The Random Thought Thread

[29BmoreBird22]

1. I've never heard the words Flacco and savior in the save breath.
2. When you look at our putrid QB history before 08, one might be forgiven for overreacting to some stability that he provided.

I was a really ardent Flacco defender up until 2016. 2016, Flacco was just clearly not the same guy post injury and I was crticial of him, but also hopeful that he just needed to adjust to the post injury play. 2017 and 2018, he just didn't.

Some people acted like this was unforgivable. I couldn't possibly want Flacco held accountable for his poor play and hope for better from him. He was above criticism to some posters.

Admittedly, it's died down and only a few remain that dedicated to him, but 2016-pre Lamar 2018 was a hot bed.

 

[rossihunter2]

That is to say- the Ravens drafted Hollywood, drafted Bateman, apparently wanted Olave or Wilson.

oh did you see a specific name?
i knew they were high on at least 1 of the WRs and figured that it probably wasnt jameson williams

iirc i think EDC even suggested that they thought Olave might be there and had hoped he might serve as trade bait which would suggest that maybe they weren't so keen on him??? or at least not beholden to picking him if a team came calling... which is definitely interesting because Olave was probably the guy with the most similar traits of any of the top WRs in this class to Bateman

but on the topic we're actually talking about - i think they foresaw how the market was going to go and have been ready since EDC took over to constantly add guys to the position, it didnt work out this year with the guys who potentially got sniped from us (calvin austin being the only one we know for sure got sniped) - id be shocked if we didnt look to continue to add guys to the group in the next draft class

 

[Deebo813]

Since it's brought up...

I'm the same way when I see a player get overhyped.

Like, I'm really happy that Hayden Hurst spoke up about mental health, but he was so overhyped that I kind of silently hoped he'd be really mediocre.

This will surely ruffle feathers from certain members, but I don't think Joe was worth building around the way Lamar is.

With Joe, no matter who the Ravens rotated, he more or less produced the same and gave the same results week in and week out. He'd have the rare January Joe performance in the regular season, but he was mostly just good, but not transcendent.

Now Lamar- I truly do think he's worth building around. I think he's shown to be a good passer, and has made significant strides, and is obviously an elite runner. Lamar has already shown he can produce incredible results with a little build around (2019).

I'd like to see the Ravens trim the defensive fat and do more for Lamar if the defense is gonna keep being ass (and to be clear, they've been downright terrible for 2021 to now.)

Crazy, cause i used always say that even if we gave flacco the best wrs ever, he would produce the same lol.

 

[rossihunter2]

Actually going back to look at what EDC said about the WRs up top and i stumbled again across his thoughts on ojabo

and i just got super excited about ojabo again - EDC wouldn't admit it outright but basically you can infer that Ojabo pre-injury was higher on our board than kyle hamilton - high enough that he didn't think we'd have had a shot at him at 14 if healthy

i get that he'll be a rookie coming off an injury but it's hard not to imagine what he could do for this pass rush

 

[Deebo813]

Actually going back to look at what EDC said about the WRs up top and i stumbled again across his thoughts on ojabo

and i just got super excited about ojabo again - EDC wouldn't admit it outright but basically you can infer that Ojabo pre-injury was higher on our board than kyle hamilton - high enough that he didn't think we'd have had a shot at him at 14 if healthy

i get that he'll be a rookie coming off an injury but it's hard not to imagine what he could do for this pass rush

i hope he plays this season so he can get the experience

 

[29BmoreBird22]

oh did you see a specific name?
i knew they were high on at least 1 of the WRs and figured that it probably wasnt jameson williams

iirc i think EDC even suggested that they thought Olave might be there and had hoped he might serve as trade bait which would suggest that maybe they weren't so keen on him??? or at least not beholden to picking him if a team came calling... which is definitely interesting because Olave was probably the guy with the most similar traits of any of the top WRs in this class to Bateman

but on the topic we're actually talking about - i think they foresaw how the market was going to go and have been ready since EDC took over to constantly add guys to the position, it didnt work out this year with the guys who potentially got sniped from us (calvin austin being the only one we know for sure got sniped) - id be shocked if we didnt look to continue to add guys to the group in the next draft class

I've seen Olava, Wilson, and Austin thrown around as names the Ravens wanted, but I can't verify that any of it was true. And you could be right- maybe the Ravens thought of Olave as trade bait.

I think the bigger thing is that it seems to indicate the Ravens value receivers, and value them highly. Just not at market resetting contracts.

 

[29BmoreBird22]

Crazy, cause i used always say that even if we gave flacco the best wrs ever, he would produce the same lol.

I loved Joe for the Super Bowl run and providing seven and a half years of stable quarterback play, but it was pretty clear he was never reaching the highs of someone like Lamar.

 

[rmcjacket23]

I've seen Olava, Wilson, and Austin thrown around as names the Ravens wanted, but I can't verify that any of it was true. And you could be right- maybe the Ravens thought of Olave as trade bait.

I think the bigger thing is that it seems to indicate the Ravens value receivers, and value them highly. Just not at market resetting contracts.

Without knowing for sure, I would suspect Olave would be the exact kind of guy we would want.

 

[rmcjacket23]

i think the commonality though is that all those guys have at least that 1 "guy" they can depend on who anchors the receiving group of weapons - you dont have to have an elite receiving group but you cant just put scrubs out there and expect miracles

but lamar's got Andrews, he's got Bateman and a few other guys who can be bit-part role players - it would be awesome if we had another guy who can punish teams for keying too much on those other 2, and hopefully that's Duvernay or maybe Likely (if he can hold onto the ball)

Agree. And my point on the last part is that I'm all for adding quality receivers to the team. I'm just not spending $15M+ in FA for it, nor am I out there actively targeting to trade for guys like Diggs, Metcalf, McLaurin, or the half dozen other guys people floated around all offseason. Luckily most of them aren't "available" now anyway, so its moot, but I have no issue at all of finding another quality receiver in the draft. Even as a 1st or 2nd rounder, I'm fine with it.

But I've seen enough social media idiots to know that there's a large contingent of people who believe we need an absolute alpha in here. Somebody with tons of experience, somebody with thousand yard seasons under their belt, etc. I don't buy it for a second. Finding that player in FA pretty much ain't going to happen anyway, unless they're like 33-34, and I'm not giving up substantial draft assets and money for that.

Bateman tears his ACL mid-season, sure, I probably think differently. But he hasn't.

I could get at least two pretty good defensive players for the price of one #2 WR right now. And I think we have good pass catchers as it is.

 

[rmcjacket23]

I loved Joe for the Super Bowl run and providing seven and a half years of stable quarterback play, but it was pretty clear he was never reaching the highs of someone like Lamar.

Candidly, there aren't really any Flacco apologists on this site anymore. I don't remember there being a lot to begin with, but I really didn't join until the Lamar era anywhere when this was migrated from BR.com. BR.com had heaps and heaps and heaps of Flacco slurpers, and it was annoying.

Mom Gene. What a [profanity deleted].

Plus, in fairness, a lot of people trash Joe more than they should. Had a lot of flaws, had tons and tons and tons of frustrating games and complete duds. Had the personality of a sloth and the urgency of a turtle, but the guy played in and played well in a LOT of big games. But regular season Joe just wasn't special at all.

 

[rossihunter2]

I've seen Olava, Wilson, and Austin thrown around as names the Ravens wanted, but I can't verify that any of it was true. And you could be right- maybe the Ravens thought of Olave as trade bait.

I think the bigger thing is that it seems to indicate the Ravens value receivers, and value them highly. Just not at market resetting contracts.

we dont even know that they wouldnt pay a market setting contract - we just know that they just arent going to do that for a guy who's not worth that market - as good as hollywood was and as much as i liked him, he wasnt a top 5-10 elite WR

 

[29BmoreBird22]

we dont even know that they wouldnt pay a market setting contract - we just know that they just arent going to do that for a guy who's not worth that market - as good as hollywood was and as much as i liked him, he wasnt a top 5-10 elite WR

I just had read somewhere that EDC's approach was to churn through receivers in the draft because he felt the contracts were too bloated from guys like Adams or Hill, but that could have also been pure speculation due to the fact that the Ravens have been targeting so many receivers in the draft.

I suppose the Ravens haven't had a Hill or Adams, though, so you're right- they just haven't had a reason to pay that, yet.

 

[rmcjacket23]

we dont even know that they wouldnt pay a market setting contract - we just know that they just arent going to do that for a guy who's not worth that market - as good as hollywood was and as much as i liked him, he wasnt a top 5-10 elite WR

And if that actually turns out to be the Ravens strategy, I actually would applaud them for it.

I'd be willing to bet if they had an Adams-level receiver on this roster, they'd pay him though. Just my hunch.

 

[rossihunter2]

I just had read somewhere that EDC's approach was to churn through receivers in the draft because he felt the contracts were too bloated from guys like Adams or Hill, but that could have also been pure speculation due to the fact that the Ravens have been targeting so many receivers in the draft.

I suppose the Ravens haven't had a Hill or Adams, though, so you're right- they just haven't had a reason to pay that, yet.

And if that actually turns out to be the Ravens strategy, I actually would applaud them for it.

I'd be willing to bet if they had an Adams-level receiver on this roster, they'd pay him though. Just my hunch.

in an ideal world, we find out the answer to this question in a couple of years with bateman

but philosophically i think there's a very easy argument to make that there's no point paying any mid-level receiver 12m+ because rookies and young WRs are making instant impacts on a consistent yearly basis and guys with talent are contributing early in their careers

we'll see what happens this year now that this is the first time in 4 drafts we cant expect a 2 WR contribution by Bama to the bolster the top of the WR draft

 

[BoredMarine13]

Looks like Boldin, Mason, SSS, Jamal Lewis, and Birk were nominated for the 2023 HOF class. Curious if any make it

 

[SepticeyePoe]

Actually going back to look at what EDC said about the WRs up top and i stumbled again across his thoughts on ojabo

and i just got super excited about ojabo again - EDC wouldn't admit it outright but basically you can infer that Ojabo pre-injury was higher on our board than kyle hamilton - high enough that he didn't think we'd have had a shot at him at 14 if healthy

i get that he'll be a rookie coming off an injury but it's hard not to imagine what he could do for this pass rush

I really wanted Ojabo at 14 before his injury

 

[RavensMania]

I've seen Olava, Wilson, and Austin thrown around as names the Ravens wanted, but I can't verify that any of it was true. And you could be right- maybe the Ravens thought of Olave as trade bait.

I think the bigger thing is that it seems to indicate the Ravens value receivers, and value them highly. Just not at market resetting contracts.

I think Austin is the one name we know and has been confirmed by Peter King by the reaction in the draft room when he was taken in front of us by the Steelers. I think we are going to luck out though as I believe Likely is going to be a very good pick by us. We definitely wanted another top WR but there isn't a confirmation on that and we may never find out who it was, unfortunately.

 

[29BmoreBird22]

Looks like Boldin, Mason, SSS, Jamal Lewis, and Birk were nominated for the 2023 HOF class. Curious if any make it

Of those names, I'd really only bet on SSS. And even then, receivers generally take time to get in.

 

[RavensMania]

Of those names, I'd really only bet on SSS. And even then, receivers generally take time to get in.

I don't think any of them get in on first ballet. Boldin and Smith are very close in yardage and TDs and could end up in the HOF, but agree it will take time.

 

[ndub]

Has anybody heard of the Brett Favre controversy??