Ravens Gab

Yesterday afternoon, the Ravens front office stepped to the podium to not only officially comment on this past season but to discuss the future of the franchise. In general, the comments were in accord with many of the same issues that fans complained about during the 2009 campaign, repeated penalties, the lack of a pass rush and the need to upgrade the receiver position.

It was interesting that at times the focus of owner Steve Bischotti’s message wasn’t just about the future of his team but of the entire NFL. This coming season will mark the first uncapped season but the bigger issue is the CBA that needs to be hammered out by 2011 or people may begin to mention the dreaded “Lockout” word.

Some of the highlights of the remarks were:

• The Ravens aren’t worried about the upcoming uncapped season. In fact Bischotti seemed very upbeat about the prospects of continuing to compete in such a marketplace. He quoted as saying;

“I don’t think the problems with the CBA are going to impact me in any way, shape or form more” than any other team, he said. “If anything I think it’ll be less because of the talent we have in this building. I’m looking forward to the constrictions. If there are any constraints, to me, it makes your decisions that much more important.”

Bischotti feels very confident about his management staff from Dick Cass to Head Coach John Harbaugh. I’m glad that he feels positive about his team’s situation but honestly a cap helps Baltimore and I’m sure he’s aware of that. The feeling throughout most circles is that this is just a  temporary situation and that the cap will return in the future. So it may just be a case of viewing the future in a positive vein.

• The Ravens need to upgrade at Wide Reciever. Many people, Ozzie Newsome included felt that Demetrius Williams could be the player to help provide a deep threat presence on this offense. It didn’t happen for a variety or reasons. Coaches were displeased with Williams’ route running and ability to make adjustments. Kelley Washington over took the slot role fairly quickly and never relinquished it. They used very few four wide looks so that left Williams out of the equation.

Does that mean Brandon Marshall is back on the table as a possibility?  Maybe so. John Harbaugh mentioned during the session that there was never a player that was ruled out due to character issues during his two seasons. Ozzie Newsome said that he would be willing to trade his number one pick for a player that would improve the team.

• Terrell Suggs was out of shape this season. Suggs production in the sack department dropped off dramatically and he made more headlines for an alleged domestic incident (which has since been dropped) than for on the field production. Sure he stops the run but he’s being paid for his role as a pass rusher. So he needs to improve. The staff has been assured that Suggs will stay in Baltimore to ready himself for next camp.

• The staff feels that both Derrick Mason and Ed Reed will return for the 2010 season. No doubt the receiving corps will look different for next season. How different is still up to speculation with the restrictions that the Ravens will have to deal with. Retaining Mason is a good idea but as usual it must be “right player, right price” and Mason has to want to come back. Reed of course is a different matter. He skipped the Pro Bowl, much like thirty others that were chosen but he needed to start his healing from another tough season. The Ravens are at least covered in case he does retire but if he does step down he’s hardly replaceable.

Personally, I have to say as a Ravens fan how pleased I am that these events still occur. Perhaps some teams that play across the street in this town could learn something from it. The ownership and general manager have a chance to speak publicly and field questions as honestly as they choose from the media. You get a chance to hear what their impressions were of the past season and see where they will focus on improving the club. So for anyone who puts their money into supporting the purple and black you have to feel good about the direction the team is headed. They seem to be listening.

Defense has been the identity of the Baltimore Ravens for more than a decade.

Over the years they’ve had plenty of high profile players to help carry that reputation. So choosing a defensive player of the year would seem to be a bit harder than some other categories.

Jonathan Scruggs makes the case for linebacker, Jarret Johnson.

Number 95 may not have the flash or the pizazz of some of his counter parts, but man did Jarrett Johnson have a career year. He was all of the field making plays and keeping this defense in some games where they might have been blown out.

I’ll agree with that assessment. Johnson really stepped up his game this season, in particular with his sack totals as he registered a career high. (6.0) When the defense was going through some struggles during the first half of the season, it was Johnson who was one of the few constants that held things together. In fact I agreed that Johnson was the defensive MVP for the first half of the season, as did many others.

However, this award was for the entire 2009 season and Gene Winner and myself went in a more classic direction.

There was a lot of talk during the off-season about weather or not the Ravens should re-sign Ray Lewis to his last big contract to enable him to complete his career in purple. Or maybe Baltimore should take that money and spend it on the much younger Bart Scott. I think they made the right decision.

Here’s Gene’s thoughts:

Ray Lewis continues to be a leader and a play maker. He kept the defense together when things weren’t going well. Classic Lewis plays: The stop on Sproles in San Diego and the blitz sack on Tom Brady. He plays all three downs and didn’t lose much energy even thought the rigors of the NFL season.

Even after 14 seasons, Ray Lewis hasn’t lost any of the passion or intensity that make him one of the best to ever play his position. He continues to be the emotional leader of the team and the face of the franchise.

So as usual tell us what you think. Who do you feel was the Defensive player of the year?

Michael Oher, Lardarius Webb and Dannell Ellerbe provided stability to their perspective positions and all three have benefitted from playing experience in their first NFL season.  With these new players emerging, the team can concentrate on upgrading other positions in the offseason.

RT Michael Oher, solidified his spot and could easily compete for left tackle.  The first round pick excelled this season, he is a great talent.  Oher is a total team player putting the team above his personal accolades. He handled the celebrity of his story well—with the book and movie. In fact, he decided not to get involved with all the hype and passed on the movie premier. When asked about the movie or book he answered it by discussing how he needs to improve and be there for the team. As a player he is an upgrade to our offensive line and made huge strides this season. Oher is a natural and in his rookie season had to fill in at left tackle for 4 games. Oher has proven to be a quick learner, has great technique, aggressive and finishes plays.

CB/KR Lardarius Webb is an impact player.  The cornerback/kick returner seemed to always make plays and brings a physical presence to the secondary. He’s a player who was not in many teams’ radar in the draft.  At first he was inserted as a kick returner and added spark to the position. Averaging around 29 yards per carry and had a return for a touchdown against the Denver Broncos. At cornerback where this team needed him after Fabian Washington’s injury, Webb excelled as well.  Unfortunately, Webb had a knee injury and hopefully he’ll make a speedy recovery after already having knee surgery.  When Webb comes back from rehab he will have some catching up to do. But he will eventually work himself back into the line up at the cornerback position.  

OLB Dannell Ellerbe may have solidified himself as heir to OLB Bart Scott. As my colleague Matt Jergensen said, “It is Ellerbe’s job to lose.”  Ellerbe was an undrafted free agent out of Georgia. A quick learner this season, Ellerbe has a good feel for the position and is a hard hitter.  After the team experimented with different linebackers, Ellerbe was the right fit and the team put him in as a starter late in the season.  Ellerbe had dropped down in the draft selection due to a previous injury.  Many fans were wondering how he made the team after being sidelined during training camp; the coaches did a great job evaluating this talented linebacker. He has the ability to understand the defensive schemes and made important plays this season.

RB/KR Jalen Parmale. Though not a true rookie, it is important to note that Parmale saw consistent action as the team’s kick returner after Webb was sidelined. Parmale picked up where Webb left off finishing with a 31.4 kick return average. A running back as well, Parmale gives the Ravens some depth at the running back position. He was signed by the Ravens from the Dolphins’ practice squad on December 9, 2008 

This just in…

The Ravens have hired Jim Zorn as their quarterbacks coach, coach John Harbaugh told The Baltimore Sun on Saturday.

“Jim played successfully in the league for a long time,” Harbaugh said, “and certainly understands what an NFL quarterback goes through. He has been an NFL quarterback coach, NFL head coach and is familiar with our offense. That’s a great resume for us.”

Harbaugh added, “I’ve gotten to know Jim the last couple of years and I’m impressed with him as a person. He’s a good, kind and decent man. He’s an exciting addition to our staff.”

Certainly I’ve heard enough from my Redskins friends about how awful Mr. Zorn was in his capacity as Head Coach. But I think this could work out as a fine move.

Zorn was already a QB coach in Seattle where he helped advance the career of Matt Hasselbeck to franchise highs in passing. I think he may be able to help Joe get to thenext level in his development.

This award was probably the toughest to give out for several reasons. First, I think there are a few ways to interpret most improved. Is it that player who was gotten better from one season to the next or is it a player who maybe started off slowly but finished strong? So as a result all of us had differing opinions as to who should get this one.

I’ll let the staff speak for themselves on this one.

First up Jonathan Scruggs, and his pick which was actually a tie between Frank Walker and Domonique Foxworth.

I know, I know, but hear me out. These two players were absolutely manhandled for much of the early part of this Ravens season. But when the injury bug hit, both of them stepped up their game, buckled down, and played some truly excellent football down the stretch. No one, and I mean no one, is hard on these two as I am, but credit is given where credit it due. They kept the team burning into the playoffs.

I can follow that reasoning and in that case you may as well throw Chris Carr into that group too. He’s another guy that was just dreadful in coverage and on returns but finished strong with solid showings into the playoffs.

Next is Gene Winner, and he likes the big Offensive lineman Marshall Yanda.

Yanda was inserted in the lineup and he solidified his spot by playing with old school gritty football. When inserted the O-line took on a more physical presence. He is a menace to opposing teams pulling and blocking like a mad man! Ray Rice is an improved player no doubt, but Yanda opened some big holes this season.

How can you not applaud the toughness of a lineman who actually likes to be tasered? Also remember that Yanda was recovering from a knee injury back during training camp and it was unsure how effective he would be and how much playing time he would receive in 2009. So I can go with that one to.

But, of course as Gene pointed out Ray Rice might also seem to be an obvious choice here. His monumental leap in terms of production, playing time and status in the league has made him a top five Fantasy player for next season.

Now as you can imagine, Mr. Rice may be receiving a few other awards that we haven’t posted yet due to his fantastic second year. But I don’t think that should stop him from winning this one. So I’ll choose Ray Rice.

Of course that means we all split in who should get this one and I refuse to invoke my Site editor powers to break the deadlock. So I figured it would fun to see what you guys think.

Help either break the deadlock or further the discussion by throwing another player into the mix that you think is worthy of the “Most Improved” label.

In the meantime we will recognize all our potential Ravens as improved and a part of the team’s success.

The Ravens need to find a new quarterbacks coach after Hue Jackson agreed to become the Oakland Raiders’ offensive coordinator Tuesday. The team is expected to look at Jim Zorn and Al Saunders for a position that will be key in the development of second-year quarterback Joe Flacco.

Jackson did a fine job helping develop Flacco. It should be noted that Joe Flacco has the fifth most productive first two seasons in NFL history, ranking him next to players like Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Drew Bledsoe. It wasn’t much of a surprise that Jackson would eventually move on to a coordinator position.

Who replaces him will be important, as there are some specific improvements that need to be made in the young quarterback’s game for him to step up to the next level. As per usual, John Harbaugh is mum on the subject.

In other staff news;

Meanwhile, the Ravens officially announced that they hired former New England Patriots defensive coordinator Dean Pees as their linebackers coach. Pees replaces Vic Fangio, who was not retained after one season in that role.

In four seasons with Pees as coordinator, the Patriots’ defense always ranked among the stingiest, never giving up more than 20 points per game in any season. Pees, 60, chose not to return to New England after his contract expired Jan. 14.

Pees has an interesting connection with Harbaugh. In 1983, he was the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Miami of Ohio, where Harbaugh played defensive back.

This was a less publicized move but interesting since Fangio has been with the team since 2006. He was a special assistant to the head coach, has worked with the defense and this past season specifically the linebackers. Fangio has had three other stops in the NFL as a Defensive Coordinator in Indianapolis, Houston and Carolina.

I’m just curious as to why he wasn’t asked back. Was there an issue of some type or was Fangio simply interested in a new opportunity?

There were several candidates that were up for consideration for this award. Free agent signee Dannell Ellerbee out of Georgia who locked up the linebacker position vacated by Bart Scott towards the end of the season and Lardarius Webb who also earned more playing time due to his high energy style. But after the votes were tallied it was unanimous that the Ravens 2009 first round pick, Michael Oher took the honor.

Oher put in a pretty solid campaign in his first season. He started almost immediately at Right Tackle from his first day in camp. At 6 foot 6, 320 pounds he showed off size and athleticism as well as versatility when he was moved to Left Tackle due to Jared Gaither’s injury. His power and aggressiveness, you might even say mean streak, are hard not to notice.

Oher played well but also had his struggles as most rookies do. He led the offensive line in penalties and sometimes struggled when pass rushers alternated their approach between speed and power.

But those issues seem fixable for a young player who seems to have a very professional attitude and a willingness to improve and correct mistakes. He could be Pro Bowl material in a few seasons. It looks like another First round success story for the Ravens front office.

Several days ago Ray Lewis received a 5,000 from the league office over his hit on Austin Collie. Here are some of Lewis’ comments, and then my own.

“For people who really enjoy the game of football, and who play the game the way I play the game, I look at that as being kind of embarrassing,” Lewis said on ESPNews.

And Lewis then made clear that he doesn’t mean he’s embarrassed at having been fined — he thinks the league office should be embarrassed for handing out a fine for what he believes was a clean hit.

“If I just went at him directly with my helmet, I’d understand that,” Lewis said. “But you’re talking about a man who’s been playing this game for over 14 years, who respects the game to the utmost, and who never leads with his head first and foremost. I hit him with my shoulder pad, I knew I hit him with my shoulder pad. So for them to fine me, I’m a little disappointed.”

The more I thought about this play and the resulting fine it made me re-examine the direction that the NFL is headed.

Safety has become one of the league’s main concerns over the past few years, especially with the controversies surrounding concussions. So to a degree I can understand why officials may err on the side of caution when they witness spectacular hits.

But upon further review it seemed to me as if Collie crouched down to the catch the ball and since Lewis was already airbourne he hit him higher than he had intended. It was a hard hit and I think the speed of the play and the result of Collie crumpling to the turf made the call seem easy.

I don’t think I’d call the fine embarrassing but I also wouldn’t say that he deserved it either. It’s tough to police a sport that by it’s very nature is violent.

This past season I’ve seen plenty of penalties that have been called for a variety of reasons, some valid and some not. But it seems as if the league’s push towards more scoring and discouraging anything resembling tough defense continues to be in place.