Ozzie Newsome and Ravens Front Office Better than the Patriots' FO - How?

[Brady'sButtBoy]

Why all the fawning and national love for the supposedly great and consistent talent on the Ravens? Why does Newsome constantly get mentioned as the best GM around and the Ravens always having the best roster? How are they better than BB and the Pat's FO?

Uh, last I checked the Ravens haven't been to the SB since 2001.
In that time the Pat's have played in 5, won 3, played and won more playoff games, have a better regular season record and hold a winning advantage head to head over the Ravens.

So someone please explain why Newsome and Co. are so darn great when they haven't accomplished the number one goal in the NFL in 12 years?

 

[Brady2Moss]

Why all the fawning and national love for the supposedly great and consistent talent on the Ravens? Why does Newsome constantly get mentioned as the best GM around and the Ravens always having the best roster? How are they better than BB and the Pat's FO?

Uh, last I checked the Ravens haven't been to the SB since 2001.
In that time the Pat's have played in 5, won 3, played and won more playoff games, have a better regular season record and hold a winning advantage head to head over the Ravens.

So someone please explain why Newsome and Co. are so darn great when they haven't accomplished the number one goal in the NFL in 12 years?

I think their coaching and QB situation has been messed up for most of those years, I guess that is part of the FOs job though. I think they are very good at drafting while we are sort of average. Our coaching and QB mask a lot of our problems.

I've found that listening to patriots-centric media keeps me sane, the national news is meant for ratings its a reality show.

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

But if they draft so well why did they have a QB problem for so long?

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

I'm ok with all the love any team receives when they make it to the Superbowl. Whether it's true or not. Writers need to write, this is the biggest sporting event nationally and there are only 2 teams left.

All the stories for the other 30 teams can wait (unless it's really something big) until the game/post game analysis is over.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Flavor of the month.

But make no mistake. The Ravens are right up there with the best of them when it comes to drafting.

 

[Raymond]

I think Ozzie has done a good job there.But, next year with Ray and Reed (possibly) gone, they may take a step or two back.

Flacco may be called upon to be more consistent in the regular season just to make the playoffs.

 

[crew1954]

What's the issue? Baltimore has been a continuously successful organization for over 12 years. That it does not win quite as much as NE doesn't negate that.

Is the Ravens front office better than the Jets? Dolphins? Buffalo? Cincy? Cleveland? Raiders? KC? etc? Top 5, at least, I give them.

When was the last season that you didn't circle the Ravens game as a tough out when the Pats schedule came out?

 

[Brady2Moss]

But if they draft so well why did they have a QB problem for so long?

Quarterbacks are hard to find

 

[Patriot Missile]

I think Ozzie has done a good job there.But, next year with Ray and Reed (possibly) gone, they may take a step or two back.

Flacco may be called upon to be more consistent in the regular season just to make the playoffs.

Replacing the murderer and the other hall of famer Reed will next to impossible but it will free up cap room to do other things. They had no problem replacing A Thomas or J Johnson. They just plugged away. Jamaal Lewis, no problem. I think they will be fine.

 

[PatsSox363804]

The Ravens have had a few down years but have been consistently involved in the upper echelon. Flacco has been to the AFC title game 3 times and they successfully shifted their team from a defense strength to an offense strength while maintaining a good enough defense to win their conference. Are they "better" than the Pats? I don't care, they're certainly on the same level and that's why they're playing today. Respect to them, they run a good program in Baltimore.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Quarterbacks are hard to find

And sometimes they fall in your lap. Brady did, and we just happened to be in position to take that flyer. The Ravens big mistake was that Billick didn't want to cater to Dilfer because he figured that level of talent could be easily replaced. Turns out competent isn't all that easy to find.

The thing the Ravens get credit for is talent evaluation. Bill taught Ozzie some of that, but in a way he was like Dimetroff in that he has his own vision and trusts his own instincts. As a former player Ozzie also takes a different tack when it comes to teambuilding. He's not so much a one voice guy, although in the final analysis he has the lone say. He's more willing to turn a blind eye to the chatter and behavioral issues as long as they deliver on the field. He's a little more reliant on and tolerant of talent. Media fawns over talent and personality, as do fans. Dry stuff like system and scheme bore them.

 

[Jackson 2]

They're damn good at evaluating DBs, I'll tell you that.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

They have a very good organization that deserves praise. That said, they will now need to deal with a superstar QB contract (17-20M) and are in big cap trouble next year. The amazing thing about the Pats FO is that they've been able to deal with these issues through the draft and shrewd decision making. Baltimore will struggle to maintain its level of talent,

 

[Triumph]

But if they draft so well why did they have a QB problem for so long?

Because a good QB is the hardest position to fill in the NFL.

 

[Triumph]

They're damn good at evaluating DBs, I'll tell you that.

RBs too.

Jamal Lewis, Priest Holmes, Ray Rice and maybe Bernard Pierce.

 

[tonyto3690]

They consistently draft higher than the Patriots and have done a better job hitting on "star" players. Bigger names = easier to recognize = thoughts that they do a great job.

That also leads to seasons like 4-12.

The Patriots bread and butter has always been the "middle class" level players. Edelman, Connolly, Slater, Ridley, Ninkovich, etc. etc. Guys who don't get a ton of press but still do a good job but don't have the big stats to get a ton of press. Ridley was the closest thing and he was a 3rd round pick and always secondary to Brady.

Consistent winning has come from brady, belichick and the role players. The Ravens up and down winning has been predicated much more on health and the ability of their star players to carry them. Imagine the Ravens if Rice, Flacco, Lewis, Suggs and Reed were all out- similarly to the Patriots 2008. They'd win maybe 2 games.

 

[Rob0729]

IDK, I might give the edge to the Ravens. Newsome has produced more HOFers than Belichick has. Newsome drafted Lewis, Reed, Suggs, Ogden, Ngata, Lewis, and whole bunch of solid players.

Ironically, his weak point in evaluation looks to be where the Patriots' greatest strength is - QB. Flacco is decent, but Boller was a horrible waste of a draft pick.

Belichick the Coach has overcome a lot of the mistakes Belichick the GM has made over the last decade or so. I think the Ravens especially before Harbaugh were driven on talent.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

IDK, I might give the edge to the Ravens. Newsome has produced more HOFers than Belichick has. Newsome drafted Lewis, Reed, Suggs, Ogden, Ngata, Lewis, and whole bunch of solid players.

Ironically, his weak point in evaluation looks to be where the Patriots' greatest strength is - QB. Flacco is decent, but Boller was a horrible waste of a draft pick.

Belichick the Coach has overcome a lot of the mistakes Belichick the GM has made over the last decade or so. I think the Ravens especially before Harbaugh were driven on talent.

They still are. They have just shifted the balance a little towards giving the offense more than a RB to hang their hat on. Harbaugh isn't the genius BB is, he isn't even the genius the other Harbaugh may be. But he is bold as is apparently the Harbaugh way and axing Cam and telling Flacco OK buddy it's on you now seemed to pay dividends down the stretch. Whether those carry over after today or to carry the day today remains to be seen. Billick was an OC turned HC and his problem was in winning it once he came to believe it was all about him and he could scheme/develop enough offense due to sheer brilliance to balance off the defense Ozzie built for him. Harbaugh figured out over the last two years that he couldn't. So he did some things to alter that circumstance. And for now they seem to have worked. We'll see if he can maintain in a capped league. That's the real test, except for those who would always gladly trade a couple of 4-12's and 8-8's and a decade of flailing around for the chance to win the superbowl THIS given year.

 

[Rob0729]

They still are. They have just shifted the balance a little towards giving the offense more than a RB to hang their hat on. Harbaugh isn't the genius BB is, he isn't even the genius the other Harbaugh may be. But he is bold as is apparently the Harbaugh way and axing Cam and telling Flacco OK buddy it's on you now seemed to pay dividends down the stretch. Whether those carry over after today or to carry the day today remains to be seen. Billick was an OC turned HC and his problem was in winning it once he came to believe it was all about him and he could scheme/develop enough offense due to sheer brilliance to balance off the defense Ozzie built for him. Harbaugh figured out over the last two years that he couldn't. So he did some things to alter that circumstance. And for now they seem to have worked. We'll see if he can maintain in a capped league. That's the real test, except for those who would always gladly trade a couple of 4-12's and 8-8's and a decade of flailing around for the chance to win the superbowl THIS given year.

Harbaugh is worlds better than Billick was. He has to a lot more coaching than Billick ever had to because that defense is slowing down. He isn't Belichick though. No one is. But if Belichick retired tomorrow, Harbaugh would be high on my list of replacements if the Pats could get anyone.

I also agree that this offseason will be a real test on Newsome and Harbaugh to see if they can maintain things with a tough cap situation increased by the Flacco free agency situation and a lot of older players and bigger free agents potentially leaving (Reed, Ray Ray, Kruger, etc.).

 

[IllegalContact]

the ravens made the best FO move of the year.....replacing cameron with caldwell saved the team from going down the toilet.....

ballsy move that worked and at this moment, they deserve all the credit in the world.