Interest in Eric Winston

[The Excellector]

I have a feeling we're going to end up with Mathis and Winston. And probably for less than what Grubbs gets.

That sounds like something that Ozzie would do, like when he signed Matt Birk for half of what Jason Brown's contract averaged out at.

[dandrews]

I have a feeling we're going to end up with Mathis and Winston. And probably for less than what Grubbs gets.

That would be incredible.

[Grbac4HallofFame]

So would we keep McKinnie or cut him and move Oher to LT? I'm guessing we'd need to cut him to fit both and still do what we want to do

[wickedsolo]

If they sign Eric Winston and Evan Mathis, Oher will likely be back at LT and McKinnie will be cut.

[CodyPKA]

If they sign Eric Winston and Evan Mathis, Oher will likely be back at LT and McKinnie will be cut.

Oher makes me nervous, but I think i'd actually sign up for that

[RavNMadMan]

If they sign Eric Winston and Evan Mathis, Oher will likely be back at LT and McKinnie will be cut.

I'm good with this direction if realistic but I have to be honest, Oher back to LT worries me.

[TTRaven]

Oher makes me nervous, but I think i'd actually sign up for that

Oher doesn't really make me nervous at LT. Yeah he's nothing special, but he doesn't have to be. We survived with McKinnie at LT last season. I have no doubt that Oher can match what McKinnie has done for us.

[GOTA]

I have a feeling we're going to end up with Mathis and Winston. And probably for less than what Grubbs gets.

With all those teams that are interested on Winston he's not going to be cheap.

[wickedsolo]

The funny thing is, IMO, Winston is the 2nd guy from that Texans OL that the Ravens should be interested in.

Chris Myers should be the 1st. He could come here, start right away, the Ravens wouldn't need to shuffle anyone major around, and could focus on guards in the draft.

[GOTA]

The funny thing is, IMO, Winston is the 2nd guy from that Texans OL that the Ravens should be interested in.

Chris Myers should be the 1st. He could come here, start right away, the Ravens wouldn't need to shuffle anyone major around, and could focus on guards in the draft.

I agree but it seems they want Birk back.

[wickedsolo]

I agree but it seems they want Birk back.

They must be planning on taking Konz, Zeitler, Ben Jones, Phillip Blake, or Mike Brewster in the first 3 rounds then. That's the only way taking Birk makes sense IMO.

[JAB1985]

If they sign Eric Winston and Evan Mathis, Oher will likely be back at LT and McKinnie will be cut.

And our line will be back to the dissaray of 2010. Oher is not a LT i wish theyd stop putting a square peg in a round hole.

Theyve already stated they be adding a center so i think its no secret they be drafting one unless somebody falls through the cracks and can be had on the cheap. Has there been interest in myers, or any free agent c for that matter? Might be too early.

[wickedsolo]

And our line will be back to the dissaray of 2010. Oher is not a LT i wish theyd stop putting a square peg in a round hole.

Theyve already stated they be adding a center so i think its no secret they be drafting one unless somebody falls through the cracks and can be had on the cheap. Has there been interest in myers, or any free agent c for that matter? Might be too early.

I wouldn't go THAT far. In 2010 Chester was starting at RG and Yanda was kicked out to RT.

I don't particularly care for Oher at LT anymore than the next guy, but the bright side is having one of the stronger RT's and RG's playing beside each other would be really nice and effective. Especially if they want to run the rock a lot, which they do.

Secondly, Oher's cap hit is like 1/4th of what McKinnie's is IIRC.

[arnie_uk]

If we landed both and got a center in the draft we will have only one weakish position and that would be LT. That would be the best line we had in a couple years. We can keep a back in or a TE to chip to help oher, the rest should hold there own.

Last year oher was weak at times, birk at times. Mckinnie and our LG spot. So this although oher may not be a stud LT our line as a while will be better

[B-more Ravor]

If they sign Eric Winston and Evan Mathis, Oher will likely be back at LT and McKinnie will be cut.

Agreed. As I said earlier in the thread, McKinnie would be the one at risk, with Oher going to LT.

They weren't very happy with McKinnie's dedication last year - and at times his play - and as much as people don't want to admit it, Mike Preston may not have been so wrong with what he said last week. He does have his sources and and he does on occasion carry the water for them. In this case, I think he may be right about McKinnie, who has a roster bonus due soon.

[wickedsolo]

Agreed. As I said earlier in the thread, McKinnie would be the one at risk, with Oher going to LT.

They weren't very happy with McKinnie's dedication last year - and at times his play - and as much as people don't want to admit it, Mike Preston may not have been so wrong with what he said last week. He does have his sources and and he does on occasion carry the water for them. In this case, I think he may be right about McKinnie, who has a roster bonus due soon.

To me, the most telling play was when Rice took the hand off, went towards the right side of the line, cut back and ran right into McKinnie who was literally just STANDING there and McKinnie grabbed Rice and kind of tossed/pushed him forward. Rice got up and yelled at McKinnie.

I'm not going to say that play in particular would have gone the distance or even more than a few yards, but the fact that McKinnie felt like it was ok to not block anyone because the play wasn't going to his side is entirely frustrating. That wasn't the first time he had done that this past season either.

[The Excellector]

This was nothing new about McKinnie though. This has been the story of his career.

Alright, so, can we safely say that Oher would not be traded if Winston and Mathis are acquired?

[JAB1985]

I wouldn't go THAT far. In 2010 Chester was starting at RG and Yanda was kicked out to RT.

I don't particularly care for Oher at LT anymore than the next guy, but the bright side is having one of the stronger RT's and RG's playing beside each other would be really nice and effective. Especially if they want to run the rock a lot, which they do.

Secondly, Oher's cap hit is like 1/4th of what McKinnie's is IIRC.

so Oher, possibly a journeyman LG, an aging Birk, Yanda and Winston is greater than Oher, Grubbs, Birk, Chester, Yanda? to me it seems pretty similar except your weakness is now on the blind side instead of the strong side. If I remember correctly Yanda played pretty well and Chester was surprisingly average. Id almost say that Oher was the biggest weakness on that line too.

[wickedsolo]

so Oher, possibly a journeyman LG, an aging Birk, Yanda and Winston is greater than Oher, Grubbs, Birk, Chester, Yanda? to me it seems pretty similar except your weakness is now on the blind side instead of the strong side. If I remember correctly Yanda played pretty well and Chester was surprisingly average. Id almost say that Oher was the biggest weakness on that line too.

If Evan Mathis plays like he did last season, then no the left side isn't weaker.

Yanda in his natural spot and arguably the best RT in the NFL beside Yanda makes for a really great right side of the line.

Listen, I'm not saying it's perfect, but they have to be smart about how they work the cap and if Grubbs isn't willing to take the offer that they've presented him with then they need to look for the next best options. Mathis won't be cheap, but he won't be nearly as expensive as Grubbs or Yanda.

[The Excellector]

If they sign Evan Mathis and Eric Winston, before drafting Philip Blake, the only concern would be LT and Oher could improve at that spot if given time to prepare this off-season.