Deonte Thompson

[Shas]

haha, not much of a fan Shas?

It's a little bit of an inside joke. A couple months ago I was on here predicting Streeter would likely end up on the practice squad. I was killed. You'd think I had suggested that Torrey Smith should get cut. It was politely explained to me that Streeter was way too talented to risk that kind of move and some other team would surely swoop in and grab him and give him a spot on their 53-man roster.

My counter argument went like this...

Learning curve. The NFL transition grinds up a lot of talented college receivers. It may be the most demanding position in football, along with playing QB, in terms of physical and mental demands. When scouts talk about route running being an issue, it's a much bigger topic than it sounds, which involves knowing how to read defenses and making instant adjustments, as much as it involves technique.

The counter to this that I heard was that Streeter would be a redzone threat who only needed to use his height to be effective. The counter to that that I gave back was a couple of cases in point: Randy Hymes and Clarence Moore.

So I'm not doubting that Streeter has talent. I'm just doubting that it will be well enough developed this year. The practice squad was made for guys like him. And I also think fans forget just how many of these potential-gem wide receivers litter NFL rosters. Teams are busy fantasizing about their own dark-horse WR candidates to bother poaching the Ravens' guy. There were 32 wide receivers drafted, 26 if them taken before Streeter. There were also 83 UDFA wide receivers signed by NFL teams, and I wouldn't rate their value much lower than a seventh round pick in most cases -- as evidenced by Deonte's showing.

For Streeter to beat the odds -- and remember, the Ravens have only had one seventh round pick ever make the roster in their history, Anthony Allen last year -- he'd have to make a really big showing. If he does that, I'll be wrong. But if he doesn't blow up in the preseason, and the team want's to put him on the taxi squad, then other NFL teams won't have seen enough in the preseason to warrant using a roster spot on him. So I just don't see how poaching him off the practice squad will be a likely outcome.

Roster spots / competition. The Ravens only carried five receivers most of the year (and usually only activated four). I think Streeter is on the wrong side of a numbers game, barring injury. We know that Torrey and Anquan are starters. They didn't give Jacoby all that money for nothing. He makes it. Of the remaining guys, I still believe they are going to Tandon a chance to compete. Now you're down to the fifth receiver on the roster. My point of view is that anybody who expects to fill a fifth, god forbid sixth, spot on the depth chart damn well be a good special teams contributor. Enter LaQuann. There's my five.

I argued that Streeter is not likely to end up being a special teams contributor based on his physical attributes and college career. I was told that this is too big an assumption on my part. But we're going on gut instinct here regardless, without the benefit of training camp yet, so I'll stick with my gut. The likelihood, to me, is that a third tight end, or extra DB -- Harbaugh loves extra DBs, and has said as much -- is more likely to take one of the last couple of roster spots when final cuts are announced, rather than a sixth WR who doesn't play special teams.

Plus, I'm still looking at David Reed likely being the next-most valuable guy, realizing he'll likely be on the PUP list to start the season. They'll be more likely to carry five WRs, knowing he'll be ready to come back and take a spot later in the year.

And yes, I do think that Reed is still thought of as a valuable asset despite his very obvious blunders, and the many folks here who have already written him off. The chances of needing a return guy later in the year are high, IMHO. If the team was ready to write him off, he would have already gotten an injury settlement.

[Shas]

Streeter has a better upside... Bc

I can't say which player has more upside. I am still hopeful about Harewood.

Regardless. I'm fine saying that Streeter has a ton of upside. But I will counter by saying that he has very little now-side to offer, and therefore you put him on the practice squad, which is exactly where upside players are supposed to develop.

I think I've already addressed this question of whether is it "too risky" to try and put him on the practice squad.

[Shas]

Originally Posted by wickedsolo
... they could force out Tommy Streeter.



Ramon Harewood (OT - 6th round draft choice in 2010) is still with the Ravens (in a manner of speaking). IMO Streeter has a better upside... Bc

And hey, we've already established that you rank Harewood pretty low -- you won the argument that Justin Boren has a better chance of making the team. You can't keep going back to Harewood's ineptitude to make the case about how much better some other guy is. After a while, it only proves that Harewood stinks. ;)

[Iscull]

it just makes sense. Hes not going to be 100%. I dont know of a guy that came back and looked the same as he did pre-injury the year after. Hoping he makes a full recovery and counting on him to be 100% would be foolish imo.

Looking at the secondary is interesting not to hijack the thread. They carried 6 Cbs 4 S and 6 Wrs... assuming we carry the same. Webb Williams Smith Gorrer Graham Jackson Brown C Thompson Reed considine Pollard Cook Boldin Smith Jones Doss Reed Williams D Thompson Streeter. I can easily see Streeter and Thompson both hopping Williams though. Take the top 16 what are you left with? Tough call for me because i dont want to lose any promising young players on either side of the ball but to me it makes more sense to lose a WR. Thats assuming we carry the same which maybe we dont.

I can't really see Streeter and Thompson taking Laquan's spot. He already has a year under Cam's system and some chemistry with Flacco. On the other hand, as Wicked brought up, Reed could easily lose his spot. An injury settlement would be the best option. It wasn't like he showed much on the field besides being an extremely fragile KR who had one good season.

IMHO, I can see our WR core as follows:

Smith, Boldin, Jones, Williams, Doss, Thompson/Streeter

Between Thompson or Streeter, whoever gets a hangnail first will be placed on the IR (aka redshirt season). I'd be willing to go with Streeter b/c he is a little too raw.

[Iscull]

Great post about Streeter Shas. Although, I have the biggest feeling that if we were to put Streeter on the PS, Tampa or Miami would snatch him. My reasoning isn't just b/c he went to the U, but also that Tampa has given guys ridiculous contracts to sign away guys from other PS's (Dezmon Briscoe). Also, I could see Streeter being a guy Schiano would want due to his work ethic, run blocking ability, and mere talent. As for Miami, they really have nothing at receiver so it was just some speculation.

[JAB1985]

It's a little bit of an inside joke. A couple months ago I was on here predicting Streeter would likely end up on the practice squad. I was killed. You'd think I had suggested that Torrey Smith should get cut. It was politely explained to me that Streeter was way too talented to risk that kind of move and some other team would surely swoop in and grab him and give him a spot on their 53-man roster.

My counter argument went like this...

Learning curve. The NFL transition grinds up a lot of talented college receivers. It may be the most demanding position in football, along with playing QB, in terms of physical and mental demands. When scouts talk about route running being an issue, it's a much bigger topic than it sounds, which involves knowing how to read defenses and making instant adjustments, as much as it involves technique.

The counter to this that I heard was that Streeter would be a redzone threat who only needed to use his height to be effective. The counter to that that I gave back was a couple of cases in point: Randy Hymes and Clarence Moore.

So I'm not doubting that Streeter has talent. I'm just doubting that it will be well enough developed this year. The practice squad was made for guys like him. And I also think fans forget just how many of these potential-gem wide receivers litter NFL rosters. Teams are busy fantasizing about their own dark-horse WR candidates to bother poaching the Ravens' guy. There were 32 wide receivers drafted, 26 if them taken before Streeter. There were also 83 UDFA wide receivers signed by NFL teams, and I wouldn't rate their value much lower than a seventh round pick in most cases -- as evidenced by Deonte's showing.

For Streeter to beat the odds -- and remember, the Ravens have only had one seventh round pick ever make the roster in their history, Anthony Allen last year -- he'd have to make a really big showing. If he does that, I'll be wrong. But if he doesn't blow up in the preseason, and the team want's to put him on the taxi squad, then other NFL teams won't have seen enough in the preseason to warrant using a roster spot on him. So I just don't see how poaching him off the practice squad will be a likely outcome.

Roster spots / competition. The Ravens only carried five receivers most of the year (and usually only activated four). I think Streeter is on the wrong side of a numbers game, barring injury. We know that Torrey and Anquan are starters. They didn't give Jacoby all that money for nothing. He makes it. Of the remaining guys, I still believe they are going to Tandon a chance to compete. Now you're down to the fifth receiver on the roster. My point of view is that anybody who expects to fill a fifth, god forbid sixth, spot on the depth chart damn well be a good special teams contributor. Enter LaQuann. There's my five.

I argued that Streeter is not likely to end up being a special teams contributor based on his physical attributes and college career. I was told that this is too big an assumption on my part. But we're going on gut instinct here regardless, without the benefit of training camp yet, so I'll stick with my gut. The likelihood, to me, is that a third tight end, or extra DB -- Harbaugh loves extra DBs, and has said as much -- is more likely to take one of the last couple of roster spots when final cuts are announced, rather than a sixth WR who doesn't play special teams.

Plus, I'm still looking at David Reed likely being the next-most valuable guy, realizing he'll likely be on the PUP list to start the season. They'll be more likely to carry five WRs, knowing he'll be ready to come back and take a spot later in the year.

And yes, I do think that Reed is still thought of as a valuable asset despite his very obvious blunders, and the many folks here who have already written him off. The chances of needing a return guy later in the year are high, IMHO. If the team was ready to write him off, he would have already gotten an injury settlement.

I see. Cant say i disagree with you much (although Boldin Smith Evans Doss Reed Williams, means they carried 6 not 5 last year, 2 rosters spots vs 1 is a world of difference for him and still could be). even though id hate the thought of losing a guy with such high potential. If hes not good enough to make the roster hes not good enough, but if hes a fringe player id hope his upside has some value, much like McAdoos did so they keep him over a similar talent and stash him for a year, at least. Without TC its hard to come to an opinion, because i doubt many of us though Thompson would be in the argument at this point either.

I can't really see Streeter and Thompson taking Laquan's spot. He already has a year under Cam's system and some chemistry with Flacco. On the other hand, as Wicked brought up, Reed could easily lose his spot. An injury settlement would be the best option. It wasn't like he showed much on the field besides being an extremely fragile KR who had one good season.

IMHO, I can see our WR core as follows:

Smith, Boldin, Jones, Williams, Doss, Thompson/Streeter

Between Thompson or Streeter, whoever gets a hangnail first will be placed on the IR (aka redshirt season). I'd be willing to go with Streeter b/c he is a little too raw.

I think thats a fair assessment at the moment. Thompson and streeter are on pretty equal ground. Williams really showed his worth on STs, and thats where his value is, although he is improving at WR. Hes still not much of a WR yet in all honesty so I could see him getting beat out that way if we carry more DBs to be Gunners/returners, which is possible with Jones (wr) Graham Considine and Jackson being brought on. We might not value a low prospect WR as a ST player over another with higher WR potential. Who knows though?

[BcRaven]

And hey, we've already established that you rank Harewood pretty low -- you won the argument that Justin Boren has a better chance of making the team. You can't keep going back to Harewood's ineptitude to make the case about how much better some other guy is. After a while, it only proves that Harewood stinks. ;)

LOL Shas, I'll keep using Harewood as a tool to back-up my position until he's released. Ozzie, please keep him for one more year so I can look like I know what I'm talking about :D ... Bc

[Shas]

I Boldin Smith Evans Doss Reed Williams, means they carried 6 not 5 last year, 2 rosters spots vs 1 is a world of difference for him and still could be

True about six, but with a caveat. Reed and Williams made the roster as special teams contributors, really, and so before we count on a sixth WR you have to consider the possibility that this spot goes to any number of other positions (LB, DB, RB, TE, etc) if they find a better special teams contributor than what a guy like Streeter can offer.

And more to your point, I feel like they were semi-forced to carry an extra WR due to some issues with availability of Reed and Evans. Reed had the suspension and then the shoulder injury he nursed early, while Evans nursed a foot for a good number of weeks. I get the feeling that one or the other were completely healthy and contributing all year long -- like they hope to get from Jacoby this year -- then they would not have needed to carry six.

So, in short, I think Streeter's best hope is if they run into some injury issues with other players.

[JAB1985]

True about six, but with a caveat. Reed and Williams made the roster as special teams contributors, really, and so before we count on a sixth WR you have to consider the possibility that this spot goes to any number of other positions (LB, DB, RB, TE, etc) if they find a better special teams contributor than what a guy like Streeter can offer.

And more to your point, I feel like they were semi-forced to carry an extra WR due to some issues with availability of Reed and Evans. Reed had the suspension and then the shoulder injury he nursed early, while Evans nursed a foot for a good number of weeks. I get the feeling that one or the other were completely healthy and contributing all year long -- like they hope to get from Jacoby this year -- then they would not have needed to carry six.

So, in short, I think Streeter's best hope is if they run into some injury issues with other players.

I agree with that, which is what i was trying to point out. I think its more likely we get STs help from out DBs this year more so than more WR depth. We seems to need DBs more in recent years so having more is better for the team than more WRs. Im sure with as inconsistent as hes been showing, if hes still got issues in pre season, hell be safe to make the PS as opposed to a roster all year (unless a desperate team like the dolphons snatch him up). Harper had similar height and ability, slightly slower, and nobody was lining up to take him off our PS either.

[Shas]

Harper had similar height and ability, slightly slower, and nobody was lining up to take him off our PS either.

Harper is a very good comparison. He might not even be slower than Streeter. Harper ran an official 4.5 40 time, but was supposedly clocked at 4.3 at a pro day. And he regularly got behind the Ravens secondary in practice -- that was a regular news story during the four years he was here (he was signed to play in the CFL this year). Both were seventh round picks -- Harper just 8 picks later than Haruki Nakamura in 2008. The rub on Harper was that he dropped too many balls in practice.

Streeter ran a 4.4 40 time at the combine and I think was expected to post a faster time...which is why he fell. And we've already seen some OTA reports about him having trouble with catches.

Although, Harper played for four years at VT and was the third best WR on that team, behind Eddie Royal and Josh Morgan, whereas Streeter let the ACC in yards/catch as a junior. So I totally see the argument that Streeter has more upside. Although I also know that he didn't have any numbers to recommend him until his junior year. You like guys who put up a couple seasons at least of consistent numbers. When I read about his decision to go pro, and a strange meeting he had had with Al Golden after his season, I just get the feeling that he was a good kid who kinda got pushed into coming out early and would have really benefited from some more growing up time.

At the same time, I totally acknowledge that Streeter was expected to go higher than the seventh round (I think this is a case where a lot of teams got their WR picks done early and so many were taken that Streeter just fell -- he was rated by at least one scouting service that I can recall as the 21st best WR in the draft and they put him in the fifth round; and other services said the fourth, so he obviously fell a bit from there, but not a ton. I think there was some media hype that had him much higher, but not the services).

Speaking of where he expected to go, anyone following the accusation that Drew Rosenhaus semi-illegally paid Streeter $50K to sign with him, expecting him to go higher? It's getting played off as a "marketing advance" that gets paid back when the player signs, so technically not a violation. Streeter, as a seventh rounder, only got about $500K per for four years, with a $90K signing bonus. If he owes Rosenhaus $50K back, that sucks for him.

Here's the story if you have not seen it.

[MaddogCurtis]

I live in Florida and watch all Gator football games. Deonte is very fast, but can't catch a cold.

[Raven Maniac]

I do not believe that is so. While I don't want to throw Doss under the bus, he does have to show the Ravens that he has what it takes to make the 53. So far, IMHO, he hasn't. Streeter (again IMHO) has the possibility to be a 'stretch-the-field' WR... Bc

I am really excited about the potential that the Ravens have on both sides of the ball this year, but I am particularly anxious to see how these young wide receivers pan out. I think the Ravens might have finally tapped into the formula for success at the WR position. I'm not sure what the issues was were with Doss last year and why they were so stingy with playing time for him. I wasn't surprised though, because it's a pattern that the Ravens follow with a lot of rookie players. Initially Doss was touted for having good speed and great hands, so unless he totally implodes during training camp, gets injured or is just out classed by either Streeter or Thompson, I personally have a hard time not seeing him on the 53 man roster this year.