Gaither

[RavinDonnie]

Why on earth is he not wearing an "arm and hammer" patch? If anyone should have been at 85% of the off season workouts it's Gaither. Don't know how they can give him the job to lose with his growing legacy of laziness and indifference.

Why didn't he practice yesterday?

[UKRavenStockers]

Possibly because he's not a rookie or an injured veteran or a quarterback?

He's a veteran and thus won't report until today and have his physical tomorrow.

[RavinDonnie]

He reported yesterday. Lord knows he needs the work. He was probably late for his physical...or just blew it off.

[RavenScallywag]

I think you're jumping to conclusions pretty fast. Just because Gaither didn't make 85% or more of practices doesn't mean he's turning into a fat sack of crap or anything. None of the coaches have expressed fear or worry about Gaither being the starter this season, to the point that we didn't make a push to sign any vet OTs like Barry Sims. and like Stockers said, the only people there yesterday were rookies, injured vets, and QBs.

Cool it, let's see how he does in a practice or two before flunking the guy off the team

[deuce]

Gaither will be nasty this year. One of my positive predictions for '08.

[Jeremiah W]

I have a lot of confidence in Gaither as well. He has worked hard enough to win a starting job going into camp when everyone else on the O line got moved.

There is still a long way to go before he has to battle the Bungle pass rush, and though he will not have Suggs to slap around in practice, we have some guys on our defense that will be better than any one he will matchup with in the division.

There is no doubt about his physical ability. He passes the eyeball test with more than 85% certainty. 6-9 350, and they will be all over his boby fat index and nutrtional needs.

Unlike under Billick, he will not have the responsibility for generating self motivation. They know how important his position is, and as long as he shows progress over the potential I saw last year and as a freshman Terp, he will be a great NFL LT sooner than most people think.

Look at how Joe Thomas got established last year. I think he can be even better this year than he was last year.

[UKRavenStockers]

I have a lot of confidence in Gaither as well. He has worked hard enough to win a starting job going into camp when everyone else on the O line got moved.

There is still a long way to go before he has to battle the Bungle pass rush, and though he will not have Suggs to slap around in practice, we have some guys on our defense that will be better than any one he will matchup with in the division.

There is no doubt about his physical ability. He passes the eyeball test with more than 85% certainty. 6-9 350, and they will be all over his boby fat index and nutrtional needs.

Unlike under Billick, he will not have the responsibility for generating self motivation. They know how important his position is, and as long as he shows progress over the potential I saw last year and as a freshman Terp, he will be a great NFL LT sooner than most people think.

Look at how Joe Thomas got established last year. I think he can be even better this year than he was last year.

I agree with most of what you said except for the part in bold. Without Suggs in camp we don't have an edge rusher on this team who is in the calibre of either James Harrison or Kamerion Wimbley. He'll be tested by the blitzes that Rex draws up and having to identify his assignment in the same way that he'll have to work against the Steelers and the like, but he won't face an athletic pure pass rusher like Harrison or Wimbley in camp now that Suggs is seemingly a no show.

[RavenScallywag]

Pryce should be a pretty good challenge though...we've got a pretty seasoned front 7 (whether it's 3-4 or 4-3 config), with Ngata, Pryce, Gregg, Ray, Bart Scott...i think he'll at least shed some of that learning curve

[UKRavenStockers]

Pryce should be a pretty good challenge though...we've got a pretty seasoned front 7 (whether it's 3-4 or 4-3 config), with Ngata, Pryce, Gregg, Ray, Bart Scott...i think he'll at least shed some of that learning curve

This is true, Pryce would be a good test, but unless we're moving him out of position to test Gaither, he'll not face him in 7 on 7 drills, considering Pryce plays exclusively on the opposite side to Gaither. We've certainly got a great front 7 for him to test, I wasn't disputing that, but to say that he'll face better pass rush in camp than in divisional games is just a half mile off base.

[camdenyard]

Am I the only one who doesn't think he's earned the starting job yet?

[RavenScallywag]

Other than possibly Adam Terry, who else could potentially be a starting LT on this team? Terry has supposedly been better on the left side than on the right, but who's to say he's better than Gaither on the left?

Gaither has the ideal frame for the position and played pretty well as a rookie in limited time at LT. He's the favorite to start, so the job is his to lose by default.

[highwater]

Am I the only one who doesn't think he's earned the starting job yet?

No, you are not alone. I love Gaither's potential, but he hasn't really proven himself yet, IMHO. When the Ravens traded up to draft Adam Terry, it was with the idea that he would be Ogden's future replacement at LT. Why not give him a shot? At least have some competition at that spot. If Terry isn't up to it, then they can replace him with Gaither, but Terry should at least have a chance to fail.