Quote Originally Posted by HotInHere View Post
I would change that to "McKinnie HAS BEEN a decent LT." The problem is we do not know for sure that what he has been is an indicator of what he will be. We don't know how he would have fared if he had played a full season last year. We don't know how he will perform if he is paid a big-money contract.

What we do know: he is an aging player; he has conditioning issues; he has motivational issues; he isn't highly valued by ANY of the 32 NFL teams; for some reason he did not play most of last season. These are all enormous red flags. Oher, for all his faults, is young with room to improve, especially if he were to actually stay in one position for awhile. Ignoring the question of who plays RT, I would be more comfortable with Oher than McKinnie at LT going into the season. And that's not to say I'd be comfortable with Oher; I just have zero trust in McKinnie.
No team is going to pay McKinnie a big money contract at this point in his career. He started every game during the 2011 season at LT for the Ravens and was the best LT on the roster even then. The Ravens do not have a better LT option currently on their roster, and do not have the cap room to make a trade for a better LT option.

If the Ravens bring McKinnie back, it will be on a 1-2 year contract with low guaranteed money. It is shear arrogance to say that the Ravens are fine at LT with who they currently have on their roster. Flacco takes a long time to get rid of the ball with his 7 step drops, and the Ravens do not have incredible WRs. That means that for the Ravens offense to succeed, the OL has to give Flacco time to throw. Also, Gradkowski is now the Center, so if the Ravens move KO to LT, and have Jah Reid or a rookie playing LG, then that will also impact Gradkowski's play, because he will have less help.