The 2020 Offseason Thread

[rossihunter2]

We also have Ward who's multidimensional enough to play basically everywhere along the DL. Ellis is ideal for GL & short yardage packages.

the problem is (as @Simba has mentioned in the past) that we have no backup nose tackle outside of ellis on the roster so if we dont keep ellis then who fills in that role if BWill goes down or is gassed? - madubuike can play some 0tech but he's not a nose and tbh he's best suited to 0tech as a pass rusher

washington did a bit of nose tackle in college but again that's not the position he's best suited for in the pros

the worry would be that if brandon went down during a game who would step in to take those snaps without us getting run into the weekend

 

[rossihunter2]

Thank you. Saw a slight limp when he was walking out to practice and got worried. Glad to know he looked comfortable

ive noticed that often with him and hollywood - i think that's honestly just how they walk lol

 

[cdp]

the problem is (as @Simba has mentioned in the past) that we have no backup nose tackle outside of ellis on the roster so if we dont keep ellis then who fills in that role if BWill goes down or is gassed? - madubuike can play some 0tech but he's not a nose and tbh he's best suited to 0tech as a pass rusher

washington did a bit of nose tackle in college but again that's not the position he's best suited for in the pros

the worry would be that if brandon went down during a game who would step in to take those snaps without us getting run into the weekend

That's why I want to keep Ellis over Washington

 

[JAAM]

ive noticed that often with him and hollywood - i think that's honestly just how they walk lol

Hahaha Florida thang

 

[JoeyFlex5]

After seeing Humphrey move to nickel last year fairly often and really shine in every facet there, I wonder if his tackling and robber skillset has wink cooking up ways to use Humphrey to offset the loss of Earl Thomas, like he’s clearly a top 2 cb on this team, but could he be used like a minkah fitzpatrick with more boundary coverage? And also with how often we like to blitz dbs I think tavon young’s return makes the loss hurt less too, because tavon young is one hell of a blitzer from the nickel as well.

 

[JoeyFlex5]

Hahaha Florida thang

Nah that’s a fast twitchy mf thing lol. They walk like they got springs in their heels

 

[Simba]

the problem is (as @Simba has mentioned in the past) that we have no backup nose tackle outside of ellis on the roster so if we dont keep ellis then who fills in that role if BWill goes down or is gassed? - madubuike can play some 0tech but he's not a nose and tbh he's best suited to 0tech as a pass rusher

washington did a bit of nose tackle in college but again that's not the position he's best suited for in the pros

the worry would be that if brandon went down during a game who would step in to take those snaps without us getting run into the weekend

Another thing is that DL was particularly decimated by opt outs and teams have been picking up vets that probably wouldn't be still in the league otherwise. If they see a guy like Washington on the waiver wire, he might not make it through.

 

[rossihunter2]

After seeing Humphrey move to nickel last year fairly often and really shine in every facet there, I wonder if his tackling and robber skillset has wink cooking up ways to use Humphrey to offset the loss of Earl Thomas, like he’s clearly a top 2 cb on this team, but could he be used like a minkah fitzpatrick with more boundary coverage? And also with how often we like to blitz dbs I think tavon young’s return makes the loss hurt less too, because tavon young is one hell of a blitzer from the nickel as well.

tavon's probably the best tackler out of all the DBs too

i think its unlikely we use marlon as a robber but it's possible that we find ways to get him close enough to the edge to blitz because of how physical he is

but marlon's at his best as an outside corner and in run support he'll come down hill hard like a linebacker and that's still a not a common skill to find in a corner like him

i think the result of ET being gone is that Jimmy is gonna be the primary dime package extra DB and he'll come and play specific matchups e.g. eliminate that TE from the play - might see more anthony levine back in on dime packages too - the hope has to be that geno stone (or nigel warrior) earn their way onto the field as the 3rd safety on occasion in the way the chuck started to at the end of his rookie year and into his 2nd year

 

[Simba]

tavon's probably the best tackler out of all the DBs too

i think its unlikely we use marlon as a robber but it's possible that we find ways to get him close enough to the edge to blitz because of how physical he is

but marlon's at his best as an outside corner and in run support he'll come down hill hard like a linebacker and that's still a not a common skill to find in a corner like him

i think the result of ET being gone is that Jimmy is gonna be the primary dime package extra DB and he'll come and play specific matchups e.g. eliminate that TE from the play - might see more anthony levine back in on dime packages too - the hope has to be that geno stone (or nigel warrior) earn their way onto the field as the 3rd safety on occasion in the way the chuck started to at the end of his rookie year and into his 2nd year

Mark Andrews said in his presser today that he's been matched up with Jimmy virtually all camp, so the dime definitely seems like the most common area that he'll be playing "safety"

 

[rossihunter2]

Mark Andrews said in his presser today that he's been matched up with Jimmy virtually all camp, so the dime definitely seems like the most common area that he'll be playing "safety"

the thing about that is that while that would be a safety-esque thing to do he's basically still just a big corner in that situation and while he's fulfilling a really useful role, there's still part of ET's role to fill (or elliott's old role i guess) which is someone who can come in and play 3rd safety in a more fluid sense

 

[JO_75]

 

[Simba]

the thing about that is that while that would be a safety-esque thing to do he's basically still just a big corner in that situation and while he's fulfilling a really useful role, there's still part of ET's role to fill (or elliott's old role i guess) which is someone who can come in and play 3rd safety in a more fluid sense

Agreed. I don't really see him playing too much actual S, but that fulfills kind of a role a 3rd S typically plays here in the dime. Really just putting 4 CBs on the field.

 

[rmcjacket23]

1. It's not that cut and dry. You can protect 4 each week but that starts on Tuesday. If you want a guy, you can attempt to poach him on a Monday and a team has no recourse but to put him on the 53 at that point if they want to hang onto him.

2. Josh Woodrum was claimed on waivers at a point. I'd like to think McSorley will pass through waivers unclaimed and I think that's the much more likely option. But is this the year you want to risk that? In any other year, sure. In covid times, looking for a QB isn't something I'd want to take on right now. And again, Harbaugh has already said we'll be carrying 3 QBs again, so take your pick on who that is between McSorley and Huntley, but I'd be shocked if there weren't 3.

3. While that's accurate, I'd find it hard to believe that a team isn't going to take an opportunity to have an extra player active. It's basically a free spot on an active roster. And it's not like we have an obvious cut candidate there anyways. Sure, you could look at a guy like Powers as a potential cut but know he's likely to be claimed with the garbage that teams are trotting out there in the last couple of years. Keeping 9 is going to be realistic for a lot of teams because most of what is on a PS is not NFL quality.

1. OK, how is that different than any other year? I'm not seeing a more talented PS on this team or any other team that I haven't seen before, and I really can't recall many, if any, instances where we lost an impact player to a PS poaching. They're on the practice squad for a reason, and its not because they're studs who are too valuable to let go. Every single week there's going to be players that the Ravens fans think are future studs that will be unprotected because of roster restrictions. That's just how the NFL works. If you want a good team, expect other teams to want your players, and expect to not be able to keep them all.
2. Is this the year I want to risk it? Sure. Because I don't really care who our backup or even 3rd string QB is. If they have to play a significant amount of time, I expect us to lose most games they participate in. If that's 1-2 games, so be it. If its like 6-8 games, then just insert a more talented version of 2015, with losses piling up and maybe being able to squeak out wins against teams like the Bengals or Jags.
I'm not saying the Ravens won't keep 3. I'm saying they shouldn't. I'm saying its a waste of a roster spot, because the 3rd QB won't be suiting up, just like they didn't last year, on what was probably the healthiest Ravens team since inception.

 

[rmcjacket23]

idk about that we had 5 safeties on the roster for most of last year and we're probably gonna be 1 fewer than previous years at corner with 5 too - normally we'd be looking at 11 or 12 DBs and if we go fewer than 5 safeties we're looking at fewer than 10 DBs on the roster which would be against the ravens's MO

the other thing with regards to injuries etc. is we've had some long-term things with imam marshall etc. already and obviously earl thomas being cut too - antoine wesley out for the year too and both the UDFA TEs have had injuries (one out for the year and waived, the other sidelined after a big collision) so its not like this hasnt already happened and freak accidents do happen but with the lack of tackling type collisions its really unlikely anyone gets rolled up on so it would have to be a non-contact type deal to lose someone for the year

These decisions, for me, come down to ST. The reason we carried 12 DBs last year was because several of them were essentially ST specialists who rarely ever played defense (Trawick, Bethel, Cyrus Jones), and even Levine to a certain extent.

The former three are now gone, which means if we're keeping players to be ST specialists, its no guarantee they're DBs. They could be WRs, linebackers, RBs, etc. Kenjon Barner may win the kick returner job. That's a 5th RB (6th if you count Ricard).

Chuck Clark played like over 50% of special teams snaps last year. Do we think that continues this year? Probably not. If not, who's taking his place? Doesn't have to be a safety. Chris Board is going to make this team because he's a great ST player. So is Levine and probably Chris Moore.

What I do know is that a lot of these back-end roster decisions are made based on ST contributions, more than it is deciding who the 5th best Safety or 6th best Corner is, and certainly not based on some prior year quota. Looking at 2019 is a good example. There was a pretty decent number of players who made the 53 as defensive players who made practically no impact on the defense, even while suiting up often.

 

[Ravensnation5220]

After seeing Humphrey move to nickel last year fairly often and really shine in every facet there, I wonder if his tackling and robber skillset has wink cooking up ways to use Humphrey to offset the loss of Earl Thomas, like he’s clearly a top 2 cb on this team, but could he be used like a minkah fitzpatrick with more boundary coverage? And also with how often we like to blitz dbs I think tavon young’s return makes the loss hurt less too, because tavon young is one hell of a blitzer from the nickel as well.

Hes really the ultimate matchup guy. He'll prob see a role more like your saying when we face teams with good TEs. Hed be a perfect matchup.

 

[Deebo813]

Mark Andrews said in his presser today that he's been matched up with Jimmy virtually all camp, so the dime definitely seems like the most common area that he'll be playing "safety"

Gonna lots of cbs matched up on him this year of jimmy caliber.. its good to get those reps in. For whatever reasons, its good prep

 

[ravenslord]

I hear Boykin is looking pretty good but we heard this last year in training camp. Are we going to see a much better Boykin this year?

 

[RavensMania]

I hear Boykin is looking pretty good but we heard this last year in training camp. Are we going to see a much better Boykin this year?

yes we did, but according to reports, the game is slowing down for him.

 

[BloodRaven]

I hear Boykin is looking pretty good but we heard this last year in training camp. Are we going to see a much better Boykin this year?

I doubt it, our training camp heroes never produce.

 

[rossihunter2]

These decisions, for me, come down to ST. The reason we carried 12 DBs last year was because several of them were essentially ST specialists who rarely ever played defense (Trawick, Bethel, Cyrus Jones), and even Levine to a certain extent.

The former three are now gone, which means if we're keeping players to be ST specialists, its no guarantee they're DBs. They could be WRs, linebackers, RBs, etc. Kenjon Barner may win the kick returner job. That's a 5th RB (6th if you count Ricard).

Chuck Clark played like over 50% of special teams snaps last year. Do we think that continues this year? Probably not. If not, who's taking his place? Doesn't have to be a safety. Chris Board is going to make this team because he's a great ST player. So is Levine and probably Chris Moore.

What I do know is that a lot of these back-end roster decisions are made based on ST contributions, more than it is deciding who the 5th best Safety or 6th best Corner is, and certainly not based on some prior year quota. Looking at 2019 is a good example. There was a pretty decent number of players who made the 53 as defensive players who made practically no impact on the defense, even while suiting up often.

i 100% agree on special teams being the way the back end of the roster fills out - but with the way that the modern special teams is set up with the no-running-start stuff means that you need more athletic players running downfield - linebackers arent the prototype special teams players anymore - yes chris board is a good special teams player but its more likely a good special teams player is either a DB or a WR

your point about cyrus jones is well made and that 1 spot goes over to the WR group for sure which is why i think we carry 5 corners and not 6
but the safeties on our roster currently all play special teams including both starters (and the 5th S is a special teams specialist who will almost certainly make the roster based on that prowess)

so that's a minimum of 10 dbs already and that still feels a bit light