By Weston Bruner, on September 5th, 2010 This final round of roster cuts got the Ravens down to their requisite 53, not including their practice squad moves, but there were casualties that will give this team a very different look than in past seasons. The drama of Troy Smith is now officially behind this team, and he is welcome now to look in Cleveland or anywhere else for a potential starting job down the road. The hope and disappointment that followed the enigmatic Demetrius Williams through years of injuries and ineffectiveness is also over after failing to impress even when the Ravens were devoid of receivers. On the other hand, receivers Marcus Smith and Justin Harper (the latter on the practice squad) still remain a couple years after flashing just enough talent to make them late-round and free agent pickups of this team. I wanted to take a moment to look at these moves and more as the Ravens gear up for Week 1. READ MORE >>>
By Zach Wilt, on July 21st, 2010 Welcome to Baltimore Marc Bulger. First the starting QB of the purple and black tells the Baltimore Sun that he’s not sure how you’ll fit in with the cool kids. Now their star safety said he thinks you’re “just another guy.” Geesh…tough crowd.
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By Matt Sadler, on June 24th, 2010 Thank goodness for some real Ravens news, even if it is bad news.
The news is that Marc Bulger is coming to town, and he is in line to be the backup QB next season. The bad news is that I fear that this is the end to the Suggs package. I am joking.
Bulger is coming to the Ravens after being torn to shreds over the past couple of seasons in St. Louis. Truly the numbers aren’t pretty especially when it comes to sacks. This guy had an awful line and he did not perform.
But there are the good years to remember. He had 3 straight seasons with a passer rating over 90. He has been to the Pro Bowl twice. He is a proven veteran, and frankly a nice piece of insurance. Even if it is costing the Ravens $3.8 million. He should feel much more comfortable with this O-line and some solid offensive weapons
As for Troy Smith, he is going nowhere….yet. But with his trade demands and sour taste he has left in people’s mouths, I am guessing he is as good as gone and with him the old and ineffective Suggs package.
Truth is that I would rather have a proven veteran behind Flacco than have to deal with the Smith. Smith could be good, but he hasn’t had his chance to shine. Bulger has rocked in the past and there is no reason he can’t rock in the future.
I’m going to give Ozzie 2 thumbs up for decision. Do you like this signing?
By Matt Sadler, on February 28th, 2010 by BaltimoreRavens.com
Feb 27, 2010, 5:42PM
On Ed Reed’s status: Ed Reed’s playing, as far as I know. I’ve said it before, Ed’s one of the greatest competitors in football. You talk about guys that play like a Raven who loves football and everything about football, that’s Ed Reed. I think Ed’s going to play because I think Ed’s going to do everything he can to play, and if he’s physically able to play, he’ll play. Right now, my assumption is that he will be able to do that. But, if that changes or Ed changes his mind, obviously that’s his prerogative. We’ll go on the assumption that he’s going to play.
On if Reed has talked to the team: He hasn’t told the team that he’s not going to play, and medically, we don’t have any reason to believe that he’s not going to right now.
On the Terrell Owens rumors: I’ve always said that I have a lot of respect for T.O., and I know Ozzie does, too. He had a good year. We watched him on tape, and he was very effective last year.
Cont’d: We’re interested in T.O. We’re interested in all the guys that can make our team better. When we were coming back from Iraq last year with John Gruden, Jeff Fisher and Tom Coughlin, we were sitting in the airport and a waiter came over and said, ‘Hey, Terrell Owens is sitting over there at Burger King.’ We were laughing about it, but he was really over there. We ran over like fans [laughs]. I can guarantee that we didn’t ask for his autographs, but we did say hi. We rekindled the relationship. He’s a good guy and a good player.
On his relationship with Owens: I was coaching special teams and he was a receiver, so he was on the hands team. We had a good relationship. He was respectful to the coaches, he worked hard. I think everybody had a good relationship with him.
On Troy Smith: Troy Smith is a Raven. He’s still with the team. I happened to be in Ohio when my father inducted into the Crawford County Hall of Fame, along with Mike Gottfried and Gates Brown. I was flipping channels and I saw Troy. They were interviewing him in Columbus, and he said it best. He said, ‘I’m a Raven.’ I think he’s really a good quarterback. I think he can play quarterback in this league as a starter. That’s why we like him as our backup, because at some point in time, we’re going to need a guy to come in and win two, three, four games for us if Joe gets hurt. Although at some point in time, I think we understand Troy’s desire to be a starter. So, if something were to work out and is beneficial to the Ravens first, from our perspective, and gives him a chance to do that down the road somewhere, we’re interested in doing that. But Troy is our backup quarterback at this point, and I don’t think we’re going to change that unless it benefits our football team.
On the trade possibilities due to more RFAs on the market: We’re going to explore every avenue for every position. It will be interesting how this plays out, because I don’t think anybody really knows. There aren’t as many unrestricted free agents, there are more restricted free agents. What are the tenders going to be? Who is going to be tendered what? Is there going to be more trade dialogue than we’ve had in other years? We’ve had lengthy discussions at the highest levels, with me, Dick, Ozzie. Everybody is involved in that. I think we’ve got our ducks lined up as far as what we can get accomplished.
On if the unbalanced line makes scouting offensive linemen different: With our guys playing on the right and left side is what you’re alluding to. Michael Oher, it is a big deal that he played right tackle and moved over to left tackle, but the truth of the matter is that he played on the left side all through training camp because of the unbalanced stuff. We probably do want guys that are athletic and can line up on both sides. I guess if you’re an offensive lineman, you want to be in Baltimore because we play six, seven or eight of them at one time.
On the percentage of unbalanced line: We try to be unpredictable and not give anything away. One of Cam Cameron’s real strengths as an offensive coach is that he thinks that way. You might see all offensive linemen out there one day or you might see no offensive linemen out there at some point.
On if he noticed Cincinnati using the unbalanced attack: We did notice that. [laughs] We were wondering where they got that idea from.
On the potential to draft a kicker in light of missing out on Ryan Succop last year: I wouldn’t rule it out. I think there are some draft-eligible kickers out there. If we would have had a seventh-round pick, we would have drafted him last year, but we didn’t. We were in conversation about signing him as a free agent, but then he was Mr. Irrelevant. So, right then, he broke our hearts, or the Chiefs broke our hearts. But, Billy Cundiff did a nice job. He’s been around and one of those guys that’s been through it before. That’s an advantage. It’s tough to be a rookie kicker and make it in this league. Guys have done it, but Billy more experienced. We’ll start with Billy, and then we’ll bring in some competition for Billy as we go.
On if the Ravens have to balance out their running in a pass-happy league: At the end of the day, do you want to be 50/50, 55/45, 50/40? Where do you want to be? It probably depends on your players. It probably depends who you’re playing. If you look early in the year, we were really throwing the ball. We were really pass-happy, and some of our fans weren’t too happy about that and thought we should be running the ball more. To me, one week to the next, you do what you have to based on who’s healthy, what the skills of your players are and who you’re playing to be successful. We want to be somewhere 45/55 either way. You say, ‘Well, what does that mean? ‘ We want to do both well. We’re not going to be one of those teams that throws it 65 percent of the time. I don’t think anyone can run it 65 percent of the time and be successful.
On the benefit of having Suggs in offseason program: I think Terrell is really excited to be in Baltimore. I think he’s looking forward to it. He’s already working out in Arizona. He works hard. We hired Ted Monachino to work with him directly. He worked with him at Arizona State when [Suggs] was so successful. I think those two have a trust and a confidence level together that will help us. We’re dedicated a lot of our offseason program to pass rush. And, it’s not just him. It’s going to be all our guys. We want our linebackers to be able to rush the passer. We want to train our defensive backs to rush the passer. In our blitz system, they need to be able to do it. A big emphasis to what we do in the offseason is on pass rush, and he’s going to be here for us. I’m excited about that.
On Willis McGahee’s status: I think McGahee will be on our team next year. From last year to this year, the way he’s trained, through the whole knee situation – and everybody knows he has a knee in college, and he’s played well in the NFL so far – but for him to play the way he did at the end of the year and to be in the kind of shape that he was in, I’m just impressed with the guy. He’s a leader on our football team and one of the most fun guys to be around every day.
On if McGahee has accepted a backup role: He doesn’t say he’s accepted a backup role. I’ve never said that Ray Rice is the starting running back. I know other people have said that. Maybe even other coaches have said that. But to me, the starting running back and the guy that is going to start next week is the guy that’s playing the best. I’ve told Willis, ‘If you want to start in the game, go be the best running back that week.’ Ray knows that. Ray’s got Willis there, and Le’Ron McClain, Jalen Parmele and Matt Lawrence and whoever else we bring in, those guys are all going to be fighting for playing time. That’s what a coach wants – competition. Willis McGahee could gain 1,500 yards next year. That could easily happen, and I’m not ruling it out.
On wanting to re-sign Dwan Edwards: I’ve said it before, we want Dwan back, and I’ve got my fingers crossed. I think Dwan wants to be a Raven, too, so we’ll see what happens.
On the NFL reducing the amount of offseason practices because of head injury concerns: Practice is a loose term if you look at development. Look at every sport. I’ve got two nephews who are Division II swimmers. They swim 28 hours a week, and we limit football exposure to 20 hours a week in college. I think it’s important to be well-round and everything, but we’re talking about pro football players who want to get better, guys who are fighting to make a team. It’s different for a Ray Lewis. It’s different for guys that have been around – Ed Reed. Those guys don’t need that practice time. But as coaches, what we do is limit their exposure and don’t ask them to be there for the whole offseason, necessarily. We don’t put them through those practices. But those young rookies that are trying to make the team, now we’re going to say, ‘Oh no, you can’t be at the building, you can’t be at practice.’ What are we really saying? That we’re not available to help you be the best player you can be. As a coach, we want to coach. We want to help these guys be the best player they can be, because we’re looking to have as good a team as we can. Now, helmets on, banging heads and all that kind of stuff, yeah, we can get away from that. And I don’t think we do much of that in the offseason as it is – a lot less than people think we do. But why should we take away opportunities for guys to become the best they can be and work to earn a living as a football player in our league.
On Lardarius Webb and Fabian Washington’s status: We’ve got a few guys with ACLs. Brendon Ayanbadejo has a knee situation. Marcus Smith is another guy who had an ACL. I don’t think it’s too optimistic because of the way those guys are training. Right now, we expect those guys to be practicing the first day of training camp because nowadays those ACLs get back fast, but I don’t think you can count on it. I’m sure we’ll have a contingency plan.
On if there are any advantages of being a rookie coach with a rookie QB: I don’t know. We never really considered the advantages because we had no choice. I think it’s a plus, obviously, because we get a chance to grow together, me as a coach and him as a quarterback. Maybe we’ll make some of the same mistakes together and share in the experiences. Joe’s a good guy. He’s really a tough kid and he wants to be great. I can’t wait to go to work. March 15, we’re ready.
By Zach Wilt, on December 29th, 2009 Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Joe Flacco guy, but I’ve always felt bad for Troy Smith and I wish him all the best.
ProFootballTalk.com reported today that Troy Smith has requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens. “Ravens QB Troy Smith, Ohio State alum, native + Heisman winner wants playing time. Ravens notified. Will seek trade after play offs, SB run,” Smith’s agent, Ralph Cindrich, wrote.
It is unknown what kind of market the Ohio State alum would generate.
What do you think of Troy Smith’s request?
By Zach Wilt, on August 25th, 2009 Now that Ravens’ training camp has wrapped up and we’re half way through the preseason, BSR decided to get the inside scoop on the team by an expert and fellow blogger.
We decided to ask Joe Barnes of EbonyBird.com to fill us in on the 2009 Ravens…
Image Courtesy of the Baltimore Sun
With training camp coming to a close, what are your expectations of the 2009 Ravens based on their camp performance?
I see a season similar to last year’s campaign. Joe Flacco looks solid, the defense looks solid, every position is pretty deep, and things are looking good. With that said, it is possible that the loss of Bart Scott dooms the defense, but when has the team not replaced a linebacker well? If you want a record, I’d say that looking at the schedule, anywhere from 9-7 to 12-4 seems possible, and most likely with playoffs.
Who were you impressed with?
I was most impressed with rookie Lardarius Webb. He was always buzzing around the field, whether it was rushing the quarterback, picking off a pass or making a tackle in between the trenches on a running play. At the beginning of camp, I thought that the secondary might not be good enough to survive against some QBs like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Phillip Rivers, etc. but seeing the depth behind Fabian Washington and Dominique Foxworth, including Webb, has made me think otherwise.
Who were you disappointed with?
I was disappointed with Mark Clayton more than any other player. He just never was on the field. While I understand that they don’t want to risk an aggravation of the injury, it seems like he could be more involved with the team and have a bigger presence in camp. At least he was running routes the last week of camp, but it seems like he might not be in good enough shape, like McGahee last year, and Joe Flacco needs him to have a very good season this year.
What is the team’s biggest flaw?
For me, the team’s biggest flaw is the lack of speed with their top receivers. Flacco’s got an arm, we have all seen that, and Yamon Figurs, Jayson Foster and Justin Harper all have breakaway speed. The issue is getting them on the field enough to have them make an impact with their speed. Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton, Demetrius Williams and Kelley Washington will probably get most of the time on gameday, and none of them have exceptional speed. Mason is great on cutbacks, Clayton great with mid-distance passes, but none could beat a safety 40 yards deep. It’s not a huge flaw, but it’s important for the offense to figure out how to get the speedsters on the field.
What is their strongest point?
The strong point of the team is the defense, in general. The line is great, led by Haloti Ngata. Rookie Paul Kruger looks good enough to start for a lot of teams at DE, but the Ravens’ line is good enough that he’s just depth. The linebackers should be one of the best groups in the league, yet again. And the secondary, led by Ed Reed and strengthened by the return of Dawan Landry and signing of Domonique Foxworth looks to be great as always. This defense is just too good.
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By Zach Wilt, on August 11th, 2009 Surely you’ve heard all about the “speculation” that ESPN’s Chris Mortensen has ensued through his report that the Ravens are number one in the Mike Vick 2009 NFL Reunion.
Vick’s crime did get him punished, unlike many other athletes. He spent time in jail, filed bankruptcy, and is now ready to re-enter the “work force.” I think he should be given a chance, should a team pursue him and there’s been lots of names thrown out there.
Baltimore has been known to take chances on high risk players, remember folks we had Terrell Owens for a few hours. So what about Vick?
“We’ve had long discussions about Michael Vick and we have a feeling about how he would impact our team and not impact our team,” head coach John Harbaugh said.
While Mort said that the Ravens are speculated to be the number one contenders, I beg to differ.
Vick could would be a fit in the wild cat offense that Baltimore ran last season, but he has been outspoken about returning as a quarterback. “We have three quarterbacks that we like,” Ozzie Newsome told reporters several weeks ago.
Even if Vick would want to play in a wild cat style offense as a QB/WR hybrid, Baltimore already has Troy Smith, another quarterback that doesn’t want to play the position.
I’m not quite sure how the Ravens reached the top of the list, but I just don’t see it happening.
By Zach Wilt, on May 12th, 2009 2009 Baltimore Ravens Preview
Prediction: 11-5 (Second AFC North)
Head coach: John Harbaugh (Second year)
Offense
QB Joe Flacco: At 24, he’s one of the bright quarterbacks in the NFL.
RB Willis McGahee: Was hurt all of 2008, and returns healthy in 2009. If he can shine in 2009, he may play out his entire contract.
FB Le’Ron McClain: After an All Pro season in 2008, it’ll be difficult for McClain to repeat.
WR Derrick Mason: One of the most consistent receivers in the NFL.
WR Mark Clayton: At 5’10”, he’s small, but can make an impact.
TE Todd Heap: The team drafted OT Michael Oher, so Heap will have more of an impact on the passing game.
LT Jared Gaither: The 22-year old had a good season last year and has All-Pro potential.
LG Ben Grubbs: The 2007 first-round pick has shown durability the last two seasons.
C Matt Birk: At 32, he’s aging. But six Pro Bowls speak for themselves.
RG Marshal Yanda: He’s underappreciated, but makes an impact on the line.
RT Michael Oher: There is a battle between Anderson and Oher, and due to youth and versatilty, the rookie takes it.
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By Zach Wilt, on January 15th, 2009 Is the excitement of the Ravens defense dead? Are the days of Troy Smith to Joe Flacco long gone? Will Troy Smith get in to run a fake option and run up the middle for a 2 yard gain?
If you’re looking for answers you’re going to have to wait until Sunday. Sorry to say, but I will tell you what I think you can expect to see.
The Ravens have had success in the post-season by being very conservative. They have gotten comfortable with some changes in the offense. I mean, this is in no way the offense of last year.
Count on seeing the no huddle from the Ravens, Flacco to throw a couple deep balls, and I really think Ray Rice is going to make an appearance. He was in the Titans game for a few snaps but never touched the ball. The Ravens might be a little worried about the pressure on a rookie. The offense wins this game by not turning the ball over.
So to answer the question, I think “NO, You will not see the Suggs package against Pittsburgh.”
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