Ravens interested in TO

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by Adam Dayton

Here's how I look at our wr problem- Resign Mason NO MATTER WHAT. And.... Option one- Trade for Boldin or Marshall. Draft a CB or defensive player in first round. That way Wrs are- Boldin/Marshall, Mason, Stallworth/Clayton/Washington battle for 3 and 4. Option Two- Pick up TO in free agency. Draft Wr in First round. That way- Mason, TO, Draft Wr, Stallworth/Clayton/Washington battle for 4. There should be absolutely no way one of these two options does not occur. They HAVE to make it happen to have a semi competitive wr core. As far as I'm concerned I'd be willing to give up a first round for Marshall, and a 2nd round at best for Boldin. Anything more and I say don't do it and go option 2.

I'm with you except for drafting a WR in the 1st round. Even if it's TO and not Boldin/Marshall, the need shifts from WR. They need to draft a defensive player in the first round... corner, outside rusher, maybe even safety or ILB. They're are what 3 WRs on the team that were drafted in the 1st or 2nd round I believe. Either let them develop or cut your loses, but there are other needs. Unless they have a good way to move up in the draft, I don't see them getting anyone projected much better than Clayton, Williams or Smith... and any rookie will need time to develop. Sign Mason, get one of the 3 mentioned (or Bryant), go D in the draft, get a WR later than the 1st round.

[Adam Dayton]

I dunno, if Dez Bryant (longshot but some project) or Golden Tate is there at 25 I say get them. If Hayden or a great De is there get them. If not , trade down and get someone with a high 2nd round pic. I want to say Benn will still be there if we do that. Regardless, with Mason and TO, we would still be lacking that young promising wr we desperately need for Flacco. Clayton, Williams and Stallworth are simply not it. I would hate for Flacco to go into his third year without a young, talented and promising wr.

I think if we don't do the trade it will be like it always has been- see who falls to us and make our decision from there. I doubt Oz will be aggresive and move up unless Bryant looks like he will fall to the Bengals. Regardless, going into the year with a Mason/Clayton/Stallworth/Williams will garner us the same BS that has prevented this team from moving on in the playoffs. For the second year in a row, the lack of a game changing wr next to Mason has glared its ugly head and if we go into next season with the same philosophy, well Einstein said it best-

Stupidity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.

This is simply a ridiculously essential offseason to boost the wr corp. Incidently, if Mason somehow falls to another team.........wow.



I think we can both agree on the following preceeding the draft-

1. Resign Mason

2. Attempt to trade (picks). If within reason get Boldin (2nd or lower) or Marshall (first and nothing else or 2nd and lowish other pick).

3. Get a good number two in Free agency.

Failing to do these things would be a horrible decision on the Ravens part.

[shotgun styles]

Quote: Originally Posted by wwharton

I'm with you except for drafting a WR in the 1st round. Even if it's TO and not Boldin/Marshall, the need shifts from WR. They need to draft a defensive player in the first round... corner, outside rusher, maybe even safety or ILB. They're are what 3 WRs on the team that were drafted in the 1st or 2nd round I believe. Either let them develop or cut your loses, but there are other needs. Unless they have a good way to move up in the draft, I don't see them getting anyone projected much better than Clayton, Williams or Smith... and any rookie will need time to develop. Sign Mason, get one of the 3 mentioned (or Bryant), go D in the draft, get a WR later than the 1st round.

I love Ray, you guys know this. But he's old. He's as old as me, and that's saying something. It's time to get him a replacement while he's still on the field to teach the guy.

There's no doubt in my mind that Ray will be happy to train his replacement. If the new guy is a success Ray will see that as his legacy, he's that kind of man.

So I agree with you, WR in the first is not a good plan. You can develop a later round guy. The Ravens are not a chuck and duck team. If Flacco is the real deal he needs reliable receivers more than explosive ones to win a championship with this franchise.

[KBLover]

Quote: Originally Posted by wwharton

I don't think anyone would argue that Marshall or Boldin would be better, but like I said, you can't just get those guys because you want them. He may be the best realistic option but we'll see. I'm sure Ozzie won't rush on this one unless he already knows those guys are off the table.

Yeah, I certainly trust Ozzie and his decisions. It's easy to see his track record with this team.

Quote: Originally Posted by wwharton

As for TO the former Raven, he didn't want to come to Baltimore bc he didn't believe they had a worthy QB to throw to him (Boller). I believe that was a different TO and Flacco is clearly a different QB.

TO may have changed, and hopefully he has. He's right about Boller - he STILL isn't a worthy QB for even Rams (I think that's where he was, backing up Bulger). Granted, Bulger doesn't suck, but still.

Quote: Originally Posted by wwharton

Just bc you mentioned it, I'd have to say it'd be funny to think Baltimore or the Ravens have race issues. Their best players (Reed and Ray) are black and huge leaders in the community, and their well respected GM is also. The city's current (and previous) mayor is black and there are two HBCUs in the city (Morgan and Coppin). It's known recently for The Wire and The Corner and historically for Fredrick Douglas and housing and employing free blacks during times of slavery.

Yeah, that's why I was like "what? He said what?" when I first heard that back then. I thought it was just him not wanting to play around other super-strong personalities like Ray et. al. Like you said, the top players and the GM are all black and now Ray Rice - not to mention Mason, Suggs, etc. Perhaps that was just media spin or taking something out of context or a less-than-smart comment from his agent.

[KBLover]

Quote: Originally Posted by shotgun styles

I love Ray, you guys know this. But he's old. He's as old as me, and that's saying something. It's time to get him a replacement while he's still on the field to teach the guy.

Don't we have a couple young MLBs? Gooden and Ellerbee I think their names are?

Granted I don't know how GOOD they are or will be (partly because Ray is still around so they don't start/play much). I certainly won't bemoan picking up more LBs. I'm a LB fan, so, a defense built around LBs and having more young LB prospects would be okay with me

Profootballfocus.com has Gooden rated decently (seems like a C+ kind of player, and being young and not a ton of playing time, maybe he could get better) though Ellerbee rates badly. J. McClain (how do you get two guys named "McClain" on the same team?) rates decently but with not a ton of field time. Still, he's rated well in what playing time he did get.

[shotgun styles]

Quote: Originally Posted by KBLover

Don't we have a couple young MLBs? Gooden and Ellerbee I think their names are? Granted I don't know how GOOD they are or will be (partly because Ray is still around so they don't start/play much). I certainly won't bemoan picking up more LBs. I'm a LB fan, so, a defense built around LBs and having more young LB prospects would be okay with me Profootballfocus.com has Gooden rated decently (seems like a C+ kind of player, and being young and not a ton of playing time, maybe he could get better) though Ellerbee rates badly. J. McClain (how do you get two guys named "McClain" on the same team?) rates decently but with not a ton of field time. Still, he's rated well in what playing time he did get.

The next "Big Thing" is not on your roster. This year Suh and McCoy are the big names on defense. If there's a big time MLB (I haven't been keeping up like I should) you may want to consider him. When Ray leaves, you don't want a huge hole in the middle of that D.

[Adam Dayton]

No mlb in the draft is worth a first for us.

[Adam Dayton]

Asking price for Boldin is a third-

http://theredzone.org/BlogDescriptio...k/Default.aspx

Let's get on it Ozzie.