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Thread: Offensive Line

  1. #25

    Re: Offensive Line

    During the playoff run the offense played very well. Aside from the question mark at LT, we will return just about everyone. We have Reid, Harewood and Cornell as depth for the line and all of them should improve. We aren't likely to find a starting LT drafting at #32 and beyond, so it makes sense to find a FA or resign McKinney to a short contract. The Oher experiment at LT didn't work and the contrast with the line play during the regular season vs the playoffs last year is evidence. Our guard tandem could be the best in the game and sticking Gradkowski between them will help him be successful. All that is needed is to plug in a LT and we'll have a powerful offense with a great OL.

    The defense played poorly for much of the year and we're losing Lewis and could eventually lose Ellerbe, Krueger, Williams, Kemo and Reed. Another question mark is McClain coming off his spinal injury. The defense needs to be retooled and IMO we'll draft heavily on that group.





  2. #26

    Re: Offensive Line

    Quote Originally Posted by Bigfish View Post
    During the playoff run the offense played very well. Aside from the question mark at LT, we will return just about everyone. We have Reid, Harewood and Cornell as depth for the line and all of them should improve. We aren't likely to find a starting LT drafting at #32 and beyond, so it makes sense to find a FA or resign McKinney to a short contract. The Oher experiment at LT didn't work and the contrast with the line play during the regular season vs the playoffs last year is evidence. Our guard tandem could be the best in the game and sticking Gradkowski between them will help him be successful. All that is needed is to plug in a LT and we'll have a powerful offense with a great OL.

    The defense played poorly for much of the year and we're losing Lewis and could eventually lose Ellerbe, Krueger, Williams, Kemo and Reed. Another question mark is McClain coming off his spinal injury. The defense needs to be retooled and IMO we'll draft heavily on that group.
    agreed, outside of LT of the future, and a blocking TE/Hback type or both, this draft should be all defensive at every level... DL/LB/S though I think we are pretty well set at CB. OLB is less of a need then ILB, IMO and DE is less of a need then NT, again, IMO.
    Last edited by jonboy79; 03-07-2013 at 01:59 PM.





  3. #27
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    Re: Offensive Line

    I wouldn't say the front office has an undying allegiance to Michael Oher. His struggles at LT during training camp and the preseason, played a role in Bryant McKinnie being signed by the team. When Jah Reid got hurt, they could have put Williams at LG and left Oher at LT.

    It just seems that the players they've chosen to groom for the spot have not panned out. Gaither's poor work ethic led to constant injuries and constant questions. McKinnie's work ethic is the only thing that led to Oher being at LT last year.

    If they do draft a LT, I would expect them to select someone with an unquestionably hard work ethic.
    "Please take with you this final sword, The Excellector. I am praying that your journey will be guided by the light", Leon Shore





  4. #28

    Re: Offensive Line

    Quote Originally Posted by jonboy79 View Post
    agreed, outside of LT of the future, and a blocking TE/Hback type or both, this draft should be all defensive at every level... DL/LB/S though I think we are pretty well set at CB. OLB is less of a need then ILB, IMO and DE is less of a need then NT, again, IMO.
    Fixed that, but I agree with all of it.





  5. #29

    Re: Offensive Line

    Quote Originally Posted by Bigfish View Post
    Fixed that, but I agree with all of it.
    thanks, and yes that was my intent... so you corrected it correctly.





  6. #30

    Re: Offensive Line

    LT is obviously the huge elephant in the room. I think we all agree they need to re-sign Mckinnie and draft his heir apparent soon. I think the other 4 spots are locked down pretty good, Jah gives good swing depth at G and RT, especially since we already know he can at least play G at a respectable level. I could see Caldwell and Cornell competing for a spot and we'll have to find a backup for Gino. All in all i think we are in good shape, assuming LT gets handled properly.





  7. #31
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    Re: Offensive Line

    Quote Originally Posted by bmorecareful View Post
    I have a sneaky suspicion that we're all going to be disappointed yet again in how the FO handles the OL this offseason. I think they will allow the market to set McKinnie's price and they will have no qualms whatsoever letting him walk if his price is a penny higher than what they want to pay. That will leave us in essentially the same position we were for most of last season--which was once again a crisis of their own creation.

    The Ravens are still fumbling about trying to replace Jonathan Ogden, and still following the same approach they used when JO was here. They simply do not prioritize the OL and never have. They will gladly spend draft picks on offensive linemen, but rarely first rounders (which are usually reserved for high-impact defenders). They do a good job of developing their mid-round picks for the most part but very rarely re-sign them, so they're constantly cycling through players and re-shuffling. The same is true now; they committed long-term to Yanda, but the other 4 OL positions have been continuously in flux.

    I expect the Ravens to go into 2013 with Oher at LT, backed up by the developmental LT of the future. They will add an interior OL who can play guard and center to back up and "compete" with Gradkowski, who will be the starting center in between KO and Yanda. At RT, they will likely give Jah Reid one last shot to get healthy and win a starter's spot (I think he fits better at RT than LG) but he will be pushed by Jack Cornell or a cheap FA in camp.

    Oher at LT is my greatest fear. I keep seeing Jack Cornell's name in this forum and how Castillo is working with him. Another thread said Bisciotti is high on him.





  8. #32

    Re: Offensive Line

    they should draft with the intention of not renewing oher after his rookie contract runs out next year. there was talk earlier in this season about extending oher. i thought that was crazy and apparently it was a bad rumor.

    i was driving one weekend and 98 rock was replaying the denver playoff game on the radio. it must have been the week before the superbowl. i heard ismail say "stay on your block 74". it was in response to a sack on joe. you don't hear players called out much but i think it is obvious to everyone about his level of play.





  9. #33
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    Re: Offensive Line

    Quote Originally Posted by ActualSpamBot View Post
    Oher has played tackle for us on one side or the other for virtually all of Joe's career and neither has yet to miss a game, much less finish the year on IR. I get that Oher isn't a top tackle, but the histrionics about him are getting ludicrous. He's a replacement level starter on the left side and an above average to very good right tackle. Treating him like he's a worthless turnstile is underselling his value.
    Another strawman argument.

    FTR I agree that Oher is an above-average RT & as with McKinnie this year, I would expect him to move to starboard if&when the developmental LT cracks the lineup. I disagree that "he's a replacement level starter on the left side"--he is IMO an adequate stopgap whose presence to port will require adjustments in protection (e.g. help from a TE) &/or game-planning (e.g. faster developing pass patterns) that will keep this offense from achieving its potential.

    Flacco has been amazingly resilient in his career but with Michael at LT I live in apprehension of the day he whiffs on a blitzer, Joe doesn't see him (it is, after all, the blind side) & gets clobbered in a joint- or tendon-unfriendly manner, & the next morning this board is swamped with draft & free-agency threads in mid-season.





  10. #34
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    Re: Offensive Line

    Quote Originally Posted by Section 502 Raven View Post
    they should draft with the intention of not renewing oher after his rookie contract runs out next year.
    Doubtful he'd be back in any event so long as he's convinced he's a genuine starting LT & deserves to be paid as such. The Ravens will probably offer him a contract that's upper end for a RT, but some team out there will want him to play LT & outbid them. (BTW, you ought to get those shift keys fixed.)





  11. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by lobachevsky View Post
    Another strawman argument.
    I think bemoaning the inevitably of Flacco being IR'd if Oher plays LT is the real strawman, as evidenced by the fact that he's done it for us for a couple of seasons without Flacco having ever been seriously hurt outside of a hip bruise that he played through.

    Quote Originally Posted by lobachevsky View Post
    I disagree that "he's a replacement level starter on the left side"--he is IMO an adequate stopgap whose presence to port will require adjustments in protection (e.g. help from a TE) &/or game-planning
    That's basically the definition of a replacement level player. A guy you can plug in and tread water with, but who you look to upgrade or scheme to help.

    Quote Originally Posted by lobachevsky View Post
    Flacco has been amazingly resilient in his career but with Michael at LT I live in apprehension of the day he whiffs on a blitzer, Joe doesn't see him (it is, after all, the blind side) & gets clobbered in a joint- or tendon-unfriendly manner, & the next morning this board is swamped with draft & free-agency threads in mid-season.
    Name the realistically draftable or affordable free agent left tackle that that sentence doesn't apply to and you may have a point.
    My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging. -Hank Aaron





  12. #36

    Re: Offensive Line

    Quote Originally Posted by bmorecareful View Post
    They simply do not prioritize the OL and never have. They will gladly spend draft picks on offensive linemen, but rarely first rounders
    Two of the Ravens' last four 1st round picks were offensive linemen. 50% isn't high enough?

    In rounds 1-3 in the past six years, 6 out of 20 have been O-linemen. That's not enough?





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