Oher is the LT of 2013 and beyond, and he always has been.

[JAB1985]

Here's where I might disagree with you...

Oher is in a contract year. They have talked extension, but it hasn't gotten done, nor will it unless 1) he turns it on to a PB level in 2013 or 2) it's 2014 and he's a free agent and we have nothing else. Ozzie could choose to continue to think he can make him into a LT, and 1 of 2 things will happen there...

1. He plays phenomenally at LT...and now you have to pay him as such
2. He doesn't play well, and you can convince him that he's got no market for LT money, so he accepts a cheaper deal as a RT.

Why would Ozzie bother to play him there unless his extension is done? I think if he'd been extended, he'd be the LT. With him not extended, you are just inviting a problem in a year. And I don't think they can blindly say "oh yeah, well Bryant McKinnie at LT was just continuity of our already great OL". They definitely recognize how much better he did than Oher, particularly against the Broncos. Week 15 we play the Broncos and get ABUSED by Von Miller and Dumerville. Just 4 weeks later, we field Oher at RT and McKinnie at LT and they were STONEWALLED!

4 WEEKS.

But, other than that I agree...Ozzie wants to give all his picks enough room to try to prove they were right. He'll keep trying him at LT if he's on the roster, unless there is a new draft pick there. I am crossing my fingers.

so you think Ozzie picks who starts and sits and what position they play? Sounds to me like Ozzie is coach and GM in your opinion. I think thats taking away the importance ofwhat Harbs and his staff do.

[JAB1985]

Gaither was unreliable in that he missed too many games. That is not the case with McKinnie. McKinnie always shows up on game day, and the Ravens would only be signing him to a 1-2 year contract at a very reasonable price for a starting LT.

thatd id agree with, i thought you were implying inconsistent effort or play.

[Tolucaraven]

Bzzzzt! Wrong! Why are you just making things up? McKinnie gave up 2 1/2 sacks and 8 1/2 pressures in the 4 playoff games. That's in addition to countless missed run blocks. He gave up 1 1/2 sacks to ROB NINKOVICH, who's no Cameron Wake, for Pete's sake! McKinnie wasn't even consistent in his 4 playoff games and he was nowhere near as good as you're making him out to be. What will he look like in 16 games?

All in all, McKinnie was significantly worse than Oher in 2 of the 4 playoff games. He got his ass handed to him by Rob Ninkovich in the Pats game while Oher held up much better against Jermaine Cunningham and Trevor Scott. In the Broncos game McKinnie had some trouble with Dumervil and gave up 2 pressures and missed several blocks, meanwhile Oher basically owned Von Miller all day long in both run and pass.

I didnt watch the entire tape of the Pats game over and over, so I can't say what McKinnie did vs Ninkovic. But, he did play well vs Denver, Indy and SF. If he gave up a few a pressures vs Dumervil in Denver that's a pretty good day, no player is going to be perfect especially vs Dumervil. But, that effort is solid. Oher, on the other hand, cost us the Steeler game last year, with strip sack and Steeler game 2 years ago (letting TP) come in untouched for another strip sack and cost them the division. I'm not an Oher fan, he isnt very long armed or 'bright', IMO. Von Miller had some good pressure vs Oher and had a sack vs Oher, but I think Oher did ok on that day. I just don't trust Oher in pressure moments of games. Good debate for a dead football day til the draft.

[Ravenswintitle]

My prediction - there will be open competition this year and with guidance from Juan Castillo, they'll put the best body at LT. I don't think anything is settled in April.

[bmorecareful]

Gaither was unreliable in that he missed too many games. That is not the case with McKinnie. McKinnie always shows up on game day, and the Ravens would only be signing him to a 1-2 year contract at a very reasonable price for a starting LT.

The Ravens are not going to re-sign McKinnie. The FO and coaching staff hate him and didn't want him to play a single snap last year. They would have gotten their wish if not for Jah Reid's toe. Neither the Ravens nor any other team are going to be interested in McKinnie unless their starting LT gets hurt in camp.

I still don't think Oher should be the LT but I fail to see how McKinnie is anything other than a SLIGHT upgrade AT BEST with a ton of baggage that isn't worth risking, and I think the FO is correct to let that idiot walk. He's just not worth it. He's not the answer to the LT problem short or long-term.

I really can't fault the Ravens all that much because they don't have a ton of options this year. They were never going to sign any of the FA tackles. At this point, I'd like to see them spend a 2nd-3rd rounder on a guy like Terron Armstead, Menelik Watson, David Bakhtiari, etc. and go into TC allowing that rookie to compete. Oher might end up winning the job by default yet again but at least they have a fallback/developmental option.

[Stealthbirds80]

To be honest, with the change in coordinator and with the addition of Juan Castillo, no matter who they put out there, those players will be prepared. Cam's offense required Flacco to hold the ball more times than it being just him. With Caldwell you see quicker decisions even under Cam's offense to the Superbowl. I think they know they don't have to be superb at tackle, just better than average. For me, Oher's problem isn't talent, it's consistency. Enter in coaching.


Everyone would agree that they would rather have McKinnie over there, but we aren't in practice or the film room with them. It looks like they are content with finding a RT in the draft, but who says they don't pull a fast one on us.

[Carey]

In writing a reply to another post I came to a realization about Michael Oher. I believe he will be the starting LT in 2013 and will likely be extended mid-season to retain that role for several more years. I also believe he has been the organization's LT since the moment he was drafted in 2009.

In his rookie year Oher was exceptional at RT. He demonstrated block-to-the-whistle physicality, great foot quickness and technique, and by all accounts was an exemplary worker in practice and a high-character teammate. Gaither looked to be in the mix for LT of the future but as De Costa himself said after the draft, the Ravens "had found their bookends" no matter what.

Come 2010 Oher is handed the starting LT job. We all know the Gaither controversy and it appears clear now that the FO was in the right to promote Oher over Gaither given the latter's injury and level of effort issues. Oher was not very good at LT in 2010 but showed flashes at times.

Come 2011 Oher is again the starting LT going into camp. However, the team has no real RT and goes into the preseason looking for one of Jah Reid and Oniel Cousins to "win" the job. They are both miserable and Reid has injury issues. As a result, in August Cousins is waived and McKinnie is signed. However, McKinnie is a LT only and can't play RT; the team's only option is to move Oher back out to RT. But I firmly believe that Oher playing RT was NOT indicative of him being demoted, but rather of the team having no other choice at the two tackle spots.

Come 2012 Oher is again the starting LT despite McKinnie's presence on the roster (seeing a pattern here?) and plays all 16 games at LT. Once again the team is hit with an injury, this time to Jah Reid at LG, and the only options are to play Williams or Harewood at LG (both very, very bad options) or to move Osemele to LG, introduce McKinnie into the lineup at the only spot he can play, and again Oher becomes the RT by default. Once again, ONLY AN INJURY forced Oher to RT. Otherwise he would have been the starting LT for the playoffs.

Now it's 2013 and the team appears to have had no interest whatsoever in any OTs on the market. The answer, given the history, is simple: they will start Oher at LT. They have however met with several RT/OG prospects like Menelik Watson (who could be a future LT as well), DJ Fluker, Brennan Williams, Justin Pugh, Brian Schwenke, etc.

This is my firm prediction for 2013: the Ravens will start Oher at LT, and will fill either RT or LG with a rookie. Osemele will play either LG or RT depending on how the draft shakes out. Not saying I agree with it, but if this happens, what are the ramifications?

Compelling post and impossible to ignore.

I think ultimately it depends on just how much of protection improvement they deem was on Caldwell's adjustments as opposed to how much they believe is on Mckinnie at LT. Also Caldwell's input im sure is taken into account as well.

With all that said because of Mckinnie's lack of interest therfore lost leverage it's hard for me to envision a scenario where they'd be against bringing back Mckinnie eventually. I say this because my personal view is they are letting him stew and driving down the price right now until he gets desperate, not only do i think they get him on the cheap i think they get weight clause, workout bonuses, etc. that keep him around the castle more. Remember those financial issues of his arent magically going away. I think they can get him relatively on the cheap another year and buy them time on finding a true LT.

If this doesnt happen, which seems more likely then unlikely, they are looking at descending play, enough to make a decided advantage? idk. With Oher the biggest thing is his arm length, i think he has enough of everything to be a middle of the road LT but when he loses early it's a train wreck because he doesnt have the arm length to recover. It's not like Mckinnie is this great pass protector and Oher isnt, it's the fact that he's so much longer he's working with a different margin of error.

When Flacco was able to stand in a pocket comfortably it was magic, his internal clock, ability the climb the pocket and extend plays, etc. all looked so much better then they did before the OC and OL switch. The biggest thing is he wasnt throwing off his back foot which increased his consistency and accuracy by a mile. I can rememer watching games before the switch and not remember seeing Joe step into a pocket and really drive a throw with great mechanics waist down. Do they wanna take a chance on that when we've seen how different both sides of spectrum is? Only Oz knows right now but it certaintly looks to be on the table.

[Haloti92]

Last two years with Mckinney at LT record is 17-5. One loss was NE playoff debacle.

Last two years with Oher at LT record is 10-5 (wont count meaningless Bengals game last year)

But like bmorecareful said, this isn't a true Oher vs. McKinnie comparison. Why? Because Oher is always in the game when McKinnie plays. They aren't playing with the same LG thru RT teammates, when they are at LT. When Oher is in at LT it means we have a dubious player at either LG or RT or both. This isn't really the case when McKinnie is in.

Suffice it to say I agree with everything bmorecareful says, whether I like the implications or not, his summation of the record is absolutely correct.

[Justlovemybirds]

I'm hopeful that Caldwell and Castillo are more aware of Oher's limitations and game-plan around them. He's certainly not what you want in a LT ideally but he's not terrible enough to where its impossible for the offense to function with him there.

[Ravens44]

Yes, it has seemed since Oher's drafting, that he was destined to be the LT, at least in the minds of the coaches and personnel staff.
We have seen that Oher is not the guy, at this point, that I want to protect the $100 million+ Joe.
I actually believe with some others here that a LT needs to be drafted...and maybe that guy plays RT at first to get to learn the offense...but if it shows he belongs on the left side AND can handle it...well, then they might make the move.
If Gino IS that guy at center, then we could have a really above average group inside with KO, Gino, and Yanda. And that will enable Joe to keep stepping into his throws.

[elland]

If they really are going for Oher at LT, I really hope KO will be the LG.

When Grubbs was LG, Oher was at least average as LT.. when we played Reid, Bobby and Harewood he was garbage.. Maybe McKinnie would have been garbage aswell with poor LG play.

[esmd]

*sigh*

Can't believe this is still a topic. At the end of the day, McKinnie has proven himself to be an average to slightly above average LT (his pass blocking is decent, his run blocking, especially at the 2nd level, SUCKS). He also has demonstrated on multiple occasions that he's a guy who CANNOT be counted on. I'm not an Oher fan, but if McKinnie were so great, someone would've picked him up by now. If I'm the Ravens, I'd bring him back on a one year, incentive laden deal right before camp, IF, and only IF, he's in decent shape. Otherwise, there are other options.

As for Oher, my preference would be for someone else to be the LT. But I guess we'll see.