Bills reportedly want Jared Gaither

**Jeremiah W** · 05-08-2010, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by effo5231

I feel like I've already deflated the myth of Priest in my earlier post. Yes he had two great seasons after he left us but his career overall post Baltimore averages out to be super mediocre.

But fine, lets look at Taylor too.

He's averaged 665 yards and 4 TDs after leaving. Awesome and all... but worth 3.5 million a year that the Vikes had to pay to get him? No... not even a little.

Ozzie looked at the numbers and knew that its stupid to pay Ferrari prices for a Volvo.

There are not a lot of great ones that got away or anything, but the Ravens free agents have not at all stunk in general compared to the NFL average.

**effo5231** · 05-08-2010, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by Jeremiah W

Ovie is a Nigerian Nightmare. He is a force at FB. Aubreyo Franklin was the 49rs franchise player. Casey Rabach has been solid for the Skins, Jason Brown is the man even for the lowly Rams.

And as a showed with Taylor... how many of those guys are worth the contracts their new teams gave them? Would YOU pay Aubreyo Franklin top 5 DT money to be on this team? Is Ovie worth the highest FB contract in history on a team with McClain? Why keep Casey when we have Jason Brown? Why keep Jason Brown when we can get Birk for a fraction of the cost?

Its not just about how well someone does when they leave (and seriously... when you have to cite Aubreyo Franklin as a success story, you're grasping at straws) its also about whether Oz paid the right prices. No one leaves this team and lives up to their contracts... Priest came closest but his leaving opened the door for Jamal.

**Jeremiah W** · 05-08-2010, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by effo5231

And as a showed with Taylor... how many of those guys are worth the contracts their new teams gave them? Would YOU pay Aubreyo Franklin top 5 DT money to be on this team? Is Ovie worth the highest FB contract in history on a team with McClain? Why keep Casey when we have Jason Brown? Why keep Jason Brown when we can get Birk for a fraction of the cost?

Its not just about how well someone does when they leave (and seriously... when you have to cite Aubreyo Franklin as a success story, you're grasping at straws) its also about whether Oz paid the right prices. No one leaves this team and lives up to their contracts... Priest came closest but his leaving opened the door for Jamal.

Wait, what are we arguing exactly? I brought up Franklin just because he is a former Raven and the 49rs franchised him not because they should have kept him. My point is there are plenty of good former Ravens thoughout the NFL. In fact they have most former players playing, or at least they did a few years ago. The highest % of draft picks who stay in the NFL at least the average length of time at one point recently I saw in an Ozzie article.

**jonboy79** · 05-08-2010, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by CRZA938

I agree in that if you look at their body of work last year that Gaither was the better left tackle, but I don't think you can discount the fact that Oher had to switch from right tackle to left tackle a quarter of the way through the season all while getting his bearings as a rookie. Keep in mind we are comparing someone who was in their 3rd year in the league to someone in their first.

Time will tell if the Ravens are making a wise move, but I think we can all agree they doing what they beleive is best for the team.

You very well may be right, but I hope you're wrong...

Even worse... is that I think I can discount that....

I thoguht Gaither was better, and will be better, because he is an INCREDIBLY LARGE MAN with INCREDIBLY LONG ARMS.
Oher has better footwork, is faster of the snap, plays with better leverage... has much better technique...

Yet the big, huge lazy mofo with sloppy technique kept his man further away from Joe on average.

IF anything, the gap widens if Gaither makes any progress.

I certainly hope I'm wrong, but I think Oher is already close to his "physical" ceiling. He has more to learn and should "whif" on missed assignmensts, and is likely to imrpove from a penalty aspect as well.

**jonboy79** · 05-08-2010, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by effo5231

The only place that Sundays are the only thing that matters is my Xbox.

Off the field stuff like the drug rumors (which the team would know about as facts and may be a significant factor in this equation) and the bad work ethic (evidenced by the gut Tony reported Gaither is lugging around right now and rumors that have dogged this guy since college) affect a player's value way more than how they perform over the course of any single season.

My point was in fact that I thoguht the coaching staff and FO were making these decisions based on "non-football" reasons. They too know that Gaither was and maybe even will be the better LT going forward, but that they are prepared to move on without him anyways. They are clearly not interested in whatever character problems he does in fact have

**effo5231** · 05-08-2010, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by Jeremiah W

Wait, what are we arguing exactly?

That no one leaves this team unless A. They're not good enough to keep. or B. The price of keeping them is out of whack with the value they'd provide to this franchise.

In other words, yes, a very small number of the guys we've let go have gone on to be decent players for other teams, but I can't think of a single one who we should have outbid their new team for.

So if Gaither leaves, its almost a metaphysical certainty that its because keeping him just plain isn't worth it. Either because of his likelihood or lack thereof to be an elite player, or because he's just not worth the salary if we're going to continue to have good depth.

**jonboy79** · 05-08-2010, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by effo5231

That no one leaves this team unless A. They're not good enough to keep. or B. The price of keeping them is out of whack with the value they'd provide to this franchise.

In other words, yes, a very small number of the guys we've let go have gone on to be decent players for other teams, but I can't think of a single one who we should have outbid their new team for.

So if Gaither leaves, its almost a metaphysical certainty that its because keeping him just plain isn't worth it. Either because of his likelihood or lack thereof to be an elite player, or because he's just not worth the salary if we're going to continue to have good depth.

Except that there is far to small a sample size to suggest making such sweeping generalizations.
I'll translate that for some of you. Until Gaither plays out his career, you can't make any assumptions. And even then, that doesn't directly compare what he "could have" done as a Raven.

**effo5231** · 05-08-2010, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by jonboy79

They are clearly not interested in whatever character problems he does in fact have

How do you figure? Either he's as good as you say he is and this staff has suddenly gone collectively retarded, or he's not as good as you say he is and they know damn well what they're doing, or he's as good as you say he is but his major character issues have a pretty good chance of impacting his ability to play to his potential.

In two of those 3 possibilities, jettisoning Gaither is the right move. In one, we have to assume Ozzie and Harbaugh have forgotten how to do their jobs.

Which is more likely?

**effo5231** · 05-08-2010, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by jonboy79

Until Gaither plays out his career, you can't make any assumptions.

Ozzie is going to have to make those assumptions when its time to pay the guy. Based on Ozzie's track record, I stand by my statement that if he does let Gaither go, its the right move.

JonBoy, name one player who we shouldn't have let leave this team. Seriously... now that I've shown you the stats are you still gonna argue that Priest was worth a long term deal? Even though keeping him would have kept Jamal off the field and over the course of their entire career's moving forward from the Priest/Baltimore split Jamal had the better career?

Seriously... one guy who we shouldn't have let walk and who lived up to his new deal, and who we didn't have an adequate replacement for.

**Sobo Domino** · 05-08-2010, 10:00 AM

Say we do trade Gaither away, then what will we do with the O-line?

**jonboy79** · 05-08-2010, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by effo5231

How do you figure? Either he's as good as you say he is and this staff has suddenly gone collectively retarded, or he's not as good as you say he is and they know damn well what they're doing, or he's as good as you say he is but his major character issues have a pretty good chance of impacting his ability to play to his potential.

In two of those 3 possibilities, jettisoning Gaither is the right move. In one, we have to assume Ozzie and Harbaugh have forgotten how to do their jobs.

Which is more likely?

IT's character issues. I've seen him play enough and stand by my evaluation. He is a goot LT. This isn't about Sundays.

**jonboy79** · 05-08-2010, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by Sobo Domino

Say we do trade Gaither away, then what will we do with the O-line?

Pray?
Right now, my hopes are that Ramon is ready to go. Any other solutiond is pretty putrid, and at least I haven't seem him stink it up, so I can hope he is adequate..
I don't have faith that Cousins can ever become and NFL OT.
Yanda is fine for short stretches, but I'd rather not go 16 games with Him and Chester starting alongside eachother with no depth....