Reviewing the Ravens Roster & looking towards 2012

With the Baltimore Ravens 2011 season now over, it is time to review the current roster, and begin preparing for 2012.

QB: Flacco, Taylor (2)
Thoughts: There have been far too many words written about Flacco this year, so I apologize for adding to that. For the 3rd consecutive year, Flacco threw for over 3,600 yards with 20+ TD’s, and 12 or less INT’s. For the first time in his career, his completion percentage was under 60%. He has more wins than any QB ever in his first 4 years, and has now won 5 playoff games. Regardless of whether you rank Flacco in the upper echelon of NFL QB’s or not; what matters is that you have won, and can continue to, win with him. I expect that the Ravens will come to a long-term extension with Flacco this off-season.

RB: Rice, Williams, Allen (3)
FB: Leach (1)
Thoughts: Rice averaged a combined 129.3 yards per game this year. His yards per carry average  increased from 4.0 last year to 4.7. He is on the short list of best RB’s in the league. I believe Baltimore will franchise Rice, when a long-term deal is not worked out. That is, unless Rice is willing to take significantly less guaranteed money than Chris Johnson received. Williams had 108 carries this year, and averaged the same 4.1 ypc he has averaged for his career. Unless he unexpectedly steps away, he will be back. Leach had a great year as a punishing blocking FB. After 3 carries in the first 92 games of his career, Leach had 12 carries this year. Leach also had 15 receptions, helping as a safety valve. He has two years left on his contract.

WR: Boldin, T. Smith, Evans, D. Reed, Doss, L. Williams (6)
Thoughts: Boldin increased his yard per game, and yards after the catch this season. After missing the last two regular season games, we saw Boldin have 10 catches and 174 yards in the playoffs.  Obviously he will be back next year.

Smith had an outstanding rookie season (50 catches, 16.8 yards per catch, 5.0 yac). It is important to remember that he did not have the benefit of mini-camps and a full training camp. Having gained the experience from this year, I imagine he will be that much more refined after an off-season of work going into next season.

2011 was a lost year for Lee Evans. Nobody will be shocked if he is released this off-season. After not coming up with the catch in the end zone yesterday, Evans will face a high level of scrutiny if he returns. I feel as if Evans still has tread on his tires, and can still be a threat. I’d like to see him come back, being that much more familiar with the offense.

I went into the season expecting Doss to be the Ravens 3rd WR, and an immediate help as a possession receiver. That did not happen. Like Smith, he will be helped by a full off-season. Reed’s season ended on IR. If he is healthy, he will again get the opportunity to be the KR. However, he has yet to catch a pass in the NFL.

TE: Dickson, Pitta, Wilson, (3)
Thoughts: I said before the season that I thought Dickson and Pitta could match, and possibly exceed, Heap’s offensive production from last year. Dickson finished with 54 grabs, for 528 yards. His yard per catch average has dropped from 13.8 last year to 9.8 though. His longest reception was just 25 yards. I think he can be used down the field more, as he runs past LB’s and over Safeties.

Pitta averaged 10.1 yards on his 40 grabs, and is a much better athlete than I gave him credit for. He had 6 catches in the season final, and 7 catches in the playoffs. He appears to be on the verge of really taking off.

O-Line: McKinnie, Grubbs, Birk, Yanda, Oher, Gurode, Reid, LeVoir, Mattison (9)
Thoughts: The Ravens face a dilemma with how they want to handle their OT’s going into next year. I’m not sure they will want to bring back McKinnie, but I’m also sure they will not want to move Oher back to LT. Complicating matters will be their desire to get Reid on the field, knowing he is best suited for RT. Ultimately I see McKinnie returning, and staying planted at LT.

Birk had a better year at Center than I thought he would, and is said to be evaluating if he will retire or not.

Grubbs was just elected to his first Pro Bowl, and is a pending Free Agent. How much is going to cost? I don’t think the Ravens can give him the same money they gave to Yanda (5 yrs $32M) last year.

D-Line: Ngata, Cody, McKinney, Redding, Jones, McPhee, Kruger,  (7)
Thoughts: Mt. Cody has been exactly the player he was billed as being. He eats up space, and moves athletically. He does not often push the pocket back. With his size, and lower body strength, he is not often moved. It was very rare to see RB’s attempt to run up the middle on the Ravens (though this did happen more in the last few weeks). Without the sacks, I’m not sure Cody will ever get a lot of recognition, but his presence directly helps Ngata and the LB’s make plays. I’m a big Mt. Cody fan, but believe his impact decreased as the year progressed. I was wondering if he perhaps lost too much weight?

For the 5th time in his 6 year career, Ngata played in all 16 regular season games. For the 2nd straight year, he had at-least 63 tackles, and 5 sacks. He finished 2nd among DT’s with 5 passes batted down. Ngata has received plenty of recognition for his play (especially after signing the 5 year $61M deal), but on the Ravens defense, he can still be a bit of a ‘forgotten’ man when you hear analysts talking about Baltimore. To me, he is the most important player on the Baltimore defense. He is asked to do a lot, because he is capable of doing just about everything. While he always plays hard, I think there can be games where his impact does not match his talent. When Ngata dominates the line of scrimmage, the Ravens win. Teams start cheating with double and even triple teams to try and take him out of plays, and this opens up opportunities for Ngata’s teammates to make plays of their own.

How about the play of Pernell McPhee (6 sacks), and Paul Kruger (5.5 sacks) this year? Their ability to get after the QB on 3rd down has made a tremendous difference. Redding is finishing the 2nd year of his 2 year deal and his play was much improved over what we saw in 2010. Would you want Redding back for next year? Do you want McPhee to be in position to start?

LB: Lewis, Johnson, Suggs, Kindle, McClain, Ellerbe, Ayanbadejo, McClellan, McAdoo (9)
Thoughts: Ngata is my most important Ravens Defensive Player, but Suggs deserves all the accolades and every vote he receives for DPOY. Unlike many people, I was in favor of Suggs receiving the extension he signed in 2009. If you remember at the time, there was a lot of discussion in Baltimore that it would be better to part ways with the Arizona State product.  14 sacks, 70 tackles, 2 picks, 7 forced fumbles. Suggs was a monster many weeks. For the people asking where Suggs was against the Patriots, I think you should ask Pagano. The Ravens elected to drop Suggs into coverage more often then not yesterday.

Jarret Johnson just completed his 9th season. The numbers were not much different than in ’10, but visually Johnson looked better. I imagine part of that was being in a more attack based-scheme from Pagano. Johnson will be a Free Agent. Unless he is willing to come back very cheaply, I think the Ravens will part ways.

McClain has played in all 64 games of his 4 year career. This year he had 84 tackles (34 solo), 1 sack, and 1 pick. Will be interesting to see what happens contract wise with the FA this off-season.

I did not expect Kindle to play on non-passing downs, but I thought Kindle would be utilized as a pass-rusher this year. It became clear fairly early that Kindle was not quite ready for that. Also, as McPhee and Kruger excelled, the need for Kindle decreased. It was good to see Harbaugh say in mid-December that Kindle had improved his understanding and was ready to play more and more. Perhaps after another off-season of work, mini camps, and training camp; we see the player that many believed to be a Rookie of the Year candidate going into last year emerge.

Until the toe injury occurred, Lewis was still playing at an extremely high level this year. I agree that his pass coverage is not what it once was, but he still runs well to the ball. With his knowledge and preparation, he does not waste movements.

CB: Smith, Webb, Carr,  C. Williams, Foxworth, Gorrer, C. Brown (7)
Thoughts: CB has been a question for the Ravens going into the past two seasons. It will be a non-issue going into ’12. Webb did not receive the National attention he deserved, but he played like an All-Pro. Williams was solid most weeks. (EDIT: Williams is a FA, and I could see as someone that Pagano lures to Indy. Hopefully the Ravens can keep him.)

It was a shame to see Smith go down to an injury right away in Game 1, but he ended the year, getting plenty of playing time. Just like Torrey Smith, Jimmy Smith will benefit from a full off-season. You can’t teach his physical attributes. As long as he works hard, he could easily emerge as a shut-down option next year.

I was sorry to see Foxworth not be able to make it all the way back. A great leader, and when healthy a guy with plus speed, and good cover skills. I thought he might be burned early, and each week get closer to being the guy he was. I’m sorry he didn’t start the year on the PUP list, and had to go back on IR. He won’t be coming back to Baltimore on his current contract. I hope he gets the chance to catch on somewhere else though. If not, he will put his leadership skills to work in the community.

Carr had a very strong ’10, but ’11 was more of a struggle, starting with the thigh injury he dealt with for weeks. He signed the 4 year $14M contract last July, but I get the sense he could be cut. I would prefer for him to get the chance to return. If healthy, he would be an outstanding option as the 4th CB.

Safety: Reed, Pollard, Zbikowski, Nakamura (4)
Thoughts: Zbikowski has suffered two concussions this year. He has to do what he can to protect himself long-term. His boxing career should be over.

Pollard was every bit the hitter he was advertised as, and a bit better in coverage than I think we were led to believe.

We’ve known for years that Reed is no longer the tackler he was early in his career. I for one, believe that is a good thing overall. While I miss him being sent after the QB as much as he once was, I like that Reed has learned how to avoid the big hit, and be able to stay on the field. It was not that long ago that Reed was openly mentioning retirement as an option. After coming off the PUP list year, he had 8 picks. This year he played in all 16 games. He only had 3 picks this year, which some have used as indication he was a non-factor. I think that is odd. Every Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, and QB that game plans for Baltimore knows they need to have an eye on Reed at all times. If teams are less likely to attack his part of the field, that still impacts games. Like Lewis, one of the things I’ve always respected about Reed is his level of preparation. I said before the playoffs, that I thought Reed would raise his level of play coming off the bye. I think that is exactly what he did. I would not be surprised to again here retirement talk from Reed, but I would be surprised to see him go through with it.

Nakamura is a Free Agent. I think we can be confident that the Ravens will be looking to add Safety depth in the draft.

ST: Koch, Cundiff, Cox (3)
Thoughts: I understand that Cundiff had to sprint out to the field yesterday, but there will always be disbelief that he missed that kick. Despite that miss, and his 8 for 15 showing this year from 40+ yards, I think he will be back. The Ravens will not want to have a revolving door at the K position. With his long-term contract, and success on Kickoffs; it will be an upset if he does not return.

Mock Drafts:

We are months away from the 2012 NFL Draft, but there have already been lots of Mock Drafts posted. Let’s take a look at some of these Mocks, and the names that have been linked to the Ravens so far:

Fox Sports: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Andrew-Luck-Indianapolis-Colts-NFL-mock-draft-121211

Baltimore Ravens – Levy Adcock, OT, Oklahoma St.

CBS Sports / Rob Rang: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/nfldraftscout-RobRang

Baltimore Ravens – Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah

CBS Sports / Chad Reuter: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/nfldraftscout-ChadReuter

Baltimore Ravens – Kelechi Osemele, OG, Iowa State

SB Nation: http://www.mockingthedraft.com/2011/12/19/2647431/2012-nfl-mock-draft-andrew-luck-robert-griffin-matt-kalil-matt-barkley

Baltimore Ravens – Michael Brewster, C, Ohio State
Baltimore Ravens 2nd round – Kevin Reddick, MLB, North Carolina

Sports Illustrated: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w … =hp_t11_a2

Baltimore Ravens – Kelechi Osemele, OG, Iowa State

Walter Football.com: http://walterfootball.com/draft2012_1.php

Baltimore Ravens – Vontaze Burfict, ILB, Arizona State