21 replies to this topic

[DanBryden]

An All-22 look at the new Ravens middle linebacker:

 

http://baltimorespor...ized/ray-v-mcc/ *

 

*Sorry, this post has been temporarily taken down.

Edited by BSLDanBryden, 23 April 2013 - 11:04 AM.

[DanBryden]

Edited by BSLDanBryden, 23 April 2013 - 10:43 AM.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Interesting comment from Newsome today on McClain.

 

"Rolando has an opportunity to come in, and earn a spot on the roster."

[ChrisWorthington]

Great work here Dan. This one was all him, gotta make sure he gets the credit.

[bnickle]

Yeah, no huge expectations from McClain here. If he can come in and do a solid job in running situations thats awesome. He's obviously going to be somewhat limited in the snaps he plays but thats kind of how football is going with the devaluing of the ILB in general. It's why I don't think they put a premium on the position in the draft either. I think they'll try to get by with relatively cheap ILBs and beef up a lot of the other defensive positions.

[Chris B]

Interesting comment from Newsome today on McClain.

 

"Rolando has an opportunity to come in, and earn a spot on the roster."

 

I saw Aaron Wilson tweet this and I also thought it was interesting.

 

No guarantees. Perhaps that forces him to get his act together and really challenge himself.

[BSLChrisStoner]

105.7 The Fan: Phil Savage on McClain
http://baltimore.cbs...olando-mcclain/

[BSLMattJergensen]

Absolutely. If he's cut the Ravens really haven't lost much. At this point he's just an option to attempt to make the team and fill a need.

[Mackus]

I don't think they'll lose any cap space if they cut him before the season.  Everything is base or incentives for making the team, as far as I can tell.  $0 committed to him at this point. 

[PrimeTime]

Provided McClain keeps his nose clean and makes the roster, he's a much better fit in our base 3-4 than Oakland's 4-3.

 

He has pretty good lateral movement, plays well downhill vs the run but he was poorly suited to be a middle LB in a 4-3 because doing to the true sideline to sideline thing is not in his skill set. Typical Raider logic, pick up a talented player in the draft, perhaps reach a bit high for him, then force him into a position he's not suited for. Hence the reason they always draft in the top 10.

 

I'm not sure about his play against the pass, haven't been able to find anything about how good his depth is on drops, etc. However, again, being an inside guy in a 3-4 vs a middle LB in a 4-3 is totally different with regards to responsibility and technique. I guess we'll see with regards to his pass coverage ability.

 

I don't want to put any Ray Lewis comparisions on any ILB we bring in; simply not fair to the new player. That said, from a purely physical standpoint with regard to playing the position, a guy like McClain should be an ideal fit in our defense. Especially considering the moves we've made to bolster the defensive line talent and depth; McClain should excel and our run defense should be back in the top 5 again in 2013.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Provided McClain keeps his nose clean and makes the roster, he's a much better fit in our base 3-4 than Oakland's 4-3.

 

He has pretty good lateral movement, plays well downhill vs the run but he was poorly suited to be a middle LB in a 4-3 because doing to the true sideline to sideline thing is not in his skill set. Typical Raider logic, pick up a talented player in the draft, perhaps reach a bit high for him, then force him into a position he's not suited for. Hence the reason they always draft in the top 10.

 

I'm not sure about his play against the pass, haven't been able to find anything about how good his depth is on drops, etc. However, again, being an inside guy in a 3-4 vs a middle LB in a 4-3 is totally different with regards to responsibility and technique. I guess we'll see with regards to his pass coverage ability.

 

I don't want to put any Ray Lewis comparisions on any ILB we bring in; simply not fair to the new player. That said, from a purely physical standpoint with regard to playing the position, a guy like McClain should be an ideal fit in our defense. Especially considering the moves we've made to bolster the defensive line talent and depth; McClain should excel and our run defense should be back in the top 5 again in 2013.

 

Good post.

 

Great to see you here, you make an excellent addition to the board, especially with the Ravens. I hope you stick around and post often. I think you'll be extremely impressed with the Ravens content here provided by the podcasts, and the written material. 

[PrimeTime]

Provided McClain keeps his nose clean and makes the roster, he's a much better fit in our base 3-4 than Oakland's 4-3.
 
He has pretty good lateral movement, plays well downhill vs the run but he was poorly suited to be a middle LB in a 4-3 because doing to the true sideline to sideline thing is not in his skill set. Typical Raider logic, pick up a talented player in the draft, perhaps reach a bit high for him, then force him into a position he's not suited for. Hence the reason they always draft in the top 10.
 
I'm not sure about his play against the pass, haven't been able to find anything about how good his depth is on drops, etc. However, again, being an inside guy in a 3-4 vs a middle LB in a 4-3 is totally different with regards to responsibility and technique. I guess we'll see with regards to his pass coverage ability.
 
I don't want to put any Ray Lewis comparisions on any ILB we bring in; simply not fair to the new player. That said, from a purely physical standpoint with regard to playing the position, a guy like McClain should be an ideal fit in our defense. Especially considering the moves we've made to bolster the defensive line talent and depth; McClain should excel and our run defense should be back in the top 5 again in 2013.

 
Good post.
 
Great to see you here, you make an excellent addition to the board, especially with the Ravens. I hope you stick around and post often. I think you'll be extremely impressed with the Ravens content here provided by the podcasts, and the written material. 

Thanks.

Been lurking on the O's side for a while but just checked out the Ravens forum today. I try to check out from the NFL till training camp because it gets to be a little overkill but with the draft on the horizon, I got the itch.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Thanks.

Been lurking on the O's side for a while but just checked out the Ravens forum today. I try to check out from the NFL till training camp because it gets to be a little overkill but with the draft on the horizon, I got the itch.

 

I'm the same way. I follow a bit of the acquisitions, but not much on the draft. I like to enjoy the off-season and be ready for actual football once it returns.

[Cisc-O's]

R-lo is a a much better fit here with a much better front line infront of him.  With that said, no one is going to be as prepared as Ray Lewis in the film room.  I think we see a defense that is much faster but relies more on scheme which in the wrong hands could be bad but D.P. seems competant.

[Roll Tide]

Unless Rolando is leaps better than he was in Oakland I have serious doubts that he's even in the ballpark. The Ravens are in serious trouble at MLB IMO. Jameel was mediocre before the injury and should be a cap casualty IMO. If I'm the Ravens I resign McKinnie, draft 2 LBs in the 1st three rounds and 1safety.

Maybe

1st Minter/TE'O

2nd Swearinger

3rd Bostic

We certainly have a bunch of picks that can Be traded to move around and I think we can get a possession type WR in the 4th. Also I'd be okay with Pitta s the possession WR, and adding a TE to go with Dickson.


Thoughts?

[You Play to Win the Game]

Interesting thoughts on Pitta. I'm not sure he has enough speed to slot out strictly as a wideout, and some of his match-up issues (being covered by a LB'er or a safety) are why he's so effective in the pass game. So I'm not sure on that one. It's not a bad thought, but I still think I'd rather find a reliable possession type. In fact, that's my biggest concern right now. Not safety (Huff), not LB'er (McClain and the improved D-Line will help). They have to at least replace a fraction of what Boldin was, and they haven't. The good news is that this is a very deep WR class apparently. So we'll see.

[Mackus]

Dickson and Pitta will definitely help fill the void in the slot position that Boldin leaves, but neither are going to completely replace him there.  They'll still line up in a TE position, sometimes even both of them, more often than in the slot, IMO.

 

I do think we need to draft an inside LB, but not necessarily in the first round.  I'm really thinking a WR in the first round may be the way to go.  Adds depth as our #3 for this year then after Jones leaves we'll have a solid and young top 2 (assuming the guy is good).

 

I think there is lots of depth at both LB and S so we can get a really promising guy who can play, if not start, right away with our 2nd and 3rd round picks (or move up from the end of each round to the middle to get a targetted guy).

[PrimeTime]

Unless Rolando is leaps better than he was in Oakland I have serious doubts that he's even in the ballpark. The Ravens are in serious trouble at MLB IMO. Jameel was mediocre before the injury and should be a cap casualty IMO. If I'm the Ravens I resign McKinnie, draft 2 LBs in the 1st three rounds and 1safety.

Maybe

1st Minter/TE'O

2nd Swearinger

3rd Bostic

We certainly have a bunch of picks that can Be traded to move around and I think we can get a possession type WR in the 4th. Also I'd be okay with Pitta s the possession WR, and adding a TE to go with Dickson.


Thoughts?

Johnny, remember that McClain was basically playing out of position in Oakland. Pretty much every scout said he wasn't a fit as 4-3 MLB so getting him out of that "square peg. round hole" situation should help immensely. He's physically gifted, tough as nails, stout against the run; so provided any of his knuckleheadness doesn't show up, we got a steal.

 

Pitta is basically a TE in name only. He has slot/possession WR written all over him. That said, if you don't get him inked long term before the season, you have to be careful with regard to how you line him up in 2013. If for some reason he takes more snaps at WR vs TE it could have a huge affect on a potential franchise tag situation for 2014. I know that's a lot of ifs and about 5 steps ahead, but you have to consider that factor.

 

I love Pitta's toughness, his hands, ability to make tough catches and his red zone presence. My preference would be to leave him more on the TE side of things, flex him out sometimes and to fill the slot, I think we need to give Tandon Doss a long look. All of the reports on him out of college were perfect slot WR type skills, good hands, crisp route runner, not afraid to work over the middle/in traffic. I think his issue comes down to lack of reps and just needing to get into rhythm in the framework of the offense.

 

All that said, if we can steal a big time TE in the draft that we think we can plug in, that could be a game changer.

 

The post script to all of this is that Ed Dickson has been a mild dissappointment. His hands have let the team down at some of the worst possible times. His speed and athleticism are so tantilizing but he just disappears too often for my liking. 

[Roll Tide]

I agree on Dickson and disagree on Doss ...he dropped too many this past season for my liking.

[Chris B]

I'm gonna say no...

 

Decatur police confirmed that the former Alabama Crimson Tide All-American has been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after an incident at Pines Park.

 

http://whnt.com/2013...ain-in-decatur/