The 2014 Ravens Draft Thread

[Raveninwoodlawn]

I'm comparing both coming out of college, and if anything Tuitt has been more productive. Its a bold statement, but Tuitt is going to be the next JJ Watt IMO. I will wait for the combine to see if Tuitt matches up athletically.

PS, watch the USC game, my god, he is on another planet in that game.

He is indeed a very good player.


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[bmorecareful]

Tuitt is basically the only defensive prospect I'd take at #16 other than Barr/Clowney/Mack, he is definitely an animal. Schematically, other than miscommunications in the secondary, lack of interior pass rush was the Ravens' biggest defensive weakness this past year. Tuitt would definitely add some interior pass rush.

Me personally, and I have been saying this for a while now, the Ravens need to use less vanilla 3-4 looks. They have so many big, fat run pluggers on the DL that are really good fits for the 3-4, but those guys don't get you any penetration on the inside and they're sucking wind by the 3rd quarter. If they would commit to more 4 man fronts they could rotate Ngata and B. Williams at one DT spot and pair him up with a quick, undersized gap-shooting type of guy.

Geno Atkins was exactly that kind of player coming out of Georgia and he fell to the late 4th because he was only 6'1 290lbs. Who could be the next Geno Atkins? Calvin Barnett is a guy I love to be that sort of player in the middle rounds.

[BigPlayReceiver]

Cuz I was bored...Watt played two years at Wisconsin, so only looked at Tuitt's final two seasons.

(Solo / Asst / Total / TFL / Sacks)

Watt: 74 / 31 / 105 / 36 / 11.5 -- 4 FR
Tuitt: 46 / 48 / 94 / 20 / 18.5 -- 4 FF

Scheme and surround talent matters for context. Schedule does too. For example, ND faced (essentially, non-passing) Navy and Air Force 3 times in 2012 and 2013. Both with much smaller OL that he no doubt dominated, yet presented very, very few sack opportunities.

Had no idea that Tuitt was 6'5/6'6. Might grab a top ten spot as a Combine Commando.

[BigPlayReceiver]

Tuitt is basically the only defensive prospect I'd take at #16 other than Barr/Clowney/Mack, he is definitely an animal. Schematically, other than miscommunications in the secondary, lack of interior pass rush was the Ravens' biggest defensive weakness this past year. Tuitt would definitely add some interior pass rush.

Me personally, and I have been saying this for a while now, the Ravens need to use less vanilla 3-4 looks. They have so many big, fat run pluggers on the DL that are really good fits for the 3-4, but those guys don't get you any penetration on the inside and they're sucking wind by the 3rd quarter. If they would commit to more 4 man fronts they could rotate Ngata and B. Williams at one DT spot and pair him up with a quick, undersized gap-shooting type of guy.

Geno Atkins was exactly that kind of player coming out of Georgia and he fell to the late 4th because he was only 6'1 290lbs. Who could be the next Geno Atkins? Calvin Barnett is a guy I love to be that sort of player in the middle rounds.

At 6'1 300, Arizona State's Will Sutton has 111 total tackles, 37 TFL and 16 sacks in his last two seasons.

Believe it or not, that includes a rather dramatic drop in his TFL and sack numbers for 2013.
Went crazy in 2012, and became a marked man for double-teams in 2013.

[Igotstoknow]

Good post, but with respect to the FS position, I like the idea of going out and signing a veteran stopgap much more than drafting a guy in the 2nd/3rd. Safety is an extremely weak position in this year's draft class. HaHa Clinton-Dix is the draft's top safety and to me he only grades out as a marginal 1st round guy at best, more like a 2nd rounder. The only safety prospect that really excites me this year is Lamarcus Joyner, who is basically a Tyrann Mathieu type CB/S hybrid, but I'm not sure where he projects this year.

My projected Ravens offseason "plan" would involve targeting a stop-gap type of FS to allow Elam to move back to SS. My top target would be Antoine Bethea from the Colts, who should be fairly cheaply acquired if he hits the market. My fallback option would be (gasp) Ryan Clark from Pittsburgh, who can still play but ought to be super-cheap.

Totally agree. Just not a big fan of using high picks on safeties unless they are truly exceptional, Ed Reed type exceptional. I'll probably get laughed at for this, but if Corey Graham was still under contract I'd like to try him at FS, though I guess the point is moot now.

However, if the Ravens want him back and can get him for less than starting corner money, I'd advocate this move, alone probably. But it seems like effective use of resources if one favors this type of outside the box thinking. Then rather than draft a safety, maybe we go for a corner like Kyle Fuller in the 3rd or 4th. Or maybe just see what Asa Jackson can do, with Omar Brown backing up FS. Graham is still only 29.

Then we could put Elam at SS where he belongs and solve the Ihedigbo dilemma. I liked James for his physicality on a defense that lost a lot of that. There were even a couple of games where I thought he was the Raven's best defender. Of course, there were also some games where he was not so good. Nevertheless, eventually it became clear that he was just blocking Elam.

I probably yell at Graham more than any other Ravens defender during a game, but it's not because I think he's a bad player. I just get frustrated with how he plays corner. Too much cushion, gets rubbed and loses his man too much. Seems confused at times.

I watch him and I see a FS playing corner. He has good ball skills, good hands, tracks it well. It's his man he has trouble tracking. Even with his weaknesses, he's done some good things here, 65 tackles (I know a lot of them were of his own man after an easy catch), 3 picks and a FF as the 3rd corner in 2013. 74 tackles (insert same joke here), 4 picks, a sack and a FF in 2012.

Who can forget the playoffs vs Denver? 2 picks, one for a TD and the other setting up Tucker's game winner in OT. After Joe, he was right there with Jacoby as the MVP runner up in that game. Where would the Ravens have been without him in 2012 after Webb went down? It just feels like most people are coloring him gone, and many think good riddance. Now whether or not we can afford him is a different question. Probably would take a surprise cut/restructure, like Suggs.

I watch Corey and his game just screams centerfielder to me. No man to worry about losing. Can just play the ball and provide over the top help, which fits what he does best. Pretty good speed and a decent enough tackler. Not saying he'd be all pro, but I do think he could be above average. And he could still be an emergency corner.

I know the Bears were very close to putting him there a couple times, but I guess that fizzled out and he hit free agency. Anyway, this is silly I guess. Probably a waste of time for anyone reading this, but I've always felt this way and I guess this was just my chance to get it out.

[BigPlayReceiver]

From this article by Mink
http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/...tm_source=t.co

The other reason, Harbaugh said, was that opponents adjusted to the Ravens’ hot start and began getting the ball out quicker to avoid taking sacks. That made Baltimore start playing more coverage. The Ravens relied more on their secondary.

Harbaugh pointed to the final game in Cincinnati as an example of how the game plan changed.

“In the Cincinnati game, we played more coverage – which [Defensive Coordinator] Dean [Pees] knows I’m not a big fan of,” Harbaugh said. “I like blitzing. To me, we’re a blitzing team, we’re a pressure team.

“Yet, we get four interceptions, because [Dalton’s] getting the ball out fast, and our guys are playing coverage, and we’re doubling certain guys, and we’re changing up our coverage patterns back there. I thought our guys did a good job with that.”

Still, Harbaugh said the Ravens need to find a way to maintain their strong pass rush no matter what opponents are doing to counteract it.

“We’ve got to make sure we can do that throughout the course of the season and keep hitting quarterbacks, because if you do that, you’re going to be successful,” he said.

Maybe the seeds of an argument for Tuitt? (Tall, quick, interior disruptor)

[ravens47]

From this article by Mink
[url]http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/Reasons-For-Ravens-Pass-Rush-Slowdown/49297596-1ecd-4033-9272-5e3efcefc323?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=t.co[/url



Maybe the seeds of an argument for Tuitt? (Tall, quick, interior disruptor)

more of a luxury than a real need, IMO our true needs are WR, FS, C, and RT, maybe CB if corey leaves

[leachisabeast]

From this article by Mink
http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/...tm_source=t.co




Maybe the seeds of an argument for Tuitt? (Tall, quick, interior disruptor)

I'm telling you, this guy would be an absolute nightmare in Baltimore. Sammy Watkins is who I'm rooting for, but that's unlikely to happen, so for me its Tuitt if he gets to 16 (at this point more likely to happen than Watkins).

[leachisabeast]

more of a luxury than a real need, IMO our true needs are WR, FS, C, and RT, maybe CB if corey leaves

I'm taking Tuitt over all of those needs. He is flat out the better prospect than most guys that would be there at those positions, save Sammy Watkins, and possibly Taylor Lewan (very unlikely to fall) and Jake Matthews (more than unlikely).

Would you take Haha, Marquise Lee, Travis Swanson, or CK over Tuitt at 16?

Forget about holes, this team needs play makers and impact players in the draft. One of the reasons we went 8-8 is because our guys are declining (Rice, Suggs etc) we need to just get flat out play makers to improve this team.

[ravens47]

I'm taking Tuitt over all of those needs. He is flat out the better prospect than most guys that would be there at those positions, save Sammy Watkins, and possibly Taylor Lewan (very unlikely to fall) and Jake Matthews (more than unlikely).

Would you take Haha, Marquise Lee, Travis Swanson, or CK over Tuitt at 16?

Forget about holes, this team needs play makers and impact players in the draft. One of the reasons we went 8-8 is because our guys are declining (Rice, Suggs etc) we need to just get flat out play makers to improve this team.

I'd love to have Haha but realistically thats not going to happen, i still think that if mike evans is available we should take him, he just makes plays and makes a lot of tough catches and has great hands which we were lacking this year

[Dirt1]

I'm taking Tuitt over all of those needs. He is flat out the better prospect than most guys that would be there at those positions, save Sammy Watkins, and possibly Taylor Lewan (very unlikely to fall) and Jake Matthews (more than unlikely).

Would you take Haha, Marquise Lee, Travis Swanson, or CK over Tuitt at 16?

Forget about holes, this team needs play makers and impact players in the draft. One of the reasons we went 8-8 is because our guys are declining (Rice, Suggs etc) we need to just get flat out play makers to improve this team.

I would take Marquise Lee over Truitt at 16/17. The Ravens need to improve the offense. I would not be at all surprised if Ozzie took a defensive player in the first round though. He seems to have a lot more confidence of being able to hit on defensive players as opposed to offensive players.

[LukeDaniel]

Good post, but with respect to the FS position, I like the idea of going out and signing a veteran stopgap much more than drafting a guy in the 2nd/3rd. Safety is an extremely weak position in this year's draft class. HaHa Clinton-Dix is the draft's top safety and to me he only grades out as a marginal 1st round guy at best, more like a 2nd rounder. The only safety prospect that really excites me this year is Lamarcus Joyner, who is basically a Tyrann Mathieu type CB/S hybrid, but I'm not sure where he projects this year.

My projected Ravens offseason "plan" would involve targeting a stop-gap type of FS to allow Elam to move back to SS. My top target would be Antoine Bethea from the Colts, who should be fairly cheaply acquired if he hits the market. My fallback option would be (gasp) Ryan Clark from Pittsburgh, who can still play but ought to be super-cheap.

I'd have a hard time ever stomach Clark in purple. I do totally agree with you about the FS position in this draft. It's not good. Last year was probably the best S draft class in NFL history with guys like Reid, Elam, Vacarro, Swearinger, Cyprien, S. Thomas, Rambo, and McDonald. I hate to toot my own horn, but I had us drafting both Elam and Rambo in our draft. I would have loved to see us develop two at the same time. Even when Rambo slid down the charts, the Ravens opted to draft Use-check ahead of him, which was puzzling for a team that seems willing to double dip if the value is there.

I think the Ravens getting ZILCHO out of Christian Thompson is going to set that position back a year or two sadly.