Mike MacDonald - New DC

[Shas]

I will defend Wink a bit here to say that his scheme valued versatility more than sacks, and I still think fans over-value sacks. I won't go through my entire reasoning again. But in short, wins are not awarded to the team that gets the most sacks.

The fact is, the Ravens had a top ranked defense for a couple years under Wink . When it worked, it worked well.

I could point out that Bowser had more sacks per snaps played this year than Judon did in NE.

Keeping Wink's defense humming comes with a lot of dependancies. Emphasis on run stoppers. Versatile LBs and other positions. Man-coverage CBs. Smart vets who can communicate complex reads and assignments to keep it coordinated. Depth to rotate and mix and match defenders.

Meaning, as injuries struck, it became increasingly difficult to feed his machine with the right talent. More so than most any other defense out there.

So, the way I see it is that his defense has a huge upside and challenges opponents when it's working, but is hard to keep running when the parts start to break. I equated it to an exotic sports car. Expensive to maintain, hard to find parts, difficult to work on.

[ArgentinaRaven]

While it is fun to think that this makes picking Ojabo and/or other Michigan players more likely, we should remember he was only. at Michigan one year and that the did not recruit those players so he shouldn't be overly biased towards them.

ojabo is a clone of oweh, with the body biotype that the Ravens love to use De/Olb, he can close the edge, he can go down to coverage, he can rush the passer, his rise in the draft was thanks to the system used by the new DC, we need a player at that position.
I don't know what other Michigan defensive player would be a better fit.
maybe hutchinson, but he's not going to make it, say hill, but i see that he does the same thing as young or stephens, multi-position player.
Ojabo and Hinton I think are two strong possibilities for the draft

[moose10101]

You're free to look up the word's definition since you and others are apparently mad, but youre wrong so. In my exhaustively long post of a few sentences i mention Harbaugh's nepotism doesnt restrict McD from being a great coach for the Ravens.

Ravens are a top shelf team whats wrong with wanting one of the better to top Coaches at HC? This is rhetorical

You’re claiming he was hired based on the relationship (i.e. nepotism), not his qualifications and knowledge of the team.

[JAB1985]

Seems like Wink's scheme, which puts so much on CBs in particular, never adjusted when they were down to 4th string CBs.

I think this is a big part of it. He expected players to step up, but he didnt step up and help them any either. In years past when weve had major CB injuries weve still managed to "bend and not break" yet with this team, we broke, repeatedly. Which if you want to give Harbaugh shit for going for it on 4th down, you can certainly put some of the fault in the decision on the fact the defense gave up big plays and/or wasnt stopping anybody in those situations. I think you hit the nail on the head with that assessment.

FTR im not remotely against Wink. I think give him the reigns next year with a healthy team and were probably a very good defense still. we need somebody flexible if injuries happen, and I think MacDonald may be much more inclined to do so from a philosophy standpoint, if only because weve seen Winks take.

[veritas]

I will defend Wink a bit here to say that his scheme valued versatility more than sacks, and I still think fans over-value sacks. I won't go through my entire reasoning again. But in short, wins are not awarded to the team that gets the most sacks.

The fact is, the Ravens had a top ranked defense for a couple years under Wink . When it worked, it worked well.

I could point out that Bowser had more sacks per snaps played this year than Judon did in NE.

Keeping Wink's defense humming comes with a lot of dependancies. Emphasis on run stoppers. Versatile LBs and other positions. Man-coverage CBs. Smart vets who can communicate complex reads and assignments to keep it coordinated. Depth to rotate and mix and match defenders.

Meaning, as injuries struck, it became increasingly difficult to feed his machine with the right talent. More so than most any other defense out there.

So, the way I see it is that his defense has a huge upside and challenges opponents when it's working, but is hard to keep running when the parts start to break. I equated it to an exotic sports car. Expensive to maintain, hard to find parts, difficult to work on.

I think this is a good analysis. I get the impression that Wink was canned over the Burrow comment more than anything else, which would be unfortunate. Give him the Titans or Rams DL and he's suddenly a genius. It's funny, also that the injury excuse seems to be a legitimate reason to keep Roman around. Given a choice, there's no way I keep Roman.

[Terpsfan82]

Yeah, Harbaugh kind of said that part out loud:

"Asked why he went for two instead of the PAT to force overtime, Harbaugh said: "[We're] trying to win the game right there. We were pretty much out of corners at that point in time. It was an opportunity to try to win the game right there."

Ravens Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey appeared to grab his right shoulder when trying to tackle Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson on Pittsburgh's go-ahead 5-yard TD with 1:48 to play. The Ravens fear Humphrey suffered a season-ending pectoral injury on the play, a source told ESPN, confirming a report by NFL Network."

My translation of that was he had zero confidence in Wink's defense being able to hold up in OT, especially with Marlon out. He had learned by then that Wink wasn't going to be able to adjust the defense or his playcalling enough to stop Pitt.

If that's the case, then that motherfucker should have walked home from Pittsburg. Chicago too for that matter although we won. Open defiance is inexcusable.

[QtR Nevermore]

Well, it worked out for the best, imo. See ya Wink!

Let's wait until we see the new guy before deciding that.

[Shas]

It's funny, also that the injury excuse seems to be a legitimate reason to keep Roman around. Given a choice, there's no way I keep Roman.

I don't know if I see it as equivalent.

Wink lost his two two corners and Wolfe, and at various times other defenders missed time a game or two at a time. Campbell a few. Elliott at the end of the season. Tayvon, etc.

On offense Roman lost his entire RB room before the season and his LT and blocking TE for thye. And then his QB and FB was lost for the final third. I feel like they held the offense together with gum and tape pretty well for ten weeks or so until teams started blitzing the hell out of them and then Lamar went down before they could solve it.

Whereas, I feel like defensive confusion and big play collapses happened regularly throughout the year. I can honestly say that I think the offense coped with more setbacks, and more successfully than the defense.

Sorry G=Ro haters.

[HotInHere]

I don't know if I see it as equivalent.

Wink lost his two two corners and Wolfe, and at various times other defenders missed time a game or two at a time. Campbell a few. Elliott at the end of the season. Tayvon, etc....

I don't disagree with your overall point, but you are short-selling the defensive injuries. He lost his two corners, and then the backup, and then the backup's backup, etc. Having a bunch of injuries is one thing, but having a bunch at a single position is deadly. Happened to the RB room on offense, and the CB room on defense.

There is no defensive coordinator on this planet who could defend the Cincinnati Bengals with Robert Jackson, Kevon Seymour and Daryl Worley.

I highly doubt Wink was let go based on the defense's performance this year. It was more likely a difference in philosophy, and a reaction to the changing offenses in the NFL.

[Jam31]

Of all the many factors that go into Wink's parting perhsy the biggest one is that he failed to develop guys in the front 7.

Harrison fell off the planet and Queen was lost for weeks. Macdonald was their coach last year when they seemed more like solid rookies on a promising trajectory.

We also can't afford to not develop Oweh. And I'd argue Madabuike was also misused.

Macdonald simply has to get more production from the front 7 (& 6) going forward.

[Rygar64]

We all know Harbs is loyal to a fault, so I would lean more towards a long building difference in philosophy that finally reached it's end game. I think Harbs and EDC offered Wink a chance to adjust that philosophy and Wink declined.

[Jam31]

A short truncated video but Crawford & Melton analyze what MacDonald brings to the table. Most interesting to me is that Melton compares him to a young Kris Richard.

Give it a viewing/listen:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QAvytZV_4F8