I think so, too.
There's that part of me that always wants to make the playoffs, but is also like, "No, they'd just get blown out in the first round and then we'd have to hear more about how Lamar can't win."
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The Random Thought Thread
- Thread starter The Greek
- Start date
There's that part of me that always wants to make the playoffs, but is also like, "No, they'd just get blown out in the first round and then we'd have to hear more about how Lamar can't win."
I'd argue he wasn't great against Greenbay or the Jets today and he wasn't amazing against Baltimore, but people are more willing to overlook bad games because they generally hold a more positive opinion and don't have agendas against him.
i loved pickens coming out and he's done a lot of cool things but he's not this instant all-world receiver
and we're not even through year 1, let alone year 2 or 3 lol
linderbaum looks like a stud already
hamilton's progressing and has unreal traits at the position (but he's also super young)
Ojabo's not even stepped on the field yet but EDC said he was rated so highly on their board that pre-injury they didnt think he'd even be available at 16...
we've already seen a bunch of stuff to be happy about in this class
Hamilton's not starting but he is already playing well and he's super young - just not given a ton of responsibility yet
Linderbaum's already a high-level starter
Travis Jones is progressing and violently shedding as part of the rotation and with Pierce out now a key part of our DL
Faalele has already started a game at LT and showed a ton of development and a lot of traits and play that suggest that he is going to progress into a starter at RT (but maybe also as a swing too)
Likely dominated preseason and just had a massive game in replacement of Andrews as TE1 and has been a part of the offensive gameplan since week 1 despite being a 4th rounder
Stout's been up and down but the traits are all there and the flashes of upside have been huge
Pepe's basically the starting nickel ahead of Stephens at this point
that's 7 guys contributing already (and by Monday 5 of them will have made starts this year for the team with Pepe also the starting nickel if you want to count that too) with Ojabo and Kolar coming off injury lists and ready to join the fray this year as well
the fun thing about this class is that it's already making an impact but it's a draft that's built around the future not the present...
Hamilton's being brought along slowly and is really young
Linderbaum's here to fix a position and anchor the OL for a long-time
Ojabo was drafted with 2023 and beyond in mind with 2022 as a bonus
Faalele's always been billed as a developmental guy for the future
Likely was a small school guy who's progressed quicker than expected
people are gonna rightfully criticise EDC for the shambles at WR - but that doesnt undo the rest of what we've done
sucks that we've had our 2022 free agent class wiped out by injury too
looking at the 2023 roster, obviously the key thing is lamar's contract, but if you can solve that issue then this team is set up really well to succeed... we'll need to work out what to do with Roquan and whether we want to re-sign Peters but...
1) WR
2) CB (specifically outside CB especially if Peters is gone but even if he's not)
...
3) OG (might be replacing both G starters with Zeitler saving us a bunch with a cut and Powers a free agent)
4) EDGE/DL (looking for depth generally but starters and rotational pieces welcome)
5) LB (take this off the list if Roquan is re-signed)
6) Blocking TE (Boyle likely cut or retiring, Oliver a free-agent... if we re-sign Oliver then you can probably take this off the list - which feels wild to say after his struggles the first 2 weeks of the season - but could always upgrade)
we always thought this team was gonna be better later in the year than earlier (and that's probably still gonna be true) but with Bateman down, it's hard not to imagine that deficit at WR not biting us down the stretch - this year does feel somewhat like a bridge to next year but all that is reliant on Lamar's deal getting done
If you are arguing the ceiling is low than you would have be looking at the QB because there is really not much else to complain about. The DLine has been good all year. The LB group is now both getting healthy and just improved massively in the middle (bye bye Harrison) and the secondary still has 2 all pro corners and a rookie who has been great against the pass this year and another safety who was tied for the league in INTs (and also great in coverage) who will be coming back.
Obviously nothing needs to be said about special teams with the best kicker and returner in football and a solid punter.
So if it is not defense, or special teams, then we have to go to offense where you have an all pro LT playing like it, solid RG and RT play, great rookie C and pretty good LG play. So if we turn to weapons we have a pro bowl TE (the second best in football) , a rookie TE looking really good and yes the WR group is weak but if one position group being weak means you cannot win then you have to look at the QB because that should not be the case.
Now granted I do not think the ceiling is low but if you do you have to ask can you really think that and think Lamar is the guy at the same time and if so why?
this WR problem limits what we can do for sure - but i dont feel the same way i did late last year (at least yet) where it felt like that losing stretch was in our best interests because of the draft position
i very much want to get into the dance - especially if this defence can round into form and Andrews and the RBs can get healthy - i really dont think this team is a surefire thing to get bounced in round 1
we're probably going to be involved in lots of low-scoring games but we do still have Lamar, Andrews, a great OL, Gus, JK and Duv who are all playmakers... and hopefully Likely becomes one too... that's not the bare chest that the WR group makes it feel like
your schtick is getting really boring after all these years
No, I don't have to look at Lamar, nor am I.
allblackraven
Hall of Famer
If our D can get close to their potential - and they started playing better lately, before the reinforcements of this week - I am hopeful. Dobbins, Gus and Mark should be healthy for the second part of the season. Between Lamar, good run game and good D, I reckon we are in with the shot.
Militant X 1
Hall of Famer
Not true! Lamar got off to a great start slinging that rock the first few games and then he began to taper off.
allblackraven
Hall of Famer
Nah. It got boring years ago.
My big issue is that the Ravens did nothing to address wide receivers and now Bateman is out for the season, so now a weak positional group is weaker. And it's not like the Ravens were known for their high flying passing offense or their ability to mount comebacks because of their passing game before.
Defensively, the Ravens still aren't great at getting to the passer. So far, it's been really just Houston producing. I think it'd be naive to expect a rookie coming off an Achilles and Bowser to fix that, but we'll see.
I just think the Ravens need a year for players to get healthy and their legs under them. I don't think this year is it. I think the weaknesses of roster construction are too big of an issue to compete against the likes of the Bills or Chiefs come January.
So which position group that I said was strong was not? I am pretty sure I had a fair evaluation of the entire roster. I did forget to leave out a very good RB room but there is a reason that most lists have had the Ravens having a top 5 roster the past few years. It is rare that a SB champion is loaded at every single position so being loaded at most of them seems pretty good to me.
My schtick of thinking the Ravens have a Super Bowl level roster and can easily win it all this year? What a weird thing to complain about on a Ravens forum having someone who has thought the Ravens could win the Super Bowl the past 3 years.
I am assuming of course you read the actual post where I said that I thought every position group was loaded except for WR, which makes the roster a SB level roster. Considering that I am arguing that it is your complaint makes no real sense so perhaps explaining your actual complaint would make it easier to address.
Edit: basically if you have a top 10QB, top 5 OL, top 2 TE (probably best TE room), a top tier secondary, and a very good front 7, then either one of those is not true or you should be aiming for a Super Bowl and since I find all of those true I am wondering which one is not true.
Shade_Raven
Practice Squad
I just KNOW Julio Jones is gonna spend his last year in the league on the ravens
JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
And he ain’t gonna do a mf thing either
UPennChem
Hall of Famer
I agree with all this. The key thing is EDC didn't optimize for this year but the future. And he did a good job of that. Which is why I have no complaints. With the benefits of hindsight you could've possibly made a little shakeup that was more advantageous for this year but that's nitpicking to the millionth degree.
Ultimately as you said this team is set up really well in 2023. But it can't take itself over the top unless Lamar signs
Maybe he ends up being a Steve Smith, but then again I do not know enough about him to know if he has that same fight as Steve did.
i was hopeful during the offseason that we would be better earlier and be good in 2022
and we still have a chance to do that
but i think it was @Deebo813 who was talking about how this team was better set up for 2023 than 2022 and i do tend to agree with that
that doesnt mean i dont think we can make some noise in 2022 though - we all thought this roster was in a pretty good place for 2020 and 2021 and then injuries made the wheels fall off - cant just wait for 2023 and hope
the core of this roster if lamar's re-signed is as good as almost any in the NFL for 2023 and our 4 highest paid players in this hypothetical are all stars at their positions: Lamar, Stanley, Andrews and Humphrey with some young studs and talent across various spots with lots of 1st round talents around (we'll have to see what Roquan looks like but if he's what we expect then i imagine he instantly moves to 2nd on the priority list this offseason)
QB: Lamar
RB: Gus and JK
FB: Ricard
TE: Andrews
WR: Bateman, Duvernay
OL: Stanley, Linderbaum
DL: Madubuike, Pierce
EDGE: Oweh, Bowser
LB: Roquan?, Queen
S: Williams, Chuck?
CB: Humphrey, Peters?
with a bunch of guys from the last 2-3 draft classes who could look to make significant contributions too moving forwards (some with chances to become starters and stars themselves)
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allblackraven
Hall of Famer
I think Bowser and Ojabo additions will do wonders for our pass rush. Oweh should benefit the most, not being required to play 80-90% of defensive snaps every game. Then, there's Smith now in the picture, always a threat to mess up the backfield. That in turn should help the secondary, as well. Peters will get better with more games under his belt, too.
O line is mostly playing well. Lamar + our backs combo are near unstoppable if there is some sort of passing threat in place. So I choose to believe that some sort of on-point short passing game, using Duv, Robinson, Drake out wide in space like we did in Tampa might work, especially in DJax can keep the secondary honest (yes, I said that).
If Roman is kept in check and keeps doing this, with more tempo, we are fine. We can play long drives and puff out any D.
UPennChem
Hall of Famer
Again totally agree. But it's hard to not fear this year slowly becoming exactly last year. We're at a critical point and kind of hanging on by a thread here.
If we can hold on and and actually get back everyone who's out (a currently long list) then I believe as you said you make the dance and see what happens. You've got a shot, there's a lack of super high end teams in the AFC.
If we lose even like 2 or 3 more key pieces, the season is probably over. And the positions are pretty obvious. Lamar, Andrews, Duv, Marlon, Peters to a lesser extent, Madabuike, JK/Gus, and Houston.
If you lose Lamar season over. If you lose 2 or 3 of the other guys, I don't see how this team can actually compete. So I pray for their health's. Crazy thing is there's 9 more games to play before the playoffs. We're so depleted so early in the season. I'll be so upset with an ending like 2021. Please guys stay healthy. Please guys who are hurt get healthy.