People keep saying yeah but we drafted 1st RD WRs. And they're right but I just can't understand why anyone thinks that matters. It's tied to their performance.
So well said. We did not pull the trigger on guys like Ceedee Lamb or Justin Jefferson when those were honestly just obvious.
Yes, I agree entirely that the Ravens will rarely be in a position to draft a premium offensive talent, but the lack of aggressiveness is disappointing.
Just not sure wtf EDC was thinking with the line, the Browns can manipulate the cap to have like $50m in space but we can’t find $6 to pay Zeitler?
I certainly understand the philosophy of taking more swings leading to more hits, but they seem very risk averse. Yeah you might miss on a Mark Andrews if you trade picks but you also might miss on a Ben Cleveland or Miles Boykin too. They have this mantra of holding picks but it doesn’t matter much if the picks are shit.
It just hurts when you see other teams getting guys like Lamb and Jefferson in the same range where we’ve taken guys like Hollywood, Bateman, and Flowers. Zay clearly looks like the best of the bunch and even he doesn’t attack up to the aforementioned “misses”
Bateman better break out
He was thinking Coach Joe D was going to mold the young guys into beasts like he had with so many in the past.
Its the positive vibes we need
But then again it’s not like Andrews is the only example. You got madubuike’s, Travis jones, Isaiah likelys as well. It’s not like we only whiff on round 3 and 4
I don't disagree. We've certainly got some good players in the mid-late range. Just illustrating that you can be a little more sure theoretically by going to get a premier talent vs. the 50/50 shot with one of those day 2 picks you'd have to give up to get that guy.
For the 49ers and Lions that's mostly homegrown talent. It's not them going out in free agency and signing or trading for stars. That's the part the Ravens have failed at most of the time.
And what happens when that premier talent is a bust? Trading for high draft picks and FA signings are far from a guaranteed hit. The Giants were aggressive in going out to get Kenny Golladay and paid him 72 million to score one TD.
Oh I agree. I get the idea behind take all the shots you can because it’ll be hard to sign FAs in the years to come, but yeah shots made at this point will be better than shots missed, and we’re missing more often than not outside of R1, let’s start making more shots on R1/R2 if we can.
I don't disagree that the 49ers have drafted incredibly well, but that's not changing my point-
And that’s a possibility too. Not saying it isn’t. Just saying that we tend to err on the side of caution to the extremes. Maybe a little more aggressive since EDC has taken over.
That’s more what I’m getting at. And it doesn’t have to be an always thing either. If there’s a guy you like in the draft or available via trade, go get him. Feel like us being passive in letting the board fall or trying to be cheap has spurned us on the offensive side of the ball in particular.
The Ravens way has always been to not mortgage the future for the present. While at times it may look too conservative, it has kept the team competitive year in and year out.
It's kept them competitive but we've also have not won anything, and that is the issue. I'm not saying that we need to go full Rams and trade the next 20 years of 1st round picks, but there's room to be more aggressive to keep this team from sputtering out like we have so much in the last 5 years. Especially on the offensive side of the ball.
The problem is that point is past. Last year it was basically impossible to add more cap space and this year, while they can make more, they are right up against it.