I was shocked that the Ravens kept Troy Smith on the 53 man roster. He had a rough preseason. I see the fine hand of Ozzie in all this. They must see something, although I sure didn’t. I think he’s going to follow in the fine steps of Gino Toretta, Danny Weurfel, Rasham Salaam, Andre Ware, etc. as former Heisman winners who have had undistinguished pro careers.
The backups to the starting offensive line are all rookies and I’m worried. I don’t care if Grubbs, Gaither, and Yanda outplayed Keydrick Vincent and Brian Rimpf; the learning curve for rookie offensive linemen is pretty steep when they start firing live ammo. Jon Ogden starting on Monday is not a given and, if he doesn’t, I can see the Bungles loading up the left side of their defense to bull rush and blitz Yanda all night.
Jerry Kramer of the Packers and a member of Bart Starr’s offensive line in the 1960’s used to have something called the “look out block,†as in “Look out, Bart, they’re coming!!†I hope the Ravens don’t need it Monday night.
I expected Clarence Moore to go. All he was good for was an alley-oop on a fade pattern. He consistently short-armed passes across the middle and was afraid to get hit. Devard Darling made the roster because he plays on special teams. But watch…Darling will be deactivated every week unless one of the big 3 go down…I was pleasantly surprised they kept Rhys Lloyd and the 3 rookie linebackers. Lloyd will consistently put kick offs into the end zone and provide late season leg strength in case Matt Stover tails off. Barnes, Burgess, and Edgar Jones are going to be real bears in a couple of years.
I have some additional concerns with Steve McNair’s arm strength and durability and the lack of production out of Willis McGahee, but let’s see what happens when the games start to count.
Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens have to be kidding about Byron Leftwich, right? Tell me they’re kidding. Forget all the talk about his dysfunctional relationship with Jack Del Rio. Forget about his arm strength and accuracy. Focus on his injury history. For all his positives, the guy has been a walking emergency room. He’s had serious health issues every year since he joined the league thanks to his lack of mobility and he’s only 27. We already have one quarterback with increasing mobility issues in Steve McNair and we don’t need another one as his protégé. For all his faults, Kyle Boller has been reasonably healthy and is certainly a serviceable back up at this point. Would I consider resigning Boller as a backup? You bet. Leftwich? Don’t do it, Ozzie!!
Media gripe: Too bad we have to wait until 7 PM Monday night to see the Ravens in action for real. By the way…..wouldn’t it be nice if Sheriff Goodell would take a few moments from policing the league’s bad boys to looking at rescheduling Monday night games? A 7 PM start is almost manageable for working stiffs like me with a long commute. If the 4 PM start is too early for the West Coasties, tough darts. I’m tired of Monday night games scheduled so that the Left Coast crowd can watch. They’re all sitting in rush hour traffic anyway.
Monday Night Prediction: The Ravens will cover but Cincinnati will keep it close. Matt Stover will win another game with his leg as the Ravens will prevail, 16-14.
