Were the Ravens the free agency day 1 winners? It’s no wonder Jeff Fisher no longer has a job. The Ravens’ newest RB has some thoughts about Oreos. The list of the top 10 best players in Ravens history includes a few surprises. The best free agency signing the Ravens have made is Tony Jefferson.
NFL Free Agency 2017: Winners and Losers of Day 1
The knee-jerk reactions to the Ravens’ latest free agency move to retain Brandon Williams were mixed here at RSR, but Gary Davenport at Bleacher Report loved it. Because of that move, he has Ozzie Newsome listed in his big winners of free agency so far. He liked the re-signing so much that he says letting Williams walk would have moved Ozzie into the “loser” category. I wish I shared his enthusiasm.
He does also discusses the smarter moves the Ravens have made this offseason, so it’s worth the read.
Flashback: Jeff Fisher thinks Danny Woodhead is still healthy and on the Patriots
Remember this story? His exact quote from December of this year:
“I’ve been impressed with Brandon and what he’s done out of the backfield. You’ve got to deal with him, in addition to Danny. You’ve got playmakers all around, so we have to play sound defense.”
It’s easy to see why the most overpaid coach in NFL history was fired.
And here’s some more fun from Danny Woodhead himself during his downtime last year.
Since I have time to think about stuff:
Shouldn't Dbl stuf Oreos be called Oreos, and original Oreos be called diet Oreos?— danny woodhead (@danny__woodhead) September 21, 2016
fake Oreos
— danny woodhead (@danny__woodhead) September 21, 2016
I’ve got a feeling this guy will be a fan favorite.
Top 10 Best Players from Each NFL Team – The Baltimore Ravens
Objective measurements for players across different positions is tough. There are so many different variable in play, and not everything that’s done on the football field is quantifiable. The guys over at Pro Football Reference tried to fix this problem by creating a metric called approximate value (or AV). It isn’t perfect, but it’s probably the best single unit out there to measure the value of individual players over a season (or in this case, career). Brett Oswalt over at numberFire put together a list of the players with the 10 highest career approximate value (CarAV) on each of the 32 current NFL teams. Here’s the full list:
At the top, the names are exactly what you’d expect. The first big surprise, comes at the 4th spot where Jonathan Ogden sits BEHIND Terrell Suggs. This is a cumulative stat, so that is most likely due to the number of games played. That would also explain Ray Rice’s name coming on this list (126 games with Ravens) ahead of Jamal Lewis (91 games with Ravens) and the absence of other big names like Peter Boulware and Jamie Sharper.
The name that’s gotta bring the biggest smile to your face, though is good ol’ Kelly Gregg. Aside from being an awesome interview, he was always the unsung hero of the dominant Ravens defenses of the 2000’s. He’s well-deserving of being included in an all-time top 10 list.
10 best values in the NFL this season
The circumstances surrounding his value may have changed, but Tony Jefferson’s advanced numbers are still incredibly strong. Brent Rollins of Pro Football Focus listed him as having the 2nd best value relative to his salary in the NFL last year. Obviously, that will change now that he’s making $9m/year but he’s well-deserving of that money. He allowed just 44% of the passes thrown his way to go for a completion (up until the time this article was written 4 months ago) and a 51.9 passer rating against. Not too shabby.
Tony Jefferson Highlights
Now that we’ve gone through all those numbers, it’s time for the fun part….Highlights!