JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
Agreed, I'll pass. Didn't like him out of bama and still don't like him
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The General Front 7 Thread
- Thread starter JoeyFlex5
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JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
@Sledge Hammer needs to read this, pees mentions quick twitch.
Also, reading the shit Marty says, no wonder harbaugh wants him here, he's he same goddamn person, if you were to put a press conference transcript from each of them I wouldn't be able to tell who was who
Sledge Hammer
Pro Bowler
Thanks dude. lol and don't forget to update me on your Willie Henry assessment. Rooting on him being that double digit pressure up the middle. Looking for that ever since we missed on Geno Atkins. I always thought he displayed rare physical tools. If only he becomes a football player with driving technique skills to use all that torque. The dude ran in the 4.8 range at 310 lbs. can bend, get low and explodes off the snap. Very Big strong hands. He seems to be learning the technique side of the game.
The rush should be quite ferocious with Henry, Pierce, Urban. All these dudes look like power players yet run sub 5 40's and can bend and explode off the snap. Seems like a lot of potential players could hit stride simultaneously. Could you imagine Brandon Williams could be behind 3 players in skill level?? And wormley may rarely see a game. He doesn't have the sheer raw skills of Pierce Henry Urban and Williams. And that is b4 you even throw the edge rushers into the equation. Timmy, Bowser, Judon and Suggs. Timmy Bowser and Judon are learning from one of the best technique rushers in the league since 2000
JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
Henry's got unbelievable tools but needs to learn how to get home. I agree he'll be dangerous as hell once it all comes together, he flies off the snap and causes some disruption but just doesn't seem to finish.
But I also haven't had a second to rewatch any games, way too busy lately
The Raven
Veteran
Bad hand use and he keeps his head down. Doesn't matter how fast you are if your head's down. My old DL coach in HS always said "if your head is down, that's where you're going." You can't make the tackle, read the play, or pursue if your head's not up. I feel like this is a common theme for explosive DTs. They come out of their stance almost like a sprinter. Sure, it's great for getting off the ball and into the backfield, but it doesn't help you locate the ball carrier or get off a block. Even Brandon Williams is at times guilty of this.
The other thing is hand use. He still doesn't really have any moves. He could probably develop one hell of a swim move with his athleticism. I'd like to see him work on a speed to power conversion move a la James Harrison. You go quick outside, get the man on skates, and then you turn inside hard for a bull rush. It's tricky to do that on the interior because guards aren't set as deep as tackles, but I've seen it done.
Still, even with this, he's the kind of guy I want out there on 3rd down. He might not get home, but he gets unbelievable push and will force the QB to move.
He's criminally underpaid after a very good season in 2016. Would've made a terrific duo with C.J. Mosley. He was near the top of my reasonable hopeful acquisitions.
Brent Urban was named in the preseason all 22 list by Bleacher Report. I'm almost disappointed they didn't include Pierce but it's good to see them grow into a menace for the whole league.
It's also slightly a surprise that with all the investment on outside guys, the most dangerous rushers are now on the inside (Pierce, Urban, ZDS, Henry). I hope the edge guys catch up during the regular season.
And I won't forget that PFF ranked our front 7 28th before the preseason...
It's also slightly a surprise that with all the investment on outside guys, the most dangerous rushers are now on the inside (Pierce, Urban, ZDS, Henry). I hope the edge guys catch up during the regular season.
And I won't forget that PFF ranked our front 7 28th before the preseason...
Lmao. I won't forget that either.
Sooky
Pro Bowler
PFF is dumb. I mean when has the Ravens defensive line ever not been in the top half of the league.
ThatsMyJoeTerback
Ravens Ring of Honor
I still don't know how PFF got to that number...
Mainly because a lot of our players were unproven on that front. To be fair we prob didn't expect it to be so dominant but 28th is a joke.
Honestly going into the preseason you had Williams who waa,known as a great run defender and that's it, Pierce who did okay in limited action last season and then a bunch of unknowns. The fact that they ALL put it together at the same time is just stahgering.
Front seven also includes LBs which includes Mosley and Suggs. But the point is still valid with two spots on that unit being unknown.
Sooky
Pro Bowler
I get the unknowns but man how many teams in the NFL would love to have Mosley a top 5 ILB in the league, Brandon Williams who is a one man wrecking crew against the run, and Terrell Suggs who has arguably been the best OLB against both the pass and run since he entered the league even though he is slowly declining.
I feel like a lot of people over-hyped the Orr retirement and Jernigan leaving. Based off of rankings I feel like a lot of analysts base the ranking off of who you lost instead of who you still have. Jernigan was always overhyped because of his sack numbers the first few games. I mean you can't blame PFF who bases all their analyses off of stats and with all these young guys you didn't really have those.
Was it 28th or 21st? I only see the article in July having us as 21st based on the grades of returning players.
JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
Pretty sure it's a combined score of the projected starters from last season. So take every starter, combine their 2016 pff grades, and that's the ranking. Or it could be an average of the players? But I can't say I was surprised because pff is all math and it makes sense that so many first time starters had low grades
I think 21st was the OL perhaps.
That would be strange because Orr and Jernigan both had below average grades from PFF. In fact, Guy was probably the only player who could have been factored as a real loss.
This is it, no? (Link) I remember it because Baltimore Beatdown published an article about it a few days after. With regards to Jernigan, they had him graded 1 spot outside of the top third of the interior defensive linemen, which was above average, so I assume his loss, Guy's and a lack of grades for the rookies or sophomores without much playing time pushed us down.
Yeah, it's probably this one, but it's weird, it was written in stone for me that we were 28th. My bad then, apologies for the fake news. And also for Jernigan, it's true they did grade him somewhere in the 80s iirc and now that you mention it.