Michael M.
Pro Bowler
When you have that many questions, that means you have to address them. My geatest concern on offense: Ronnie Stanley. Second: draft a RT
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The 2022 Offseason Thread
- Thread starter rossihunter2
- Start date
there was always going to be a year where suddenly everything changed - we've been drafting offence and paying defence for a while, it was inevitable that at some point the young offensive guys would need to get paid and the defensive contracts would be ending and we'd need to start getting cheaper and younger on defence
a lot will be determined by our decisions before the draft but we're lucky that we have tons of picks to add talent so that even if that 1st pick goes on the OL that we've got 3 more day 2 picks and 5 more 4th rounders that we can spend elsewhere if that is how it goes
Tank
Hall of Famer
Not going down this rabbit hole but will say 2013 was much worse than now, and we haven’t had a truly competent center since Birk but for a brief period when Jensen was learning the position. We’ve had bits and pieces(Yanda, Stanley)but nothing that resembled “building a wall”.
Grim
Ravens Ring of Honor
Yeah, I've gone back and forth on it but you take best available TBH and don't look back then address needs in the 2nd & 3rd for starters. We need a CB/S, DL, Edge, OL. The good thing is we do always address needs in FA then use Draft to compensate for misses. I'm sure we will be fine by Draft night in this regard. I think our CBs are actually solid in Humphrey, Peters, Young. The question is depth behind them and the rushers in front of them. Getting a 4-man rush is critical as is stopping the run to help the LBs. It's why I have DL as a higher need than secondary even if I think we need more playmakers and usually that's in the secondary. No doubt the offense needs a better OL to impact Lamar, JK & Gus, WRs & TEs. Our FO has their work cut out for them.
True but I wouldn't necessarily say RT is a priority as much as others. For me, C is a higher need than RT. I think RT has options. We have nothing IMHO for C.
Grim
Ravens Ring of Honor
I'd disagree that 2013 was worse than now. I think this OL was the worst I've ever seen. 2013 had Yanda & Monroe who were both solid & exceptional. There is no HOF OL on this team who isn't injured right now. Stanley didn't play and no idea where he is in healing. Zeitler isn't Yanda. Bozeman is OK, Cleveland has potential, etc. but the 2013 OL was bad but this one edges it out IMHO.
Glad he was the player I wanted the Ravens to draft in 2015. Unfortunately KC took him a few picks before we were on the clock. Would have saved us the trouble the Perriman years, for sure.
this year the loss of OBJ and Ronnie Stanley as well as AV not working on the right side or left for that matter was a huge issue. If AV had worked as a right tackle and Stanley played well on the left side, that would have left Mekari as the swing tackle. That's a massive upgrade.
Tank
Hall of Famer
It’s subjective but Gradkowski wasn’t even serviceable and Oher was almost as bad. Shipley. ugghh I think 3 holes may have been worse than 2 . lol
Agree with everything you said on OL, except C I have a small change. I see Trystan Colon as the backup center and he's performed well in his limited chances. Yeah, with defense it's so many players that need to be retooled on the front seven and all at the same time. Makes it very difficult but getting younger will help long term. We have all seen this coming for a long time.
for sure 2013 was horrific lol - not saying it wasnt - 2021's (after all the injuries) was pretty horrifying too
just saying that we've had good OLs since then in that interim period
you're right that we've been missing consistent C play for much of that time but we've had competent play over those years at some points just not long-term consistency - Jensen as you say had 2017 where he was ascending, Skura anchored the OL well for 2018-2019 until he got injured and Bozeman gave us pretty decent play this year
and before that Zuttah gave us a couple of decent years (including a pro bowl year in 2016) - i know many disliked him but he was fine
that 2019 was probably the best unit we've had for a long while though - Stanley, Bozeman, Skura, Yanda, Orlando is pretty wall-like...
i guess when i prioritise needs ill put them in these tiers:
Primary: OT, DT, EDGE, CB
Secondary: S, LB, RB, (C?)
Tertiary: TE, IOL, (FB?)
Not Needs: WR, QB
that's not to say that i wouldnt mind a WR if they're great value especially on day 3 (or even another QB to add to the backup QB competition)
Michael M.
Pro Bowler
I think we need both an RT and a center. And that's assuming Stanley returns. I know the Ravens haven't had much of a pass rush lately but apparently a lot of other teams do.
allblackraven
Hall of Famer
Yeah, I tend to think it should always be the case with 1st round, maybe 2nd, too if the draft has that many good players.
RaineV1
Ravens Ring of Honor
Personally I would switch edge and LB. With Oweh and Bowser we at least have a pair of higher end starters. Could definitely use some depth and rotational pieces, but we have starters.
For ILB we have Queen and that's about it. Fort is in his thirties and coming off a season ending injury. Bynes is a higher end backup and has stepped up before, but he's also up there in age and shouldn't be a clear cut starter.
i think we've seen that it's easier to find workable ILB play for cheap than it is to find pass rushers
also worth pointing out that EDGEs are more likely to play rotationally and that we often put 3 (or more) on the field at the same time anyway - and also that Bowser just tore his achilles and there's no guarantee he's ready to go week 1 which would leave us with Oweh, Ferguson and Hayes right now before any vet additions
i just think we've got more options to find good LB play pre-draft than we do to find good EDGE play
Grim
Ravens Ring of Honor
Oh yeah I forgot about him. Sure, but he’s one guy and definitely can’t go in there with just him.
Only disagreements I have here is OT, IOL. OT is a need but is it primary? It could very well be, yes. I think it depends on a lot of ifs, so I can see it but I also don’t know if IOL is tertiary by that logic. IOL has some major question marks too along with C.
We could use a better option at RT but it’s not a major need IMHO. That doesn’t mean don’t take one high if Stanley looks good. Never a bad thing to stack the line. I just want elite players at whatever position they are.
Yeah, lots of ILB can be found all over the Draft. In my opinion the 3rd has been a great round to get LB as well as the 2nd.
I’m very worried about Edge. It could be why we haven’t had tons of turnovers and why the secondary was so bad.
part of how im assessing need there is about the inherent values of the position but also looking beyond just 1 year
OT is probably the 2nd most valuable position in the sport and we have a bunch of question-marks in the short term with health and depth but also beyond that our ideal starter at RT is only contracted to be here for a year anyway
IOL on the other hand has a ton of depth across the positions - and i put C? between the 2 just because it partially depends on what happens with bozeman... but IOL in general is full of NFL quality players - we might not love all of them as starters or full-time starters but there's a bunch of experience and youth and talent in that group that makes it a much lower priority
and just to be clear im not saying that if there's a great IOL who's BPA that we should pass them over for something I think we need more - just handicapping what i think we need to prioritise need-wise
100%
at the same price tag (or even a bigger price tag) i dont care that jensen's older - it's not like he's in his mid-30s
he's arguably the best center in the league and absolutely fits the organisation