Signed Guard Bobbie Williams To A Two Year Deal

[Carey]

Good signing, forceful run blocker, if he's healthy and can work himself into shape in camp i think he could possibly beat out KO at LG year one, at the least be solid depth and bring some more force on the goalline.

[LukeDaniel]

Yeah Silatulo was a D2 guy who played tackle, he has immense athleticism and upside, but you can never really tell if it's going to translate from D2 to the pros. I would take the more proven Osemele any day of the week, he is actually bigger too, but I can see why a team would want Silatulo, not taking anything away from him, I was even kind of hoping the Ravens would draft him had we traded down prior to the draft (this was assuming that Upshaw and Cordy Glenn where both off the board which I thought they would have been!)

I'll take Osemele any day of the week too.

There is no guarantee that, once your project "gets it" in year 3, that he is going to stay with your franchise when free agency hits after year 4. Drafting projects is fine in round 5, but in round two, I think taking Silotulo over Osemele was a mistake (one I'm happy to have seen made). There are no redishirts in the NFL. A player has 64 games under your control. In Round two every year, you should be drafting instant starters. At a minimum, you should be getting players who can operate as your #3WR, nickleback, pass-coverage LB, 3rd down pass rusher, etc. Perhaps Silatulo starts in year one. Perhaps he's not ready to until year #3. Perhaps he's a Pro Bowl LG by year two. You just don't know.

Even if Silatulo projects to be a better player than Osemele by 2014, I'll stick with the player who gives me an immediate return and a more projectable future. I prefer safe investments.

[leachisabeast]

Good signing, forceful run blocker, if he's healthy and can work himself into shape in camp i think he could possibly beat out KO at LG year one, at the least be solid depth and bring some more force on the goalline.

Try and get Yanda to snap the ball at center on short distance plays, so you have an interior line of KO, Yanda, and Bobbie. It's not going to happen, but is just another crazy thought of mine in the off season haha.

[leachisabeast]

I'll take Osemele any day of the week too.

There is no guarantee that, once your project "gets it" in year 3, that he is going to stay with your franchise when free agency hits after year 4. Drafting projects is fine in round 5, but in round two, I think taking Silotulo over Osemele was a mistake (one I'm happy to have seen made). There are no redishirts in the NFL. A player has 64 games under your control. In Round two every year, you should be drafting instant starters. At a minimum, you should be getting players who can operate as your #3WR, nickleback, pass-coverage LB, 3rd down pass rusher, etc. Perhaps Silatulo starts in year one. Perhaps he's not ready to until year #3. Perhaps he's a Pro Bowl LG by year two. You just don't know.

Even if Silatulo projects to be a better player than Osemele by 2014, I'll stick with the player who gives me an immediate return and a more projectable future. I prefer safe investments.

Good point, I think it's even more important when you are using high round picks on positions like guard. Guard is a position you kind of expect immediate impact from sometimes even in the fourth round, the Eagles started a 7th round rookie center all of the 2011 season for example. The ONLY time you draft a "project" in the first to second rounds these days, is when it's a QB and maybe a pass rusher.

[LukeDaniel]

I was hoping Justin Boren would make the roster

Looks like another year on the practice squad is likely now

Possibly, but not guaranteed. He is the #9 or #10 O-lineman right now, depending on how you view him in comparison to Harewood. The Ravens have carried 9 O-linemen into the season roughly about half of the time. If the Ravens wave the white flag on Harewood, Boren has a decent shot of making the team. If anything happens to Birks, KO, GG, Williams, or Yanda in the preseason, Boren goes up to a very good shot of making the team.

As I see it now, barring injuries, here is how I see our opening week roster.


QB(2)- Flacco, Taylor
RB(3)- Rice, Pierce, Allen/Berry/Rainey
FB(1)- Leach
WR(6)- Boldin, Smith, Doss, Jones, L. Williams, Streeter
TE (3)- Pitta, Dickson, Drew
Oline (9)- McKinnie, Williams, Birk, Yanda, Oher, Reid, Osemele, Gradkowski, Boren
ST (3)- Cundiff, Koch, Cox
Dline (6)- Ngata, Jones, Cody, McPhee, Hall/Jean-Baptiste/Tyson (two of that trio)
LB(9) - Lewis, McClain, Upshaw, Kruger, Ayanbadejo, McClelland, Ellerbe, Bynes, Kindle,
CB (7)- Webb, Williams, Smith, Graham, Gorrer, Asa Jackson, Brown
S(4)- Reed, Pollard, Considine, Thompson

In looking at the roster right now from my perspective, you have to think that those last 3 spots are going to come down to a competition between the quintent of Chykie Brown, Boren, Emmanuel Cook, Josh Bynes, and Chavis Williams. Boren is the only one on that list who can't play special teams, which certainly hurts him. However, aside from mayyyybe Josh Bynes, he's probably the only one on that list of five who has a real value from scrimmage for this team. It's a crap shoot at this point, but If I'm Boren, I'm far from discouraged. He has a far better shot at making this team out of training camp this year than he did as a rookie.

BTW, here are four other players who won't be on the opening day roster.

PUP- Suggs, D. Reed
IR- McAdoo
Suspended/Restricted- McBean

[wickedsolo]

I think Deonte Thompson may make the squad. Nigel Carr may as well.

[leachisabeast]

If to comes down to Harewood vs Boren, I'm taking Boren. I know that you need tackle depth, but we have Jah Reid, and Yanda or Osemele could step in at tackle in an emergency.

[wickedsolo]

Is Harewood even healthy enough to play?

[LukeDaniel]

If to comes down to Harewood vs Boren, I'm taking Boren. I know that you need tackle depth, but we have Jah Reid, and Yanda or Osemele could step in at tackle in an emergency.

I take Boren too, for the same reason that I'd take Osemele over Silatulo (say that ten times fast). A bird in hand....

Boren might never be anything more than a solid reserve/spot starter, but I think he is far closer to solidifying that role with the Ravens than Harewood is from proving himself in any capacity. Besides, if Harewood somehow makes the Ravens in 2012 and by some miracle becomes a starter in 2013, he's going to get a stupid offer from another team that offseason that is far beyond his true worth. Boren is under team control for a year longer too. It's not unrealistic to think that he could be a starter along with Osemele and Gradkowski by 2013, at which point we have two years to evaluate him for a longer-termed contract.

[LukeDaniel]

BTW, Kudos to the Ravens front office on overhauling this O-line.

Last year, we had no real backup for Grubbs, Yanda, or McKinnie. This year, we have a great mix of experience and youth.

All five starters have at least 3 years of starts under their belt. Oher (48). Yanda (58). Williams (130). McKinnie (147). Birk (171).

Nobody is playing out of position.

All five starters have a talented young draft pick behind them.

McKinnie-Osemele
Oher-Reid
Birk-Gradkowski
Yanda/Williams- Osemele or Gradkowski

It's a great mix.

[lobachevsky]

Nobody is playing out of position.

Now wait a minute. IIRC Williams plays right guard, not left. Wasn't Gurode in the same situation last year? & didn't it take him a few weeks before he settled in at LG?

[leachisabeast]

Now wait a minute. IIRC Williams plays right guard, not left. Wasn't Gurode in the same situation last year? & didn't it take him a few weeks before he settled in at LG?

There isn't much difference from right to left guard, center to either guard positions is what the big transition is. The only time it becomes a problem is when you have a rookie who played right guard all through his college career and never played left guard, however an 11 year veteran who has played both left and right guard, there shouldn't be a problem with it.