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The Random Thought Thread

Simba

Staff Member
Moderator
Post draft depth chart look... only going to include the top guys in competition right now

QB: Jackson, McSorley, Huntley

Nothing to worry about here. We'll add a 4th for camp.

RB: Dobbins, Edwards, Hill, Ricard (FB)

Obviously we have 2 good ones, but could probably use some depth here

WR: Brown, Bateman, Watkins, Duvernay, Wallace, Proche, Boykin

Talk about an investment. Nothing else needed here as of now.

TE: Andrews, Boyle, Tomlinson, Oliver, Mason

Competition for TE3 but no overwhelming options

OT: Stanley, Phillips, A. Smith

Yeah we're gonna need some reinforcements here

iOL: Zeitler, Bozeman, Cleveland, Mekari, Powers, Bredeson, Colon-Castillo

Lots of options and competition

DL: Campbell, Williams, Wolfe, Madubuike, Ellis, Washington, Crawford

Weak class so we should be set here for this year

OLB: Bowser, McPhee, Oweh, Ferguson, Hayes

Could probably still use a vet but roster is getting crowded

ILB: Queen, Harrison, Fort, Board, Welch, Alaka

Nothing to worry about here

CB: Humphrey, Peters, Smith, Young, Averett, Stephens, Harris

Deep position got even deeper

S: Clark, Elliott, Wade, Levine, Richards, Stone

Include Stephens here as well. Got some actual backup safeties now

ST: Tucker, Koch, Moore

The Wolfpack minus 1


So obviously, OT remains a huge need. A vet edge rusher is also needed. Would still be on the lookout for a RB as well, even though it's only RB4.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
Post draft depth chart look... only going to include the top guys in competition right now

QB: Jackson, McSorley, Huntley

Nothing to worry about here. We'll add a 4th for camp.

RB: Dobbins, Edwards, Hill, Ricard (FB)

Obviously we have 2 good ones, but could probably use some depth here

WR: Brown, Bateman, Watkins, Duvernay, Wallace, Proche, Boykin

Talk about an investment. Nothing else needed here as of now.

TE: Andrews, Boyle, Tomlinson, Oliver, Mason

Competition for TE3 but no overwhelming options

OT: Stanley, Phillips, A. Smith

Yeah we're gonna need some reinforcements here

iOL: Zeitler, Bozeman, Cleveland, Mekari, Powers, Bredeson, Colon-Castillo

Lots of options and competition

DL: Campbell, Williams, Wolfe, Madubuike, Ellis, Washington, Crawford

Weak class so we should be set here for this year

OLB: Bowser, McPhee, Oweh, Ferguson, Hayes

Could probably still use a vet but roster is getting crowded

ILB: Queen, Harrison, Fort, Board, Welch, Alaka

Nothing to worry about here

CB: Humphrey, Peters, Smith, Young, Averett, Stephens, Harris

Deep position got even deeper

S: Clark, Elliott, Wade, Levine, Richards, Stone

Include Stephens here as well. Got some actual backup safeties now

ST: Tucker, Koch, Moore

The Wolfpack minus 1


So obviously, OT remains a huge need. A vet edge rusher is also needed. Would still be on the lookout for a RB as well, even though it's only RB4.

i think RB was a spot where if someone like Michael Carter fell to our pick at 131 we would have taken a long look at him - but i dont see it as something we need to address necessarily - will add a few udfas and let them compete for practice squad roles

OT and EDGE are at least positions where we have options to sign on Monday - 2 candidates at tackle and lots of options at EDGE (including Houston who already visited)
 

Simba

Staff Member
Moderator
Harbaugh just said that they are viewing Tyre Phillips as a RT now. Wasn't a good look last year but would also be curious to see him with some actual camp and practice time to develop there. Kind of unfair to judge him based on a midseason switch as a rookie last year with basically no work at the position.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
Harbaugh just said that they are viewing Tyre Phillips as a RT now. Wasn't a good look last year but would also be curious to see him with some actual camp and practice time to develop there. Kind of unfair to judge him based on a midseason switch as a rookie last year with basically no work at the position.

interesting - he was clearly training to increase his foot quickness in the offseason workout video that got posted

if they view him as a tackle, i find that surprising given that he "won" the RG competition last year - that tells you how much they dislike the other guys who were in that 2020 RG competition: Fluker played RT and is now gone, Phillips moved to tackle, Powers has never won the job at any point and seems to constantly have us trying to replace/upgrade him, Mekari dropped from the starting role at C and G
 

JoeyFlex5

Hall of Famer
Harbaugh just said that they are viewing Tyre Phillips as a RT now. Wasn't a good look last year but would also be curious to see him with some actual camp and practice time to develop there. Kind of unfair to judge him based on a midseason switch as a rookie last year with basically no work at the position.
He looks to have been training hard to better his footwork/quickness. I would imagine that harbaugh spoke with Phillips probably shortly after Orlando first started with the rumblings, that he better get his act right because this is the opportunity hes gonna get.

and ya know what... I don’t write off Phillips just yet. I definitely prefer him at G but if he crushes his conditioning he might have something to work with.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
He looks to have been training hard to better his footwork/quickness. I would imagine that harbaugh spoke with Phillips probably shortly after Orlando first started with the rumblings, that he better get his act right because this is the opportunity hes gonna get.

and ya know what... I don’t write off Phillips just yet. I definitely prefer him at G but if he crushes his conditioning he might have something to work with.

i suppose he becomes the "developmental tackle" prospect we were looking for in this draft class - i dont mind him as the emergency swing tackle and hopefully this offseason work and some natural growth from rookie to year 2 turns him into a functional backup swing tackle
 

Willbacker

Ravens Ring of Honor
Not sure if anybody is interested but there's a live FCS playoff game on ESPN2 you know if you got any football withdrawel. Wonder if they gonna keep playing spring ball or go back to fall.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
I know the OL is an issue and obviously things have to work out...

but i dont think ive ever been more excited about a ravens offensive skill group...

Talent, diverse skillsets, speed, hands, route-running, physicality

QB: Lamar
RB: JK and Gus
TE: Andrews and Boyle
WR: Hollywood, Watkins, Bateman, Wallace, Duvernay

only 3 of them are free agents next year in 2022 (andrews, watkins and gus) - but i'd say it's highly likely we retain at least andrews and maybe gus too
assuming we sign lamar to the big extension at some point - no one else projects to hit the market until 2024
 

rmcjacket23

Ravens Ring of Honor
Harbaugh just said that they are viewing Tyre Phillips as a RT now. Wasn't a good look last year but would also be curious to see him with some actual camp and practice time to develop there. Kind of unfair to judge him based on a midseason switch as a rookie last year with basically no work at the position.
Big training camp/preseason for him I think. They'll likely only add one Tackle for now to be the starter, but if he really struggles during camp, I can't see us just sitting pat with him as the swing tackle. They'll either flex an interior guy out that way to get reps, or sign a cheap veteran during camp.

As a swing tackle, he's probably not terrible, but definitely need some improvement from last year.

I've pointed out to others... keep in mind that we went 6-4 without Stanley last year, which included a line that had Phillips/Fluker rotating at RT, and multiple different Centers, with none of them playing consistently good. That's not something to be super proud of, but it shows that the offense doesn't fall off a cliff either. And one of those losses was the COVID game where like 75% of our offense was out.

I want nothing to do with Phillips as a starting RT, but if he's the swing tackle who has to play, say, 2-3 games, you could do worse.
 

gtalk12

Ravens Ring of Honor
Harbaugh has resisted. I believe it's been asked multiple times before.

Plus, again, I'm not sure what Boykin, the TE, brings to this offense anyway.


Does it hurt to try? Obviously a lot of people feel this way about Boykin because of what happened with Waller.

Waller was bigger than Boykin coming in. 6'6 compared to 6'4 with an 18 pound difference.
 

rmcjacket23

Ravens Ring of Honor
Does it hurt to try? Obviously a lot of people feel this way about Boykin because of what happened with Waller.

Waller was bigger than Boykin coming in. 6'6 compared to 6'4 with an 18 pound difference.
I guess to answer with a question... does it help to try?
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
I've pointed out to others... keep in mind that we went 6-4 without Stanley last year, which included a line that had Phillips/Fluker rotating at RT, and multiple different Centers, with none of them playing consistently good. That's not something to be super proud of, but it shows that the offense doesn't fall off a cliff either. And one of those losses was the COVID game where like 75% of our offense was out.

i think it also severely limited what the offence can do when we had all those injuries - yes we played winning football but it limited our ability to be multiple and a threat in the passing game because we had no non-play-action ability to pass protect for any reasonable period of time

but you're right it shows that we have that style of play in our back pocket if we lose guys for a few weeks - to go back to that grind it out type of style
 

rmcjacket23

Ravens Ring of Honor
I will answer with yet another question....does trying help?
I don't know. It would appear neither the coaching staff nor the player are interested in it. And there's probably a reason for that...

If you spend the entire offseason transitioning him over, and it doesn't work out, what then? For me, there's just so little upside.

If it actually turns out "well", you're just sending either Boyle (the better blocker) or Andrews to the sidelines, since running a 3 TE set doesn't seem to make much sense with the investment we made in the receiving core. If it doesn't work out, you put him way behind the 8 ball as a receiver (which he's already now buried down the depth chart) and give him basically no chance to rebound.

To be completely honest... its very possible he doesn't make the roster at all from where I'm sitting.

Hollywood, Bateman, Watkins are locks, and you've still got Duvernay (who also plays on ST) and Wallace as recent draft picks who are likely to be ahead of Boykin in the hierarchy.

That's 5 receivers right there. If we only carry 6, that leaves Boykin, Proche, and any other UDFAs or veterans we may sign to compete. And its likely that said player won't be on the 46 man on gameday anyway.

So while I'm not certain I like Boykin's chances of making the team to begin with, I can't say that they're any better at TE, where he would be # 3 of 3 on that depth chart no matter what, and that's assuming the transition goes well, he beats out other guys, etc.

I just don't see it happening, and I'm not sure the upside is there to waste time trying to do it, either.
 
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