Ozzie Newsome has long been known for his tried and true credos such as “Best Player Available” and “Right Player, Right Price”. Those axioms have historically been as reliable as a steady compass, enabling Newsome to navigate his way through the challenges of building a roster for many seasons.
But since 2009, the Ravens under Newsome’s guidance, have failed to land impact players that once defined his drafts. Instead of Jonathan Ogden, Ray Lewis, Peter Boulware, Chris McAlister, Todd Heap, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata or Joe Flacco, the Ravens have landed players like Michael Oher, Sergio Kindle, Courtney Upshaw, Matt Elam and Breshad Perriman with their first picks.
Has the game changed to the point where the same scouting processes, the same player evaluations, the same methodologies that once worked, have now become obsolete? Should the team reassess how they define “Best Player Available”?
Maybe the Ravens should weight “need” and “scheme” a little more heavily so that the players are more productive in a Baltimore uniform. Maybe they should weight “intelligence” a bit more so that players have the mental wherewithal to adapt to schematic changes more quickly.
Look at what the Patriots do. Theirs is a coaching staff on an entirely different cerebral level. It shows up on the field every week and John Harbaugh’s staff can’t compete with them. Not many, if any can, which makes it even more important for the Ravens to out-scout other teams for new personnel and develop their players better.
To be fair, several of the aforementioned picks were Top 10 overall picks and the Ravens success, 6 playoff appearances since 2008, 3 AFC Championship Games and 1 Super Bowl victory, has pushed them down the draft board over the past decade. But that doesn’t explain away the fact that the team has drafted only 5 players (Ray Rice, Tyrod Taylor, Kelechi Osemele, Kyle Juszczyk and C.J. Mosley) who have participated in a Pro Bowl, even in that game’s watered down state today. Two of those players have done so in another team’s uniform and one plays a position (Juszczyk) that has lost its significance in today’s NFL.
Making matters worse, the Ravens have for too long, overvalued their own players. Right player, right price has somehow escaped them when they inked overly-rich deals with players they’ve drafted like Rice, Ngata, Suggs, Webb, Pitta and Flacco. Then they watched them all, with the possible exception of Suggs, fail to play to the level of their contract. In some cases, it dumped dead money upon the cap, consequently preventing the Ravens from making moves in free agency – prohibiting them from keeping other players like Osemele and Pernell McPhee.
It will likely cost them Brandon Williams and Rick Wagner this offseason.
Year after year the Ravens are among the teams with the least amount of cap space and when the bell of the free agency period tolls, the Ravens are forced to the back of the line, hoping that a blue light special will fall their way. The strategy isn’t a bad one but every now and then it would be nice to see the Ravens have the cap flexibility to go and get a proven playmaker.
Mike Wallace and Eric Weddle were clearly good values in 2016, but aren’t they both short-term rentals? Wallace could be moving on soon and surely will after the 2017 season, and Weddle’s current contract is written like a 2-year deal. After the 2017 season Weddle will be 33 years old and he’ll carry an $8.25M cap figure.
Some consideration should also be given to the Ravens ability moving forward, to attract value free agent signings. If Steve Smith, Sr. was available today as the Ravens come off 2 seasons in a row outside the playoffs looking in, and 3 of the last four, would he even come to Baltimore? Players who want to hang a ring on their resume once looked at the Ravens as a possible suitor and when all else was equal, the more competitive franchise would get the nod.
How are the Ravens perceived now by prospective free agents and their agents? Might a veteran wide receiver shy away from Baltimore fearing that his stats could tank?
Are the Ravens still a preferred destination?
We’ll find out soon enough.
We’ll see if Ozzie can continue to land those blue light specials.
But until that time comes when the new league year begins in March, the Ravens might be wise to redefine what Best Player Available and Right Player, Right Price mean in today’s NFL.
Perhaps then, they can make the best of this offseason and compete for the AFC North title in 2017.
