During our March 20, 2005 edition of GAMETIME, I had the opportunity to interview the Ravens Director of College Scouting, Eric DeCosta. Eric as he so often is, was engaging, informative and never sidestepped or dodged any questions. It’s interesting to look back on this conversation with Eric now that the Ravens season has officially been declared a wash out. Feel free to draw your own conclusions.
TL: Cooper Carlisle backed out of a verbally agreed upon deal with the Ravens. Why in your opinion did this happen and what contingency plans does the team have?
TL: Cooper Carlisle backed out of a verbally agreed upon deal with the Ravens. Why in your opinion did this happen and what contingency plans does the team have?
Eric: Well I think you know, anytime a player enters free agency, they have these grand views of what they’re worth. We liked Cooper a little bit as a player but we didn’t see him as a starter. We saw his as a back-up, a swing tackle, swing guard. He came to Baltimore and quite simply put, he didn’t have any other suitors at the time. He agreed to terms with Pat Moriarty, gave us his word, and at some point in the next 24 hours, Denver got back into the mix and he basically broke his word. This has happened twice to the Ravens in the past two weeks and that’s something that hasn’t happened in the last 10 years. It was a very unusual situation.
TL: Eric when things like that happen, is there any bad blood between the organizations?
Eric: Not between the organizations, but I would say between the player to a degree and the organization that he spurned. The agent has to have some accountability too because the agent is the guy that is basically saying, “Hey, we agreed to terms.” It makes the agent look bad when this particular type of situation happens. And obviously what the agent is going to say is that I have a rogue client, he’s not listening to me — I can’t believe he’s doing this but it’s his decision. But ultimately, the agent ends up getting more money so the team is skeptical about the agent’s intentions.
TL: Is Ethan Brooks still part of the picture and if so, did the sequence of events regarding Carlisle, damage the team’s relationship with Brooks?
Eric: In terms of Ethan being in the mix, it is a discussion that we will have. In terms of that type of situation hurting our relationship with Ethan, I wouldn’t say so. One thing about players, they tend to understand the business aspect of free agency and things like that. Ethan is a free agent! He has a right to sign with anybody out there. And if his market value or if his playing ability doesn’t dictate that he gets an offer from another team, he’ll be happy to come back to Baltimore if we want to bring him back. That’s just kind of the nature of the beast.
TL: Another player that appears to be on his way out is Chester Taylor. For the Ravens to match the Browns offer, it would make the team look silly, given that they could have kept him with a mid tender offer of $1.43 million. Who might the Ravens consider to replace Chester?
Eric: We think that there are some backs out there — you know one option that we may do is quite simply re-sign Jamel White who was with us last year, the later part after Musa went down. We like Jamel. He showed that he can catch the ball, that he had production for us, he’s quick, he’s tough and plays very well on special teams. He’s a viable option at this point. We discussed this with Jamel. He’d like to come back and he is an option.
There are some other guys that we like although I haven’t sighted them — mostly dealing with college players. But I know that George Kokinis is working on a list and he’s looking at some different players. There are some restricted players on other teams that we’re interested in possibly, and we’re waiting on the cap casualties out there as well. The thing I think in terms of the running back position, we like Chester Taylor, we’re in a good position because we do have salary cap flexibility. Our salary cap situation is actually substantially better than the Cleveland Browns. So we have the ability to re-sign Chester if that’s the decision that we want to head in to. And if we don’t, then I think we’re fortunate because we do have a Jamal Lewis, we have Musa Smith whose rehab is going very, very well…it’s way, way ahead of where we expected him to be. I feel pretty good about the situation.
TL: Eric, I realize that this lies outside the scope of your daily activities, but if the Ravens are going to match a $3 million offer from the Browns, I don’t understand why the team just didn’t offer Chester the mid tender. No one would have touched Chester for a first round pick in my opinion.
Eric: Probably not. I tend to agree with your assessment on the situation. Hindsight is always 20-20. We’ve had a lot of success in years past in saving the salary cap by not necessarily low-tendering guys, but by not offering the middle tender with these guys — we’ve had some success doing that. Casey Rabach is a good example a couple of years ago. Chester obviously is a player that had some production this year and looking back, maybe we should have done that.
That being the case, I do believe that Chester is a good player and probably a starter for some teams in the league. Is he a Jamal Lewis? No. But I think he has value. In terms of signing him, I don’t know what we’ll do. We’re still working on that decision. Ozzie and Pat Moriarty are in Hawaii at the owner’s meetings. I like Chester for his versatility as a pass catcher and as a runner and a blocker. He’s a good guy and he fits in real well with the chemistry of the team. I do think honestly in my own opinion now, if Musa Smith hadn’t gotten hurt and had continued to play like he had against the Cowboys — probably a no brainer. Obviously the injury to Jamal, the surgery, this year in the off season, the surgery to Musa Smith — I think it will be interesting to see what we decide to do. As I said, the decision hasn’t been made yet. We are looking at a lot of different options. Some of those options being players currently on other teams. Restricted wise, players that are free agents and we’re also looking at the draft.
TL: How is Musa Smith’s rehab coming along?
Eric: I think he’s coming along real well. The last time I checked with Bill Tessendorf our trainer, he was way ahead of the game.
TL: What exactly does that mean? Will he be ready for training camp?
Eric: I don’t know of the exact deadline. They are very optimistic that he is going to be ready for training camp. I think that’s a viable option and I’m hoping that is the case. Now obviously these players as we’ve seen, can have different setbacks. But Musa is a younger player and I think that’s important. He heals very well, he was hurt a couple of years ago with the knee and we were very, very impressed with his ability to recuperate from that injury. To give you just an idea, Trent Smith a couple of years ago suffered a similar injury and from what I’ve been told, Musa is way, way, way, way, way ahead of the game from where Trent Smith was two years ago.
TL: Is that because of his workout regimen or his commitment to the rehab process?
Eric: Well I think it could be a lot of different things. It could just be genes. Certain players heal more quickly. He is a very, very good worker. He’s had some injuries in his past and he’s learned how to respond to those injuries. He’s very, very coachable. He does exactly what we tell him to do. From what I gather, I’ve seen him walking around. He looks good. I’m optimistic. I really feel like he’s going to be ready to go.
TL: What about Boulware — how is his rehab coming along?
Eric: In terms of Peter, I have seen Peter a little bit — not quite as much, he typically spends time down in Florida. I haven’t really heard too much about Peter. The knee has cleared itself up. The toe, the surgery that he had in the off season, I’m not really sure. Peter is a player that has dealt with injuries in the past. He’s
another guy that’s real coachable and understands the importance of rehab. But in terms of him being ready for these mini-camps and the regular season, I can’t give you an honest answer at this point.
another guy that’s real coachable and understands the importance of rehab. But in terms of him being ready for these mini-camps and the regular season, I can’t give you an honest answer at this point.
TL: What about Devard Darling?
Eric: I think Darling’s going to be fine. I really do. In fact I expect him to be ready for the mini-camps. He’s a young guy. He’ll be ok and should be ready to go.
TL: One of the things the team wanted to do was to improve the right side of the offensive line which they’ve done through the acquisition of Keydrick Vincent. Rick DeMulling signed a deal with the Lions that appears to be below market. Talk about the two and all things being equal, which of these guards would you prefer?
Eric: You have to understand, I haven’t [scouted] these guys. I’ve [scouted] these guys in college when they came out but I haven’t done these guys on pro tape. I do know that organizationally that we had Vincent over DeMulling. Vincent gives you a little versatility as a guard/center. He started for Pittsburgh, a running team which fits our profile a little bit. DeMulling you have to understand coming from Indy, he is a guy that was part of a passing offense where the ball is thrown very, very quickly. A lot of three step, five step, not much seven step drops. The ball comes out real quick. Those offensive linemen now, they don’t have to hold their ground for very long. They are in an unusual situation because they have a guy like Peyton Manning throwing the ball who is extremely quick to see and react.
That being the case, we had Vincent over DeMulling. I think DeMulling was a guy who’s market value declined a little bit after the initial onslaught of free agency. But we were very happy to get Vincent. He was one of our top five or six guys at that position in free agency and probably one of the guys that we felt that looking at the salary structure, was one of the guys that we were going to take on pretty well in terms of salary cap implications.
TL: We’ve heard it said that teams try to not only get the best players but teams also look to players that can compliment other players. For instance, the productive trio of receivers the Steelers had last year complimented each other in terms of their skill sets: Burress, Ward and Randle El. What kind of receiver would compliment Derrick Mason?
Eric: Well we want a big, fast, explosive guy like Randy Moss. (laughter) You know I’ll tell you what, in years past in my opinion, looking back over our receivers over the last couple of years, we’ve had a lot of guys that were very similar. Randy Hymes, Clarence Moore, even Travis and Marcus Robinson, Ron Johnson. We’ve had a bunch of guys who were all over 6 feet tall and not very fast. We’ve had players that could get the jump ball. But I’ve always felt what we were missing was a nifty guy — a guy with some suddenness who could catch the ball inside, make a play with his feet, gain after the catch and take one to the house.
The last guy that we really had that could do those kind of things was probably Qadry Ismail. And Brandon Stokley probably as well. But in the last couple of years, we’ve been stagnate at that position in my opinion. The nice thing about Derrick Mason is that he gives you the flexibility to play inside, outside, he does have quickness. He does have speed. Not a real big guy but I think he compliments our guys extremely well.
In looking at what we plan to do with the rest of the players at that position, now we could go either way. Obviously with speed is where you start. We want guys who can make plays. We need guys who can run after the catch. We have a lot of jump ball guys. We have enough guys who can play basketball basically out there. But we need guys who can run. And that’s where we going to be, starting with the draft. Guys have got to be able to run, to have speed and quickness and explosion. Size is important always, but all things being equal, we want guys that can be sudden, can catch the ball underneath, can go vertical who have toughness, like to block and all those kinds of things.
TL: Last year two players drafted by the Ravens were Rod Green and Dwan Edwards. With Green you traded two 5th rounders to move up further in the 5th to get Green. What are your expectations for Green in 2005?
Eric: Well the thing about Rod Green is, he is probably one of the best athletes on our team. Actually no question. He is one of the best athletes on our team. If he were coming out in this year’s draft, he would probably be the best athlete at the linebacker position. He offers a tremendous amount of pass rush ability, raw speed, explosion. He’s just an un-polished guy who comes from a small school, his learning curve is very high. I think it’s realistic this year to see him working in on third downs. As a sub-rusher in pass rushing situations, we think he offers more conceivably, than a guy like Adalius Thomas as a pass rusher. Rex Ryan is very intrigued with his qualities to put him in on third and 6. Let him rush the passer. Get him up field off the edge, use his hands and make a few plays.
very high. I think it’s realistic this year to see him working in on third downs. As a sub-rusher in pass rushing situations, we think he offers more conceivably, than a guy like Adalius Thomas as a pass rusher. Rex Ryan is very intrigued with his qualities to put him in on third and 6. Let him rush the passer. Get him up field off the edge, use his hands and make a few plays. TL: Why didn’t Edwards see the field more in 2004?
Eric: I think Dwan was a victim of the depth we’ve been able to build on the defensive line. I don’t think that we have a lot of Pro Bowlers on the defensive line, but I think our group is very, very sound from the standpoint of technique, workability, work ethic, intensity, toughness and they play hard. Our guys play as hard as anybody in the league. We like them all. We drafted a guy like Jarrett Johnson and we think he is really going to be a great player, Tony Weaver we love. Kelly Gregg in my mind is one of the most underrated players on our team from the standpoint of what he offers as a starter for the Baltimore Ravens — how we got him and what he can do for us. We love our group and we knew looking forward last year that we were going to lose Marquez Douglas.
To me we are in a great situation because we’ve got a guy we can pencil right in at that position. Kemo is another guy that has come on who we’ve developed. He was an undrafted free agent as you know, and his upside is substantial. He’s made a lot of great strides for the Ravens and I think he’ll continue to do that as this thing moves forward.
I love our depth. I think Dwan will play — he has to play. In the age of the salary cap these guys have got to play and this is going to be his year to make an impact hopefully.
TL: We are beginning to hear rumblings that T.J. Slaughter could be the starting weak side LB in a 4-3 with AD and Boulware sharing duties on the strong side. Talk about Slaughter and then talk about the differences of the weak and strong side LB’s.
Eric: Well you know Slaughter is a free agent. I’m not really sure what’s going to happen with him. We’ve discussed him but I think ultimately, we’re looking for a linebacker. It may be T.J. We like T.J. He’s a smart guy and he plays hard. He’s very coachable and very productive. Whether it’s T.J. or Barrett Rudd from Nebraska in the draft, Alfred Fincher from Connecticut in the draft, we’re going to find somebody who we think can come in and play. I think the thing is, whoever we’ve brought in over the years to play next to Ray Lewis, they usually play well. Jamie Sharper being one example. Ed Hartwell, another example. Those guys or whoever we bring in will be playing next to one of the best players in football — in the history of football and we’ll find somebody who can play — who has the toughness, intelligence and speed to play that position. I’m confident we can do that and whoever we bring in will play pretty well hopefully.
think can come in and play. I think the thing is, whoever we’ve brought in over the years to play next to Ray Lewis, they usually play well. Jamie Sharper being one example. Ed Hartwell, another example. Those guys or whoever we bring in will be playing next to one of the best players in football — in the history of football and we’ll find somebody who can play — who has the toughness, intelligence and speed to play that position. I’m confident we can do that and whoever we bring in will play pretty well hopefully.
TL: The draft it drawing nearer and I’m sure you’ve been assembling your board for quite some time. Talk about the criteria used to rank players on your board. How much of a factor is character?
Eric: One thing that we place a real premium on in Baltimore this year are several different things but I think you start with speed, toughness, football instincts, intelligence and character. If you get a player who has those qualities, typically they are going to be pretty good. There are no absolutes but if you have those qualities, in our estimation in terms of the players we’ve picked, they turn out to be pretty good players who can do something for you.
Character is very important in Baltimore. Every year we take a bunch of players off the board that other teams end up picking pretty high in the draft because we don’t think they have the personality or the character traits to be a positive role model in Baltimore. Or if they lack the leadership or the work ethic or the background just isn’t there, we won’t pick them. And that’s something that Ozzie has really pushed on us. There’s always instances of players who we really liked and would love to draft and could probably get in a really good spot in the draft but passed on because we just can’t sign off on the package.
TL: In your opinion, how would you rank the Ravens areas of need in the order of priority?
Eric: I always say that we have needs at every position because you can never predict when a player is going to get hurt. We’ve seen that repeatedly. Generally, offensive line, tackle I think is something we need to address. Jonathan is not a spring chicken anymore. Orlando Brown is getting up there in age. At some point in the near future hopefully we can pull the trigger on a pretty good tackle. I think linebacker is another position where we need some guys — an infusion of some fresh blood.
I’ve heard Ron Wolf say this before, you can never have enough good cornerbacks. And we’ve seen our corners get hurt every year. It’s very, very unusual that your corners will play an entire season. So that is always going to be a need in my opinion on any team in this league.
Offensive guard, I think with Vincent we’re in pretty good shape but we’d like to have another guy, a back-up type who can eventually develop. Hopefully Brian Rimph who is a guy we took last year in the draft can fill that need. Generally tackle is a need. I think receiver is always going to be a need for the Ravens. If we could get another receiver to compliment Derrick Mason and Devard Darling and Clarence Moore I think we’ll be in great shape.
But our mindset has always been to take the best player. And usually if you take the best player, at some point that best player becomes a need for you. We saw that with Todd Heap and Ed Reed. We try to take the best guys so that when they play, they play pretty well. And that is what we’ve done in Baltimore.
TL: Eric last question. The Ravens don’t have a third string quarterback at this time. Do you see the team making a play for a QB in the draft?
Eric: I think in the draft we probably will look at getting a third string QB. Last year we took Josh Harris who the Browns took from us. And we can’t blame that one on Phil [Savage] because that happened before Phil even got there. Ideally [Harris] would be our guy. But there are some guys we like this year. Dan Orlovsky from Connecticut, [Ryan] Fitzpatrick the kid from Harvard, David Green from Georgia, Stephan Lefors from Louisville. Those are all good options on the second day of the draft. All four would be good in that role with the potential to emerge as a second string QB eventually at some point.
I think we’re in great shape because we’ve go two guys in Rick Neuheisel and Jim Fassel who really specialize in working with quarterbacks. If we bring a guy in I feel that they will be coached extremely well and will develop. And those guys are helping me evaluate all these quarterbacks this year. I feel like whoever we pick will be the right guy for the Ravens.
