Bryant McKinnie - Not at 1st practice, Oher at LT for now.

[Kyle Cactus]

Agreed, this has not been handled very well. And Wicked that may be true about it being hard to find legit LT's, but teams like the Raiders find guys like Jared Veldheer in the third round, who is a much better option than Bryant McKinnie at this point. I really hope we do something next year, whether that be in the draft, or in FA, because this offensive line issue is getting worrying.

Well the Patriots found a guy like Tom Brady in the 6th round. That doesn't mean we can just decide to find our next franchise quarterback there. It's not like the Ravens haven't drafted tackles. It's just that many of the best talent gets scooped up before we're even on the clock.

Well....at this time last year mckinnie was reportedly 400lbs and nowhere near ready to get on the practice field. The ravens knew what they were getting when they signed him....they need to let this thing play out. Last thing they need to do is give him the gaither treatment and next thing you know we go into the season with oher at LT. The ravens made their own bed with this situation, now they need to lie in it. But dont go running the only decent LT on your roster off.

I think this hits the nail on the head. It's a bad situation, but the best resolution is to get McKinnie in halfway decent shape so he can play LT. Then we have Oher back at RT and our offensive line issues go from dire to just concerning.

I don't think the Ravens can afford to cut bait on McKinnie. The cost is too high. They know that and that's why they they took the risk of giving him the bonus. We can talk all we want about "sleeping in the bed they made" but what other choice did they have.

[Ravenalytics]

Everyone's going all chicken little on the LT situation. I don't understand the hate for McKinnie. He wasn't great as a run blocker, but he was quite serviceable as a pass blocker. Our own FilmStudy confirms this, along with ProFootballFocus, who rated him 13th overall for the last threeyears. http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog...nsive-tackles/

Plus he didn't get injured at all last year. I have no problem with him staying on for another 1-2 years while we find a good long term solution.

[GOTA]

How do you not take your second chance seriously? He was booted from Minnesota for being overweight and not working hard. You would think especially with the Ravens bringing him back that he would do what he needs to do to be part of this team.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

How do you spend tens of thousands of dollars on a party during a lockout when you are borrowing three million on a high interest loan? This guy is a disaster.

[GOTA]

Like myself and many others (like Wicked) have said, OT...and LT in particular HAS to be priority numero uno next offseason.

They have to address it...trade, draft, UFA somehow...something. They've been dealing with flakes or players that just aren't good enough for over 4 years now.

They did technically draft a Tackle in the 2nd round. It's not like it was completely ignored or they threw a late round flyer at the position. The question is can he actually play Tackle? Until he's healthy there is no way to know.

[wickedsolo]

Agreed, this has not been handled very well. And Wicked that may be true about it being hard to find legit LT's, but teams like the Raiders find guys like Jared Veldheer in the third round, who is a much better option than Bryant McKinnie at this point. I really hope we do something next year, whether that be in the draft, or in FA, because this offensive line issue is getting worrying.

I actually wrote a blog about this a few months ago:

In the 2010 NFL Draft:

Out of 23 total offensive tackles drafted, only 9 were given positional designations of left tackle (39%), only 5 started at least one full season (22%), of those 5 starting left tackles 2 were taken in the top 10 of the draft and have outperformed their draft colleagues.

4th Overall – Trent Williams, Washington Redskins. [Grade: 4. He’s a solid young tackle when he’s healthy. Definitely could improve to a 5 as he enters his prime.]

6th Overall – Russell Okung, Seattle Seahawks. [Grade: 4. Like Trent Williams, he’s a very talented young left tackle entering his prime.]

2nd Round – Rodger Saffold, St. Louis Rams. [Grade: 2. Has shown flashes of eventually becoming a 3 or 4, but has been inconsistent. Probably better suited at right tackle or guard.]

3rd Round – Jared Veldheer, Oakland Raiders. [Grade: 4. To find an above average starting left tackle in the 3rd round is a massive anomaly. Oakland got very lucky.]

4th Round – Jason Fox, Detroit Lions. [Grade: 1. He’s a 2nd string guy behind Jeff Backus who is a below average starting left tackle.]

5th Round – Ed Wang, Buffalo Bills. [Grade 1: Depth swing tackle on a team that has been desperate for a good left tackle for years.]

6th Round – Marshall Newhouse. [Grade 3: Outperformed two 1st round left tackle prospects in Bryan Bulaga and Derrek Sherrod. Played well in place for injured Chad Clifton. In line to start at LT for Green Bay in 2012. Anomaly.]

6th Round – Ramon Harewood, Baltimore Ravens. [Grade: 1. Two major knee surgeries on both knees in back-to-back seasons. He’ll be out of the NFL after this summer.]

7th Round – J’Marcus Webb, Chicago Bears. [Grade: 2. Started at LT for Chicago in 2011, but was really inconsistent. Team will likely move on before Webb reaches potential.]

So, in the 2010 draft the “average grade” for left tackles after the 1st round was a 2 and the major likelihood that only Jared Veldheer will be the only quality starting left tackle chosen after the 1st round. If you were to consider all left tackles taken after the top 15 you would still have an average of 2 as there were no left tackles taken after Okung until Rodger Saffold in the top of the 2nd round.

[JAB1985]

McKinnie's personal issue is he probably tripped, fell, and landed face first in a pool of cheeseburgers and he's nowhere near the shape that Harbs wants him in and he knows it.

but wasnt it just a month ago that he was at OTAs and closer to 350? That whole article about holding him out which really came down to wanting him to do cardio and lose that extra 9lbs they wanted him to? maybe it really is just a personal issue, hell eventually show up and ill wait to see what he weighs in at/looks like. Ill keep my fingers crossed.

[TL24x7]

Blog on McKinnie: Stench at Ravens HQ

[wickedsolo]

but wasnt it just a month ago that he was at OTAs and closer to 350? That whole article about holding him out which really came down to wanting him to do cardio and lose that extra 9lbs they wanted him to? maybe it really is just a personal issue, hell eventually show up and ill wait to see what he weighs in at/looks like. Ill keep my fingers crossed.

Yea, at the end of May during mini camp he was present at the facility and weighed around 350-360 and said he had about 15 more lbs to drop to reach his goal. Then during OTA's he was held out of practice for conditioning purposes.

I haven't read anything since OTA's (a month ago), but considering the level of media attention this has gotten if he had reached his goal then I'm sure it would have been blasted all over br.com and pft.com, you know?

History has shown that this guy has no personal accountability, which is why it wouldn't surprise any of us to see that he left the team facilities a month ago and just hasn't done jack shit since then and ballooned back up into the 370's or even higher.

What's a head scratcher is that he didn't personally talk to Harbs or Cam or Ozzie and his "representative" let them know that he was dealing with personal issues and wasn't sure when he would show up. If it was an excused absence or whatever then Harbs probably would have said as much.

[wickedsolo]

Blog on McKinnie: Stench at Ravens HQ

Good stuff Tony.

It really is a fairly substantial problem. Being that Harbs is kind of a no nonsense kind of guy he may just get to the point where he is fed up with McKinnie not falling in line and tell Ozzie to cut ties.

[HoustonRaven]

This should outrage every Ravens fan.

He's obviously about as unmotivated as you can get. The team trusted him to be in minimum shape come camp and he didn't keep his word.

If this was an athlete who had a reputation of being prepared and showed up out of shape one time, then I'd agree with those who say this isn't a big deal. The problem here is this lack of even a minimal amount of effort goes all the way back to Minnesota.

[leachisabeast]

Like myself and many others (like Wicked) have said, OT...and LT in particular HAS to be priority numero uno next offseason.

They have to address it...trade, draft, UFA somehow...something. They've been dealing with flakes or players that just aren't good enough for over 4 years now.

Our offensive line in 09 and 08 was solid as could be, we arguably had the best Oline in 2008, and definitely a top 5 unit in 09. The problem is since Gaither quit on the team in 2010, we haven't had a legit left tackle. Everything is set on our line apart from a LT, and we need to find one desperately. As you said, I don't care if it's through a trade, a UFA, or in the draft.

[JAB1985]

Yea, at the end of May during mini camp he was present at the facility and weighed around 350-360 and said he had about 15 more lbs to drop to reach his goal. Then during OTA's he was held out of practice for conditioning purposes.

I haven't read anything since OTA's (a month ago), but considering the level of media attention this has gotten if he had reached his goal then I'm sure it would have been blasted all over br.com and pft.com, you know?

History has shown that this guy has no personal accountability, which is why it wouldn't surprise any of us to see that he left the team facilities a month ago and just hasn't done jack shit since then and ballooned back up into the 370's or even higher.

What's a head scratcher is that he didn't personally talk to Harbs or Cam or Ozzie and his "representative" let them know that he was dealing with personal issues and wasn't sure when he would show up. If it was an excused absence or whatever then Harbs probably would have said as much.

i dont know why i keep remembering 9lbs. it is something that im curious about, but ill just keep my fingers crossed that hes in minimal shape and maybe just had one last bender.

This should outrage every Ravens fan.

He's obviously about as unmotivated as you can get. The team trusted him to be in minimum shape come camp and he didn't keep his word.

If this was an athlete who had a reputation of being prepared and showed up out of shape one time, then I'd agree with those who say this isn't a big deal. The problem here is this lack of even a minimal amount of effort goes all the way back to Minnesota.

definitely a concern in that aspect. he does have issues with motivation. on the other hand at 370-380 last year he improved our LT play immensely. Im not sure pulling the plug would be a good choice, just to prove a point. Let him come in and play and if you have somebody beat him out legitimately, then so be it. Until he shows up im not sure theres anything to do. Im wishing for him to be in moderate shape, not cut from the team. weve gone down that road with a player that didnt have the best motivation but was still a much better player than what we have now. be upset with him, dont root for him, but when hes the best option at getting us a W, i could care less about his "motivation". the best product on the field matters. I love Ohers work ethic, but hes not the LT even an unmotivated and out of shape McKinnie is, last year proved that.