Why do we believe in Mike Macdonald ?

**DeltaRaven** · 05-17-2022, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by jonboy79

I thought cover 0 was some code impossible for offenses to crack?

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Only for Roman and Lamar.

**Jfoh** · 05-17-2022, 09:59 AM

Wink had gone stale. It was time for new innovation. Simple as that.

**BlackBeak** · 05-17-2022, 10:18 AM

I don’t think scheme was ever the issue with Wink. I think he was gone primarily because there is a certain trajectory of player development expected, and Wink was missing the benchmarks. It was starting to create drag. Another big reason was that his scheme was going into four years - basically there was a growing “How To” manual on the Wink defense in Baltimore, and the defense lacked the core flexibility to stay fresh. Things weren’t looking up. It was time for a change. It was best for both to part ways. Generally, I liked the Wink years. He did good things. I wish him well, except for Oct 16.

I think McDonald’s strength was probably viewed as primarily within the player development realm, if I was to guess. Considering his background in the Bellicheck system and his hiring a Dolphins coach there seems to be some indications where McDonald might go scheme-wise, but those are just indicators. We don’t know shit about what he will do. To respond to the question posed in the thread, why ask the question? This “faith” in McDonald is a rather obvious example of a straw man. Who is saying they have faith in McDonald? He was hired. That’s what we know. Faith is confidence and belief based on more than what is known. Who thinks that was applicable here? Harbs has seen McDonald in action for years. He interviewed a lot of other experienced coaches who presented their credentials and their defensive concepts. Some faith is surely present, but is faith the relevant matter here? I have faith in the Ravens. If that wasn’t present I guess I wouldn’t be a fan. The Ravens hired Mike. Go Mike! That’s my faith in Mike McDonald.

**Valhain** · 05-17-2022, 10:21 AM

As of now, I understand Jim's point about MacDonald being a bit of an unknown and us fans both just projecting AND looking at Wink's tenure from the pov of his last season, which is a bit unfair to be honest.

If 6 months from now we are arguing about whether a Ravens Top 5 defense is down to MacDonald or to the healthy guys + new additions it'll be a great discussion to have.

**Rygar64** · 05-17-2022, 10:49 AM

If the defense returns a healthy Marlon, Marcus and Tyus + 3rd year Queen, 3rd year Madubuike, 2nd year Oweh, a hopefully rejuvenated Pierce + the draft picks I believe it would have improved under Wink. The health argument is going to skew whatever results we witness this season. I'm confident the defense will be better this season, but I don't know how we will discern if Mac is the main cause of it. The main improvements I'll be looking for will be ability to get pressure without blitzing, reducing confusion on the back end and reducing the seeming inability to get teams off the field on 3rd and longs.

**Davesta** · 05-17-2022, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by DeltaRaven

Only for Roman and Lamar.

Close your eyes and picture this:

Week 2.. Dolphins run cover-0 at Lamar again. Dolphins blow out Ravens as our offense just can’t get it going. The Flock finally get their wish, as Harbs fire GRo.

**Twitch11** · 05-17-2022, 10:55 AM

Originally Posted by BlackBeak

I don’t think scheme was ever the issue with Wink. I think he was gone primarily because there is a certain trajectory of player development expected, and Wink was missing the benchmarks. It was starting to create drag. Another big reason was that his scheme was going into four years - basically there was a growing “How To” manual on the Wink defense in Baltimore, and the defense lacked the core flexibility to stay fresh. Things weren’t looking up. It was time for a change. It was best for both to part ways. Generally, I liked the Wink years. He did good things. I wish him well, except for Oct 16.

I think McDonald’s strength was probably viewed as primarily within the player development realm, if I was to guess. Considering his background in the Bellicheck system and his hiring a Dolphins coach there seems to be some indications where McDonald might go scheme-wise, but those are just indicators. We don’t know shit about what he will do. To respond to the question posed in the thread, why ask the question? This “faith” in McDonald is a rather obvious example of a straw man. Who is saying they have faith in McDonald? He was hired. That’s what we know. Faith is confidence and belief based on more than what is known. Who thinks that was applicable here? Harbs has seen McDonald in action for years. He interviewed a lot of other experienced coaches who presented their credentials and their defensive concepts. Some faith is surely present, but is faith the relevant matter here? I have faith in the Ravens. If that wasn’t present I guess I wouldn’t be a fan. The Ravens hired Mike. Go Mike! That’s my faith in Mike McDonald.

I do think there is something to the development of players being a concern with Wink. For whatever reason Wink's defense was not easy for young players to pick up or excel. Our LBs took forever to develop and there have been few that have developed. Same for the dline. We really have not developed many young players. We have had to rely on vet free agents. Houston, Campbell, Wolf and a bunch of others. Wink needs a lights out secondary so that he could send the house.

**Rygar64** · 05-17-2022, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by Davesta

Close your eyes and picture this:

Week 2.. Dolphins run cover-0 at Lamar again. Dolphins blow out Ravens as our offense just can’t get it going. The Flock finally get their wish, as Harbs fire GRo.

I'm gonna quote GWNR on this one and just say that maybe that game was more about execution than it was scheme and play calls

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteNorthRaven

Macdaddy showed a ton of pressures that mimicked Wink, but he was dropping far more guys than Wink would. It was more like the Dolphins game where they kept running the rain check coverage from the middle of the LOS.

If you look at the numbers the Dolphins barely ran C0, despite the repeated narrative. They kept showing 7 man lines, but they would drop 2 defenders in the middle of the LOS. Who drops was determined by which way the C slid. It's called a rain check.....

**QtR Nevermore** · 05-17-2022, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by JimZipCode

Pulling in a discussion from the Landry-to-Saints thread. Why are fans excited about Mike Macdonald? What is it they think they've seen from him as a coordinator, that is exciting?

Harbs has been talking up Macdonald as a whiz-kid next-great-coach for many years, so clearly this has been coming for a while. Harbs sent Macdonald on a semester abroad to Michigan, to get a little play-calling experience before bringing him back to assume the throne in Baltimore. So Harbs thinks he's on to something.

But why do fans think they know something? What has he shown?

I agree with you about this.
Wink was a great DC who is being slandered all over this site, mainly because of injuries. When the team wasn't decimated, Wink's defenses were always top 5.

MacDonald isn't Wink, that's why he's getting so much love. I hope he's going to be good but getting too excited based on his resume is like expecting a draft pick who had one year of college production to be great. Maybe he will, but it's no sure thing.

The two bits of RSR logic I don't understand are -

1. MacDonald's "experience with the system" is held up as a positive thing, yet the DCs he worked under - Pees and Wink - are hated around here. So is his familiarity with the defense a good or bad thing?

2. Wink is getting the blame for the defensive under-performance in 21, yet injuries are considered a valid excuse for the under-performance of Roman's offense. Is that just because we kept one on and got rid of the other or is there more to it?

**ravens82** · 05-17-2022, 11:19 AM

Mike Macdonald was on the Ravens staff for several years. He was part of the group that installed the current defensive system. But based on the way Harbaugh raved about his interview for the DC position, as well as his results at Michigan, I think he's got some really good ideas on how to make the defense more multiple and harder for opposing QBs to read. Wink was great with deceptive blitzes, and I think we'll still see those, but paired with better deceptive coverages as well.

**Ravenswintitle** · 05-17-2022, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by Rygar64

I'm gonna quote GWNR on this one and just say that maybe that game was more about execution than it was scheme and play calls

yes they blitzed at a rate unseen before - and looking at last year's Oline, it made perfect sense.

**moose10101** · 05-17-2022, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by QtR Nevermore

I agree with you about this.
Wink was a great DC who is being slandered all over this site, mainly because of injuries. When the team wasn't decimated, Wink's defenses were always top 5.

MacDonald isn't Wink, that's why he's getting so much love. I hope he's going to be good but getting too excited based on his resume is like expecting a draft pick who had one year of college production to be great. Maybe he will, but it's no sure thing.

The two bits of RSR logic I don't understand are -

1. MacDonald's "experience with the system" is held up as a positive thing, yet the DCs he worked under - Pees and Wink - are hated around here. So is his familiarity with the defense a good or bad thing?

2. Wink is getting the blame for the defensive under-performance in 21, yet injuries are considered a valid excuse for the under-performance of Roman's offense. Is that just because we kept one on and got rid of the other or is there more to it?

They weren’t decimated early last year, and still looked like crap.

Another factor being overlooked is time of possession. The 2019 offense literally held the ball for 35% more time than the opposition. That makes it easier for the defense to be highly ranked in points allowed.