SB Nation - Brendon Ayanbadejo

Return Game Getting Ridiculous Again

Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:30:33 -0000

So far this season the Bears punt return unit has looked much better than last year. There's still a zero in the TD column, but overall the return men seem to have more room to run. In 2008 Devin Hester looked mortal by not taking any punts back to the house, especially after his first two seasons had us Bears fans spoiled with his ridiculous returns. Did his ability regress last year? Is he starting to find his Mojo again this year?

The thing I love about football is it's truly a team game. You need all 11 men on the field doing their job. As great a returner as Hester looked in his first two years, you have to look at his third phase teammates. Veteran Chicago Bears that had honed their skills as special teams players.

Former Bears Brendon Ayanbadejo (Pro Bowler), Cameron Worrell, and Todd Johnson were key members of the '06 unit. In 2007 you still had Ayanbadejo, but you started to get some turnover with the depth of your team. And the depth of the team are the players that make up the special teams.

Think about the players drafted to the NFL... the elite offensive and defensive players of the college game. You'll never see team draft a stand out gunner or a first team wedge breaker. The majority of the rookies coming in were studs in high school so their coaches probably held them off special teams to preserve their health. Once in college they competed with the other freshmen recruits and the best of the best were then either red-shirted or took on an immediate role offensively or defensively.

The kids that play special teams in college are primarily made up of players that aren't quite good enough to start, so therefor aren't going to get drafted to the NFL. Occasionally you'll get a late bloomer that spent some time on special teams their first couple years in college, but once they bloom, they no longer attend the third phase meetings.

Look at two of the Bears top special teams players. How many times did Garrett Wolfe cover kicks at Northern Illinois? And Adrian Peterson was a record setting running back at Georgia Southern. How many special teams tackles do you think he was in on? These guys probably got their first taste of the special teams on the NFL level, as do most NFL players. It takes time to teach these great athletes the nuances of their new role.

I briefly touched on some special teams stuff last month, but it's such a change for these players, both in terms of technique and in just fully accepting their role. You'd like to think that these players would be happy to be on an NFL roster and do what ever it takes to contribute, but the reality is that if you are used to being a superstar player in high school and a superstar player in college, it takes some getting used to basically being a cog in the machine on the NFL level. Mentally it takes some athletes longer to "get it" than others. And the ones that catch on usually are the ones that thrive in their new roles.

Getting back to this year; Hester has fielded the most punts with a 12.5 average (more than double last years average) and Earl Bennett has returned four with a 15.8 average. While last year was a down year in the return game this year things are looking up. Dave Toub is highly regarded around the league as a top notch special teams coordinator and it took him a little time in getting his guys to perform at a high level again. This year the kick return TD by Johnny Knox has matched the teams total of a year ago, and that is with the new rule limiting the wedge to two players, and Hester did have a punt return TD called back last week. It's just a matter of time til he pops one again.

Hester may never equal the ridiculousness of '06 and '07, but with the core third phase players improving every week, you never know...

Scott Fujita Boldly Supports Same-Sex Marriage

Saintsational — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:21:29 -0000

Back in April Baltimore Ravens Pro-Bowl linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo took a bold stance and said this, among other things, in an article he wrote for the Huffington Post:

But now here in 2009 same sex marriages are prohibited. I think we will look back in 10, 20, 30 years and be amazed that gays and lesbians did not have the same rights as every one else.

Saints linebacker Scott Fujita agrees.

Yesterday, Fujita responded to Ayanbadejo's words when he was quoted in an article written by Dave Zirin of The Nation.

I hope he's right in his prediction, and I hope even more that it doesn't take that long. People could look at this issue without blinders on...the blinders imposed by their church, their parents, their friends or, in our case, their coaches and locker rooms. Fujita continued, "I wish they would realize that it's not a religion issue. It's not a government issue. It's not even a gay/straight issue or a question of your manhood. It's a human issue. And until more people see that, we're stuck arguing with people who don't have an argument.

Pretty gutsy stuff from both of these players.

Ravens 53 Man Roster: My Picks

Bruce Raffel — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:00:24 -0000

Here are my picks for what the Ravens will end up doing later today when they announce the 53 man roster that they will be trimming down to when they release 22 guys to get down to the NFL max.

Offense

QB: Joe Flacco, Troy Smith, John Beck

WR: Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton, Demetrius Williams, Kelley Washington, Justin Harper

RB: Ray Rice, Willis McGahee, LeRon McClain, Jalen Parmele

TE: Todd Heap, L.J. Smith, Davon Drew, Edgar Jones

OL: Matt Birk, Ben Grubbs, Jared Gaither, Chris Chester, Marshal Yanda, Michael Oher, David Hale, Oniel Cousins

Defense

DB: Ed Reed, Dawan Landry, Fabian Washington, Domonique Foxworth, Haruki Nakamura, Tom Zbikowski, Chris Carr, Lardarius Webb, Frank Walker, Derrick Martin

LB: Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Jarret Johnson, Tavares Gooden, Jameel McClain, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Paul Kruger, Prescott Burgess, Antwan Barnes

DL: Haloti Ngata, Trevor Pryce, Justin Bannan, Kelly Gregg, Dwan Edwards, Brandon McKinney

Specialists

P: Sam Koch

PK: Steven Hauschka

LS: Matt Katula

That’s only 52 guys and my final spot is a tough one to decide upon. I am looking at one of the following guys:

Yamon Figurs, Jason Cook, Jason Phillips, Joe Reitz, Kelly Talavou

Figurs still has the speed and with Webb looking a bit shaky on returns, Yamon gives us another option behind Chris Carr. Jason Cook gives us another fullback along with LeRon McClain. Jason Phillips was a 4^th round draft pick in 2009 and Ozzie doesn’t like to release draft picks. Perhaps Phillips will be IR’d to keep our hands on him (I expect the Ravens to IR undrafted rookie LB Dannell Ellerbe as well). Joe Reitz gives us more depth on the offensive line as well as Kelly Tavalou does the same for the defensive line.

I don’t want to take the easy way out by only selecting 52 players, so I will have to go out on a limb and make my selection and therefore the 53^rd spot on the Baltimore Ravens roster goes to Yamon Figurs.

The other players I was undecided about go onto our Practice Squad, where we can have up to eight players. Of course, I would expect the team to peruse other teams’ cuts to add a player or two to either our roster or Practice Squad, and vice versa for the rest of the league. However, in advance of that info, my Practice Squad would look like this:

Cook, Reitz, Talavou, Foster, Riley, Peerman, Smolko, Stallings

Additionally, as I stated earlier, the team would place both Dannell Ellerbe and Jason Phillips on Injured Reserve (IR), which would end their 2009 seasons, but ensure the team retains their rights while giving the players their full 2009 salaries, which do count against the team’s salary cap. However, being rookies, that should not be much of an issue.

Your thoughts and comments on those last few slots?

NightLink: How Much of 2008's Concerns Roll Over To 2009?

Dane Noble — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:00:16 -0000

First and foremost, a very happy holiday weekend to all of you. Hopefully, you will all be able to pack in as much fun as possible, and remain safe at the same time.

Looking back to this time last year (the time just before training camp), there were 10 things that were the most pressing for the Bears, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Today, they have reviewed the list, and have included their synopsis of whether the Bears effectively addressed all of the top 10 in 2008.

Before you click on the link to see the synopsis, review the top 10 things that the Bears should have addressed last season, and see how many of them will be on this year's list again.

1. QB derby. Amid swirling rumors that the Bears may have interest in Chris Simms as a No. 3 quarterback, we still don't know who the No. 1 will be. Leave it to the Bears to do this.

2. Defense first. The Bears plummeted to 28th in team defense last season (2007) and it's yet to be determined if it was an injury-induced aberration, or a signal that Bob Babich could be on the hot seat.

3. Face of the franchise. This could all of a sudden become the No. 1 storyline if Brian Urlacher's ongoing contract squabble blows up. Even if he isn't in camp--and who knows what the chances are for this--he'll be game ready come the regular season because he's a workout warrior. Some have been concerned about a decline in play because he didn't make the Pro Bowl, but at the end of last season Urlacher was playing as well as any defensive player in the league.

4. Line dance. None of the other rebuilding phases on offense will be particularly successful if the overhauled line doesn't mesh. Rookie Chris Williams will be the key and his development in the coming weeks at left tackle is critical.

5. Born to run. There certainly won't be a distraction this summer with Cedric Benson having to answer a myriad of questions unrelated to his failed efforts to live up to his status as the fourth pick in the '05 draft. Matt Forte certainly won't be under pressure to exceed Benson's production. It's about replacing Thomas Jones, remember him? Forte is a gifted runner who the Bears believe is a first-round talent

6. Hesterized. The company line is the Bears are never going to prevent Devin Hester from excelling at what he does best--return kicks. But there's an issue of how much he will be used as a wide receiver and how that will impact his availability for special teams. Hester is on a historic pace as a future Hall of Fame return man and you can understand the desire to get the ball in his hands more

7. Special stuff. While the Bears took a step back on defense, at least temporarily, and have never gotten their act together on offense under Lovie Smith, the one area you have always been able to count on is Dave Toub's special teams unit. There are two concerns now, topped by the dilemma involving Hester. Second, while there are a lot of potential replacements, losing Pro Bowl stalwart Brendon Ayanbadejo creates a hole on the coverage teams.

8. Catching on. Expectations are created by two things: contract status and draft position. That helps you shape your vision for the corps of receivers. None are highly paid or came highly drafted. Bernard Berrian is gone after developing into a fine deep threat and the Bears don't have a No. 1. The question is do they have a No. 2 or a team of No. 3's.

9. True leader. Veteran Mike Brown is beloved by Bears fans for all the right reasons. He's the emotional leader of the team and an outstanding player when healthy. The Bears are 14-2 in the last 16 games he's started and haven't lost a game he's started and finished since Oct. 9, 2005 at Cleveland, the loss that led him to assess that the team "sucked" at the time. But it's almost shocking the club has stuck with him as long as it has. As much as you'd like to dismiss his injuries as happenstance and bad luck, there's a track record here. He's never had a problem making it to the regular season healthy and his body must hold up. The question here is do the Bears have another free safety?

10. Return to form. As much as Brown's absence plagued the defense you can make a case the team missed cornerback Nathan Vasher more when he was sidelined 12 games with a torn groin muscle. Vasher is at full strength and should look like the Pro Bowl player he's been in the past. The defense also needs right end Mark Anderson to bounce back from a second-half slump.

So how did the Bears do in 2008? Obviously, #1 was answered, albeit in 2009, but how many of these things from last year did not get addressed effectively enough, and will pop back up on 2009's list of things?

You can read Brad Biggs' entire article here (link pops).

Ravens' Strongest Player?

Bruce Raffel — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:58:47 -0000

Mike Duffy of BaltimoreRavens.com put up a cool story of the Baltimore Ravens second annual competition to find out which player on their roster deserves the title as "Ravens' Strongest Player." The "strongman-style" competition, breaks down the players by offense and defense, then again by weight group. The linemen are in one group, then the linebackers, running backs and tight ends, followed by the defensive backs, wide receivers and quarterbacks.

The results were surprising, and while last year's winner did indeed repeat overall on his side of the ball, he was actually upset in his own weight class by a much smaller and lesser known Raven. Linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo won the overall competition for the defense, although he was beaten out in his weight group by running back Jalen Parmele! Bryan Mattison, son of Ravens' Defensive Coordinator Greg Mattison, took top honors on the offense. In the three individual weight groups, while Parmale won the "middleweight" category, with Ayanbadejo finishing second, tight end Isaac Smolko came in third. Among the "heavyweights," Mattison won, followed by LB Paul Kruger and DE Will Johnson. In the "lightweight" category, Baltimore Beatdown favorite, safety Haruki Nakamura took top honors, trailed closely by fellow safety Tom Zbikowski and former Maryland Terrapin WR Isaiah Williams. There were six specific drills they competed in to gauge the results in the weight classes.

Clcik here to get the link to Duffy's interesting story with full results on the Ravens' team site.

Baltimore Ravens Mini-Camp (OTA/Passing Camp) Notes

Bruce Raffel — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:49:19 -0000

In addition to the great Ravens Front Office people I had the pleasure of being introduced to yesterday at their final OTA/Passing Camp, I also introduced myself to Aaron Wilson, Sportswriter for the Carroll County Times. Aaron covers the Ravens and his writing and radio time has always been fair, balanced, honest and accurate in my opinion. He is easily approachable and is always willing to discuss all things Ravens. We discussed my interviewing him, as he has so much depth of knowledge of the Ravens and his opinions would be very interesting to the readers here on the Beatdown.

In future posts, I will be detailing the locker room interviews I had with placekicker Graham Gano, wide receiver Marcus Smith, safety Haruki Nakamura and a short one with cornerback Fabian Washington. I took a ton of photos, many that you will see in the related posts, but if you are looking for a specific photo of a player, let me know and I’ll try to post it as well if you don’t see it in one of the stories to follow. I also wrote down a lot of notes, detailing what I saw and my impressions of the player’s efforts, progress and health.

To give you an example of the whirlwind of action I witnessed, here is an timeline of my first forty minutes on the sidelines:

10:20am: Dawan Landry looks HUGE!

10:30am: Le’Ron McClain looks big and stocky.

10:40am: After Sam Koch, Graham Gano took his turn punting on punt return drills.

10:44am: Saw Baltimore Colts great and Pro Football Hall of Famer Lenny Moore observing practice.

10:45am: Introduced myself to head coach John Harbaugh, who made eye contact and repeated my name!

10:50am: Tavares Gooden looks fit and athletic.

10:55am: CB’s Domonique Foxworth and Fabian Washington look to be going at full speed.

11:00am: LB Jarret Johnson seen explaining defensive formations to other LB’s T. Gooden and Brendon Ayanbadejo.

You can only imagine the scope of different things going on at different locations on two adjoining fields in such a short time, when the entire practice lasted just over two hours. My head was spinning, my writing hand cramping and I took over 100 photos. I was as worn out as the players….uh…not really.

Some other random notes from observations:

Dawan Landry and Haruki Nakamura were running tandem as first team safeties, followed by Tom Zbikowski and Lardarius Webb. Webb’s dreadlocks were down to his jersey numbers and while he is just a bit shorter than the other safeties, he is lighter and thinner. Interestingly, while Landry is listed a 6’ and 220 pounds in the roster handout, according to Patrick Gleason, Landry is in such great shape that he is down to around 212 pounds, built solid as a rock with incredible definition in his shoulders and neck. I also noted that Landry is lefthanded, not that it matters.

Trevor Pryce, at almost 34 years old, already seems quick off the snap even in drills. Kelly Gregg watched the drills in uniform and looks so stocky and deserving of his "Buddy Lee" nickname. No Ray Lewis to be seen, although he has been at some of the other mini-camps. Willis McGahee was seen earlier in the practice but did not participate in most of the drills. Unheralded RB Matt Lawrence (FA 2008, UMass) seemed to be in a lot of the drills, as much as either reserve RB Cedric Peerman or Jalen Parmele.

11 on 11 Drills: Flacco just barely overthrew Marcus Smith on a long pass. Troy Smith then hit Smith on a similar pass. Le’Ron McClain took a handoff up the middle and I thought "pity the poor fool that gets in his way!" Troy then hit on another solid sideline pass. Both QB’s were looking sharp and confident. Wide receiver Marcus Smith seems to be an integral part of the offense and one of the first options for both QB’s. While Derrick Mason took part in later drills, he wasn’t part of the earlier ones. Mark Clayton was not there, and Demetrius Williams had a green jersey on, which we were talking about on the sidelines. We knew the red ones meant avoid contact, but guessed the green ones meant something between that and full speed (limited?). Even with that green jersey, D-Will still looked to be running at full speed, which is encouraging. Kelley Washington made a tough grab in traffic and looked solid and comfortable. With John Beck at QB, he was rushed hard by LB Jarret Johnson and threw incomplete under pressure. I noticed they ran their drills with the 40 second playclock running at all times.

Both kickers, Steven Hauschka and Graham Gano, took turns in field goal drills, looking solid on their long kicks, although Gano’s leg seemed to have a bit more distance today. I’ve heard that this competition is the closest one in all of training Camp and surely will go down to the wire through preseason.

First round draft pick OT Michael Oher is tall and fit, especially for an offensive lineman, with no belly! Jared Gaither is just a massive human being, listed at 6’9" and 334 pounds! Having those two as bookends on our offensive line, with veteran Matt Birk between guards Ben Grubbs and Marshall Yanda, should give every Ravens fan confidence that QB Joe Flacco will be well protected and the RB’s will have gaping holes to burst through all season in 2009 and beyond. We now also have the needed depth on the offensive line with Adam Terry, Chris Chester, David Hale and Oneil Cousins.

The defense seemed to outperform the offense in drills, with Lardarious Webb breaking up a pass and catching a tipped ball for an interception and Tom Zbikowski getting two interceptions, including one by outleaping a group jumping for the ball. Fabian Washington celebrated his birthday by breaking up a pass, and while he is one of the smaller guys in the secondary, he doesn’t shy away from the contact for a second. Reserve QB John Beck hit TE Isaac Smolko over the middle. You might not hear too much about Smolko, but he is a huge target at 6’5" and 260 pounds.

In Red Zone drills, the offense began to click, with Flacco hitting Mason (twice), Washington and even the tall and lanky Ernie Wheelwright with sharp scoring passes. However, Nakamura made his classic edge blitz to sack Beck once and the defense shut down the over the middle goal line passes time and time again.

Unfortunately for me, the final horn sounded, signaling the end of practice. The players slowly made their way to the locker room while Coach Harbaugh prepared to come to the podium to answer questions. After a short session, I made my way to the locker room to conduct one-on-one interviews and observe the major media ones. These interviews will follow in future stories. I could have easily stayed at "The Castle" all day and would love the opportunity to come back and follow the team to Westminster for Training Camp beginning in late July. Hopefully, the Ravens will continue to grant me credentials and access. Keep tuned in for more.

Tavares Gooden: The Next Great Ravens Linebacker

Rexx — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:45:54 -0000

Ravens linebacker Tavares Gooden works against Jared Gaither during a drill at minicamp in Owings Mills on Friday.
(photo from Kyle Nosa/Staff Photo - Carroll County Times)

The Baltimore Ravens lost one of their outstanding linebackers, Bart Scott, to free agency and the New York Jets this off season. In previous seasons, they also lost important cogs of their defense at the same position. Players such as Jamie Sharper, Edgerton Hartwell, Adalius Thomas and now Bart Scott all came into the league as relative unknowns, but left the Ravens as wealthy free agent signings. None have lived up to the hype and success they enjoyed in Baltimore and many Ravens fans think they know the answer.

Playing next to the legendary Ray Lewis makes your job a lot easier. Teams gameplan away from the fierce middle linebacker and are always looking to see where he is on the field. Despite that, Ray is always around the ball, and that opens holes and lanes for the other linebackers to fly through and put up great stats. However, once they all seem to go for the big bucks and land on other teams as the defensive leader, they alweays seem to fade into mediocrity or obscurity.

So who's next on the list to become the best linebacker most people outside of Baltimore have never heard of? Why, it's second year pro and former 3rd round draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, out of the University of Miami, Tavares Gooden. Gooden was hurt most of last year and rarely got on the field, but was originally drafted as a possible future replacement for the surefire Hall of Famer, Ray Lewis. Both are from the "U" and Gooden has worked out with Ray for years, as he has been taken under the wing of the NFL great. A member of the infamous "7th Floor Crew," Gooden has even taken part in a rude, crude and lewd rap video, that perhaps one of the other readers might post, but I won't even go there.

Gooden is built to be an outside linebacker but could easily add the pounds to move inside if needed in the future. Right now, he is on the fast track to take over for Bart Scott on Ray's left side, and is making huge strides since his injuries of last year. He hasn't lost a step in speed, despite putting on extra weight for the upcoming season. He ran a 4.49 40-yard dash, faster than many receivers, so he should be able to cover the tight ends and running backs in pass assignments. Even though he's raised his weight from 235 pounds to 247 on his 6'1" frame, he hasn't lost a step.

Gooden isn't being given the starting gig by any reason, and other LB's such as Jameel McClain are not ready to step aside for him. McClain played a lot in specialty situations and actually recorded two safeties in the short but impressive opportunities he received. In addition, there is Antwan Barnes, Prescott Burgess, Brendon Ayanbadejo and rookies Jason Phillips, Paul Kruger and Dannell Ellerbe that will figure into the competition until the starter is finally named prior to the first regular season game.

Expect Gooden to be at or near the top of that list. Think about it, will Ray Lewis let a kid from his alma mater fail? Somethin in me says that just won't be permitted to happen.

See Aaron Wilson's column on the Ravens Mini Camp and Tavares Gooden's progress by clicking here.

Pro Bowl Notes

Rexx — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:21:30 -0000

Yes, there is still one more pro football game to be played this "season." It just happens to be in Hawaii and is tomorrow evening, 6pm here on the east coast. The game is scheduled to be moved to Miami next season and be held the week between the Championship Games and the Super Bowl. This means the players in the Super Bowl certainly won't be participating and many NFL players have said they won't play if it doesn't remain in Hawaii, which is a big part of the attraction.

While I agree that the Hawaii part is a huge plus for the honor, it's still an honor and it should be treated as one by every player who is selected to play in the league's All-Star Game. Being a spoiled brat because you don't like where it's being played will not endear you to the fans for that opinion, regardless if theother players agree.

So what's going on there this week, other than the NFL Network's interview with Ray Lewis about his playing possibilities next season? The Ravens have four starters in tomorrow's game. While I bet most of you could easily name Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, and perhaps some of you could name fullback Le-Ron McClain, how many could add Special Teams ace Brendon Ayanbadejo? There are a bunch of pretty good players on the team, but I just wince whne I see the NY Jets' Kris Jenkins starting at DT when the Ravens Haloti Ngata sits on his sofa watching from wherever.

I wonder if Le'Ron McClain will get the fake handoff and be expected to block for starting RB Thomas Jones and not understand why he wasn't given the ball. Hey, he's a "feature" back, dammit!

This is the first Pro Bowl ever with two brothers playing QB in the same game. Peyton and Eli Manning earned the honor as two of the best QB's in their conferences. However, while Peyton is starting for the AFC, Arizona's Kurt Warner is doing the same for the NFC.

The game is still not sold out and the game has received an extension of time to try to do so in order to avoid an embarassing TV blackout in the area. I'd love to go see the Pro Bowl, in Hawaii of course, although I wouldn't complain if I had to go to South Beach next year!

Arizona's wideouts Larry Fitzgerald AND Anquan Boldin are BOTH starting for the NFC. Perhaps next year, they'll start for different conferences, Fitzgerald for the NFC and Boldin for the AFC's Ravens!?

Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu are the two starting safeties for the AFC. If the game was played as it truly mattered, I'd say game over right there! Can you imagine the two of them playing for real side by side?

Ray Lewis, along with the KC Chiefs' Tony Gonzalez, are here for their league leading 10th Pro Bowl. He says he's disappointed about the move to Miami next season, as his family and friends really enjoyed the trip. He states his conditioning is based ont he infomercial program that we've all switched off, called P90X. Hey, if it works for Ray, it must be good, right? Right?

Finally, ESPN has a poll asking who you think has the best chance to be the MVP of the game. Tell me what you think by making your pick. I'll add an extra category to what they list, just titled "Other."

Poll

Which player has the best shot at being named the 2009 Pro Bowl MVP?

Kurt Warner

9 votes

Ed Reed

23 votes

Peyton Manning

9 votes

Adrian Peterson

7 votes

Andre' Johnson

2 votes

Other

3 votes

53 votes | Poll has closed