would be a great option to potentially help restart the udfa on the 53 streak the ravens had going before last year's covid season - at this point i dont see any other reasonable options...
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The 2021 Offseason Thread
- Thread starter rossihunter2
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would be a great option to potentially help restart the udfa on the 53 streak the ravens had going before last year's covid season - at this point i dont see any other reasonable options...
spencer schultz said he had 3 pbus and also a clean pick in 1v1s
1 pbu was particularly noteworthy as he went above the rim and made the breakup despite the other guy in coverage being the 6'4 chris westry
looking fast too
I'm not surprised that more valuable players are opting against the vaccine. I know the NFL keeps reminding teams that they can't cut players just for being unvaccinated, but I feel like some rosters decisions seem arbitrary and strange in normal offseasons that it's going to be a deciding factor for a bubble player. Obviously, Lamar isn't getting cut for being unvaccinated, but if there's a late round draft pick and an UDFA is bringing just as much value and the late round draft pick gets cut, nobody would really think anything of it. Plus I'm sure backups are more willing to get vaccinated because they have a ton to gain if they are backing up an unvaccinated player. I guarantee Huntley and McSorely aren't risking their chances at playing time in the event that Lamar misses a game or two this season.
yeah, if your a borderline player, you better get vaccinated, because it could come down to vax or unvax
UPennChem
Hall of Famer
Been extremely busy recently, but from checking in with Ravens news, these are the things I've seen. Let me know if you guys agree or disagree. These are in no particular order.
The defense looks scary good.
The one stain is Ferguson.
Washington seems to have a chance to make the team.
Jimmy is hurt but it's not super serious.
JK looks great
The receivers look great, including some that probably won't even make the team
Boykin is clearly gone
Oliver is TE3
Toss up between Huntley and McSorley
The offensive line is actually a dumpster fire currently
Ben Cleveland is likely not the day 1 starter.
Maybe looking like Stanley, Phillips, Bozeman, Zeitler, Villanueva?
The defense looks scary good.
The one stain is Ferguson.
Washington seems to have a chance to make the team.
Jimmy is hurt but it's not super serious.
JK looks great
The receivers look great, including some that probably won't even make the team
Boykin is clearly gone
Oliver is TE3
Toss up between Huntley and McSorley
The offensive line is actually a dumpster fire currently
Ben Cleveland is likely not the day 1 starter.
Maybe looking like Stanley, Phillips, Bozeman, Zeitler, Villanueva?
Davesta
Ravens Ring of Honor
People hyping Cleveland up like he was our 1st round pick since they saw his massive frame at rookie mini camp. I guess things are settling down now that the pads are on lol
Very curious to see how the OL ends up by week 1, even at the backup spots.
Mekari may be turning into more of a super sub, but still seems to be in the LG conversation. Phillips was said to have been a T but is still getting plenty of G reps. Powers is a pure G and isn't anything special, but is steady. Cleveland needs some work but obviously he'll be around.
And then you have Bredeson and Colon. I'm not sure there's anything there with Bredeson. Colon might have a good shot indirectly with Mekari bouncing around and no true backup C on the roster.
And at the T spot, it sounds like Andre Smith has been hot garbage. Ealy is a PS guy. Sarell is a camp body. And who knows on Schofield but he's never really been good in the NFL.
Also one thing I'm finding kind of annoying is the lack of objective reporting by some of the guys out at TC nowadays. Feel like a lot of the "pros" are gone and the new guys are thinking more like fans than reporters/evaluators.
Just think it's funny how I've seen days where a guy like Ferguson is reported to have done well by one reporter, but then another comes around and says he had a terrible day. I feel like that's been the case with a lot of these bubble guys this year. I don't know if it's just me. Just hard to glean who is actually doing well vs. who is being pumped up or handicapped based on personal feelings about a player.
Just think it's funny how I've seen days where a guy like Ferguson is reported to have done well by one reporter, but then another comes around and says he had a terrible day. I feel like that's been the case with a lot of these bubble guys this year. I don't know if it's just me. Just hard to glean who is actually doing well vs. who is being pumped up or handicapped based on personal feelings about a player.
my guess with Mekari at LG today is that's because Phillips still at LT - i think perhaps they might already know that Phillips is the starter there - he seems to be the only one of the guys who's only really played with the 1s and it's either been at LG or at LT
my guess is that with Stanley coming back we'll see Phillips slot back into LG if/when stanley starts taking LT reps - it also suggests that he's definitely the swing tackle right now too - no one else is subbing in at tackle for the 1s except Mekari and only probably to allow phillips to go back to guard
i think mekari's clearly the super sub like you say - and what we're seeing is that in a pinch he's potentially the backup at all 5 spots on the line - powers is clearly someone they trust but not someone they want to be the starter (hence the RG backup spot all sewn up basically but no reps at LG)
which again as you say leaves Bredeson, Colon, the udfas and the vet tackles - for what it's worth schofield has been complete trash at camp
it's possible we're looking at other team's castoffs to come and join our OL corps at tackle - but if not then i think we're looking at 9 guys and 8 of them are pretty much locks: Stanley, Phillips, Bozeman, Zeitler, Villanueva, Mekari, Cleveland, Powers...
I think it's Colon for that 9th spot - i dont see bredeson making up the ground from last year and then also being injured for the beginning of camp although they did seem to like him somewhat as the 6th OL late in the year in the 2020 season in those heavy packages
i like having dissenting opinions about guys - especially with camp reports but that's because ive cultivated a feed full of guys whose biases and preferences im aware of... especially with regards to draft picks
although tbf im not seeing a ton of differences in reports about players - only obvious one i can think of was the first day in pads when ken mckusick thought ben cleveland had been dominant and others had thought he'd been not so great
but tbf i dont remember having a ton of "objective reporting" from camp before - who are the reporters we've lost in that sense?
JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
The pads coming on isn’t the problem lol, it’s the fact that he’s facing legit nfl DTs who can exploit his weak areas.
rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
1. I learned pretty quickly that some of these beatwriters and "reporters" often don't actually know what they're looking at when it comes to Ravens practices. Some do, but some don't. They're not morons, but a lot of them don't know nearly as much about technique and assignments.
So I generally take some of their reporting with a grain of salt.
2. A lot of this, for me, shakes out in the preseason. You'll have a pretty good idea when that's over.
Obviously an OG like Aaron Wilson. I think Turron Davenport was a huge loss. Guys like that.
I feel like some of the "new breed" are more local guys than have always been fans of the team, and I think that's leading to some of those dissenting opinions. I feel like there's a clear difference between guys who are simply paid to do this and aren't fans, and the younger guys born and raised that have followed the team for awhile in a different capacity.
It's not all bad for what it's worth. I think the new breed definitely has a lot more knowledge about the game, which sounds weird. I think they bring different mindsets than what we've had in the past. I just feel like biases are getting in the way a little more.
For instance, I think Shaun Wade is probably the biggest example of the opposite reports. I don't remember who, but I know there was one guy that said he had a great day and another that said he's trash essentially - and this was just the other day.
For sure. I think there's some good and bad with it. For as good as Zrebiec is as a reporter, he's never going to be the one going over Xs and Os, schemes, analytics, and things of that nature. And that's fine. That's not his thing. Some of the newer writers are more based on that stuff (for better or for worse) but I feel like they're coming from a fan perspective and not an objective one sometimes.
I look at a guy like Chris Westry. By all accounts, he's had a really good camp. I hope that shows up on game days as well. But is he really out there shutting things down or are people enamored by the 6'4 height with 4.3 speed and projecting him better than he actually is?
i can see that for sure - davenport's a massive loss and you're right that aaron wilson's someone you can trust - i think the main loss with guys like wilson is the inside the building conversations and knowledge that he could have (the way zrebiec still can and does) that allows that objectivity in terms of what the team's actually thinking about players beyond what you see on the practice field
i do like some of the younger guys though - especially jonas shaffer who always asks a ton of intelligent personnel and schematic questions of the coaches
but i definitely get what you're saying about some of the "fan" types who've managed to carve out a niche in the scene and earned a press pass that way - but i would also say there's some guys there in that group who i trust more in terms of pure player evaluation than guys who've been around for a while like hensley and the benefit of them having to build the platforms the way they did is that i get to see their "workings"
westry's a good example of your point - because i see some of the "newer" guys getting hyped about him doing that with the 2nd team DBs around him and it's cool that he's doing well but...
he's not making the team because he's not winning a spot via special teams and he's not some must-keep stash type guy
definitely good for him that he's seemingly stacking days but he's not making the roster
worse thing is that people like Mink and Downing among others haven't improved for as long as they have been here.
Yeah I don't say that to down the younger guys. Some of them are doing really well and put out some quality work. I just see the biases more and more and I feel like it's getting increasingly harder to distinguish who is actually doing well and who is a product of hype because they fit the "ideal mold" that they've heard for years.
i get it with those 2 because 1) they dont have to and 2) they're hamstrung by being inside the building