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Ravens 2023: The New Season is Here!

The blog has awakened now that the new season is here! Let’s jump right in with some quick Ravens thoughts.

David Ojabo and the Pass Rush

Yikes! I can’t mince any words here. Ojabo looked awful. Not only was there no explosion, I don’t think there was any evidence of lift-off. If you want to see textbook examples of a player who could not get off of a block just rewind any pass rush attempt by Ojabo in the pre-season. His spin move – which he demonstrated frequently and to great effect at Michigan – disappeared. A powerful punch and extension? Nope. Hand fighting? Maybe there was a bit of thumb wrestling that I missed. This was all massively disappointing. It was so bad that Ojabo was on the field for a play or two in the fourth quarter of last night’s game. He was no better in the running game. Continue reading “Ravens 2023: The New Season is Here!”

The Cancer in American Politics Today: Party Above Country

It’s no surprise that so many Americans mistrust their government. American leaders today are devoid of courage and conviction. They have turned away from governing political judgments with principles. Away from putting the country first at each turn. It is more important to create clever, catchy hateful names for political opponents than to debate ideas. Iterative discussion and conversation are intolerable. Leaders at all levels of government scorn and demonize their political opponents, convinced that personal invective is the best course toward preservation of power. Which, after all, is the only objective. Continue reading “The Cancer in American Politics Today: Party Above Country”

Ravens Post Draft – Free Agents To Pluck and More

This should be relatively easy. Post draft, the Ravens still need a starting cornerback, veteran help at the edge rusher position, and arguably a little more help in the defensive line.

Outside Cornerback

At the outside cornerback spot, there are two obvious free agent targets. The 30 year old Marcus Peters and the 26 year old Rock Ya-Sin. Ya-Sin’s second year in the league was poor, but he played well over the past two seasons. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus gave him the 27^th best coverage grade lined up wide, and the 23rd best grade when playing man press coverage. His yards per coverage snap was ranked fifth. Overall, he graded out as their 50^th best corner last year (out of 118) and the 29^th best in 2021 (out of 116). Continue reading “Ravens Post Draft – Free Agents To Pluck and More”

Ravens Draft Days Two and Three, and More

No need to spend much more time on Zay Flowers. He was the best receiver in the draft, pure and simple. Lamar will have zero excuses this year. He’s surrounded by high end skill position players everywhere. The wide receiver trio of Beckham, Bateman, and Flowers is plenty good enough. Mark Andrews and his fellow tight ends are elite. The running back trio is excellent. Now we will see what Todd Monken can do. There should be big enough offensive philosophy changes coming. Now let’s take a look at days two and three.

A Debate With Eric DeCosta

I was foolish enough to believe, for two years running now, that the Ravens would not draft a player for a position where they did not have a need. Last year, it was Kyle Hamilton. This year, it is Trenton Simpson. It was my fault failing to review inside linebackers this season under this false assumption. Continue reading “Ravens Draft Days Two and Three, and More”

Ravens 2023 Draft: Post Day One

Here’s a quick post day one draft commentary.

The Cornerback Versus Wide Receiver Debate, Continued

After they were unable/unwilling to acquire DeAndre Hopkins, the Ravens drafted Zay Flowers, the best wide receiver in the draft in my view. I believe the Ravens were working the phones while we waited for the selection (near the end of the allotted ten minutes), but presumably didn’t get what they wanted. Continue reading “Ravens 2023 Draft: Post Day One”

Ravens 2023 Big Board Part 2 – Rounds and Players

It’s draft day 2023! Finally, part 2 of the Ravens Big Board is here. Like last year, this 2023 Big Board is not a ranking of all prospects such as you typically see on the internet. That type of ranking is not useful in figuring out who the Ravens will target, as you saw in Part 1 of this year’s Big Board. Instead, the goal is to find who fits what the Ravens try to do, and which players bring to the table what the Ravens most need. The selections you see below are intended to represent which specific prospects the Ravens should draft, and roughly when.

2023 Big Board: It’s a Very Weak Year

This year’s draft class is very weak, in my view. The first round only goes only about 16-17 players deep. And as you’ll see below, there are a lot of players I reviewed who just shouldn’t be drafted by the Ravens. The depth in the balance of the class is arguably the worst in years. If ever there was a year not to have a boatload of picks, 2023 is that year. Continue reading “Ravens 2023 Big Board Part 2 – Rounds and Players”

Ravens Big Board Part 1 Supplement: More on Round One

Part 1 of my Ravens Big Board (found here) outlined where I think the Ravens should go if they draft a player at Pick 22. Part 2 of the Ravens Big Board will set forth a round-by-round view of who I think the Ravens could/should target. But a couple of other thoughts came to mind that I decided to put out in this Big Board Part 1 Supplement

More On Round One – The Quarterbacks and Lamar Jackson

What will happen with the quarterbacks in round one of the draft? I’d be shocked if Bryce Young is not the first pick. He’s simply the best quarterback in this class at this point. Do the Texans draft a quarterback at pick 2? Then what?

There’s no point in speculating about trades for quarterback prospects. That conversation is just a merry-go-round of confusion. But there are two similar questions to consider. First, after the Titans have selected at pick 11, and assuming the Texans did not draft a quarterback at pick 2, are either Anthony Richardson or C.J. Stroud still available? Continue reading “Ravens Big Board Part 1 Supplement: More on Round One”

Ravens 2023 Draft Big Board, Part 1

Here’s where I try to stitch all of the prior draft blogs together from the Ravens perspective and create my Ravens Big Board. This year, I’ve broken the Big Board into two blogs. This Part one of the Big Board construction focuses only on round one of the draft. Part two contains the entire Big Board for the Ravens, by round and player, with my favorite selections for the Ravens given their needs.

Individual prospect analyses can be found as follows:

Offense:
Left tackle is here.
Running Backs are found here.
Wide Receivers are here.
Interior Offensive Linemen are here.

Defense:
Cornerbacks are found here.
Defensive Linemen are here.
Edge Linebackers are located here.
Safeties are located here.

A Brief Background

First, a few minor background comments. On the offensive side of things, I did not review tight ends or centers at all, as I just can’t see the Ravens spending any of their precious draft capital this year on these areas of strength. Continue reading “Ravens 2023 Draft Big Board, Part 1”

The Short Left Tackle Prospects List – Ravens 2023 Draft

The left tackle prospects in the 2023 NFL draft are reviewed below from the Ravens perspective. The following positions have been reviewed previously:

Offense:
Running Backs, found here.
Wide Receivers, which is located here.
Interior Offensive Linemen, which can be found here.

Defense:
Safeties, located here.
Edge Linebackers, located here.
Cornerbacks, located here.
Defensive Linemen, located here.

Ravens Current Situation and Need at Offensive Tackle

The Ravens are set on the right side for 2023. Morgan Moses had an excellent year in 2022 and will start this year on the right side. Daniel Faalele is being groomed to take his place in 2024 and is the clear backup. Ronnie Stanley had an excellent comeback year in 2022 on the left side. He once again was one of the better left tackles in the league. But he is getting older and injury concerns have to stay top of mind with him. Utility infielder Pat Mekari is his current backup. The Ravens could stand to find some depth at left tackle. That’s the focus here. Continue reading “The Short Left Tackle Prospects List – Ravens 2023 Draft”

Last Minute Upgrades and Downgrades – 2023 Ravens Draft

It’s time to make a few upgrades, and one downgrade, of prior player analyses for the Ravens 2023 draft.

Upgrade: Deonte Banks (cornerback)

More tape study of Banks convinced me that he has all of the ability to become a dominant press cover corner. He brings a great punch at the line, with one or both hands. His transitions are very smooth out of press coverage. This man can turn his hips and mirror all the way down the field. Banks offers great body balance and body control at the catch point. He is a very good tackler. Where he’s lacking to date is in ball productivity. For all of his skills, it was surprisingly absent. But make no mistake, he has elite man cover skills.

Upgrade: Tank Dell (wide receiver)

It’s not so much that I have new things to say about Dell. Rather, it’s just every tape I look at shows Dell getting separation. It’s quite extraordinary. I’d be very satisfied if he somehow wound up on the Ravens.

Upgrade: Adetomiwa Adebawore (defensive line)

The Ravens are thinking about Adebawore a little differently than probably others. They asked him to do linebacker drills for them at the Combine. This 282 pound man ran a 4.49 forty. Could he wind up as an edge linebacker selection in, say, round three? I think he has the agility to make a full transition. He could be your Pernell McPhee, Zadarius Smith, or Courtney Upshaw type player who sets a hard edge but can rush from the inside/outside (well, maybe not Upshaw). With that in mind, I have to elevate Adebawore.

Two Running Backs

Israel Abanikanda – The Ravens had a formal interview with Abanikanda, which puzzled me a bit. What are they seeing that I don’t. To review, he has home run speed, no doubt. But if he has to create holes at the line of scrimmage, or if he has to power for yardage at all, forget about it so far. He’s very young so one hopes there is room for upside here. But he’s an upright runner without leg drive who is simply a one cut and go. He averaged a terrible 2.7 yards per carry after contact, and had only the 64^th best missed tackle rate and only 46 forced missed tackles. On the flip side, most of his yards came before contact. Now he’s best suited for an inside zone scheme, but at this point there is no way that he’s the next Gus Edwards. He plays much smaller than his size.

Deneric Prince – I think Prince is flying a bit under the radar. His initial full report is worth reviewing. Tape review of Prince showed a man who runs with good balance at 216 pounds and is really tough between the tackles. He is the type of player who runs like Gus Edwards, although much faster (ran a 4.41 forty). Prince struggles a bit getting to the edge. Like Gus he is one cut and go. And he could stand to run with a lower pad level. But he brings power and juice on the inside. Towards the bottom of the draft board he’s a player I like.

Downgrade: Joey Porter, Jr. (cornerback)

This is not so much a function of something negative I found regarding Porter. It’s just that the more I consider his skillset, the more I believe he’s overrated as a first round – and by many a higher first round – prospect.