Brown:"Ravens will continue to struggle on offense"

**highwater** · 02-28-2009, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by UKRavenStockers

He's a good, versatile player on the interior who's worth keeping at the right price but he's not elite, he was getting there at guard but at centre his performances took a sizeable step backwards.

You could say the same thing about Chester, unfortunately -- he's much better at guard than he is at center.

I thought Brown was pretty solid at center, but not worth the money the Rams threw at him. So I guess we'll give Chester a shot, but center is not his best position, IMO.

**UKRavenStockers** · 02-28-2009, 12:25 PM

Brown's a better player than Chester at centre, no doubt, he's better at guard too. Brown's biggest strength IMO was his pass pro, gave up very little in terms of push up the middle be it pressures, hits or sacks. Chester I worry about his ability to anchor against a bull rush when someone lines up against him at centre. I guess we'll find out but I think/hope we draft one of the top two or three centres in the draft be it Mack, Unger or Wood.

**Dabruise** · 02-28-2009, 10:37 PM

We'll see. But that's the problem. We're going into another season unsettled at OL. As has been said often, the OL is an organism more than any other unit. It is simply not easy to interchange parts and maintain a high performance level.

Maybe Yanda WILL be good/better at guard, MAYBE Chester WILL BE adequate at center. But last year for the first time since the first few years the Ravens were here, there was a feeling of security with the line play. I'm saying that Chester was a huge part of that. More than he got credit for, more than folks here seem to realize and more than Ozzie seems to respect. The cohesiveness of that unit, the leadership, attitude, football smarts and line calls, coupled with his ability were worth an extra $1M/year.

It's not that they have a problem with being perceived as overpaying. We're seeking to overpay Ray by many multiples of that.

Brown's right. The Ravens chose $1M savings over the possibility of compromising their offensive production!!

**sdeclue** · 03-01-2009, 10:57 AM

Just sour grapes from Brown. Not paying him a ridiculously high contract isn't a sign we don't want to be good offensively. I will say it was a huge mistake not to lock him up last year though.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1089-Balti...igns-with-Rams

**festivus** · 03-01-2009, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by sdeclue

Just sour grapes from Brown. Not paying him a ridiculously high contract isn't a sign we don't want to be good offensively. I will say it was a huge mistake not to lock him up last year though.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1089-Balti...igns-with-Rams

With what money last year, Steve? I mean, I don't have a column or anything, but wouldn't locking him up last year - *if* he had wanted to be "locked" - meant paying him for a long term contract as a *guard*? Before a season in which he was called upon to play center? And as I recall, we did not exactly have extra dough in the petty cash box last off season...