Trench Warfare: The 10 Best Offensive Linemen of the Past Year
This week, there have been a few lists that have upset Ravens fans a bit. First, there was the ranking from NFL coaches and talent evaluators that put Flacco as the 10th best quarterback. The ranking wasn’t the problem as much as the fact that they cited an inability to carry the team as a reason. Then, a study done by a man at Harvard Sports Analysis Collective determined that the Ravens have a 9% chance of making the playoffs.
Last night, however, Robert Mays of Grantland listed the best 10 offensive linemen in the NFL. At the very top of the list, he put Marshal Yanda, of course. He was particularly impressed with this play:
What he had to say about the play: “This is probably my favorite play any offensive lineman made all season. It’s also the one Justin Forsett cites in Yanda’s section of the Top 100, where the guard ranks an embarrassing 79th. It’s insane. I don’t even know how to process it.” The full post is worth a read. Mays also gives Kelechi Osemele an honorable mention. LINK
The 5 okayest NFL quarterbacks in 2015
I started links off today trying to keep you calm with the Yanda ranking. Did it work? Probably not because of the title of this post. Mike Foss of USA Today’s For The Win blog puts Joe Flacco on a list of “okay” quarterbacks. He refers to a “layer of mediocrity” beneath the top-tier quarterbacks, where he places Flacco amongst Carson Palmer, Matt Ryan, Andy Dalton, and Tony Romo. Romo, Ryan, and Flacco are ALL much better thank okay.
To prove to you that he didn’t watch the 2012 Super Bowl run, here is his quote.
“The Ravens Super Bowl run was marked by two staples of the organization: Defense and rushing. Flacco has never been asked to elevate his system, simply maintain it.”
This is just wrong in every way imaginable… LINK
The NFL 100 Rankings: Part 1
Bill Barnwell does a pretty great job of breaking down why the NFL Network Top 100 is so unbelievably wrong pretty much all the way through (up until about the top 10 at least). He notes that players who have recently won a Super Bowl get artificial boosts and that the players appear to suffer from recency bias. Having said that, only 22 players who missed out on NFL Network’s Top 100 mist Barnwell’s list. Of those players, two are Ravens (Steve Smith and Justin Forsett). Barnwell said that Smith barely missed out, while Forsett was a bit further behind. I won’t complain, because Barnwell noted that he has rated non-skill position players higher than the players do.
In this edition of the list, he gets to the players ranking from 100-61. C.J. Mosley is the first Raven off the board at no. 99. Closely after him is Jimmy Smith at no. 91. Then, Elvis Dumervil comes off the board at no. 83. The rest of the list should be unveiled sometime today. I’ll post that in links on Monday. We should be seeing where Joe Flacco and Terrell Suggs rank in the next edition. So far three out of 16 quarterbacks have gone off the board.
Health of CB Smith will be key for Ravens’ hopes
Clifton Brown of CSN Baltimore states that a case can be made that Jimmy Smith is the most important player on the Ravens’ defense. While a case could be made, Terrell Suggs is probably the most important piece of the defense. Either way, like Cliff says, if Smith puts together a full season that looks like how he started the season, he will be ranked higher on lists next offseason like the one above from Bill Barnwell. LINK
Expectations for the Baltimore Ravens new look secondary
Shawn Brubaker of Baltimore Sports and Life looks at how the secondary projects to improve in 2015. Obviously, it will be a lot better than last season with much higher-quality depth in guys like Kyle Arrington. There will be a few battles to watch, about which Shawn goes into detail. LINK
Late for Work 7/24: Torrey Smith’s Brilliant Response to Joe Flacco’s Elite Question
I hate to give you more links to read via a link (but secretly, I don’t, I enjoy it), but this link in Sarah Ellison’s Late For Work blog today is worth a read in and of itself. Anyway, in this edition of Late For Work, Sarah gives a play-by-play of the Ravens-Jaguars Twitter emoji battle, Torrey Smith‘s response to question about Flacco’s eliteness, and Torrey has a hard time telling kids why he left Baltimore. LINK
