Former Raider Rolando McClain nearing deal with Ravens

[BadMoFo]

Report: Rolando McClain nearing deal with Ravens | ProFootballTalk

I think he regains his old form there. If he does, Ellerbe will be a distant memory.

 

[JackBauer]

Not impressed; belongs in FA thread.

 

[Rob0729]

Regains his old form? As a overdrafted underachiever? Did I miss the part when he was actually good? He had a ok year in 2011, but otherwise he has been awful and a troublemaker to boot.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

and a troublemaker to boot.

That's probably why the Ravens are excited

 

[BadMoFo]

Regains his old form? As a overdrafted underachiever? Did I miss the part when he was actually good? He had a ok year in 2011, but otherwise he has been awful and a troublemaker to boot.

Just a feeling I'm getting. I think the Ravens as a whole will be better on defense this year, definitely faster. They lost Kruger, Lewis, Reed, Ellerbe, Pollard, Williams gained Spears, Dumervil, Huff and McClain with a dozen draft picks still to come.

 

[DocHoliday]

As nice as it looks on paper, you never can predict how a 'team' will perform based on its individual FA acquisitions.

 

[JackBauer]

Just a feeling I'm getting. I think the Ravens as a whole will be better on defense this year, definitely faster. They lost Kruger, Lewis, Reed, Ellerbe, Pollard, Williams gained Spears, Dumervil, Huff and McClain with a dozen draft picks still to come.

That looks like a wash, at best. But we'll see. They typically draft pretty well so I'm sure that'll help.

 

[Rob0729]

Just a feeling I'm getting. I think the Ravens as a whole will be better on defense this year, definitely faster. They lost Kruger, Lewis, Reed, Ellerbe, Pollard, Williams gained Spears, Dumervil, Huff and McClain with a dozen draft picks still to come.

So the Ravens added three underachievers to their defense. Huff, Spears, and McClain are all first round busts/disappointments. Maybe a change of location will help them revive their careers, but their name recognition is far better than their on the field production.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

As nice as it looks on paper, you never can predict how a 'team' will perform based on its individual FA acquisitions.

That's true. Last year their defensive personnel wasn't all that but leadership and just plain wanting it more seemingly made them champs. They lost alot of that leadership though and that's difficult to replace, even though the moves do look good on paper mostly. I unfortunately think the Ravens will be fine, highly doubt they come close to repeating but I bet they're in the playoffs at least [hope I'm wrong on the latter]

 

[Marqui]

This a nice move for them imo. I bet he'll breakout in Baltimore.

 

[ALP]

Ravens lost a lot of leaders from that D...and seem to be replacing them with anti-leaders....looks to me like shades of our 2009 team, lots of talent, pretty good, but when the going got tough...

 

[BradyManny]

For all the talk about Ozzie Newsome and what a genius offseason he's had, I gotta say I do not feel the same way at this point. It feels like they went out and grabbed the biggest names available to them without considering if the players were still any good. I think the Canty, Huff, Spears, this McClain signing and probably even the Dumervil signing are overrated.

Canty & Spears are just JAGs with names we recognize. McClain might not even be a JAG. Dumervil is a great, but one-dimensional player. Huff might turn out to be their best value.

 

[Rob0729]

I don't get the love for McClain myself. To me, he is Brandon Spikes with less talent and far more baggage.

 

[supafly]

I don't get the love for McClain myself. To me, he is Brandon Spikes with less talent and far more baggage.

Here are some stats to back your point up I suppose? (each played 3 yrs)


SPIKES MCCLAIN

Sacks 1 / 6.5

Tackles 126 / 175

Games 35 / 41

PD 12 / 17



McClain's main problem has been his off field issues, but he's far outproduced Brandon Spikes on the field.

He has shown much better pass coverage, been more durable, rushed the passer much better, and has many more tackles.

That said, I'd probably still take Spikes due to the off field concerns, but let's be fair.

 

[FoxboroFlyer]

Signed 1 year...700,000$.
Wow, you can't go wrong with that deal, if you're Bal.
Newsome comes through, yet again.

 

[Ozymandias]

There's no downside here for Baltimore to kick the tires. He's on a one-strike agreement so if he flames-out on the field or off it, he's gone. They lose nothing.

Perhaps a change of scenery will be enough to get him back on the track, but in likelihood he probably doesn't even make it out of training camp. The only consolation for McClain is that he's probably going to be the last ever top 10 draft pick wasted on an ILB with zero coverage skills.

 

[FoxboroFlyer]

There's no downside here for Baltimore to kick the tires. He's on a one-strike agreement so if he flames-out on the field or off it, he's gone. They lose nothing.

Perhaps a change of scenery will be enough to get him back on the track, but in likelihood he probably doesn't even make it out of training camp. The only consolation McClain has is that he's probably going to be the last ever top 10 draft pick wasted on an ILB with zero coverage skills.

Anything is possible, but they lost Ellerbe and Lewis.
I think he makes the roster providing he doesn't get in trouble again.

 

[Kontradiction]

I think he'll be better with the Ravens than he was with the Raiders. He was born and bred in the 34 at Alabama. Don't understand the Ellerbe comparison though. He projects as an ILB in Baltimore.

 

[FoxboroFlyer]

I think he'll be better with the Ravens than he was with the Raiders. He was born and bred in the 34 at Alabama. Don't understand the Ellerbe comparison though. He projects as an ILB in Baltimore.

Ellerbe was supposed to be Lewis' successor at MLB.

 

[Kontradiction]

Ellerbe was supposed to be Lewis' successor at MLB.

Gotcha. This is a better move, IMO. Ellerbe would have been out of position while McClain is back in his natural one.