Grade Troy Smith

[darb72]

I blame the entire organization for the lack of talent drafted on the offensive side of the ball. To this day I don't know why we drafted Travis Taylor. You never, ever, EVER draft Florida WRs. They suck.

I wasn't a huge fan of drafting Jamal either since we had Priest Holmes at that time. He wound up being decent but Priest was a better all around RB in my opinion. And yes, I said that at the time we drafted Jamal.

Ozzie gets the majority of the blame for drafting because that's his job. Still part of the system.

[purplepoe]

I blame the entire organization for the lack of talent drafted on the offensive side of the ball. To this day I don't know why we drafted Travis Taylor. You never, ever, EVER draft Florida WRs. They suck.

I wasn't a huge fan of drafting Jamal either since we had Priest Holmes at that time. He wound up being decent but Priest was a better all around RB in my opinion. And yes, I said that at the time we drafted Jamal.

Ozzie gets the majority of the blame for drafting because that's his job. Still part of the system.

Im gonna respond to both of your posts on this one.

First and foremost I expected Troy Smith to struggle because it was his first start and he's a 5th round rookie. That coupled with it being a road game, at possibly the hardest stadium for a road to play in, along with the fact that our best receiving threat was sidelined again all add up to a no win situation.

But my point is Ozzie really doesn't get much blame.

Examples of that can be found on this very thread and throughout every Ravens messageboard and on every radio show etc...

You get the "Billick drafted Boller" stuff yet Ozzie gets credit for drafting Ed Reed.

Billick gets roasted for Taylor (not by you) and Ozzie gets praise for Suggs.

I think you are right in that we have a different view of our "system". I basically take it (because it seems like it's this way on the board) as our offense on the field. Meaning Billick's offense. You are encompassing the whole organization as the system. Understood now.

We all want this offense to be better.

Im of the belief that it's much more a talent issue than an issue of the offensive system.

Seems like that's a ridiculous notion to some.

But I'll stand by my statement that you need the horses to run the race. And this team has not had nearly enough good horses.

PP

[HoustonRaven]

Getting back on topic, I just watched the game recap on iTunes.

Troy has pretty strong fundamentals in the pocket. His drop and delivery is very smooth. The ball is always high (sometimes higher than his shoulder) and he thankfully doesnt have a huge wind up like some QB's have.

I didnt see anything spectacular from this kid for his first start, but seeing confidence behind center is refreshing. Now will someone PLEASE draft linemen to protect the kid!

[purplepoe]

Getting back on topic, I just watched the game recap on iTunes.

Troy has pretty strong fundamentals in the pocket. His drop and delivery is very smooth. The ball is always high (sometimes higher than his shoulder) and he thankfully doesnt have a huge wind up like some QB's have.

I didnt see anything spectacular from this kid for his first start, but seeing confidence behind center is refreshing. Now will someone PLEASE draft linemen to protect the kid!

I got news for ya.

We've already got most of the OL for the future already on the team.

What position do you want us to draft on the OL?

I could see us drafting later in the draft for depth, but I seriously doubt you'll see an OLineman taken before the 4th round.

JMO.

PP

[StingerNLG]

Imo, I think Troy Smith WAS a Breath of Fresh Air! I saw someone who looked 'comfortable' in the pocket (i.e. no 'happy' feet); sensed pressure; reacted instinctively; throws a 'nice' ball; and has a hell of a strong arm. Granted he made some mistakes; but, come on, this was his FIRST professional start against a playoff team. Yes, to me, Troy Smith demonstrated qualities that Steve McNair exhibited during most of last year.

6 points Joe. Six points, two should-have-been-picks, one fumble, one fumble exchange.

Six points.

Offense never ran a single play in the redzone.

Offense took almost an entire half to cross the 50 yard line.

That is some stenchy fresh air.

[StingerNLG]

Good lord.

I say that I would expect and 5th year QB (no matter what "system" he's been in) to perform a little better than 5th round rookie making his first start on the road vs playoff team and it turns into this.

Yes, it turns into this. Because you are making the same rediculous and unrealistic claim that the problem is the QB.

Most people who are looking at this from the big picture angle seem to be in total agreement. You seem to be somewhere else on this.

I get labled as someone who thinks Smith is the savior (when I've been clear that I don't think he should have made the team). And really, I don't need you insinuating that I can't see our offensive woes (i.e. smacked in the back of the head repeatedly). Spare me.

Except yes.....I do. Because you don't see it or understand it. And if the difference between 12 QB's playing in this system and the team not really going anywhere doesn't show you, then nothing will.

To you, let's just draft another QB. Sure, that's the answer. Just getting another QB seems to have worked all this time, hasn't it?

Why don't you spare me this time PP? In fact you can save that "Good Lord", and "Spare me" bullshit you roll out everytime someone doesn't lockstep agree with everything you say. I never claimed you said Smith was the savior.

I've never said a good QB is some magic bullet. But a good QB would damn sure help this team.

Some of you can act like that's a crazy thought.

No, you are wrong. The thought that we haven't had a good QB here is crazy.

But you will continue to believe that some Brady/Manning QB here would be the answer.

Sorry, but no part of the last 9 years would even begin to convince me that is true.



BTW, our offensive line is FAR from set for the future. Adam Terry seems to be a question mark now, and so is Chris Chester. And that doesn't even matter because no one knows if JO is really going to retire yet, and Mike Flynn seems to want to come back another year. This OL hasn't been "set" all year, and it's still in flux until the old men step off the field and let the young guys play. And it doesn't appear our "line of the future" is going to play this Sunday either, as they haven't the last few weeks.

[highwater]

I got news for ya. We've already got most of the OL for the future already on the team.

I agree. I think the attitude of the FO is probably "Hey, we've actually spent some high draft picks on offensive linemen, so now it's time to get them some experience and let them grow up." And if they do think that, they have a point -- they ignored the OL for several straight years, at least through the draft, but recently they have tried to address it. Now, whether or not these guys work out remains to be seen, but I would be very surprised if they drafted an OL guy on Day One.

Besides, we have needs at other positions too. And while the pass protection has been dismal this year, I'm not ready to say that it's because the players all suck. A lot of them are backups, they're inexperienced, and could get better. SHOULD get better.

And Merry Christmas, everyone.

[festivus]

No, you are wrong. The thought that we haven't had a good QB here is crazy.

I agree! We've *had* a good QB! Coincidentally (or not), it was the same year we had an effective passing attack, and won a playoff game!

It's no coincidence we had a decent passing attack with some quarterbacks (Grbac, for some time with McNair), and not with others.

I am a big fan of the men who have played QB here, with the exception of Jeff Blake, who was a jackass, but only a couple have been here with the right personnel set to be effective. Others have not had the tools to compensate for deficiencies on the OL, or in the receiving corps, or both. Or the deficiencies were so overwhelming *no* quarterback could have overcome them.

This is actually exactly why I don't blame Billick - at least, exclusively - for our offensive futility over the years. Because there *have* been times when we had a decent offense, when we had the tools in place. But that's a story for another thread.

[danzor123]

Smith goes 22/36 315 yds 3TD's 0 INT 6 carries 72 yds 1TD, Ravens win
31-14 everyone will be posting in the Troy Smith Hero thread!

[festivus]

Smith goes 22/36 315 yds 3TD's 0 INT 6 carries 72 yds 1TD, Ravens win
31-14 everyone will be posting in the Troy Smith Hero thread!

WTF indeed, Danzor.

Nobody is judging him besides you. We are being patient and grading on a performance by performance basis, hoping for the best all the time.

I hope your confidence in him is well placed.

[darb72]

Anybody else remember the Blake fan from the crayon forum? The one who became a Cardinals fan and shouted to the rooftops they would be in the Super Bowl after they signed him? Danzor reminds me a lot of that guy.

Not a fan of the team but of one player.

[crazyraven]

The system won a super bowl. I'm not about to throw the system under the bus when we have questionable talent at the qb over the course of Billick tenure here. Kyle Boller and Troy Smith right now these guys are so wet behind the ears its not even funny, we are a joke at QB, to deny this and blame the system, I feel, is ridiculous after coming off a 13-3 season with a QB who once was a league Co-MVP.

Mcnair was OK in my book last year and did what needed to be done, sure I was pissed after the that playoff game, but some of you need to stop pretending that last year didn't happen. The system was just fine last year up until the playoff game where everyone was crushed for weeks, heck some still haven't gotten over that game.


Is it all on the QB, heck no. The obvious has been stated over and over, there are certain things that still need to be fix. Even still we need a Qb our 2nd and 3rd string wont make anything happen if mcnair is out for a long period of time, and its unfortunate that we dont have depth at that position.

If this was game 2 of the year, you can bet your sweet ass that I would insist on Boller to start if Mcnair wasn't able to go, not Troy. But at this moment, Troy is what I want to see because this season is a mess. I still say he should have started against Miami, he moved the ball well when he was in. He did OK in Seattle as well, I didnt expect much, I hope you didn't. This has nothing to do with me not liking boller, its just getting to see Troy while we have the chance.

Its not gonna get any better for Troy considering that he will still be with out the services of Willis Mcgahee. At least the other two qbs had his services of a 1st string RB.

Darb is right when he says the FO has spent too many picks on one side of the ball. The defense was great for so many years and we always felt confident in them, well at least I did. The thing is the players that were on Offense had the tools to win if mistakes were kept to a minimum and our QB controlled the game establishing a running game early. I understand most don't like this approach but it IS what wins ball games. Billick has an impressive record with a 14 point lead, its something like 50-1. Is the system bad when this is the case?

I hope everyone is having a merry Christmas, I know I am. Christmas cheers to all the board members.