The Bad, The Ugly, and the Pathetic

[RavensMania]

Generally speaking, I don't. I think most of your guys who become FAs are so for a reason.
I don't think you'll be finding much in terms of Oline help in FA, because there really haven't been that many good Olineman to hit FA in the last few years.

Corner and maybe ILB? Maybe a good shot to land somebody there, but again, you're shopping at the top of the market for pretty much anybody. Pass Rusher I think there's 0%.

If we want quality pass rushers and lineman, you're probably going to the draft. And Olineman in the draft is a utter dart throw at this point in time.

many times players hit free agency because the team doesn't want to pay what the agent and players are asking, ie KO and several guards that switched teams in 2018 or 17.

 

[gtalk12]

many times players hit free agency because the team doesn't want to pay what the agent and players are asking, ie KO and several guards that switched teams in 2018 or 17.

Ben Grubbs comes to mind as well.

 

[rmcjacket23]

I really wish we made the move for Clowney man....I was thinking of free agency for OLB and DE.

For me, Clowney was never in play. Why? Simple... we couldn't afford him. At the time he was available to acquire via trade, we quite literally didn't have the cap space to sign him, because carrying a huge franchise tag number like his is problematic for a team like ours. And once July 15th hit, you can't extend him anyway, so you're stock with that monstrosity of a cap hit.

The cost of trading for Clowney and his contract would have required us to cut or trade Jimmy Smith. That was the only way that was ever going to be done.

I wouldn't have done that then, and I certainly wouldn't have done that now.

 

[gtalk12]

For me, Clowney was never in play. Why? Simple... we couldn't afford him. At the time he was available to acquire via trade, we quite literally didn't have the cap space to sign him, because carrying a huge franchise tag number like his is problematic for a team like ours. And once July 15th hit, you can't extend him anyway, so you're stock with that monstrosity of a cap hit.

The cost of trading for Clowney and his contract would have required us to cut or trade Jimmy Smith. That was the only way that was ever going to be done.

I wouldn't have done that then, and I certainly wouldn't have done that now.

So what would you do? Is Jimmy Smith not a free agent after this season?

Are you looking to keep Jimmy?

 

[rmcjacket23]

many times players hit free agency because the team doesn't want to pay what the agent and players are asking, ie KO and several guards that switched teams in 2018 or 17.

Well, partially true. KO signs with the Raiders because they paid him well above market value (welcome to FA) and because he was playing for a team that already had another highly paid Guard on their roster.
His play then subsequently hasn't really been that great, hence why he's traded to the Jets for what basically amounts to late round draft picks.

You can find guys like these, but they're coming from teams with significant salary cap issues. I think what you've been seeing the last few years is that the number of teams with salary cap issues are dwindling rapidly, because the cap keeps rising and there's an influx of rookie deal QB talent and skill position players, hence teams don't have to pay as much.

Look at 2020 right now. Assuming a salary cap of $199M (probably conservative), the average league-wide cap space for a team is $52M. There's only five teams with less than $23M to spend, and there's 19 teams with over $50M in available cap space.

I'm not even suggesting the Ravens can't land quality FA players. I'm suggesting most teams can retain these players if they choose to, because most teams have plenty of money to spend.

 

[Sandtown]

is it just me or

And that move of Ricard to DT opposed to him playing FB takes away from our running game. Show our lack of depth on defense.

You can blame that on Willie Henry and Zach Sieler not stepping up . The Ravens miss Brent Urban .

 

[rmcjacket23]

So what would you do? Is Jimmy Smith not a free agent after this season?

Are you looking to keep Jimmy?

This year? Nothing. I'd play the guys we have and hope they play better.

I'm not opposed to bringing back Jimmy at a reduced (or similar) price.

 

[D1City55]

The lack of a pass rush has been a problem for so long, the fact that we still lack a young legit every down rusher is so inexcusable.

 

[NaturalBornHitters]

On 98 rock this morning, they mentioned that there was some finger pointing in the locker room after yesterday’s game.

I caught the tail end of it so I wasn’t able to hear who it was, or what they were even saying.

Has anyone heard anything?

 

[Tank]

I think Skura has been generally fine. I think he's average, and you're paying him far less than what you would have to pay somebody to be average.
FilmStudy does great breakdowns of Oline play and defense.
https://www.filmstudyravens.com/

Obviously don't have week 4 grades, but through 3 weeks, he gave Skura pretty average marks. Obviously LG is an issue, but if you have two tackles who have played well, an average center, and an All-World RG, your offensive line really should be considered pretty damn good. And generally, I think its been fine.

My issue with fans is that I was told that the reason you move from Flacco to Lamar is because Lamar can move in and around the pocket well enough that you don't have to invest in 5 stud lineman to make him successful. So was that not true, or what has changed?

I'm in no way a believer that one bad position on the Oline derails the whole group. Will be interesting to see what week 4 prognosis looks like from people who evaluate this stuff better than I can.

Good post. Welcome back.

 

[rossihunter2]

The lack of a pass rush has been a problem for so long, the fact that we still lack a young legit every down rusher is so inexcusable.

The misses on Correa, kaufusi and apparently Timmy and tyus (all day 2 picks) has really hurt this team

 

[JAAM]

The lack of a pass rush has been a problem for so long, the fact that we still lack a young legit every down rusher is so inexcusable.

To be fair, didn’t we try and land Mack in the draft? I thought I saw a rumor that we attempted a huge trade up

 

[rossihunter2]

On 98 rock this morning, they mentioned that there was some finger pointing in the locker room after yesterday’s game.

I caught the tail end of it so I wasn’t able to hear who it was, or what they were even saying.

Has anyone heard anything?

Earl Thomas and Brandon Williams apparently

 

[D1City55]

To be fair, didn’t we try and land Mack in the draft? I thought I saw a rumor that we attempted a huge trade up

That was 5 years ago, they've had plenty of times since then.

 

[D1City55]

The misses on Correa, kaufusi and apparently Timmy and tyus (all day 2 picks) has really hurt this team

Huge busts, day 2 hasn't been kind to us in terms of pass rushers and those guys flat out suck. I'm especially disappointed in Tim Williams because I was hyped when we picked him but damn he's a huge disappointment right now.

 

[JAAM]

That was 5 years ago, they've had plenty of times since then.

Oh no I agree

 

[rossihunter2]

Huge busts, day 2 hasn't been kind to us in terms of pass rushers and those guys flat out suck. I'm especially disappointed in Tim Williams because I was hyped when we picked him but damn he's a huge disappointment right now.

I had a 1st round grade on him coming out - and I thought he’d turned it around at the beginning of last year but he’s just not sustained any sort of success and is not getting any opportunities either (I’m assuming because the coaches are not liking him in practice or what he’s doing in limited snaps on sundays)

Timmy was one of those guys I pounded the table for no matter what team he ended up on and was so excited we got him but yeah it looks like he’s busting

 

[Sami84]

I had a 1st round grade on him coming out - and I thought he’d turned it around at the beginning of last year but he’s just not sustained any sort of success and is not getting any opportunities either (I’m assuming because the coaches are not liking him in practice or what he’s doing in limited snaps on sundays)

Timmy was one of those guys I pounded the table for no matter what team he ended up on and was so excited we got him but yeah it looks like he’s busting

I liked Carl Lawson more but he was an injury waiting to happen. Needless to say, when healthy he was dominant.

 

[D1City55]

I had a 1st round grade on him coming out - and I thought he’d turned it around at the beginning of last year but he’s just not sustained any sort of success and is not getting any opportunities either (I’m assuming because the coaches are not liking him in practice or what he’s doing in limited snaps on sundays)

Timmy was one of those guys I pounded the table for no matter what team he ended up on and was so excited we got him but yeah it looks like he’s busting

He's horrible at the edges, he can't seal the edge at all and crashes too early on some plays. Combine that with his lack of pass rush and that's a bad recipe.

 

[rossihunter2]

I liked Carl Lawson more but he was an injury waiting to happen. Needless to say, when healthy he was dominant.

Was high on lawson also - like you said the main knock on him as a pass rusher was his injury history - both his talent and those injuries have come to bare in equal measurements in the league