Rookie Camp Observations

**houstonravensfan** · 05-14-2012, 12:53 AM

No offense meant to anyone, but I see a lot (2 words) of wishful thinking re: LT. Oher had a chance and did not excel. Reid has been judged a pure RT by people who evaluate players for a living. And those same professionals call KO a G playing out of position at LT.

**AirFlacco** · 05-14-2012, 02:51 AM

Originally Posted by Iscull

I know Im biased, but I absolutely hate McKinnie being on the roster. He gives absolutely no effort. He is wasting a great opportunity, hence my statement that he shouldn't be in the league.

You must have missed the first game vs Pissburgh where he destroyed
Harrison. One poster in the forum has a pic of him on all his posts throwing
him down. Harrison fared better in the re-match but McKinney still held his own.

Hate to think what would have happened w/o him.

**RavenScallywag** · 05-14-2012, 06:06 AM

Some para-phrased notes from my #1 source of Ravens info...Mr Aaron Wilson, via Twitter...

Upshaw - Knows he needs to work on drop back coverage, plans to shed a few pounds before TC. Harbaugh made comments on Upshaw, but nothing earth shattering, thinks he's off to a good start (My take: Why would he say he's not off to a good start?)

Thompson - Harbaugh made comments which like Upshaw, were nothing earth shattering, just said he had a good weekend

K Justin Tucker- Will be the sole competition with Cundiff for the job. Harbaugh said he saw him make a 60 yarder this weekend, had a really good camp (anyone noticing a pattern here, lol)

Streeter - (Interviews with him show he's got a fair amount of confidence, says he feels like he creates a mismatch in redzone and jump ball situations, it's "rare you can find a guy who runs the way i can"). Harbaugh said his top 3 impressions on Streeter, in order: 1. He's really tall, 2. He's really fast, 3. He's going to be a good player

KO - "I played very little left tackle, just to fill in. Pretty much guard is where I'll be playing."

WR Deonte Thompson - Had a really good performance on Sunday. Speed is "eye-catching", caught the ball fairly well too.

**Iscull** · 05-14-2012, 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by AirFlacco

You must have missed the first game vs Pissburgh where he destroyed
Harrison. One poster in the forum has a pic of him on all his posts throwing
him down. Harrison fared better in the re-match but McKinney still held his own.

Hate to think what would have happened w/o him.

It's easy to see what would happen without him if you watched the remaining 15 games of the season and the playoffs...

**AirFlacco** · 05-14-2012, 08:01 AM

There's always Oher at LT.

**JAB1985** · 05-14-2012, 08:11 AM

Originally Posted by Iscull

I would much rather have him stay at a position where he can become dominant without position change.

2012/2013 O-Line:
McKinnie - Osemele - Birk - Yanda - Oher

2013/2014 O-Line:
Oher - Osemele - Gradkowski - Yanda - Reid

I honestly believe this would be the best option. I know Oher's contract is up after this year, but I trust him much more than any possible available Vet FA. This all depends if they can re-sign him for a decent contract. He knows the system, has played that position before, and works hard. It can't be any worse than McKinnie... With that said, we still need to draft a future LT in next year's draft. I really want Osemele to be our guy at LG.

This might end up being reality but id rather wait and hope some vet LT becomes available again. Oher just isnt an NFL LT, if hes our best option im alright with it, but i wont be ecstatic about it. Really im with LEACH, my hopes are that Reid surprises and becomes a viable option at LT. Its worth giving him a shot than Oher whos already proved unable imo, if it comes down to that.

McKinnie may be that vet LT thats available besides personal opinions. He still fared better than Oher as a whole and is young enough to man the position for a few more years. in a contract year (buyer beware) i expect him to have a solid season, in which he may get a fair deal, maybe from us, as we look for a future LT and possibly let Oher go. I think the writing is on the wall for Oher personally, unless he takes a team friendly deal, as the team is high on Reid an obviously uncomfortable with Oher at LT or we wouldnt have McKinnie in the first place.

**NC Raven** · 05-14-2012, 08:14 AM

There were two other players they brought in as UDFA who have played LT at some point -- McCullough out of Alabama and Carman (?) from one of the Mississippi schools.

Anything on either of them? Carman I've seen listed anywhere from 6'3" to 6'7" and from 305 to 330 pounds. Obviously some of those numbers must be wrong. But he had played both LT and DT in college, after coming in as as Top 10 JC player (according to Phil Steele's guide). Curious what they will do with him. Or even if he/they are actually in camp -- I know some of these UDFA deals are kinda fluid, and you hear we sign a guy, and the next thing you know he's in Miami or whatever.

Good to hear about Deonte Thompson -- brings some unique, Chris Johnson type speed (at least he was clocked at 4.22 (ALLEGEDLY) in college, again per last years Phil Steele guide. He's a guy who could be used multiple ways by a talented, intelligent offensive coordinator so hopefully we can keep him on the PS a year or two until we hire one!

**AirFlacco** · 05-14-2012, 08:14 AM

That's a lot of posters worse fears - Oher back to LT and Ozzie seems hell bent on doing
it.

BTW, Joe was sacked 9 less times than 2010 with McKinnie at LT & Oher at RT.
Total Sacks last 3 years = 36, 40, 31.

2009 Baltimore 16 88.9 315 499 63.1 3613 225.8 7.2 21 12 35 56 3.5 1.6 0 36 218 8 2
2010 Baltimore 16 93.6 306 489 62.6 3622 226.4 7.4 25 10 43 84 5.3 2.0 1 40 294 9 4
2011 Baltimore 16 80.9 312 542 57.6 3610 225.6 6.7 20 12 39 88 5.5 2.3 1 31 203 11 6
Career Totals (Full) 64 86.0 1190 1958 60.8 13816 215.9 7.1 80 46 169 408 6.4 2.4 4 139 991 39 14

**Flipping Birdie** · 05-14-2012, 08:22 AM

Originally Posted by houstonravensfan

No offense meant to anyone, but I see a lot (2 words) of wishful thinking re: LT. Oher had a chance and did not excel. Reid has been judged a pure RT by people who evaluate players for a living. And those same professionals call KO a G playing out of position at LT.

:word Hoping all the evaluators are dead wrong about Reid is a losing bet. Not that it isn't impossible, it's just less likely than Osemele being a good fit for LT; and that apparently isn't ideal either.

**JAB1985** · 05-14-2012, 08:27 AM

was Nick Jean-Baptiste there? A lot of guys seem high on him, including DeCosta. Im interested if he can take over for brandon mckinney, which i assume they were hoping DeAngelo Tyson would be better for since he was actually drafted.

**NC Raven** · 05-14-2012, 08:29 AM

Also curious about how these guys did, since they play positions where we are looking for depth:

Chyl Quarles (safety)

IshMailly Kitchin (DT)

**wickedsolo** · 05-14-2012, 08:35 AM

Originally Posted by AirFlacco

That's a lot of posters worse fears - Oher back to LT and Ozzie seems hell bent on doing
it.

BTW, Joe was sacked 9 less times than 2010 with McKinnie at LT & Oher at RT.
Total Sacks last 3 years = 36, 40, 31.

2009 Baltimore 16 88.9 315 499 63.1 3613 225.8 7.2 21 12 35 56 3.5 1.6 0 36 218 8 2
2010 Baltimore 16 93.6 306 489 62.6 3622 226.4 7.4 25 10 43 84 5.3 2.0 1 40 294 9 4
2011 Baltimore 16 80.9 312 542 57.6 3610 225.6 6.7 20 12 39 88 5.5 2.3 1 31 203 11 6
Career Totals (Full) 64 86.0 1190 1958 60.8 13816 215.9 7.1 80 46 169 408 6.4 2.4 4 139 991 39 14

Not that I'm saying that McKinnie/Oher aren't a better OT combo than the previous year, but something that I think a lot of folks don't take into consideration is how much better Joe got at getting the ball out quicker and his pocket presence was tremendously better this past season. Rather than sitting back in the pocket, he moved around a lot and stepped up into the pocket a lot more, which helps the tackles out tremendously.

Secondly, in 2010 they had Yanda at RT with Cousins working in and Chester at guard. Just moving Yanda back to RG was a big reason for the drop in sacks.

At the end of the day, I think they'll let Jah compete for the LT position (or back up) this year and compete for the starting LT spot next year, but as of right now I don't see the future LT on this team. Jah has the length, but not the technique and has been a career RT. Obviously stranger things have happened and I'm not saying that he can't or won't make that transition, but the odds are against him. I think KO could compete for the LT gig, but again, he just doesn't have the quick feet to really be a perimeter player. I think he'll be a pro-bowl caliber guard though. He's massive, mean, and strong. He's an ideal guard to go against guys like Casey Hampton and Vince Wilfork.

It will be interesting to see what they do, but I honestly think that if they want a LT who can legitimately play and grow as a LT for the future (Oher ain't it guys, sorry) then they're going to have to draft one and they're likely going to have to move up to draft one. I think they missed out on some opportunities to get Nate Potter and/or Andrew Datko this past draft, but what are you gonna do?

2013 potential LT's:
Barrett Jones, Alabama, 6'5" 311lbs (actually playing center for the Tide this season, but has played every position on the OL)
Oday Abushi, UVA, 6'6" 310lbs
Chris Faulk, LSU, 6'6" 320lbs
Jake Matthews, Texas A&M, 6'5" 305lbs
Seantrel Henderson, Miami, 6'8" 330lbs
Justin Pugh, Syracuse, 6'6" 300lbs
Tanner Hawkinson, Kansas, 6'6" 307lbs