How did we do?

[runrayrun27]

I could go into an explanation about how each pick they made helps the team, but I'm not going to waste my time when you guys are saying "panicking and reaching". Seriously guys (and I might be bad for this too, so I realize practice what you preach), contrary to what you believe you do not know more than Ozzie and the Ravens staff. Experts don't either, who gives a shit if they give us a bad grade, no one can give an accurate grade after a draft because how you play in college isn't the same as the NFL. It's a different type of game. You guys can criticize this all you want, but whoever is saying we did bad, don't make that judgement now because your opinion has no logical background to it. You're making an assumption based off nothing. Think about it

[rharris1986]

I believe that three years from now the guy who's going to be sitting at the top of the Ravens 2012 draft class heap is going to be Tommy Streeter. Flacco, Smith and Streeter are going to be a deadly combo in this league for a long, long time. The only one who can prove me wrong on this is Streeter - and only time will tell

[alien bird]

Ozzie didn't even want Upshaw on the first round and could have had. Then he trades out and said there were several players we liked but we wanted more picks. We will get 1 of those players we passed on in the first, so Upshaw might not have been one of them.

http://blogs.baltimoreravens.com/201...ot-‘wiped-out/

Acording to the link you posted, Upshaw was probably one them:

DeCosta was thrilled with the first-round trade, which enabled Baltimore to get an extra fourth-round pick (used on guard/center Gino Gradkowski) and still snag outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw.

[alien bird]

http://blogs.baltimoreravens.com/201...0%98wiped-out/

According to your link:

[DeCosta] said Baltimore was prepared for it and handled it well with Newsome and Vice President of Football Administration Pat Moriarty doing the negotiating. DeCosta said the Ravens were probably the most organized they’ve ever been this year in terms of the different scenarios that could play out.

I dunno, but that doesn't sound like panic to me.

The thing about the rankings by scouts and websites is that the Ravens do not subscribe to the scouting service most the rest of the league does. They use their own scouts and create their own rankings. I am sure they made adjustments on the fly when a player they coveted was selected earlier in a round, but that is not the same as panicking, and it isn't the same as reaching.

[AirFlacco]

Yes, that's what I said. Ozzie didn't even want him in the first round. He didn't take him.
What's so hard to understand about that?

Upshaw was there in the first and Oz passed on him to trade down and get him
cheaper and pick up an extra pick. They stood the chance to lose him in the second round but didn't.

Ozzie's exact words were: One of the players we liked should be there in
round two. They lucked out with Upshaw.

They were still un-excited like last year when they got Jimmy and Torrey.
I just watched their presser. The link said the mood was different.

A guy on the radio said that and the link said that. What's so hard to understand
about that?

[Boulderraven]

[QUOTE=AirFlacco;451223]I posted last night that a guy on radio said the brass wasn't
as excited this year as they were last year over Jimmy and Torrey.

Here's a link from the Ravens own site saying the same thing. It
quotes DeCosta saying last year we hit a home run. This year
the mood is different.

The article goes on to say the players they really wanted in each
round was taken. It looks like they rated Hightower the highest and it
looked like we were gonna get him but didn't. It was like
the Joe Staley draft when Mike NOlan jumped in front to get him
and we haven't settled the LT position yet.

The Ravens presser was like a morgue that year and not filled
with excitement yesterday. So you can't fault the fans for
not
being excited either. Like I posted Sat, all the guys I hung out
with Frid night were upset.

Ozzie didn't even want Upshaw on the first round and could
have had. Then
he trades out and said there were several players we liked but we wanted more
picks. We will get 1 of those players we passed on in the first, so Upshaw might
not have been one of them.
The poster who said teams are catching up with Ravens is on
to something cause Ozzie says the same thing in this article.
He says teams now know what it takes to win as their targeted
player kept going off the board in each round. That's why Decosta said
the mood is different this year - with him and many of the fans.

Finally, DeCosta says we had to manufacture our own runs

We're just gonna have to wait 2 yrs to see how Upshaw and
the guard and Center pans out but Ravens brass were not
excited at their presser like last year.

BTW, Piss is getting high grades for their draft while Ozzie goes to a B+
mainly for the Center from Delaware but as pointed out, Piss and NE had
him rated as a top Center in the draft and Piss wanted the RB from Temple
and had him in for a visit
Just my humble freaking opinion.

__________________________________________________
Last year, the beaming Ravens director of player personnel said the Ravens “had good pitching, hit the ball well and won


the game

This year, DeCosta and General Manager Ozzie Newsome – the team’s two draft leaders – were in a different mood.
________________________________________________

So are many of the fans.

Last year they where stoked cause they got Jimmy Smith a top 10 talent at CB/maybe the most important position in the modern NFL next to QB. Smith fell cause of
Underage drinking at CU, what a joke. He if not for that is not a Raven. He was opening day starter on a team with veteran corners. JS will be the best CB in Raven history likely
When he is done. We didn't add anyone of that caliber in this draft. That's why they where stoked. Even Claiborne or Gilmore don't have his raw talent.

[pickles]

I just want to clarify my opinion and statement that the Ravens panicked and reached for 2 picks. From multiple reports (I know its a bad term here) the Ravens had 3 main targets and they believed one would fall to them and that is the guard from Wisconsin, the guard from Stanford, and ILB from Alabama. I 'm not saying they didn't have a back up plan in case the guys were gone, what I am saying is they changed their philosophy or got creative as Decosta said

First, the report from the Ravens said they had nine guys they were looking at w their first round pick.

The idea that they had three guys in mind, and only three guys, and when they were gone they shit their pants, is patently stupid.

So because the two guards they wanted were gone, and the ILB, they then proceeded to reach for a RB and a C? What kind of sense does that make?

None.

My point when it comes to small school players is you have to take into consideration their competition when you are scouting, analyzing and evaluating their skill set and talent. Seeing a player get push against lesser competition or seeing a RB run over less competition can cause them to shoot up your board.

No shit. That's brilliant. I bet Oz and Decosta never even considered that. You write up a study about that: Competition isn't as good at D-II as it is in the SEC. Nobody's ever thought of that before.

The Ravens have a terrible track record of over-drafting small school guys. Webb, Flacco, Scott. They just continue to bomb these picks year after year. They need your insight.

[pickles]

More Decosta. This article paints the picture of tone and mood of the war room.

http://blogs.baltimoreravens.com/201...0%98wiped-out/


The other GM'S have up'd their game. Seems the brass was caught off guard and stunned.

Did you read the article? Jesus, man.

The Ravens concede that alot of the guys they targeted were picked, which they didn't really expect. They have no control over that.

But to say they were caught off guard and stunned is wrong. DeCosta said they were "the best organized they ever been for different scenarios." That's pretty unambiguous. Did you read that? Or did you not make it that far? It was at the bottom of the article.

[pickles]

No one's talking about the past. Those teams have built good teams into the future and they take risks that seem to work out well.

Oh, so to evaluate who drafts better we shouldn't evaluate the past? We should evaluate the hypothetical future seasons and drafts that are available?

[Raven Maniac]

I like the way Hensley put it:



Maybe folks are worried because there aren't any splash players that we drafted but the team quietly address all they're needs despite having to do some maneuvering after key targets were snatched up.

And out of those 50 or so splash players, how many are actually going to pan out to become real assets to the teams that drafted them? We put way to much stock into hoopla that the sports media creates to sell magazines and boost viewer ratings. We Graded a solid B in this draft and the more I read about the players that we drafted the happier I become with the choices that were made.

[Raven Maniac]

[QUOTE=Boulderraven;451254]

I posted last night that a guy on radio said the brass wasn't
as excited this year as they were last year over Jimmy and Torrey.

Here's a link from the Ravens own site saying the same thing. It
quotes DeCosta saying last year we hit a home run. This year
the mood is different.

The article goes on to say the players they really wanted in each
round was taken. It looks like they rated Hightower the highest and it
looked like we were gonna get him but didn't. It was like
the Joe Staley draft when Mike NOlan jumped in front to get him
and we haven't settled the LT position yet.

The Ravens presser was like a morgue that year and not filled
with excitement yesterday. So you can't fault the fans for
not
being excited either. Like I posted Sat, all the guys I hung out
with Frid night were upset.

Ozzie didn't even want Upshaw on the first round and could
have had. Then
he trades out and said there were several players we liked but we wanted more
picks. We will get 1 of those players we passed on in the first, so Upshaw might
not have been one of them.
The poster who said teams are catching up with Ravens is on
to something cause Ozzie says the same thing in this article.
He says teams now know what it takes to win as their targeted
player kept going off the board in each round. That's why Decosta said
the mood is different this year - with him and many of the fans.

Finally, DeCosta says we had to manufacture our own runs

We're just gonna have to wait 2 yrs to see how Upshaw and
the guard and Center pans out but Ravens brass were not
excited at their presser like last year.

BTW, Piss is getting high grades for their draft while Ozzie goes to a B+
mainly for the Center from Delaware but as pointed out, Piss and NE had
him rated as a top Center in the draft and Piss wanted the RB from Temple
and had him in for a visit
Just my humble freaking opinion.

__________________________________________________
Last year, the beaming Ravens director of player personnel said the Ravens “had good pitching, hit the ball well and won


the game

This year, DeCosta and General Manager Ozzie Newsome – the team’s two draft leaders – were in a different mood.
________________________________________________

So are many of the fans.

Last year they where stoked cause they got Jimmy Smith a top 10 talent at CB/maybe the most important position in the modern NFL next to QB. Smith fell cause of
Underage drinking at CU, what a joke. He if not for that is not a Raven. He was opening day starter on a team with veteran corners. JS will be the best CB in Raven history likely
When he is done. We didn't add anyone of that caliber in this draft. That's why they where stoked. Even Claiborne or Gilmore don't have his raw talent.

BR, you have to admit that a lot of what happened in this years draft can be attributed to where we were picking from and who was picking in front of us. The Steelers had identical needs to ours and they were always 5 to 7 spots ahead, they were basically sitting where we normally would be. Cincinnati and New England had similar needs as well, the Bungles picking before us and the Pats trading up by virtue of all of the draft picks that they collect every year like so many trinkets.

IMO, the outcome of this years draft has more to do with simple economics than it does with other teams catching up to us and decoding our draft strategy. Maybe it's the price of success that we are witnessing?

[RustonRifle]

According to your link:

I dunno, but that doesn't sound like panic to me.

The thing about the rankings by scouts and websites is that the Ravens do not subscribe to the scouting service most the rest of the league does. They use their own scouts and create their own rankings. I am sure they made adjustments on the fly when a player they coveted was selected earlier in a round, but that is not the same as panicking, and it isn't the same as reaching.

This right here!!

The Ravens brought in some players that should help. After listening to the interviews and watching the videos I like the general theme of this years draft which to me was to bring in not only talent but players that are team oriented and leaders.

I would have liked the Ravens to bring in a stronger draft class but sometimes the cards don't fall your way. All I can ask as a fan is the front office be prepared and by all accounts they were. I give them a solid B, but truth is no matter what any grade they get from anyone only time will tell what kind of draft this was.

[pickles]

Can I ask a favor of the board? I've read several times here that it was reported that Gradowski was the #1 center on the Steelers, Pats, and Ravens board. Can I ask where that rumor originated? Where was it reported? Thanks in advance.

[wickedsolo]

Can I ask a favor of the board? I've read several times here that it was reported that Gradowski was the #1 center on the Steelers, Pats, and Ravens board. Can I ask where that rumor originated? Where was it reported? Thanks in advance.

I think Jason LaCanforna tweeted that multiple teams had Gradkowski rated very high.

[pickles]

I think Jason LaCanforna tweeted that multiple teams had Gradkowski rated very high.

Appreciate it. Hate to ask, but did he specifically say that the Ravens, Pats, and Steelers had Gradowski #1?

[wickedsolo]

Appreciate it. Hate to ask, but did he specifically say that the Ravens, Pats, and Steelers had Gradowski #1?

No, but (IMO) it would appear that (judging from the number of teams that took an interior OL'man in the 4th or early 5th) that teams like Houston [took Ben Jones directly after], Denver [took Phillip Blake 9 picks later], and possibly San Francisco [took Joe Looney 18 picks later] could have all had Gradkowski rated pretty well.

I can't remember correctly if he or someone else insinuated that teams like Pittsburgh, New England, etc had Gradkowski rated pretty well.

Considering there was a bit of a run on interior OL'men between the mid4th through the 5th round [including 5 in the 5th round and 3 back-to-back selections of guard prospects] it was a good time for the Ravens to get who they wanted.

[pickles]

No, but (IMO) it would appear that (judging from the number of teams that took an interior OL'man in the 4th or early 5th) that teams like Houston [took Ben Jones directly after], Denver [took Phillip Blake 9 picks later], and possibly San Francisco [took Joe Looney 18 picks later] could have all had Gradkowski rated pretty well.

I can't remember correctly if he or someone else insinuated that teams like Pittsburgh, New England, etc had Gradkowski rated pretty well.

Considering there was a bit of a run on interior OL'men between the mid4th through the 5th round [including 5 in the 5th round and 3 back-to-back selections of guard prospects] it was a good time for the Ravens to get who they wanted.

I don't have a problem w the pick. Shit, what do I know? I'm just talking w a Steeler fan friend of mine, who's making the same kind of Ozzie reached arguement, when I told him that the Steelers, Pats, and Ravens had Gradowski ranked first, and he question the source. I read it here quite a few times, but I was just trying to track down the original source.

Thanks for the reply.

[blah3]

[QUOTE=Raven Maniac;451262]

IMO, the outcome of this years draft has more to do with simple economics than it does with other teams catching up to us and decoding our draft strategy. Maybe it's the price of success that we are witnessing?

What I think happened was teams, in general this year, targeted specific guys they wanted, and if they got near to them, did what it took to get them. The Ravens did not. They sat at their position and did the best they could.

[blah3]

Appreciate it. Hate to ask, but did he specifically say that the Ravens, Pats, and Steelers had Gradowski #1?

His tweet said that Gradkowski had 3rd round grades from smart teams.

[B-more Ravor]

In what universe does "adjust and make decisions on the fly" equal "panicked and reached"?