Team Spotlight: Baltimore Ravens (1 Viewer)

[Maurile Tremblay]

See the pinned thread for links to each team spotlight.

I'll start off by posting my projections to get us going. The idea is for others to post their own projections as well, or to comment on the projections posted by others.

Overall

525 pass attempts for 329 receptions, 3633 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions; 456 rushes for 1975 yards and 14 touchdowns.

QB

Joe Flacco: 310 of 492 passing for 3413 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions; 38 rushes for 107 yards and 1 touchdown.

Troy Smith: 20 of 33 passing for 220 yards, 1 touchdowns, and 1 interceptions; 3 rushes for 10 yards and 0 touchdowns.

John Beck: 0 of 0 passing for 0 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions; 0 rushes for 0 yards and 0 touchdowns.

RB

Ray Rice: 249 rushes for 1177 yards and 7 touchdowns; 78 receptions for 651 yards and 1 touchdown.

Willis McGahee: 106 rushes for 433 yards and 4 touchdowns; 16 receptions for 112 yards and 0 touchdowns.

Jalen Parmele: 8 rushes for 34 yards and 0 touchdowns; 1 receptions for 9 yards and 0 touchdowns.

LeRon McClain: 45 rushes for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns; 20 receptions for 144 yards and 1 touchdown.

WR

Anquan Boldin: 69 receptions for 890 yards and 6 touchdowns; 0 rushes for 0 yards and 0 touchdowns.

Derrick Mason: 53 receptions for 662 yards and 4 touchdowns; 1 rushes for 7 yards and 0 touchdowns.

Mark Clayton: 30 receptions for 398 yards and 2 touchdowns; 5 rushes for 27 yards and 0 touchdowns.

Donte Stallworth: 7 receptions for 109 yards and 1 touchdowns; 0 rushes for 0 yards and 0 touchdowns.

Demetrius Williams: 7 receptions for 108 yards and 1 touchdowns; 0 rushes for 0 yards and 0 touchdowns.

Marcus Smith: 0 receptions for 0 yards and 0 touchdowns; 0 rushes for 0 yards and 0 touchdowns.

Justin Harper: 0 receptions for 0 yards and 0 touchdowns; 0 rushes for 0 yards and 0 touchdowns.

TE

Todd Heap: 46 receptions for 523 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Ed Dickson: 2 receptions for 26 yards and 0 touchdowns.

 

[Michael Fox Fan]

Anquan Boldin: 69 receptions for 890 yards and 6 touchdowns; 0 rushes for 0 yards and 0 touchdowns.

How many games are you projecting Boldin to miss? 3-4? Figure it must be material, because Mason had 73 catches for 1028 yds & 7 TDs in essentially 14 1/2 games last year.

 

[Tanner9919]

Anquan Boldin: 69 receptions for 890 yards and 6 touchdowns; 0 rushes for 0 yards and 0 touchdowns.

How many games are you projecting Boldin to miss? 3-4? Figure it must be material, because Mason had 73 catches for 1028 yds & 7 TDs in essentially 14 1/2 games last year.

this guy's projections are

 

[Sweet Love]

Any chance that Stallworth is the third WR over Clayton? Believe it or not, he is more consistent on a yearly basis than Clayton and I would think management must be tired of his showing little to no progress over 5 years on the team. Stallworth could certainly prove to be a "new" headache in regards to consistency, but I would think they would give him a shot.

 

[Dawg Pound 69]

I think Flacco will have closer to 30 touchdown passes, and Rice will have about 6 td catches rather than one. At TE the rookies should see more action than Heap, assuming Heap even makes the final roster.

 

[footballman_696969]

QB

Joe Flacco: 333 of 528 passing for 3749 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions; 40 rushes for 112 yards and 1 touchdown.

RB

Ray Rice: 264 rushes for 1254 yards and 8 touchdowns; 72 receptions for 634 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Willis McGahee: 108 rushes for 486 yards and 7 touchdowns; 12 receptions for 78 yards and 1 touchdown.

LeRon McClain: 40 rushes for 160 yards and 3 touchdowns; 11 receptions for 72 yards and 0 touchdowns.

Jalen Parmele: 4 rushes for 17 yards and 0 touchdowns; 1 receptions for 9 yards and 0 touchdowns.

WR

Anquan Boldin: 80 receptions for 1000 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Derrick Mason: 68 receptions for 918 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Mark Clayton: 32 receptions for 448 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Donte Stallworth: 8 receptions for 112 yards and 1 touchdown.

Demetrius Williams: 7 receptions for 112 yards and 0 touchdowns.

TE

Todd Heap: 40 receptions for 460 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Ed Dickson: 2 receptions for 24 yards and 0 touchdowns.

Thoughts?

 

[(unwelcomed)GUEST]

The only thing that's going to keep Flacco from 30 tds this year will be receivers being pushed out inside the five. Latest rumor is a Goaline package that includes, seriously get this, Oher (T) Grubbs (G) Burk© Yanda (G) Gaither (T) Cody (TE) Ngata (FB) McClain (TailBack) Flacco (QB) Cousins (H-Back) Boldin (WR). Is that even fair, 6 guys over 300 with a 250 lbs running back? The smallest guy on the field next to Boldin is the CENTER! I love this team this year. I don't see a clear cut fantasy guy but the team is going to be awesome.

 

[(unwelcomed)GUEST]

Been to camp and this is what I see:

For those wondering which rookie TE to have fantasy wise, its definitely Dickson. Pitta may reach the field first and be the all-around type guy BUT, Dickson has been showing great separation-soft hands-a natural speed that simply puts distance between himself and defenders. That said, going against the same DBs/Safeties, Pitta couldn't create that same separation.

Flacco looks like the same QB as last year. He delivers the ball rapidly in passing drills but needs to make faster decisions and improve his release against the D. My understanding tho is that the Ravens are one of the few teams that runs live, full contact scrimages against the first teams EVERYDAY in camp. It's about an hour of 1st team O vs 1st team D, rotating 2nd teams against 2nd teams for about an hour to close out the am practice.

Mason, on the day of his ankle injury and throughout camp, has been breaking DBs ankles. The Ravens run a one on one drill w rec against corners and safeties for about 45 minutes. Mason made sick , sick, sick moves on the defenders. Clayton looked great in the same drill. Boldin simply positioned himself and caught everything thrown to him. Mason, Clayton, Boldin, Stallworth, Rookie TE Dickson looked freakin awesome. They've caught just about everything thrown to them.

Bulger's arm looks like jello. Maybe Flacco just has an amazingly strong arm, maybe Bulger is done? Troy Smith looks marginally better than Bulger.

Ray Rice looks awesome everytime he touches the ball, whether it be in the rushing game or receiving...He's a dynamic playmaker. I honestly thought his receptions would be cut in half but after watching him in camp, I'm not so convinced.

Willis McGahee came into camp at 240 lbs. It's all muscle, he looks like an absolute beast! I guess he cherishes that goaline role. Seriously, he looks fast, he's running guys over, showing that nasty stiff arm. He's a gem on the bench in later rounds. While Rice looks like the better back, if an injury should arrise Willis will step in and be an absolute beast.

T.Suggs has come in lighter and looks to be back to 10+ sack status. This LB crew is deep even without Kindle. Kruger looks good at 270+, Barnes looks to have the inside track on the ILB next to RLewis. This is one deep, deep, deep LB crew... almost as deep as the Dline.

At this point, Graham has the edge on Cundiff in the kicking game but I look for Cundiff to make another team.

I'll end it with saying I have newly found respect for Ray Lewis. The Ravens charge nothing to stand 10 feet away from players while they practice. This year they changed the autograph policy to kids only...6 to 16, they have to get a wrist band first then only the kids are ushered into a section that runs from one practice field's endzone up to the fifty. It's a pretty big area, kids about 4 deep. It's up to the player whether they want to sign after am practice. Ray Rice pretty much made the rounds, Flacco signed about 500 autographs in the endzone only, freakin Ray Lewis signed EVERY KID's autograph. He stayed after practice for at least an hour and a half. Flacco had already gone in, changed clothes and come back out...Ray was still signing, he made sure every kid that wanted an autograph got one. I'm not a fan of the dance, the media love, the celebration of the 'hood that he represents BUT, WOW he actually gets it! Good man, I'll take him over Favre any day in that capacity...he gets it. (and no, I'm not a autograph guy but the kids I brought definitely noticed that he stuck around, acknowledged them and signed something for them...all were under 10).

That's my unofficial camp report, any questions that u guys have I'd be happy to answer.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Thanks for the report, UG.

I'm wondering where the pass rush is going to come from. It's good to know Suggs is in shape, but who else? They blitzed Lewis a LOT last year but that's not really his thing. Kruger supposedly has increased his quickness while gaining weight. Does he look like he can bring a consistent pass rush? With the shaky DBs, I'm not too enthusiastic about them having to cover for more than about a millisecond.

I've been reading great things about Rice. One of the Sun's reporters said he is the most cut guy in camp and looks even quicker than he was last year.

 

[roadkill1292]

That's very good stuff, UG, especially the observation about McGahee. It seems like he's happily settled into a role where he can be monstrously effective in short doses, which bodes ill for Ravens' opponents.

What's the news on Ayanbadejo? Before he got hurt last year, he had a couple of surprisingly effective games at inside backer. Personally, I was kinda hoping for Kindle sliding into an outside position while Jarret Johnson moved to the middle, where I think he'd be pretty formidable, but Kindle's injury has certainly squelched that idea.

I notice you didn't mention the secondary. Much maligned, and accurately so IMO, that group at the end of the year actually played pretty decently against Brady and Manning but, jeebus they're beat up now.

 

[cr8f]

After spending the offseason in the weight room, Ray Rice now bench presses 405 pounds and squats more than 500.

"Look at him over there," said FB Le'Ron McClain. "He lives in the weight room all the time. I mean all the time! He is going to be a beast." Rice's extraordinary strength is the primary reason why he succeeds between the tackles where so many other smaller backs fail. He's one of the most complete tailbacks in the NFL, and he'll be a goal-line stud in 2011 if the Ravens part with Willis McGahee.

 

[(unwelcomed)GUEST]

Thanks for the report, UG. I'm wondering where the pass rush is going to come from. It's good to know Suggs is in shape, but who else? They blitzed Lewis a LOT last year but that's not really his thing. Kruger supposedly has increased his quickness while gaining weight. Does he look like he can bring a consistent pass rush? With the shaky DBs, I'm not too enthusiastic about them having to cover for more than about a millisecond.I've been reading great things about Rice. One of the Sun's reporters said he is the most cut guy in camp and looks even quicker than he was last year.

Ngata said that he's focused on his release from the line and driving linemen backwards this year, he wants to prove to the league that he's not one dimensional. Looks like in known passing situations they're going to rotate one of the many 350 lbs athletic DT/NG out for guys like Cory Redding, Paul "Freddie" Kruger and a mixture of the younger LBs like Gooden, McClain, Barnes with Suggs, JJohnson and Ray. Kruger looks better this year, he's not getting pushed around and looks fast, that said I saw him against rookie R Harewood and Oneil Cousins. Suggs looks REALLY quick, like he's almost playing with the Olinemen.Rice looks great, in camp he's looked like a stronger MFaulk circa 1998-2001. McGahee just looks so powerful, if he doesn't get packaged for a corner or safety definitely knock down any LeRon McClain projections you had for this season.

 

[(unwelcomed)GUEST]

Roadkill for some reason floodcontrol won't let me quote ya but here goes:

What's the news on Ayanbadejo?: I haven't seen him and have heard he's behind schedule in terms of rehab. He'll definitely be on the PUP missing the first 6 regular season games. He was blazing fast and looked great on D last year prior to that nasty injury, I completely agree. I guess the only blessing is that the McClain's, Barnes', Gooden's have been around for 3+ years and can step in and play. One of them needs to take advantage of the opportunity tho.

The secondary: I didn't mention it because prior to Fabian Washington's return I didn't know who any of the corners in uniform were! I had to check the freebie handout that showed the names with corresponding jersey numbers. The safeties are hitting, they're covering TEs Drew and Pitta. Dickson was abusing them. I'm not sure if Mason, Clayton, Boldin and Stallworth are that good or if our corners just are that bad.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Roadkill for some reason floodcontrol won't let me quote ya but here goes:What's the news on Ayanbadejo?: I haven't seen him and have heard he's behind schedule in terms of rehab. He'll definitely be on the PUP missing the first 6 regular season games. He was blazing fast and looked great on D last year prior to that nasty injury, I completely agree. I guess the only blessing is that the McClain's, Barnes', Gooden's have been around for 3+ years and can step in and play. One of them needs to take advantage of the opportunity tho.The secondary: I didn't mention it because prior to Fabian Washington's return I didn't know who any of the corners in uniform were! I had to check the freebie handout that showed the names with corresponding jersey numbers. The safeties are hitting, they're covering TEs Drew and Pitta. Dickson was abusing them. I'm not sure if Mason, Clayton, Boldin and Stallworth are that good or if our corners just are that bad.

Have you seen the kid they traded Beck for? Dutch, I think?The Ravens may need to hold Landry out of contact drills - he keeps knocking guys out of practice.

 

[(unwelcomed)GUEST]

A little ironic, camp blurb about the pass rush and Ngata's influence

I haven't seen much of Dutch, I didn't go to the practice in Baltimore. If all goes as planned I'll be at both Monday practices. My IT skills are limited but I'll work on getting some video of the DBs.

Landry knocked out Willis's tooth on the first day of contact, the injury to Mason wasn't a huge hit just kind of got tangled up. Nice to see Landry back, hitting, after the neck injury. He looked apprehensive last year, he'll be huge if he's back to his rookie form.

 

[(unwelcomed)GUEST]

If anyone wants to see what there is to see at Ravens training camp let me know. I'm taking digital camcorder, going to grab Flacco, Rice, Boldin, Stalworth, Clayton, Mason quickly. Specifically look for Dutch and Hawkins at DB. Hopefully grab some of Dline to show those that just don't know how studly the RAVENS are at this position-6 deep. Also hope to catch a little Dickson/Pitta. I'm going to be busy but if they're specific request, I'll try to honor them. Bad part is, players are getting bored and worn down after full contact for 10 two-a-day practices.

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

I'd be surprised if the Ravens don't have a receiver get 900 plus yards this season.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

A little ironic, camp blurb about the pass rush and Ngata's influence

Leave it to me to worry about an apparent strength

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Nice to see Landry back, hitting, after the neck injury. He looked apprehensive last year, he'll be huge if he's back to his rookie form.

Also nice to read he's got more quickness this year. He missed way too many tackles last season because of bad angles, some of the reason most likely being the apprehension you mentioned.

 

[LittlePhatty]

ESPN picks

The Ravens got picked as Superbowl favorites by 4 out of 12 analysts on ESPN.

That's the same number of votes the Packers received.

I like the pick, and I like Flacco's chances to put up nice numbers this year.

 

[Steed]

Three things you can count on. Death, Taxes, and the Baltimore Ravens choking against the Steelers.

This woulda been a great bump if you predicted it 4 months ago.