Taking Flight - A Baltimore Ravens Dynasty

[cloudedskate]

2009 NFL Draft

1. Raiders select Rakeem Jordan, CB, Oklahoma. (Should have been Jack English. Mega Bust. Raiders are bad again.)

2. Dolphins select Jack English, QB, Stanford. (Great pick here. Huge improvement over John Beck.)

3. Bears select Joey Keller, HB, Illinois. (Bust. Not a good pick.)

4. Carolina selects Javon Jackson, LT, Florida. (Great pick here. Jackson is the best player in this draft, to me, and he fills a need.)

5. Falcons select Quentin Shankleback, CB, Michigan. (I guess they need CBs but I'm not too sure about this pick.)

6. Cardinals select Raevon Hines, LE, Michigan. (Hammermill hits a homerun with his first pick. I like it.)

TRADE: Lions trade 7th pick to the Browns for the 12th pick, 76th pick, and 2010 4th round pick

7. Browns select Jackson Hailes, RE, Iowa State. (Fills a need but I'm not sure about Hailes. He smells like bust to me.)

8. Bills select Alain Dixon, DT, Miami. (I'm not sure if this fills a need. If Buffalo runs a 4-3, then its a great pick. If they run a 3-4, then it is bad. They already have Marcus Stroud.)

9. Redskins select Colby McKenzie, HB, Ohio State. (BUST.)

10. Texans select Devin Mayo, ROLB, Ole Miss. (Great pick, fills a need. Only bad part is he is injury prone.)

11. Steelers select MarQueis Fletcher, LE, Oregon. (Bust? They have Aaron Smith already and Fletcher was projected to go late 1st-early 2nd.)

12. Lions select Robert Dixon, CB, USC. (CB is a huge need for the Lions. Fills the need, but might be a bust.)

13. Chiefs select AJ Lane, RE, Ohio State. (Fills a need.)

TRADE: Packers trade the 14th pick to the Cowboys for the 19th pick, the 115th pick, and a 2010 3rd round pick

14. Cowboys select Zach Whitfield, DT, USC. (They have Jay Ratliff already. This pick doesn't look good.)

15. Jaguars select DJ Crosby, WR, Georgia. (Great pick. I love Crosby here. only downside is he can't get out of press coverage to save his life.)

16. Ravens select Mack Jackson, MLB, New Mexico. (Fills a need for me, gets the "Upgrade MLB" Goal.)

17. Jets select Ben Douglas, QB, UCLA. (2nd Bust QB in as many years. First Flacco, then Douglas.)

18. Eagles select Steve Wilson, TE, Wash. St. (Their TEs are horrible, but TEs in this game don't progress. Besides this guy is a bust. Bad pick.)

TRADE: Packers trade 19th pick to Patriots for 2010 1st and 2nd rounders. Nice trade for the Packers.

19. Patriots select Dontavious London, FS, Iowa. (Bust)

20. Rams select Daniel Ransom, WR, Florida. (Bust)

21. Jaguars select Will Barkley, SS, Florida. (Good pick. Strong tackler, fills a need.)

TRADE: 49ers trade 22nd pick to the Jaguars for 47th pick, 111th pick, and a 2010 2nd rounder

22. Jaguars select DeMarcus Luke, LE, Wake Forest. (After hitting on their previous two picks, the Jags trade up and get a bust.)

23. Seahawks select Jerrell Bunning, LT, Houston. (Bust)

24. Bengals select Kerry Gabbert, HB, FSU. (The AFC North, besides the Ravens, has busted in the 1st round.)

25. Saints select Dane Morrow, QB, Penn State. (Saints draft Drew Brees' successor.)

26. Chargers select Karron Coyle, DT, Missouri. (Bad pick. The Bolts already have Jamal Williams and Kentwan Balmer.)

27. Vikings select Adrian Watson, WR, Michigan. (Vikings need receivers.)

28. Patriots select Jade Parrish, HB, Colorado. (Patriots need HBs.)

29. Colts select Juran Riley, CB, Texas. (One of my favorite players in this draft. Good pick.)

30. Bucs select Kelly James, QB, Miami. (Well the Bucs are set for the next 15 seasons. Great Pick.)

31. Broncos select Demarcus Roberts, WR, Kansas. (Nice pick. Solid WR.)

32. Giants select Tyler Hibbert, FS, Oklahoma. (Eh. We'll see.)

[cloudedskate]

Round 2

I went into round 2 with the following picks:

Round 2, pick 1 (Raiders)
Round 2, pick 16
Round 2, pick 21 (Titans)
Round 2, pick 23 (Seahawks)
Round 2, pick 24 (Bengals)
Round 2, pick 28 (Patriots)

I'm going to do a lot of trading down but my targets for this round are:

RT Moe Watkins, Bowling Green
MLB Alonzi Simms, Michigan State

Wow I have 6 second rounders and I only want two players.

Here it goes

Round 2, pick 33: I trade this pick to the Falcons. The Falcons give me the 37th pick and the 133rd pick. The Falcons select LOLB Torian Watts, Alabama.

Round 2, pick 37: The Ravens select RT Moe Watkins, Bowling Green.

Round 2, pick 48: No one I want here. I trade this pick to the Bucs. The Bucs give me the 167th pick, and their 2010 2nd and 6th rounders. The Bucs select WR Hugh Fawcett, LSU.

Round 2, pick 53: No one here again. I trade this pick to the Chiefs. The Chiefs give me the 77th pick, the 132nd pick, and their 2010 6th round pick.

Round 2, pick 55: I trade this pick to the Eagles for the 79th and 114th picks.

Round 2, pick 56: I trade this pick to the Eagles for the 80th pick and their 2010 4th round pick.

Round 2, pick 60: I trade this pick to the Seahawks for the 87th pick and their 2010 3rd round pick.

Round 2, pick 63: The 49ers select MLB Alonzi Simms, Michigan State. I decided I didn't want him. Should be good next to Patrick Willis.

Round 3

My targets for this round are:

C Danny Augustus, Northwestern
LOLB Dexter Knox, Henderson State
RG Patrick Boma, NW Oklahoma St.

Round 3, pick 77: I trade this pick to the Bucs for the 190th pick, the 199th pick, and their 2010 3rd rounder.

Round 3, pick 79: I trade this pick to the Eagles for their 2010 3rd and 6th rounders.

Round 3, pick 80: The Ravens select C Danny Augustus, Northwestern.

Round 3, pick 82: The Eagles select FB Casey Barone. Damn I missed out on him.

Round 3, pick 87: The Ravens select LOLB Dexter Knox. Yeah I'm reaching a little but I want him

Round 3, pick 92: The Ravens select RG Patrick Boma. I'm reaching here too.

Round 4, pick 109: I trade this pick to the Broncos for the 223rd pick and their 2010 4th and 6th round picks.

Round 4, pick 114: The Ravens select HB Leron James, North Arizona.

Round 5, pick 132: The Ravens select FS Steve Dumas, Oregon State.

Round 5, pick 133: I trade this pick to the Bucs for C Justin Hartwig (80)

Round 5, pick 151: The 49ers select QB Jake Scott, Texas State.

Round 6, pick 167: The Ravens select DT Patrick Lopez, Tennessee.

Round 6, pick 181: The Ravens select WR Jamarion Bellows, Grand Valley St.

Round 6, pick 190: The Ravens select RE Damien Crist, SE Missouri St. (GM Pick)

Round 7, pick 199: The Ravens select HB Solomon Summers, New Mex. St. (GM pick)

Round 7, pick 217: The Ravens select QB Suger Engram, GA Southern

Round 7, pick 223: The Ravens select WR Corey Parker, UNLV (GM pick)

UDFA
QB Cory Wilcox, Purdue
TE JR Webster, Delaware St.
HB Dedric Atkinson, Richmond
LE Michael Peters, UNLV
WR Jay Hamilton, Rutgers

[cloudedskate]

Current Staff

HC Dan White 18
OC Chris Staymates 28
DC Rex Ryan 99
STC Jerry Rosburg 29
QBC Hue Jackson 45
RBC Tom Rathman 61
WRC Jim Caldwell 60
OLC Juan Castillo 53
LBC Brett Bourbin 56
DBC Chipper Duncan 22
DLC George Edwards 22
GM Oswald Newberry 81
Trainer Tony Ford 90

[cloudedskate]

So my preseason goals are:

Trade LOLB Jarret Johnson - GM
Tony Gonzalez to 25% Play Knowledge - Coaches
Patrick Boma to 25% Play Knowledge - Coaches
Moe Watkins to 25% Play Knowledge - Coaches
Add 10 new plays - Players

I have signed all of my draft picks

Mack Jackson- 5y, $20.5M, $3.5M
Moe Watkins- 4y, $3.8M, $500K

All the others are standard 3 year deals.

[cloudedskate]

I went 4-0 in the Preseason. Now here is my depth chart:

Baltimore Ravens - 2009 Depth Chart - Regular Offense

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
WR	Derrick Mason 83-84	Mark Clayton 80-80	Corey Parker 76-90
TE	Tony Gonzalez 94-95	JR Webster 79-91	AJ Flowers 65-73
LT	Moe Watkins 89-93	Jared Gaither 82-84	Torrin Tucker 76-76
LG	Patrick Boma 90-95	David Hale 72-87
C	Danny Augustus 88-93	Chris Chester 79-79	Justin Hartwig 80-80
RG	Ben Grubbs 87-89	Scott Kooistra 73-78
RT	Marshal Yanda 86-87	Patrick McCoy 72-72
WR	Jamarion Bellows 81-97	Jay Hamilton 77-92
QB	Josh Johnson 88-93	Troy Smith 79-87	Jared Zabransky 70-78
FB	Troy Richardson 80-80	Greg Jones 80-80
HB	Leron James 84-95	Willis McGahee 84-85	Carl Stewart 75-86	Dedric Atkinson 78-85

Baltimore Ravens - 2009 Depth Chart - Base 4-3 Defense

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
LDE	Calais Campbell 89-92	Michael Peters 84-88
LDT	Athya Rubin 87-88	Kelly Gregg 79-79
RDT	Patrick Lopez 85-88	Kelly Gregg 79-79
RDE	Elvis Dumervil 88-89	Damien Crist 81-87
WLB	Dexter Knox 85-91	Antwan Barnes 81-86
MLB	Mack Jackson 86-92	Eric Barton 75-75	Gilbert Warren 73-79
SLB	Terrell Suggs 90-90	Prescott Burgess 75-81	Shawn Barber 71-71
CB	Nnamdi Asomugha 94-94	Michael Jenkins 85-91	Demarcus Faggins 69-69
SS	Kenny Phillips 87-90	Marlon McCree 78-79	Sugar Gill 70-72
FS	Ed Reed 94-94	Steve Dumas 84-91	Josh Barrett 64-83
CB	Chris McAlister 93-94	Zack Bowman 78-87

Baltimore Ravens - 2009 Depth Chart - Special Teams

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
K	Alexis Serna 85-92
P	Sam Koch 79-81
H	Sam Koch
PR	Josh Barrett 79	Zack Bowman 76
KR	Josh Barrett 79	Zack Bowman 76
LS	Danny Augustus 88-93

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Salary Cap

Team Salary Cap: $78.83M
Cap Room: $21.28M
Current Penalties: $19.37M
Next Year Penalties: $2.1M
Next Year Cap Room: $46.73M

[cloudedskate]

Schedule:

1. vs Vikings
2. at Titans
3. vs Jets
4. at Steelers
5. BYE
6. at Bears
7. at Browns
8. at Bengals (4 straight away games?)
9. vs Lions
10. vs Chiefs
11. vs Browns
12. vs Steelers (then 4 straight home?)
13. at Packers
14. at Chargers
15. at Raiders
16. vs Bengals
17. vs Broncos

I promised I would make it to the playoffs.

Season Goals

Crush Steelers in week 4 - Fans
Win 3 out of first 4 - Owner
Beat Bengals on Monday Night in week 16 - Fans
Resign Elvis Dumervil - Owner
Resign Marshal Yanda - Owner
Win DROY with Mack Jackson - Fans
Win OROY with Patrick Boma (Ha fat chance) - Fans
Hire a college coach - Fans
Bring back Rex Ryan - Media
Win COY - Owner
Finish in top 10 offense and defense - Media
Have an approval of 90+ - Owner

[cloudedskate]

Game 1 preview

I open the season against the Minnesota Vikings. Their best three players are RE Jared Allen (94), LG Steve Hutchinson (92), and LT Bryant McKinnie (89). 4 of their best 5 are linemen so this will be a battle won in the trenches. Tarvaris Jackson is still the starter. Luckily, their SS is still Darren Sharper, and he is down to 82 speed. I will look to abuse him all day. Their FS is bad too. Thomas Decoud is rated a dismal 74. The corners are 88 and 86. The linebackers are rated 75, 78, 77, so I think I'm in for a huge offensive day.

[cloudedskate]

Game 1 Recap

The Ravens won convincingly today in Baltimore. The game wasn't quite the offensive showcase that was expected heading into the game, but the Ravens won 34-7. Nnamdi Asomugha intercepted a Tarvaris Jackson pass in the redzone and returned it 89 yards for a touchdown to give the Ravens a lead they would never surrender. Josh Johnson had his most efficient game as a pro, throwing 18 passes and completing 16 of them, for 3 touchdowns and 231 yards and an astounding perfect 158.3 QB rating.

NFL Scoreboard - Minnesota Vikings ((0-1)) at Baltimore Ravens ((1-0))

September 6, 2009 1 2 3 4 F Minnesota Vikings 0 7 0 0 7 Baltimore Ravens 7 14 10 3 34 Top Performers Minnesota Vikings - Stats D. Jackson- 7 catches, 77 yards Adrian Peterson- 8 carries, 43 yards Baltimore Ravens - Stats Josh Johnson- 16-18, 231 yards, 3 TDs, 158.3 QB rating Calais Campbell- 6 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 sacks

Team Stats Comparison MIN BAL First Downs 15 13 3rd Down Efficiency 7-18 0-8 4th Down Efficiency 0-1 1-1 Total Yards 252 288 Passing Yards 152 231 Rushing Yards 100 57 Penalties-Penalty Yards 1-10 2-25 Turnovers 1 0 Time of Possession 32:42 27:18

Scoring Summary First Quarter MIN BAL BAL Johnson to Bellows, 21 yards (Serna kick) 0 7 Second Quarter MIN BAL MIN Jackson to Childress, 1 yard (Longwell kick) 7 7 BAL Asomugha Pick-6, 89 yards (Serna kick) 7 14 BAL Johnson to Gonzalez, 2 yards (Serna kick) 7 21 Third Quarter MIN BAL BAL Johnson to Clayton, 9 yards (Serna kick) 7 28 BAL Serna 36 yard FG 7 31 Fourth Quarter MIN BAL BAL Serna 45 yard FG 7 34

OperationSports.com

Injuries:

LE Michael Peters- Ruptured Spleen, 3 Months
Next up: The Tennessee Titans