AFC Playoff Teams

[Adam Dayton]

With regard to the Ravens, I would not be surprised if they made the playoffs and I would not be surprised if they had another 5-11 year. It really is dependent on injuries and thus far training camp has been horrible for us. As mentioned by wwarton, 90 percent of our star players were injured last year for a substantial length of time. If everyone stays healthy the defense might get back on track and win some games for the team.

The oline is looking bad on the left side thus far, and for the Browns fan who felt Gaither was proven, you could not be more wrong. Gaither is a huge question mark and we migth be forced to start him at LT at this point. The best lineman at this point are Jason Brown (pro bowl potential) and Ben Grubs with Marshall Yanda delivering a nice pop thus far in training camp. We might have to start some people who should be on the practice squad, so yeah I would call the oline a borderline mess at this point (with potential).

Wide recievers have underperformed thus far but are very talented and as stated Mason is not playing like a 34 year old man. Clayton has proven that when he plays he has reliable hands and a decent burst for some YAC (although he is not the deep threat we hoped he was). Demetrius Williams is possibly the vert. threat we need and he has to step it up this year. Add a healthy Todd Heap into the mix with Willis Mcgahee in a Cam Cameron offense, they have a chance to be real decent.

Defensive wise, the Ravens have all the potential in the world. Dline thus far includes Suggs (he plays in the dirt a hell of alot for a "olb"_, Haloti Ngata, Kelly Gregg and Trevor Pryce. Linebackers include Jarrett Johnson, Ray Lewis and Bart Scott. Safeties are Reed and Dawan Landry. Cb's are Mccalister and Rolle. Besides Johnson and Rolle, every other one of those players has pro bowl potential. A healthy Ravens defense is still a force. With that said, I agree with them being a wild card this year with Pittsburgh winning the division.

[Adam Dayton]

Quote: Originally Posted by bkrich83

I think people are sleeping on Boller. You can see he definitely made some strides last year. Not sure if it shows in the stat books, but there are definite little things that I see, that are subtle but hint at a QB beginning to "get it". I don't think anyone can dispute the physical talent, and while I don't think he's ever going to be a great QB, I certainly think he could still evolve in to a good QB. Again, just a hunch, but I see some things that are encouraging when watching him play. Imo, and it's strictly my opinion, when their offense gets it's identity, Demetrius Williams is going to be an impact player. He gets behind coverage, he's tough after the catch, and I really like his game. Ideally I think you'd run Clayton out of the slot as much as possible. While I don't believe him to be a blazer, he's very quick in and out of his breaks, and he's very elusive after the catch. I'd love to see him in a Wes Welker type role.

Yeah, at this point I would start Boller with Smith on deck and Flacco as the no. 3 option. Ravens with an offensive identity? I have been waiting for years lol. Hopefully Cam Cameron can work his magic and we will begin seeing shades of that. He was great during his time with your boys over in San Diego.

[bkrich83]

I don't think anyone thought Clayton was going to be a deep threat out of college did they? I thought it was known he was a RAC guy more than a guy that just runs by people.

Maybe I am wrong on that my memory is fading.

[OSUFan_88]

Quote: Originally Posted by Adam Dayton

The oline is looking bad on the left side thus far, and for the Browns fan who felt Gaither was proven, you could not be more wrong. Gaither is a huge question mark and we migth be forced to start him at LT at this point. The best lineman at this point are Jason Brown (pro bowl potential) and Ben Grubs with Marshall Yanda delivering a nice pop thus far in training camp. We might have to start some people who should be on the practice squad, so yeah I would call the oline a borderline mess at this point (with potential).

Some points here.

I think Gaither has more talent than Terry, but is much more raw. He has a lot of talent, though, and if he works out he could be very good...just don't bet that it's this year.

Brown is easily your best line man right now and it isn't even close.

Grubbs has a lot of talent as well, but is a rookie and will probably struggle. Yanda is a Guard that is playing tackle and he needs to be moved inside and maybe put Brown at center.

But at least you can see it what your o-line situation is right now, and that is a mess. It's honest to God reminds me what my Browns have seen since 99. You cannot have a successful offense with a bad o-line, it just doesn't happen.

[Adam Dayton]

Quote: Originally Posted by bkrich83

I don't think anyone thought Clayton was going to be a deep threat out of college did they? I thought it was known he was a RAC guy more than a guy that just runs by people. Maybe I am wrong on that my memory is fading.

Nah you are prob right. I think the Ravens were hoping he would develop into a home run deep threat type of player who keeps defenses in check with his speed. Thus far he has shown solid hands and a nice initial burst after his catch but has obviously not lived up to his potential. Hopefully things will open up this year.

[Adam Dayton]

Quote: Originally Posted by OSUFan_88

Some points here. I think Gaither has more talent than Terry, but is much more raw. He has a lot of talent, though, and if he works out he could be very good...just don't bet that it's this year. Brown is easily your best line man right now and it isn't even close. Grubbs has a lot of talent as well, but is a rookie and will probably struggle. Yanda is a Guard that is playing tackle and he needs to be moved inside and maybe put Brown at center. But at least you can see it what your o-line situation is right now, and that is a mess. It's honest to God reminds me what my Browns have seen since 99. You cannot have a successful offense with a bad o-line, it just doesn't happen.

Yeah on paper it makes me scared. Not one returning lineman playing the same position he played the year prior. Hopefully they come together throughout the season but who knows. They run block much better than pass block thus far so Willis better get his stamina up. As for the qb, if Flacco is thrown to the wolves behind that wall we officially have 6'7 feet of chopped liver on our hands.

[bkrich83]

Quote: Originally Posted by Adam Dayton

Nah you are prob right. I think the Ravens were hoping he would develop into a home run deep threat type of player who keeps defenses in check with his speed. Thus far he has shown solid hands and a nice initial burst after his catch but has obviously not lived up to his potential. Hopefully things will open up this year.

Yeah, he's just not a burner. At OU he was always thought of as more quick than fast. As I said, I'd love to see him in a Wes Welker type role, I think he could be very effective in the slot.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by OSUFan_88

I think the Browns are going 9-7 this year, if you must know. The Browns are twice the team the Ravens are right now. Their offense is much better and have a slightly worse defense. Sean Jones is a good player, Shaun Rogers, who reported to camp in the best shape of his life, is a huge addition. As for last year, please, the Browns dominated the Ravens in Cleveland. The Ravens weren't even close in that game...and they should have won by 20, but instead won by 14. In Baltimore they needed a inprobable field goal to win the game, but they did win. Barring major injuries to Anderson, Quinn, Lewis, Winslow, Braylon, Rogers, Jones and Wright, I see no situation where the Ravens are better than the Browns.

9-7 is realistic... twice the team the Ravens are is not... not even close. And record aside, they weren't twice the team the Ravens were last year. Injuries happen and the Ravens weakness is their depth at certain positions which is a legit beef if you're ranking the 2 teams, but to say the Browns d is "slightly worse" than the Ravens is pretty funny. Their D should be much improved this year but they'll still be middle of the pack at best.

For the record, I don't think the Ravens are overall a better team than the Browns going into 2008, but they aren't anywhere near as bad as you seem to think, and could still finish with a better record than the Browns pretty easily.

The linemen they have been drafting should be better fit in an offense that requires more movement of the line and for whatever reason, Billick never started using them that way. I got a feeling Cam's offense will cover up some issues you're talking about, but again that's my optimistic view. I'm not naive in thinking they are solid right now, but I wouldn't call them a mess. I will say this is one area you may prove to be right though.

Ray Rice is going to be a huge addition too. I don't think anyone should be expected to turn into MJD but I think he can have a similar role and be pretty successful. If you think about what Garrard and Jackson are asked to do at QB, the Ravens could have a similar strategy which would limit errors by the QB big time and give more rest to the D. Whoever the QB is won't be asked to win many games.

As for Boller, people have been listening to the talking heads about him for years but he's gotten better every year. They finally gave him his props when he outplayed their golden child, Favre a few years ago and now they at least call him one of the best back ups in the league (last two years) but everyone assumes every QB on the bench sucks so that didn't matter to many fans. One thing I am worried about is it seemed like it took a while for him to get comfortable in an offense in college. Once he did, he was great. It seemed to look like he was on that same path with Billick's offense. I hope the new offense doesn't set that back, but all reports are that he'd be the starter if the season started tomorrow so that's a good sign.

I'm honestly comfortable with all 3 QBs and really hope Flacco doesn't start b/c I hate seeing rookie QBs start. If the team is able to run the ball and stays healthy they should be pretty good. If they can't b/c the oline won't create holes or some big players have extended injuries then they'll be lucky to reach .500. Pretty much that simple. So I'm not overly confident about this season but the teams doesn't suck... certainly aren't half the team the Browns are. The Browns could easily finish under .500 too. They got lucky in quite a few games last year. They should be better but they also have a tougher schedule.