Quote Originally Posted by Raveninwoodlawn View Post
Don't get me wrong, I no anybody else in this thread I think are bashing the FO and calling for Ozzie's head.

But you can't help but look at this team, see all the holes in the roster, and not look back at that draft and notice all the talent that came into the league that year and we really didn't get much out of it.
We performed highway robbery that year. A lot of analysts were saying that it was one of the best drafts in NFL history from a value standpoint. The way we maneuvered was crazy that draft. The Ravens essentially got Boldin, Cody, Kindle, Pitta, and Dickson all within the first four rounds of the draft.

Kindle providing no single entity of value to the Ravens in three whole years ruins this draft from a retrospective standpoint. However, at the time, it was a total steal to get a guy that talented in the 2nd round. Kindle was listed as a surefire top 15 pick all draft long. I'm not sure how much you can really pin his flop on the front office.

Cody and Dickson have both been disappointments to varying degrees, which only worsens it. Cody version 2011 seemed to be a player coming into this own and seemed to show at least a reasonable value for a 2nd rounder. However, this year, I've nicknamed him "bugzapper" because soon as he meets with contact, he falls on the ground like a dead fly. At the time, though, it was viewed as a great value to get him in the late 2nd round, because he was mocked in that 25-30 range fairly universally heading into draft day.

Dickson would be labeled as a mild disappointment in my book. He's had some good moments and has excellent get-down-the-field explosiveness for a TE. However, his hands are still a bit unreliable and his blocking is pitiful. Pitta's emergence as a very solid TE makes the Dickson pick a little more forgiveable. Again, this is a guy coming out of the Pac 10 that a lot of people saw as a safer pick than the injury-risk Gronkowski.


If you look at Jimmy Smith, Cody, Kindle, and even Upshaw this year, the common denominator is that our FO drafted a player who had slipped to a certain point in the draft. It seemed like a great idea to take these sliding players, but perhaps we need to re-evaluate that strategy heading forward.