Per PFT: Report: Ravens to sign receiver Brandon Stokley

[Deus Irae]

Baltimore will apparently be getting its slot receiver.

 

[QB12]

And this deserves its own thread because?

 

[AzPatsFan]

Baltimore will apparently be getting its slot receiver.

Are they getting a slot receiver? Or a pale imitation of what USED TO BE an inside receiver from a team that never emphasized the slot receiver?

 

[Froob]

Surprised this guy can still play.

 

[Deus Irae]

Are they getting a slot receiver? Or a pale imitation of what USED TO BE an inside receiver from a team that never emphasized the slot receiver?

Well, he had 45 receptions for the Broncos last season, which is pretty good considering the options Manning had.

 

[Rob0729]

A 37 year old WR. The Ravens must be desperate. I mean their receiving corp suks. Yes, Torrey Smith will be an absolute stud for 3-4 games this season, but he hasn't delivered much more than that in his first two years and now he will be going against teams' #1 CB week after week (remember that the Pats put Talib on Boldin, not Smith). Jacoby Jones is good for one good catch a game and not much else. I don't even know who else is on their receiving cor.

Stokely has a decent year with Manning throwing to him last year. But the last time he caught over 40 balls or 354 yards before last season was 2008. And Flacco is no Manning.

I don't even think Stokely is a lock to make the final 53 man roster at this point.

 

[patsfan-1982]

all he's best years came with Manning as he's QB and now he's 37 years old IMO he's a long shot to make a NFL roster

 

[SONS_OF_BELICHICK]

sounds like they are throwing doo doo on a wall to see what sticks!!

 

[Ozymandias]

It just goes to show how little the NFL thinks of cancers like Moss, Owens, and Ochocinco that a decrepit relic like Stokley would be signed before them.

I'm surprised the Ravens didn't reach out to Brandon Lloyd either. Guess the Patriots were right to dump that flop-artist that no one else wants.

 

[Deus Irae]

There seems to be a real pattern forming with the top teams, although the Patriots have been missing a key ingredient to it since Moss left:

Middle-deep threat that can instill fear and increase the size of the field
Slot WR that can get the key firsts and move the chains
TE that can win over the middle, especially down the seams against safety coverage
Jack-of-all WR (Branch/Gaffney mode)

It's not been exactly like that for every recent champion, but that's been the rule. Baltimore, an exception to this pattern, seems to now be looking to hop on the train.

 

[Rob0729]

There seems to be a real pattern forming with the top teams, although the Patriots have been missing a key ingredient to it since Moss left:

Middle-deep threat that can instill fear and increase the size of the field
Slot WR that can get the key firsts and move the chains
TE that can win over the middle, especially down the seams against safety coverage
Jack-of-all WR (Branch/Gaffney mode)

It's not been exactly like that for every recent champion, but that's been the rule. Baltimore, an exception to this pattern, seems to now be looking to hop on the train.

Baltimore now has the slot WR. Now they just need a middle-deep threat who can instill fear and increase the size of the field, a TE that can win the over the middle, and a jack of all trades WRs. And don't give me Torrey Smith as their deep threat that can instill fear where he only shows up to every fourth game and can be taken out with aggressive CB play.

Exactly how have they hopped on this train? They have no legitimate starting TE and no legitimate #1 WR. Ed Dixon is their #1 TE and in his first three years, he has 906 yards and 6 TDs combined for those three years. Torrey Smith has never sniffed an 1,000 yard season and was wildly inconsistent as the Ravens' #2 WR.

When Gronk gets back, I would easily take the Pats' receiving corp over the Ravens. And that is with the uncertainty of the rookies and health concerns of Amendola and Edelman. I mean with the Raven receivers, all you really need to do is double Smith and leave the rest of the receivers one on one. The rest of their receiving corp is below average. Ray Rice is more of a receiving threat than the rest of their receiving corp.

 

[Deus Irae]

Baltimore now has the slot WR. Now they just need a middle-deep threat who can instill fear and increase the size of the field, a TE that can win the over the middle, and a jack of all trades WRs. And don't give me Torrey Smith as their deep threat that can instill fear where he only shows up to every fourth game and can be taken out with aggressive CB play.

Exactly how have they hopped on this train? They have no legitimate starting TE and no legitimate #1 WR.

Tory Smith is a legitimate middle-deep threat who forces defenses to extend, your disclaimer notwithstanding. If you want to look for a missing piece for the Ravens, it'd be the Branch/Gaffney role, since they traded Boldin away. Whether they'll be able to fill that spot with the receivers they currently have remains to be seen.

 

[Rob0729]

Tory Smith is a legitimate middle-deep threat who forces defenses to extend, your disclaimer notwithstanding. If you want to look for a missing piece for the Ravens, it'd be the Branch/Gaffney role, since they traded Boldin away. Whether they'll be able to fill that spot with the receivers they currently have remains to be seen.

Smith is also legitimately flawed and inconsistent. He is easily neutralized in a lot of games by physical CBs who can rough him up a bit at the line. Smith hates contact. Dennard overall did a very good job neutralizing him in the playoffs.

Boldin and Pitta were their two best receivers in the playoffs last year. Both are gone.

Ed ****son is their starting TE and he isn't starting quality.

You double Smith and single the rest of their receiving corp and you pretty much take away their passing game. I am more afraid of Rice in the passing game than any of the WRs and TEs other than Smith. Overall, the Ravens have a mediocre receiving corp at best.

The talk in Baltimore is whether Smith can step up and be a number 1 WR. And who else besides Smith is going to catch the ball.

You can argue that the losses on defense for the Ravens have been overrated, but their passing game is a mess right now and Stokely was a desperation move. the first team offense for the Ravens was less than stellar last night and most of Flacco's passes were to RBs, not WRs or TEs. In two drives with the starters, Baltimore went 27 yards ending in a INT and 21 yards ending in a punt. Flacco completed only one pass to a WR (Smith for 6 yards) and one pass to a TE (Schiancoe for 8 yards). That is why Stokely was added today.

And it was the second desperation move this preseason after signing Visanthe Shiancoe to replace Pitta when he got injured.

Ossie Newsome did a very good job trying to rebuild the defense considering what was available. Not a huge fan of a lot of his moves, but many were the best moves he could make with what was available. But he did virtually nothing to fix the problems on the offensive side in the receiving game. He never replaced Boldin and losing Pitta puts him in a jam at TE.

People complain about Belichick not giving Brady weapons, but Newsome just gave Flacco $20 million a year and one of the worst receiving corps in the league. And Flacco is no Brady in elevating his receivers' games. The only receiver (TEs included) that the Ravens have that would start on the Pats is Smith. And if Thompkins lives up to 80% of his hype, there is no guarantee that Smith wouldn't be relegated to 3 WR sets.

 

[Deus Irae]

Smith is also legitimately flawed and inconsistent. He is easily neutralized in a lot of games by physical CBs who can rough him up a bit at the line. Smith hates contact. Dennard overall did a very good job neutralizing him in the playoffs.

Boldin and Pitta were their two best receivers in the playoffs last year. Both are gone.

Ed ****son is their starting TE and he isn't starting quality.

You double Smith and single the rest of their receiving corp and you pretty much take away their passing game. I am more afraid of Rice in the passing game than any of the WRs and TEs other than Smith. Overall, the Ravens have a mediocre receiving corp at best.

The talk in Baltimore is whether Smith can step up and be a number 1 WR. And who else besides Smith is going to catch the ball.

You can argue that the losses on defense for the Ravens have been overrated, but their passing game is a mess right now and Stokely was a desperation move. the first team offense for the Ravens was less than stellar last night and most of Flacco's passes were to RBs, not WRs or TEs. In two drives with the starters, Baltimore went 27 yards ending in a INT and 21 yards ending in a punt. Flacco completed only one pass to a WR (Smith for 6 yards) and one pass to a TE (Schiancoe for 8 yards). That is why Stokely was added today.

And it was the second desperation move this preseason after signing Visanthe Shiancoe to replace Pitta when he got injured.

Ossie Newsome did a very good job trying to rebuild the defense considering what was available. Not a huge fan of a lot of his moves, but many were the best moves he could make with what was available. But he did virtually nothing to fix the problems on the offensive side in the receiving game. He never replaced Boldin and losing Pitta puts him in a jam at TE.

People complain about Belichick not giving Brady weapons, but Newsome just gave Flacco $20 million a year and one of the worst receiving corps in the league. And Flacco is no Brady in elevating his receivers' games. The only receiver (TEs included) that the Ravens have that would start on the Pats is Smith. And if Thompkins lives up to 80% of his hype, there is no guarantee that Smith wouldn't be relegated to 3 WR sets.

You took a simple observation, that the Ravens were adding the slot WR to their arsenal, putting them more in line with what's been the winning offensive trend in the recent NFL, and turned it into an anti-Baltimore screed. That's fine, and all, but it really doesn't change my point.

The Ravens need someone to take the Branch/Gaffney role (or else they may end up with more of a two middle-deep WR setup with Jones), but they've got TE (even though he needs to become more consistent), the middle-deep guy and the slot guy. And, prior to injury, they had the TE spot filled with Pitta. They won last year without the true slot guy, but they had the rest. Now, they've added the slot guy, and they'll need players to step up in the TE and Branch/Gaffney roles.

Looking around the league at the top teams, this seems to have become almost the new baseline, and missing one of these layers seems to set teams back come playoff time (See Texans, Bengals, Patriots).

 

[Joker]

Stokely Has Only Had 3 Concussions ... Er, 10 - SBNation.com

10 concussions by the end of 2008?..it's 2013...

A veteran of 11 NFL seasons, Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley admitted he has endured too many concussions to accurately count, then said: "I've come to the conclusion, that one way or another, I'm going to pay for playing football. But I'm willing to do that. I wouldn't give up the time I've had in this game for anything. If it makes me die a few years early, then that's just the way
it is. I was meant to play football."

Read more: Kiszla: Concussions are NFL's silent assassin - The Denver Post Kiszla: Concussions are NFL's silent assassin - The Denver Post

I am surprised to even hear that he's still an active NFL player. The Ravens could get some games out of him ,I guess but c'mon...this guy should be at home sipping beers WATCHING the games...while he still can...

 

[Ozymandias]

The Ravens like their passing attack to be predicated on wide-outs with deep speed because it's at its peak when going vertical and is best suited for Joe Flacco's skillset. It's lost on me why anyone would think they don't have any deep threats in their stable when there's about 3 or 4 of them in WR corps. Torrey Smith is probably the slowest of the legit burners in that group. Both, Jacoby Jones and Deonte Thompson would probably smoke him in a footrace.

As for last year, the Ravens did have that true slot presence: Anquan Boldin. That's where he put in work on everyone. Their offense (like the Giants, Packers, and Saints before them) used 3 WR-set with 1 TE to do the most damage. The last four champions used that grouping in most instances. So while it would be the baseline, it's not as if it's some sort of revelation. Teams have always tried to work that offense but, the difference is, those teams had a really good QB capable of doing so.

Comparing just the last two champions, for the Ravens it was Smith and Jones generally on the outside, with Boldin in the slot and intermediate areas and Pitta manning the middle of the field, and seams. The Giants basically did the same thing with Nicks, Manningham, Cruz and Ballard except their route variations were deeper in the slot and intermediate areas due to having a far more explosive athlete than Boldin in those areas (Cruz).

Sometimes we get caught up in the moment and only look at things in isolation rather than proper context. Even though Boldin and Pitta played masterfully in their super bowl run, a lot of that has to do with all the 1-on-1's they got because of the attention being focused on Smith and Jones. That aspect tends to be underrated a lot. As long as their outside WRs are garnering safety attention their intermediate/slot options should be adequate -though their talent is considerably less this year than last in those areas.

Even though a drop-off in certain areas is to be expected, I'm not quite ready to write off the Ravens yet as some folks seemingly are. Their super bowl run was mostly on the right arm of Joe Flacco. Perhaps due to the losses on offense (and defense) they return back their roots as a smashmouth team with a heavy dose of Rice and Pierce. Vonta Leach's re-signing seems to show that they still plan to be a rush-based team.

Until it's actually shown otherwise, I still consider the Ravens a contender in the AFC. Some folks won't agree with this but, in my personal opinion, Ravens may actually be as good this year as last year. Whether that will be enough, only time will tell.

 

[Rob0729]

You took a simple observation, that the Ravens were adding the slot WR to their arsenal, putting them more in line with what's been the winning offensive trend in the recent NFL, and turned it into an anti-Baltimore screed. That's fine, and all, but it really doesn't change my point.

The Ravens need someone to take the Branch/Gaffney role (or else they may end up with more of a two middle-deep WR setup with Jones), but they've got TE (even though he needs to become more consistent), the middle-deep guy and the slot guy. And, prior to injury, they had the TE spot filled with Pitta. They won last year without the true slot guy, but they had the rest. Now, they've added the slot guy, and they'll need players to step up in the TE and Branch/Gaffney roles.

Looking around the league at the top teams, this seems to have become almost the new baseline, and missing one of these layers seems to set teams back come playoff time (See Texans, Bengals, Patriots).

Huh? The Pats were one Welker dropped pass or a healthy Gronk from winning a Super Bowl two seasons ago. The Giants lost both their TEs early in the Super Bowl and didn't have a TE presence at all vs. the Pats for about 2/3 of that game.

Also, the Saints did not really have a deep threat or a great TE presense when they won the Super Bowl in 2009. Shockey was ok, but nothing special. In fact, the Saints offense was very similar to the Pats' offense in that they made their living on the short to intermediate passes with no legitimate deep threat.

The 2010 Packers really didn't have a TE presence. JerMichael Finley didn't break out until 2011. And their starter for much of the year was Donald Lee.

I'm not seeing this pattern that you state. The only team that meets this description that won the Super Bowl in recent years is the Giants and they lost one of the components early in a Super Bowl and was one dropped pass or healthy Gronk away from not even winning that Super Bowl.

I'm sorry, but I don't see a pattern. From what I can see only the Giants really fit the requirements of your argument.

And of the current expected top teams, I don't see this pattern either. Yes, the Broncos have it, but the Ravens (no TE or jack of all trade), Pats (unknown right now, could have all or none of the pieces), Seahawks (no TE, Zack Miller has sucked with them), and Falcons (two stud WRs and TE and not much production from the slot). The 49ers may have it but they have been scrambling for WR help in recent months.

 

[Rob0729]

And I didn't turn this into an "anti-Baltimore screed". I pointed out the obvious and supported facts why. It is obvious to anyone watching Newsome added Stokely because WR is the weakest partt of the team. You made a theory and I poked holes in it.

And if you want to talk about agendas, let's talk about your obvious one. You took a piece of news of the Ravens adding Stokely to take shots at Belichick the GM for getting rid of Welker and not building the receiving corp you want. How many times did you mention in a thread about the Ravens how they are building a receiving corp that is based on a formula of a proven Super Bowl winner and alluded to the Pats not building their receiving corp that way.

Besides, if Newsome saw you supposed winning formula for winning Super Bowls, why did he wait until after the first preseason game to add a slot WR? If there clearly was a pattern of teams winning Super Bowls with four types of receivers and the Ravens were missing one, don't you think Newsome would have tried to get that piece in free agency (two really good slot receivers were available in Welker and Amendola) or the draft? Why would he wait until a month before the season to add that?

Personally, I think you wanted to make this news into something it isn't to point out that Belichick is a bad GM.

 

[AzPatsFan]

There seems to be a real pattern forming with the top teams, although the Patriots have been missing a key ingredient to it since Moss left:

Middle-deep threat that can instill fear and increase the size of the field
Slot WR that can get the key firsts and move the chains
TE that can win over the middle, especially down the seams against safety coverage
Jack-of-all WR (Branch/Gaffney mode)

It's not been exactly like that for every recent champion, but that's been the rule. Baltimore, an exception to this pattern, seems to now be looking to hop on the train.

That is a deft and somewhat novel analysis. Good Job.

Applying it to the Pats, we have Aaron Dobson as the fear merchant; Amendola and Edelman as the slot guy(s); Thompkins/Boyce as the Jack of all, like Branch.

There would appear to be a lack of depth behind Dobson until we recall that both Amendola and Edelman have both played outside the slot, and neither is a genuine slot smurf. Both have size and speed, if not height.

 

[jmt57]

As fans of the Patriots, we should know very well that just because a team signs a veteran free agent that does not mean that he will automatically make the roster and be counted on for the upcoming season. Joseph Addai, Torry Holt, John Lynch, and Albert Haynesworth are examples from the last dew off seasons.


In the case of the Ravens, I doubt Stokely will be with the club after roster cuts. They have Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones on the outside, and then Tandon Doss and Deonte Thompson that can play either outside or in the slot.


Tight end on the other hand is an issue for them if Ed ****son's hamstring injury persists. After that it's 33-year old Visanthe Shiancoe and another former Patriot, DE-turned-TE Alex Silvestro. I doubt there will be many 2-TE sets from them this season.