QtR Nevermore
Pro Bowler
With the numbers given, the defense only adds up to 24 anyway so that group still works.
Urban probably isn't going to start on the 53, so Worley or Ardarius could make it too, but I think that roster looks pretty accurate.
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The 2023 Offseason Thread
- Thread starter rossihunter2
- Start date
Urban probably isn't going to start on the 53, so Worley or Ardarius could make it too, but I think that roster looks pretty accurate.
Isn't the 3rd QB a free spot with the new rule ?
marklar
Pro Bowler
I think you significantly underestimate the Ravens willingness to keep ST-only players. If all three of Welch, Phillips and Seymour are off the roster, I will be shocked. I hope that less than all three make it, but not even I would cut all of them
Also, really not seeing Mustapher over Cleveland on the 53
marklar
Pro Bowler
Nope. Only related to gameday roster, not 53
QtR Nevermore
Pro Bowler
They've talked up Simpson as a special teamer, so hopefully they could cover that between him and ILB4.
UPennChem
Hall of Famer
So Hill, Wallace, Ross, Simpson, Stone etc all play STs. I think STs is just gonna look a little different this year.
imo, Cleveland makes the team and Mustipher doesn't.
only gameday.
UPennChem
Hall of Famer
My reason for keeping Mustipher is that I think they view him as backup C. They would rather have Mekari as backup OT or to a lesser extent OG.
If you really think about it if actual disaster strikes Stanley and Moses, you'd be able to insert Mekari and Faalele but then would have no OTs left at all. You really need Mekari's versatility at OT.
If you were forced to play Mekari at C if Linderbaum is hurt, then you'd need to bring in another OT. Which could totally work! But I just don't see Ben Cleveland OR Simpson making the team to be a backup OG when we have and like Sala and also Mekari.
Could also be the case we keep Mustipher and Cleveland and we don't keep 3 QBs.
Willbacker
Ravens Ring of Honor
Yep it's way to early to tell about the 53 but it's still a fun excersise and then of course we're bound for some sort of injury. They have also been giving Cleveland a lot of snaps at RT and I don't think they're at all interested in him on the left side. Right now I can see them carrying only 5 d linemen which I believe Urban would get the nod over Blackson. So I'm thinking 10 o line with 5 d line. Plus 1 UDFA always seems to make it lol and also where's the love for Worley.
UPennChem
Hall of Famer
Yeah I think seeing Cleveland at RT is a death sentence for him.
I just can't see us with only 5DL.
This could actually be a year without a rookie UDFA.
I actually really like Worley lol. But something about that fully guaranteed Mullen deal and being Lamar's cousin just makes me think he's making it. One practice report also said he was "sticky"
Willbacker
Ravens Ring of Honor
Aw hell I didn't know any of that about Mullen but I could see Worley sticking over JAD and too damn with the draft status. Maybe we not so bad at the CB position after all
With Cleveland we gotta behonest. You gotta have some pulling mobility at the LG spot and he's just another re incarnation of Tyree Phillips but I'm thinking they're seeing what they can get from him on the right side which I believe is smart since both Mekari and Faalele can come in on the left side. Real curious how Sala performs and whether we even keep Simpson. Sala is a dark horse candidate to win that LG spot and I would love to see it. Mustapher really only gives you backup center option so I'm squirrely about him even making the team but then really we only have Mekari as the other option.
I most definitely can see us only keeping 5 d line since very rare do we even play 3 on the field and we can rotate 5 on gam day and my sleeper is Ricard who I believe is gonna get a lot less snaps on offense and could see double duty and keep a couple on the practice squad.
UPennChem
Hall of Famer
Would be surprised if they moved on from JAD after only 1 year. Thing is at outside CB we have Marlon, RYS, JAD, KBK, and Mullen (a former 2nd round pick). We only have Pepe who plays true slot CB. My guess is that Stephens might be taking that starting slot CB role and passing it off between himself, Hamilton, and Pepe as the packages switch.
Regarding Blackson, both Harbs and Roquan spoke very highly of him. The thing that Harbs highlighted was that he had positional versatility across the DL which is something we really lost with Calais. I think he'll be making the team.
I'm really pulling for Sala. If that guy can come in and take the job, I'd be all for it. Love his attitude and athleticism. Joe D really loves him too.
Mustipher is a guy you wish you didn't have to keep on your roster. But unfortunately you do. If we could have retained Colon, we'd be in better shape, but alas
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rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
But in reality, the players don't want it either. That's the main driver.
Remember, it was the players that put in a rookie wage scale, not the Owners. The players wanted rookies to get paid less.
End of day, there's no solution. Even proven-performance escalators, which exist now, mostly increase the probability of a player getting cut. Its the reason we're talking about Duvernay as a cut candidate... because he costs like 3-4x as much this year, while still on a rookie deal, and the performance increases aren't guaranteed.
The very second even the NFLPA gets involved in discussions about arbitrarily pushing pay increases on position groups, the players will strike it down as unfair.
QtR Nevermore
Pro Bowler
The vets voted to screw the rookies over in an "I'm alright Jack, pull up the ladder" move because they wanted to get paid more, rather than because they particularly wanted rookies to get less.
The Duvernay situation is down to competitiveness with other teams, if he doesn't play like a $4.5 M receiver, it would hurt the team to keep him.
My quick ideas for a solution removed the competitve disadvantage of paying RBs fairly, either a flat payment per rushing yard gained, or a ring-fence amount of cap dollars assigned to RBs only, would mean no team would be worse off than any other.
I think RBs should bypass the NFLPA and form an RB strike committee instead. The NFLPA would be unlikely to support a single position group - they're less likely to be in favor of it than the teams and the league, honesty. Sooner or later, the NFL will have to act, to encourage talented kids to play RB. They should get ahead of it before their product really suffers.
gtalk12
Ravens Ring of Honor
You mean like a Deebo?
rmcjacket23
Ravens Ring of Honor
Yeah, I don't think they have to do anything. Mostly because its not a problem at all.
For starters, nobody is going to green light a "payment per rush yard" aspect, because the more valuable RBs are more effective as receivers than rushers anyway, and not even the RBs themselves would want to tie compensation to production. Players, generally, despise that thought process.
Without knowing, my guess is the NFLPA has clauses in their union agreements that make it extremely illegal to form separate unions while staying within the current union. And I don't think an attempt to do so would result in anything other than RBs making even less $ than they do now, because there's literally hundreds, if not thousands, of college RBs who can't even get a tryout for an NFL team, that would play with one arm for $500K a year. Or more.
I don't think the NFL has to do anything at all, because its not a problem. Who thinks its a problem? We know the fans don't, because the fans are what created this. Fans don't give a shit about RBs. Ratings and revenue is correlated very tightly to the emphasis of more passing, more points, and less "three yards and a cloud of dust". The only guys beating the drum for RBs are old guys who liked "smash mouthed football" who also don't have the balls to stop watching. The NFL owns them.
Moreover, if the supply of quality RBs decreases, that's GREAT for RBs. Why? Well what happens to prices when supply decreases and demand stays the same? They go up. If there's hundreds or thousands of less qualified RBs, it makes the one's that are qualified more valuable. Thereby driving up the price point.
Literally the reason why RBs are so devalued today is because there's so many of them, and they're so interchangeable from a talent perspective, that teams are just like "who gives a shit, I could largely put anybody out there". When there's less of them, and the talent gap gets larger between them, that creates higher wages for the higher end players.
See Quarterbacks.