Ravens trade for Eugene Monroe in the works

[Deus Irae]

Couldn't disagree more. The problem I saw with your rookies was drops more than anything.

And I am not sure what evidence you are relying on to conclude Torrey isn't smart enough to learn your offense, but I disagree completely with that conclusion.

You are merely penalizing Smith for our poor offense (scheme, O-line, and QB when hurried) by focusing on catch rates, because he gets open and rarely drops the ball. And his route-running is orders of magnitude better than it was when he joined the league, improving it was a big focus and it shows.

Anyway, I assure you that Ravens fans and people that watch every single play of every single game think our WRs are the least of our offensive problems. Torrey is vastly exceeding expectations, and so is Marlon Brown. Just about every other spot on the offense, with the exception of Yanda, is much more shaky/dubious.

Given the bad start of the Steeler and the significance of their lost players, I think the AFCN will come down to the Ravens and the Bengals. The Ravens just upgraded their O-line. Now, they just need to tread water until the defense finished gelling, Monroe picks up the offense and Jacoby Jones returns. If they can do that, I think they've got a shot at both the division and a wild card, because I think having Jones will significantly change the way teams defend the Ravens.

 

[Deus Irae]

I don't get why the Steelers are trading for anyone unless they see Brown as part of their future. Their season is just about over.

They probably feel that they can't afford to get Ben killed. If they keep Brown moving forward, and Pouncey can come back at or near 100% next year, they should have a much improved OL next season, and that will let them stop spending first round picks on offensive linemen.

 

[Rob0729]

Couldn't disagree more. The problem I saw with your rookies was drops more than anything.

And I am not sure what evidence you are relying on to conclude Torrey isn't smart enough to learn your offense, but I disagree completely with that conclusion.

You are merely penalizing Smith for our poor offense (scheme, O-line, and QB when hurried) by focusing on catch rates, because he gets open and rarely drops the ball. And his route-running is orders of magnitude better than it was when he joined the league, improving it was a big focus and it shows.

Anyway, I assure you that Ravens fans and people that watch every single play of every single game think our WRs are the least of our offensive problems. Torrey is vastly exceeding expectations, and so is Marlon Brown. Just about every other spot on the offense, with the exception of Yanda, is much more shaky/dubious.

The knock on Smith coming out of college was that he wasn't a route runner and he has yet to show anything to disprove that in the Pros.

And Smith before the season was questioned by everyone whether he would be able to be consistent enough and would he be shut down without Boldin taking coverage from him, so expectations were pretty low for the guy as a #1 WR.

I would say the OUTSIDE receivers are the least of the Ravens' problems too. Considering the Ravens aren't running the ball at all (the Ravens are near the bottom in rushing yards and rushing YPA) and Flacco is one of the most sacked QB in the leagues and he has been one of the most picked off QBs too (granted last week skews that particular stat). But the inside receivers have been a problem.

And for the Pats' rookies, being on the same page with Brady AND drops were an issue. If you watched Brady the first three games, Brady was holding onto the ball for far too long and that was in part a communication issue with his receivers. Other times it was clear receivers ran the wrong routes or they didn't complete their routes.

 

[BradyFTW!]

The AFCN is hoarding LTs:



Cards send Levi Brown to Steelers | ProFootballTalk

Levi Brown is just terrible though. I don't know if he should even count.

 

[BradyFTW!]

And Smith before the season was questioned by everyone whether he would be able to be consistent enough and would he be shut down without Boldin taking coverage from him, so expectations were pretty low for the guy as a #1 WR.

To be fair, he's been doing pretty well with that so far. I wasn't sold on Smith before this season for a lot of the same reasons you're not (like Mike Wallace, he seemed too one-dimensional), but he's looked like a legit #1 this season. He's playing a much more complete game than he has in years past.

 

[letekro]

He might finally put it together this year, but his first two years are exactly what I said he was - one of the biggest c**k teases in the NFL. He would have one all world games (like he had vs the Pats in the regular season last year) followed by two or three games where you have to ask if he even played.

This year he has been more consistent and may be turning it around,but his stats are skewed a bit because of garbage time stats vs. Denver. But even so, he has not pulled in a lot of his targets. We have killed Dobson for having a higher completion to target rate.

You can't look to completion/target rate in a vacuum. First of all, the guy is the clear cut #1 receiver on his team, so he is drawing the corresponding amount of talent from the other team. This drives this rate down. Second, his routes are almost exclusively of the intermediate and deep variety. This also drives his catch rate down. It would be silly to suggest that a guy like Wes or similar slot player has the same value as a guy like Smith simply because of a higher catch rate. I mean, would you rather go 1-3 on 50 yard passes or 5-5 on 10 yard passes?

 

[NgataTroublemaker]

Given the bad start of the Steeler and the significance of their lost players, I think the AFCN will come down to the Ravens and the Bengals. The Ravens just upgraded their O-line. Now, they just need to tread water until the defense finished gelling, Monroe picks up the offense and Jacoby Jones returns. If they can do that, I think they've got a shot at both the division and a wild card, because I think having Jones will significantly change the way teams defend the Ravens.

It will be interesting to see what happens when Jones gets back. Marlon Brown is proving to be decent, and he is a tall, possession type guy with great hands, almost the opposite of Jones.

We also have another burner in Deonte Thompson who shows promise the few instances he gets in and doesn't immediately get hurt (got smashed in the head by Jim Leonhard and left the game with concussion last week).

And of course we have Stokley, who is as old as Methuselah but can still catch anything near him and has moved the chains a bunch of times for us already on limited snaps.

I am not sure how they are going to rotate or assign the roles once Jones is healthy. Jones actually looked bad in the preseason to the point where people wanted him to relinquish the #2 spot. Then he started the first game with a few nice catches before getting friendly-fire injured on a punt return.

I agree about the Ravens chances though. The AFCN is one of the worst divisions in the league, despite the preseason hype (the NFC East is the only other division that might be worse). The Bengals aren't living up to their billing. The Browns look improved but not to the point where they look like a contender. And the Steelers have stumbled massively.

I love the Monroe pick-up, but our O-line (and scheme/playcalling) needs to improve above and beyond the Monroe-for-McKinnie swap, mainly at center, but also LG, and Oher needs to stop doing his turnstile impression every other play.

It would be nice if we beat the Dolphins on the road, but I have my doubts.

 

[NgataTroublemaker]

The knock on Smith coming out of college was that he wasn't a route runner and he has yet to show anything to disprove that in the Pros.

Completely disagree. This year he is running a lot of different routes, not just 9's, trust me. He just does not have the supporting cast to do any more than he is doing (and he is doing a lot).