal opinion, call me crazy, but whatever. Not a big loss imo. Now we're also down Carr who was a really consistent player and Jimmy who flashes greatness and were getting back Tavon, but off an injury. That is currently a net loss. Also if we don't bring back Bynes, is our only ilb Fort? That's really not good. Fort was fine, but as a rotational player. All I know is that none of us thought the defense was great last year and it seems like it's worse of this year. That's just my opinion.
Priorities
ILB. Honestly, I don't care if it's Bynes, but we need 1 more ILB on this team prior to the draft.
Edge rusher. Gonna have to come in the draft, can't imagine us getting someone who can make a difference year one. Maybe that's too pessimistic, but it's not obvious to me we can.
Needs
Corner
Safety
If we're lucky in terms of health these just need to be rotational players. We get Elliot back, we have AA and Marshall.
The defense is weird. The defense seems really really bad to me. Brockers for pierce is plus or minus a little. Not a big change imo. If we keep Judon then the addition of Campbell looks pretty good. If we lose Judon, then I think that's a net loss in my personal opinion, call me crazy, but whatever. Not a big loss imo. Now we're also down Carr who was a really consistent player and Jimmy who flashes greatness and were getting back Tavon, but off an injury. That is currently a net loss. Also if we don't bring back Bynes, is our only ilb Fort? That's really not good. Fort was fine, but as a rotational player. All I know is that none of us thought the defense was great last year and it seems like it's worse of this year. That's just my opinion.
Priorities
ILB. Honestly, I don't care if it's Bynes, but we need 1 more ILB on this team prior to the draft.
Edge rusher. Gonna have to come in the draft, can't imagine us getting someone who can make a difference year one. Maybe that's too pessimistic, but it's not obvious to me we can.
Needs
Corner
Safety
If we're lucky in terms of health these just need to be rotational players. We get Elliot back, we have AA and Marshall.
SepticeyePoe
Hall of Famer
It's too much to sort through otherwise and gets confusing to read when you're trying to catch up on multiple pages of news.
with Tavon Young coming back it allows Humphrey to move to the outside where he is a much better player. That's a major plus and having an actual pass rush on the inside is tremendous, plus Brockers is much better than Pierce.
UPennChem
Hall of Famer
What you said about Marlon is certainly true and that is definitely a net plus. But if tavon goes down, there's not much to replace Marlon on the outside. And corner is a position that never stays healthy. Also, am I just wrong for not seeing Brockers as majorly better than pierce. Don't you think a lot of Brockers' success is a function of Donald and fowler?
If we lose both Carr and Jimmy, then we absolutely will be drafting or going after an inexpensive vet. This isn't just a great draft for WR's but the depth at CB is crazy also. Have to hope that DeShon Elliott is healthy next year. He's going to be an asset when healthy, if he's ever healthy.
Dom McRaven
Hall of Famer
They're in the grieving phase right now. Let's let them drain their emotions out. You know they're hurting. I actually feel bad for them.
NOT! Fuck'em!
Don't disagree with too much here in terms of the needs.
ILB is probably the most glaring hole right now. Worth keeping in mind that Chuck Clark is almost an ILB with the number of snaps he played in the box, but still need to add here and it'll be early.
OLB is also the other glaring hole, and probably another early draft candidate. Not a super strong draft class but enough that's intriguing. Just going to have to make due here. Even the 2nd tier of pass rushers have gotten paid.
CB and S are more depth concerns. We're letting Carr go but I wouldn't be surprised if he returns at a lesser rate, which could help both of these spots. Regardless, I have no doubts we'll throw another day 2 or day 3 pick at CB.
Although not as big now, I'd still be interested in a true 3T on the DL if the opportunity presents itself.
i think the obvious thing to say for your concerns is that no team is ever satisfied at every position in a salary cap world
that being said we have 5 picks in the first 2 days of the draft for only the 2nd time in franchise history (2008) and 3 picks on the first 2 days of the draft for the 2nd time in franchise history (2003)
we wont fill every need in the draft and not every pick on day 1 and day 2 will be a hit but that kind of ammo will provide us with at least 2 and hopefully more immediate impact players to this roster which likely (if they are immediate impact players) will fill some of those needs youve listed
with LB specifically i think we saw how you can improve that position on the fly if you cant find a great talent there, with EDGE it's going to be tricky but the addition of calais campbell eases the pass rush burden that will hopefully help out any edge rusher we do bring in (or jaylon ferguson takes a step but we're not banking on that)
to me the biggest need on this team right now is IOL but it only needs to be 1 guy to make the whole unit click so it doesnt necessarily need an overhaul on the OL just 1 hit at 1 of 3 spots on the line - not an easy task but certainly not prohibitively difficult
we will draft a WR in this class, we will draft an OL in this class, we probably draft a corner too given the depth in the class, we probably draft at least 1 edge too
that doesnt fix everything you've listed but it's hard to say where this offseason is lacking until after the draft happens
redrum52
Hall of Famer
Heard that too. Spoiled bandwagon bastards
its so frustrating watching the all-22 of that bengals game where he came in to play on the back end because he was electric in that 3rd safety role that carr took over - and he showed incredible range... in fact the play on which he got injured he demonstrated great range to try and save justin bethel
we definitely should draft another corner though - possibly a slot type corner prospect so that if tavon goes down we have the ability to keep marlon outside
there are a bunch of talented slot CB's available in this draft also
i know its a big hole but i dont necessarily think that means we draft one early - there's some depth to this ILB class into day 3 and this defence doesnt necessarily seem to schematically require elite athleticism out of the mike that other defences might - if someone obvious is there great but i dont think we'll be reaching for positional need even a little bit with regards to LB
as an aside: ive got to think that with chris orr's combine snub (and therefore no numbers/medicals/interviews) and zach orr being on staff here that chris orr ends up a raven somehow and wouldnt it be great if he turned into the next gem LB we uncover
especially towards the end of the 3rd round and into the 4th round (that's where im projecting they get taken - amik robertson, josiah scott etc.)