SB Nation - Marcus Smith

The Eric DeCosta Scorecard

John Morgan — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:32:25 -0000

Eric DeCosta's living resume, in repose.

(What follows is over seven pages and 2,500 words long. If you're interested in the gist of it, scroll down to the end.)

I did an overview on Eric DeCosta, but think I can do better and think you deserve better. Here's an attempt to hold DeCosta by the same standard I held Steve Keim. First I will look at his work as a Midwest scout for the Ravens from 1998-2002, and then his work as the director of college scouting from 2003-2009.

Baltimore did not draft a talent from the Midwest until 2001.

2001

3) 92 Casey Rabach C Wisconsin

4) 126 Edgerton Hartwell LB Western Illinois

7) 231 Dwayne Missouri DE Northwestern

Casey Rabach might remind some of Seattle's Chris Spencer situation. Rabach was drafted in the third round by the Ravens but struggled to break through early in his career. He then signed with the Redskins and became the most consistent player on their offensive line.

Hartwell was a pretty good value for the round he was taken in. He started his second season and from 2002-2004 before leaving in free agency. His approximate value in those seasons is 9, 8 and 9. Atlanta signed him to a six-year, $26.25 million contract before 2005, but injuries sapped his ability and he was cut in 2007.

Missouri is a seventh round pick that never broke through.

2002

2) 52 Anthony Weaver DE Notre Dame

4) 112 Dave Zastudil P Ohio U.

4) 123 Ron Johnson WR Minnesota

6) 206 Javin Hunter WR Notre Dame

6) 207 Chester Taylor RB Toledo

We see the rising influence of DeCosta in this draft, his last as a regional scout before being promoted. Weaver was a solid pick in the second. He was able to start his rookie season and started 16, 15 and 15 games before a host of injuries sidelined him in 2005. DeCosta scores twice on Weaver: For drafting him in the second and acquiring a Lawrence Jackson like end and for not re-signing him after injuries took their toll. Weaver looked like a stud back then, but fizzled away from Baltimore.

If you draft a punter in the fourth, he better stick and he better be great. Zastudil is not, by all accounts. His rookie season with Baltimore, the Ravens were below average punting the ball, and over his four season, he was twice below average and twice above average - almost in equal degrees. I am starting to think it is very hard to evaluate a punter from an outsider's perspective. I disagree with drafting a punter so early, but it seems Zastudil is, if nothing else, a competent punter that can be good.

Johnson never developed as a receiver or returner and was last a linebacker and receiver for the Cleveland Gladiators.

Hunter's career peak was a 63 yard kickoff return in 2002. He is not the same kind of flat bust as Johnson. Hunter started strong in the preseason and started three regular season games as a rookie. He ruptured his Achilles before the start of 2003 and was never the same player. Push.

Chester Taylor started his career as a third down back, but slowly worked himself into the running back rotation. Taylor was buried behind Jamal Lewis, but still produced, was signed by Minnesota in 2006, rushed for 1,200 yards, and was then buried behind Adrian Peterson. Taylor has been valuable throughout his career and is a huge win on DeCosta's resume.

Starting in 2003, we must assume DeCosta took a leadership position in the Ravens entire draft.

2003

1) 10 Terrell Suggs OLB Arizona State

1) 19 Kyle Boller QB California

3) 77 Musa Smith RB Georgia

4) 109 Jarret Johnson DE Alabama

4) 134 Ovie Mughelli FB Wake Forest

5) 146 Aubrayo Franklin DT Tennessee

5) 173 Tony Pashos T Illinois

6) 182 Gerome Sapp DB Notre Dame

7) 223 Trent Smith TE Oklahoma

7) 250 Mike Mabry C Central Florida

7) 258 Antwoine Sanders - Utah

Suggs has been a baller from snap one. He was a situational pass rusher as a rookie and recorded 12 sacks. He has 56.5 for his career, 5 interceptions, 32 passes defended and 18 forced fumbles. Suggs is an elite player, still only 27, and a young 27, and a grand slam pick for DeCosta.

Boller is everything I said about Suggs, applied to a quarterback, inverted and intensified. A complete bust that looked the part of a bust, my only tempering of this massive misstep by DeCosta is that Brian Billick pushed hard for Boller, and in those days, Billick was a respected coach, and a force slapdicks shouldn't defy.

Musa Smith looked like a talented back on his way up before Roy Williams effectively ended his career with a horse collar tackle. Smith suffered a compound fracture of his tibia. The play directly led to the banning of horse collar tackles, but the damage was done for Smith. He played sparingly the next two seasons and could never reestablish himself. Push.

Jarret Johnson took a slow path to success, but has been a regular starter in four of the last five seasons. A very good pick that is still paying dividends for the Ravens, notably, Johnson's AV in 2008 was 10, better than Bart Scott.

Mughelli didn't break through right away with the Ravens, but is now considered one of the best fullbacks in football. He was good in his final two seasons in Baltimore, but lured away when Atlanta offered him big bucks. A minor success for what they got.

The hits keep coming: Franklin was a valuable rotational player for Baltimore, even starting once, and is now a starter for San Francisco. Mike Nolan targeted Franklin, which says something about his perceived value, and though he never fully broke through with Baltimore, he was playing behind Kelly Gregg. Not a horn-blowing success, but very good value for the pick.

Pashos is what a right tackle should be: cheap and good enough. A good player for Baltimore and eventually Jacksonville, Pashos is a good run blocker that was a great value for the Ravens.

Gerome Sapp couldn't stick with the Ravens, signed with the Colts and then signed again with the Ravens. He played nickelback. Neither a bust nor hit, but a pick spent on a semi-talented player that just didn't fit on the roster.

Smith, Mabry and Sanders had no noteworthy NFL career.

2004

2) 51 Dwan Edwards DT Oregon State

3) 82 Devard Darling WR Washington State

5) 153 Roderick Green LB Central Missouri State

6) 187 Josh Harris QB Bowling Green State

6) 199 Clarence Moore WR Northern Arizona

7) 244 Derek Abney WR Kentucky

7) 246 Brian Rimpf T East Carolina

Edwards is still a sometimes starter, sometimes rotational end for the Ravens. He is neither a bust nor a hit, but a semi-valuable player acquired with a semi-valuable pick.

Darling never produced for Baltimore, and that's quite an achievement, because the 2004 Ravens leading receiver was Travis Taylor. Taylor had 421 yards receiving. Darling was last in Kansas City. His current whereabouts are unknown, but, presumably, not in Kansas anymore.

Green struggled to produce, was stabbed July 2006, subsequently released and is now out of the league.

The rest of the draft barely made an impact and all four are now out of the league. After ruling draft day, DeCosta's second draft produced no starters, and only one regular.

2005

1) 22 Mark Clayton WR Oklahoma

2) 53 Dan Cody LB Oklahoma

2) 64 Adam Terry T Syracuse

4) 124 Jason Brown C North Carolina

5) 158 Justin Green RB Montana

6) 213 Derek Anderson QB Oregon State

7) 234 Mike Smith LB Texas Tech

Clayton had a strong rookie season, an even better sophomore season and has since spun his wheels into the mud. The 22^nd overall pick, Clayton is not a prize, but surely a value, still young, and maybe has better seasons ahead of him.

Cody was a fine prospect whose career has been eaten by injuries. He started 42 games in college. Best to call this a push, as the injury seemed unpredictable and traumatic.

Terry was a second round selection that never fully broke out of spot starter duties. Terry has not played in 2009. This is another pick muddled by injuries and therefore hard to evaluate.

Jason Brown started his second season and is a highly regarded center. St. Louis threw smarts to the wind and signed him to googolplex dollars this past offseason, but, for three seasons, he was a cheap and very good center for Baltimore.

Justin Green was a special teams contributor.

Anderson was waived his first season and claimed by the Cleveland Browns. He then had one of the great fluke quarterback seasons of all time, before retreating into his well furnished mansion of suck.

Smith contributed briefly for the Ravens on special teams.

2006

1) 12 Haloti Ngata DT Oregon

2) 56 Chris Chester C Oklahoma

3) 87 David Pittman DB Northwestern State-Louisiana

4) 111 Demetrius Williams WR Oregon

4) 132 P.J. Daniels RB Georgia Tech

5) 146 Dawan Landry SS Georgia Tech

5) 166 Quinn Sypniewski TE Colorado

6) 203 Sam Koch P Nebraska

6) 208 Derrick Martin CB Wyoming

7) 219 Ryan LaCasse LB Syracuse

Ngata is considered one of the best 3-4 linemen in football. He has played end and tackle, is just entering his prime, and should the conditions be right, could be entering a lengthy run of Pro Bowl appearances.

Chester was recruited as a tight end, drafted as a center, converted to guard, converted again to tight end and then converted back to guard again. He has 32 starts in his NFL career, and if never a stand out on his own, has been a good part of some very good offensive lines.

Pittman had two interception in 2007 and a forced fumble. That about summarizes his NFL career. He now plays in the UFL.

Williams is a field stretcher that has never come into his own as an actual receiver. He is not a bad player, and is valuable for his draft position.

Daniels was put on injured reserve prior to his second season and never recovered.

Dawan Landry has started three of the last four seasons, and, apart from 2008, has been a very solid starter for Baltimore since his rookie season. He used to noogie LaRon Landry.

Sypniewski was primarily a blocking tight end, but received some in 2007 after Todd Heap and Daniel Wilcox suffered injuries. He tore his ACL prior to this season.

Koch is the Ravens current punter. This season the team is slightly above average punting.

Martin is a talented young defensive back that was buried in Baltimore and now plays in Green Bay. Baltimore traded Martin for offensive tackle Tony Moll.

LaCasse never factored.

2007

1) 29 Ben Grubbs G Auburn

3) 74 Yamon Figurs WR Kansas State

3) 86 Marshal Yanda T Iowa

4) 134 Antwan Barnes LB Florida International

4) 137 Le'Ron McClain FB Alabama

5) 174 Troy Smith QB Ohio State

6) 207 Prescott Burgess LB Michigan

Supplemental

5) Jared Gaither T Maryland

Baltimore built their left side with this draft and in impressive fashion. Grubbs is a promising young starter and on the short list for best young offensive guards in football.

Yamon Figurs returned a kick and a punt for a touchdown in his first season, but could never stick as a receiver. Once the Ravens found a better return man, Figurs was cut, and is currently a free agent.

Yanda is a spot starter at guard and tackle that may have outright won the right guard position this season after starting the last four games and playing ably. I'm a big fan of Yanda.

Barnes is a rotational linebacker and special teams player for the Ravens.

McClain is a fullback better known for his rushing than blocking, but so what? He was astonishingly valuable in 2008 and the 11-5 Ravens leading rusher. This season he is buried behind Ray Rice and Willis McGahee. McClain's is a curious story to say the least. I am not sure he will ever repeat his 2008 performance, and certainly some of that performance must be credited the Ravens line, but for that year alone, we must credit DeCosta with another fullback find.

Smith was a member of the jobbers row of quarterbacks Seattle fattened against in 2007. He is now a Wildcat quarterback.

Burgess has split time between the Ravens and Patriots, and is, essentially, depth and a special teams player.

Gaither is the crown jewel of this class. DeCosta got Gaither for a fifth round pick in the supplemental draft, and now he is their starting left tackle, and franchise tackle of the future. Gaither isn't in the class of young Turk left tackles taking over the NFL, but he's close, a rare physical specimen (the tallest man in the NFL), a powerful drive blocker with developing pass pro skills. He was available in the supplemental draft because of bad grades, and available in the fifth round of the supplemental draft because a lot of other GMs didn't do their homework.

That leads us to the last draft we'll look at in detail.

1) 18 Joe Flacco QB Delaware

2) 55 Ray Rice RB Rutgers

3) 71 Tavares Gooden OLB Miami (Fla.)

3) 86 Tom Zbikowski FS Notre Dame

3) 99 Oniel Cousins T Texas-El Paso

4) 106 Marcus Smith WR New Mexico

4) 133 David Hale G Weber State

6) 206 Haruki Nakamura FS Cincinnati

7) 215 Justin Harper WR Virginia Tech

7) 240 Allen Patrick RB Oklahoma

Joe Flacco is a franchise quarterback.

Ray Rice is one of the best young running backs in football.

Bart Scott's replacement doesn't fill a stat sheet, but Tavares Gooden is starting for a top ten defense in his second season. It's premature to pass judgment on T-Good.

Everyone's favorite boxing white safety is mostly a special teams force, but in three starts this season, he has two interceptions and four passes defended. I liked this pick when it was made, but it's, again, a little early to project his future value.

Cousins has started the last two games at right tackle, but through force of attrition rather than eminent skill. Nevertheless, one injury ravaged offensive line to another, Cousins seems more capable than some of Seattle's replacements.

The next three players are special teamers, and Allen Patrick was cut.

2004 was a hot mess, and, tellingly, occurred after DeCosta swept the 2003 draft. So, all GMs and potential GMs have their highs and lows, but DeCosta's highs certainly seem to outnumber and more than compensate for his lows. If we wanted to put a stamp on his career in Baltimore, I would stamp it a success, but let's attempt something a little more nuanced.

He seems to excel at drafting offensive line talent. He has never invested major resources into the offensive line but still acquired Rabach, Pashos, Terry, Brown, Chester, Sypnewski, Grubbs, Yanda, Gaither and Cousins. He also has had several successes drafting defensive linemen, linebackers, running backs, fullbacks and safeties. His run of backs is particularly impressive. He doesn't trend towards a specific region and seems to have no major leanings towards small schools or big schools. His success at drafting quarterbacks is mixed. Kyle Boller was an inexcusable failure, but Anderson and Smith were decent value for their pick position and Flacco is a young stud. Truthfully, I'm not wild about Flacco's profile, and though he's stepping into this own, the big bodied, big armed profile DeCosta seems to favor is notorious for producing busts.

What excites me most about DeCosta is not his drafting record, but the prolific picks he secures. Few teams enter draft day so consistently stocked with picks throughout the draft, and unlike other GMs that will burn those picks to move up and select their guy, DeCosta stands pat and picks many players. He has benefited immensely from trawling the draft and seeing what value shakes out.

His high profile and history of finding offensive line talent should make him a favorite for the Seattle position. I don't know that DeCosta is the "Z" we desire, but on second inspection, he is a young, well connected executive with a diverse portfolio of success.

Ravens Recent Injuries Create Opportunities

Bruce Raffel — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:25:01 -0000

The Baltimore Ravens are not unlike most any other NFL teams in that they've had their share of injuries in Training Camp as well as pre-season. Luckily, other than Adam Terry and Marcus Smith, both looked at being reserves anyway, the team has escaped the devastating loss that could drastically affect a team's season.

After the game Monday night against the New York Jets, a couple of other injuries came out to the public. Tight end L.J. Smith has a bum hamstring and DT Kelly Gregg injured his shoulder. There is every reason to believe that both guys will return by the time the regular season begins in a little over two weeks. We've already been informed that wide receiver Mark Clayton has returned to the practice field and will be ready for the home opener on September 13th against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Clayton's absence in practice and the exhibition games has opened the doors for Kelley Washington and Justin Harper, both who have had their share of success. Washington looks to be the guy willing to go over the middle and his enthusiastic approach to the game is contagious and refreshing. Harper, who looks to be the guy who will make the deep acrobatic catch one moment and then miss a pass that hits him in the numbers the next one, has made great strides this year compared to last year when he was ignored on the Practice Squad.

With Clayton's return, the depth chart just got a little deeper and it may be hard to find significant playing time for all of the receivers, which is a nice problem to have for this team, since it has been widely criticized for the lack of a star receiver. Derrick Mason is still the go-to guy for QB Joe Flacco and this team will remain a run-first offense no matter who is playing wideout here. However, if teams decide to stack the box to stop the run and force us to pass, then they will be quickly burned by the strong arm of our second year QB, who has the cunning Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron in his helmet radio not afraid to light it up if the opportunity arises.

L.J. Smith's injury leaves Todd Heap as the only other proven tight end on the roster. Rookie Davon Drew has had a great opportunity the entire camp and pre-season but just hasn't earned the right to get the chances he could have. The team also has converted linebacker Edgar Jones, but his pass catching abilities have been less than promising and Isaac Smolko, from Penn State on the roster. Smolko has actually looked good but was so far down the depth chart that he might have been forgotten up until now. Many radio callers are saying that the team should bring back former Raven Daniel Wilcox, who was a fan favorite but couldn't stay healthy last year. I say put both Drew and Smolko in there for a majority of the last two pre-season games after Heap gets his reps and let's see if they sink or swim.

Kelly Gregg's injury is no big deal to the defensive line, as he missed a huge portion of last season and we didn't miss a beat with Justin Bannan in his place. We now have a healthy Dwan Edwards as well as a plethora of others to man the d-line in so many combinations. Brandon McKinney and Kelly Talavou are just two names who contributed last year but are not exactly household names on this star-studded defense. However, both could probably start on many other NFL teams.

All in all, the injuries are just a part of the game. The team's mantra has always been "next man up," and will continue to be that way, as this team is deeper at most positions than it has ever seemed to be. While they are thin on the offensive line, their starters are as good as any other team and should be a major strength, providing they stay healthy. So for now, the team will reload and play out the final two exhibition games, giving some of the reserves the chance they need to earn a roster spot before the final cuts are announced over the next two weeks.

Filling WR Marcus Smith's Spot

Mr MaLoR — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:02:33 -0000

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Thursday night, second year WR Marcus Smith came off the field limping after making a very impressive tackle on a special teams play. At the time, most of us were probably unsure of how serious the injury was, just thinking that it was a sprain or that the player landed on it the wrong way. However, after the game Coach Harbaugh stated that it is a pretty serious injury and further reports have given clues that Smith could be missing the whole season if his ACL is as messed up as we think.

Now, where does this injury leave us? Baltimore was very excited to see a guy like Smith step up and improve what many around the league think is one of the weakest WR groups in the NFL. He was having a great start to the pre-season and looked to be a guy we could count on as our 4th or even 3rd WR at times. Here are a few possibilities.

Stick With Our Current Group: With Smith's injury, this leaves Kelly Washington and Demtrius Williams fighting for the 3rd and 4th spots. This injury moves guys like Justin Harper up the depth chart just slightly and may even give guys like Jason Foster or Eron Riley a chance.

Acquire Yet Another Free Agent: There is still some talent out there in the Free Agent pool. We have debated for a while now of the guys out there that could possibly come in here and help us out. Here are a few of the Free Agent WR that seem to stand out.

What is the best decision for the Ravens at the moment?

Ravens Training Camp: Saturday Edition

Bruce Raffel — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:20:11 -0000

Sorry for the lateness in posting my notes and photos on yesterday's practice session, the only one session this day due to placekicker Graham Gano hitting a 36 yarder that Head Coach John Harbaugh said would eliminate the PM session if he made it. He split the uprights and the players had off until they practice today at 2:30pm (no am session today). However, Gano had his roughest day kicking prior to the all important kick. He missed three of five attempts, either wide or on his two 53 yard attempts, one landing short and the other hit the crossbar and bounced back onto the field.

Saturday was also another "plus-30" day, giving the veterans over the age of 30 off for the day. That didn't stop center Matt Birk, who was out there in shorts walking through drills as he is still picking up the playbook and is such a great mentor to the young offensive line.

Tackle Oniel Cousins, who limped off the field on Friday, was there in shorts with his ankle in a brace, but not practicing. He said, "it's sore." Guard Ben Grubbs in dressed the same way, but Marshall Yanda is practicing hard. His amazing recovery is truly a welcome sight based on the recent injuries on the line to Terry, Cousins and Grubbs.

In 11-on-11 drills, Flacco is flushed out of the pocket twice in a row, but then completes a sweet 17 yard sideline pass to Marcus Smith. Next he sees his receivers covered and "hoofs" it 30 yards down the sidelines for a TD. However, Flacco then targeted Smith on the opposite sideline but CB Frank Walker read his eyes and picked it off.

On passing drills with WR's 1-on-1 with DB's, the receivers are either dropping everything or the QB's overthrowing them, while the better passes are being broken up by the DB's, or in Domonique Foxworth's case, intercepting it. Finally Ernie Wheelwright grabs one over the middle but they return to poor form when one clanks off of Todd Heap's hands. Granted these are tough passes that the DB's know are coming and then Foxworth picks off another one, his second of the morning.

Justin Harper had a great day today. He catches two in a row, although the first one was a long toss that was out of bounds despite another one-handed grab. Harper also seems to catch the balls with his arms more than his hands. Meanwhile Ray Rice drops an easy one, earning groans from the fans. But Harper makes the fans happy with a short stop and catch then run for a nice TD.

Back to 11-on-11 drils. Flacco zips a rocket to Marcus Smith 20 yards over the middle but Lardarius Webb knocks it away before Smith can secure it. Joe then hits Demetrius Williams over the middle for a nice gain in traffic. Troy Smith gets in the action with a sharp 15 yard sideline pass to Wheelwright who tiptoes out of bounds.

Offense now going no-huddle and when Flacco hits Rice for a nice swing pass out of the backfield. The nice thing about the play was how Marcus Smith drew the DB's away by going long, opening the field for Rice's gain.

The next passing drill has the receivers going against both the LB's and DB's. Flacco's pass is picked by Chris Carr, who laterals to Haruki Nakamura, who weaves his way downfield like Ed Reed does. Webb breaks up two straight passes, both intended for Wheelwright from Troy. Flacco throws a bullet that Smith catches while sliding on his knees.

FIGHT!!! In the trenches, something happens and a scuffle breaks out. All the players gather around and start pushing and grabbing like a rugby scrum until it settles down and they break it up. Reportedly it was between OL Joe Reitz and rookie Paul Kruger, but according to Coach Harbaugh, it wasn't really anything.

Troy Smith hits a couple of nice ones to L.J. Smith and another one handed grab by Justin Harper! Flacco splits defenders to put one into Marcus Smith in stride. Smith throws a short swing pass to Rice, who fakes rookie LB Jason Phillips into twisitng his ankle on a great move (Phillips is okay). Smith double pumps to Harper, whose move beats both Evan Olglesby and K.J. Gerard for a long, sweet 70 yard TD pass that Justin celebrates with a pretty lame dance in the end zone. If he plans on getting there during the season, he better come up with a different routine!

Flacco hits Kelley Washingotn underneath to beat the blitz for a big gain. Lardarius Webb blitzes again and the play is held up for what would have been an easy sack, if of course, Webb could have brought the much bigger Flacco down.

On one of the final plays, LB's Tony Fein and Prescott Burgess meet RB Cedric Peerman in the backfield, slamming him to the ground.

Does Mason's Return Actually Make Us Better?

Bruce Raffel — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:10:38 -0000

This is the question that I am posing to everyone today. I'm sure that an overwhelming majority will just laugh at this headline and vote yes. Of course, Derrick Mason makes us a better team, as he was the team's leading receiver since he got here and had over 1,000 receiving yards, and was among the league leaders in receptions. Without Mason, our only receiver with any legitimate production was Mark Clayton, who had 41 catches and five TD's in 2008. Other than that, the trio of Demetrius Williams, Marcus Smith and Justin Harper were virtually and statistically invisible last season.

But then how do I even attempt to convince you that all might not be wonderful now that Mason is returning for the 2009 season? Now before you boo and laugh me off my soapbox, hear me out on this. With Mason and Clayton in the first two receiving spots, we know that they will catch an overwelming majority of passes from Flacco this season. No matter who plays as the slot or third receiver, much less the fourth or fifth, they won't make anywhere near the contributions of the first two. My issue and point centers around the "type" of receivers that both Mason and Clayton have been. While Clayton has had a few nice longer passes, bit guys are more likely to be "possession" receivers than long ball targets. Yeah, D-Will and the others might be able to break a long one now and then, but due to our 'mantra' of being a run-first offense, how many times will we be looking at these types of three receiver sets?

With two receivers who bring significantly different skill sets to the line of scrimmage, the defense has to gameplan for more possibilities. If Mason had stayed "retired," our starting receiver lineup (had there been no more signings) could have been Clayton, Williams and either Harper or Smith. All three or even four bring different skills to the line each time they're on the field. We'd have a possession guy, an over-the-middle guy, and a deep burner on the field at the same time. I realize the quick response is that there is no experience with most of those names, but how do you think the Broncos fans felt when the lined up Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal at WR as the 2008 season began. Marshall was good in 2007, but only had 20 receptions in 2006, his rookie season. Royal was a rookie from Virginia Tech, where he was a teammate of Justin Harper's, and perhaps not even the best receiver on the Hokie's. Also, look at the St. Louis Rams, where they drafted a guy named Donnie Avery out of the University of Houston, who went on to be a solid deep threat with 53 receptions for almost 700 yards and three TD's just by getting the chance for the Rams. As a college senior, he caught 91 passes, the exact same number as the Ravens' Marcus Smith caught at New Mexico that season.

The difference between Royal and Avery, as opposed to Harper and Smith? Those first two just got the chance to prove they could play in the NFL and made the most of their chances. Every Brandon Marshall and Anquan Boldin have to start somewhere with zero career NFL catches. I was believing that by the end of the 2009 season, the Ravens would have their own, new "Marshall" or "Boldin" on their roster in one of those two young guys. Now, with the return of Mason who gives us pretty much the same schemes in the passing game, the opportunities for these kids to show us what they can do will be pushed further down on the depth chart, leading them to secretly hope for an injury or other opportunity for them to be given the chance to step up.

So are we truly better now that Derrick Mason has returned to the team? While he is definitely an excellent player, I'm just not convinced the alternative might have been better in the long run for the team.

Allright, now you can start throwing stones, unless of course, you now are beginning to see my point and think I may have an interesting take on this situation.

Ravens Training Camp: Monday Edition

Bruce Raffel — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:46:57 -0000

Injury Status Updates: Terrell Suggs is wearing a boot on his foot and should be okay in a few days or so. Mark Clayton tweaked his hamstring and the coaching staff just want to take it easy on him as he has been prone to those injuries. Davon Drew’s right ankle is wrapped and he is not participating, courtesy of a solid hit by LB Prescott Burgess in yesterday’s one-on-one blocking drills. Antwan Barnes suffered a mild concussion yesterday but is on the field today.

In today’s early action, in passing drills Joe Flacco looked right and threw left to Edgar Jones in the flat, who then after hesitating, ran down the sideline for a long gain. I could have sworn Jones was looking to see if LB Prescott Burgess was going to cream him like he did yesterday morning on a similar play. Next Flacco hit LeRon McClain on a swing pass for a good gain. Troy Smith hit Marcus Smith over the middle, as it was good to see Marcus out there after having issues with his fluids and cramping up the past day or so.

The 1^st team defense is collapsing the 3^rd team offensive line’s pocket and would have easily had a sack if it was allowed. Flacco then threw long to Demetrius Williams over Chris Carr, which drew the loudest cheers and applause from the fans in attendance.

Wth Flacco throwing to his hreceivers in one-on-one drills with the defensive backs, he connected twice with Derrick Mason for TD passes. Ray Rice made a sweet one-handed grab in the end zone, which the crowd loved. When Domonique Foxworth intercepted a pass, he yelled to the crowd, "what we make an interception, don’t we get no love? He threw the ball into the ground as the fans cheered. Todd Heap got into the action, getting by Dawan Landry for an over the shoulder TD catch. Derrick Mason and Frank Walker were jawing with each other and laughing.

Walker got up on the line against Kelly Washington but the coaches backed him off. Walker said, "he’s scared," to which Washington responded by telling him to "get back up here." The two fought for the ball in the end zone and as it fell incomplete they went helmet-to-helmet pushing and jawing to the delight of the fans as well as the players around them. The defense is starting to step it up.

Flacco hit Demetrius Williams with a nice TD pass. To celebrate, Williams ran to the goal posts, jumped on the padding and then saluting before dropping off to the laughs and cheers of the fans.

11-on-11 Drills:

1^st defense vs. 3^rd offense has LB Tavares Gooden bearhugging RB Matt Lawrence then slamming him to the ground. On the next play, QB John Beck rolled right and threw right into LB Jarret Johnson’s hands for an interception.

On goal line drills, Willis McGahee ran around the right side for a TD, then proceeded to bull his way around the left side for another. Ray Rice ran up the middle but did not get in the end zone as the defense swarmed to push him back. Rice finally went airborne and over the top for the TD.

Jalen Parmele ran left but was stopped just short of the goal line and then again caught from behind.

The offense is on the sidelines yelling, "run at Ray," while Lewis yells right back, "please do it. I live for that!"

Placekicker Graham Gano lined up for field goals and hit consecutively from 20, 29, 47, 33, 45 and also 53 yards. Meanwhile LeRon McClain just squirted me with the water hose, making me wonder if it was an accident or was he just playing with me?

Back to passing drills. Justin Harper beats Lardarius Webb for a long 30 yard TD pass in the corner of the end zone. Marcus Smith comes over for the jump-bump to celebrate. Webb then knocks down a similar pass for D-Will. Meanwhile, Kelly Washington is very talkative, animated and enthusiastic with his teammates. Webb breaks up another pass from John Beck in the end zone, this time knocking the ball away from 6’3" Eron Riley..

McGahee just dropped a short easy pass from Flacco crossing over the middle. Perhaps he thought that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ safety Ryan Clark was there, as he was on that thunderous collision in last season’s AFC Championship Game.

Troy to Harper for a 20 yard TD pass over the middle and then Flacco to D-Will from the same distance in front of Ed Reed at the goal line. Troy hits Parmele, who is then horse-collared by Fabian Washington, although the referee on site said Parmele’s knees were already on the ground so the penalty would not have been called.

Flacco to Derrick Mason for a 10 yard TD pass but the ref ruled Mason out of bounds, drawing a cold stare from Derrick and Marcus Smith to yell at the ref, "you’re fired!" Finally, Flacco made agreat play when he couldn’t find anyone open, rolled left then right and left again before hitting a sliding D-Will for an 8 yard TD pass who had slipped away from Dawan Landry.

Back to 11-on-11 drills, where Mason catches a short sideline pass from Flacco but breaks away from Frank Walker for a long TD. Ray Rice was running a pattern away from the ball and was shoved hard by rookie LB Jason Phillips in his first action after coming off the PUP List today. On that play, Flacco rolled right and threw an interception to Haruki Nakamura, his second pick of camp. John Beck hit a nice long pass after a pump fake that was caught between Fabian Washington and Ed Reed for a 30 yard gain. Beck again, this time to Harper for 10 yards more. Then Troy came in and hit a sliding Kelly Washington on the ground, which was nice to see him involved with the offense.

A short pass to TE Isaac Smolko was popped up into the air due to a big hit by undrafted free agent LB Dannell Ellerbe, who then snatched the ball out of the air for an interception. Ed Reed was leading the cheers of "Let’s go defense!"

The afternoon session was limited to Special Teams' drills and the other players had a well deserved break from the heat.

See the sidebar FanPost for my interviews with Marcus Smith, Tavares Gooden and Prescott Burgess, which should be up shortly.

Derrick Mason Returning to the Ravens!

Bruce Raffel — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:26:23 -0000

According to the team:

WR Derrick Mason is sending a letter to the NFL stating his intention to return to the Baltimore Ravens. He is expected to join the team Sunday on the field.

I received this email from the team and it is exactly what so many of us were either thinking or at least hoping. While that might make the competition for additional playing time tougher for guys like Marcus Smith, Justin Harper and others, it certainly does bolster our receiving corps and gives us even more depth than we had at this point last season.

Joe Flacco's favorite receiver will probably be mobbed by the media and fans tomorrow at Training Camp, but I will try to get some quotes when he finishes practice in the morning.

See the entire story here written by Mike Duffy from BaltimoreRavens.com.

Ravens Training Camp: Saturday AM Edition

Bruce Raffel — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:12:11 -0000

It was a clear and sunny morning, with sunshine and high temperatures expectred after a rain soaked Friday afternoon. It was nice to see Trevor Pryce dressed after seeing him carted off yesterday with a stepped-on foot. OG Marshall Yanda was removed from the PUP List (Physically Unable to Perform) which was good to see this early in camp. Once again, Jared Gaither is still a beast, although his belly is not nearly as big as last year.

Kickoff return drills are happening, with the "pitching" machine doing the "kickoffs." Taking turns returning them are Ray Rice, Lardarius Webb, Chris Carr, and even Willis McGahee, as former return man and still on the sidelines is Yamon Figurs.

The QB's are now throwing long passes to the WR's, drawing cheers with each completion. Even in football it is safe to still say, "chicks dig the long ball!"

The placekickers seem really bored. They spend a lot of time just standing around, talking, moving from one area to another. Every now and then they place the ball in the "tripod" holder and boot one in drill after drill to strengthen the leg, ensure proper technique and gauge accuracy. Zzzzzz....

In live tackling 11-on-11 drills, Ray Rice broke a 30 yard run, finally knocked out of bounds coming right at me on the sidelines. See the video I took of this play: Ray Rice Runs Right At Me!

Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron is barking instructions to the players, as the 1st string offensive line is pushing the 2nd team defense back 3-4 yards every play. Troy Smith directed the 2nd team offense up against the 1st team defense and threw a long 40 yard completion to WR Marcus Smith. But wait, the referee called Marcus for offensive pass interference, which drew complaints from the offensive sidelines prompting Ray to yell at them, "quit crying!"

When the 3rd team offense got on the field, I noticed an insignificant run of 4 yards by RB Cedric Perrman but what made it significant was that he carried 3 or 4 defensive players most of the way on his back.

Field goal drills had Steve Hauschka hitting from 32, 40 and 45 yards, with Suggs under the goalposts signalling good each time, although he did miss the 48 yarder. Gano came on to hit his 32 yarder, but missed the 39 yard attempt. He then consecutively hit from 44 and 48 yards. In other full contact drills, Flacco threw to no one in particular and Dawan Landry had his second pick of camp. Troy Smith then contributed to the defense by having his pass picked off by Haruki Nakamura and returned down the sideline until Troy raced over and knocked him hard out of bounds, prompting both Antwan Barnes and Terrell Suggs to get in Smith's face for the unnecessary contact in the first altercation of camp.

Flacco then hit consecutive passes to Todd Heap and Marcus Smith for 20 yards each. In the Red Zone, Flacco had Mark Clayton breaking open across the goal line but a leaping Dawan Landry snagged his second interception of the morning and third of camp. Finally, Flacco hit Smith across the middle for a 20 yard TD reception.

Final drill before the morning ended was kickoff returns and everyone seemed to take part in the coverage side of the ball, including Suggs and Flacco on one side. On the final return, Lardarius Webb broke into the clear amid yells from the coaches to "finish it," but kicker Graham Gano caught him from behind at the goal line.

After practice ended, Justin Harper once again fist-bumped me on his way by, Michael Oher shook my hand, and I also got short interviews with Haruki Nakamra and Dawan Landry before they left the field. Check out their interviews when I put them up as a separate FanPost.

Training Camp 7/31

Mr MaLoR — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:56:53 -0000

Today was the first day that all veterans and rookies had to participate in training camp. Held in Westminster, MD and McDaniel College which it has been since the days of the Baltimore Colts, it was a mad house today of fans and fun. 98 Rock was there early to have a pre-game show complete with a free breakfast and even ice cold beer served at 7:45 in the morning!

I have been going to the Ravens training camps since I was very young, and this was by far the most intense day of practice that I have ever been a part of. There had to have been around 10,000 fans and I even heard one gentleman sitting next to me say "There are more people here than there was at the Orioles game last night." Here is what I thought of today's practice after the jump.

Kickers Grahmn Gano and Steven Hauschka were neck and neck all day today in the kicking competition, but it seemed like Gano got the best of Hauschka. Gano was 4 for 4 on a field goal kicking drill and Hauschka missed one. But a drill that I found rather interesting involved both kickers standing along side the goal post. Here, they each got 3 chances and were trying to hit the posts from about 20 yards away on purpose. Gano was the first to get it and it took Hauschka about 6-7 tries to finally hit his first post. Gano looks to have the stronger leg, as Hauschka badly came up short on what looked to be at the most a 60 yard field goal. Gano also looked to have an extremely strong leg on kick offs.
In the beginning of the practice, the WR were lining up and practicing getting acceleration as if the ball was snapped. They stood in two lines, but what got me thinking was the order by which the players lined up. It was Clayton and Williams to go first, followed by Smith and Harper. I thought that the way this drill was set up is telling us that a possible line-up as of right now is Clayton, Williams, Smith, Harper. But it is still early. However, WR's such as Biren Ealy and Eron Riley showed some serious skill today, particularly Ealy. He made many catches on the tips of his toes and was burning our CB's on multiple routes
The 3 Quaterbacks that are currently on the roster, Joe Flacco, Troy Smith and John Beck, all impressed me today. Each one of these guys can really get the ball out of their hand quickly and with some force behind it. There were multiple passes put on the money by these 3, including a one handed grab by Ray Rice and a ball threaded through the defense into Heap's hands. The QB's also seemed to be able to throw the deep ball very well.
Based on physical image, there are a few players that stand out immensly. WR Marcus Smith is huge. He looks like a linebacker playing WR. Huge legs and enormous arms. His footwork looks very solid and he is definitely not afraid of going across the middle. Kelly Gregg has a body type that you will not see anywhere else. He seems to have lost a little bit of his belly, but he looks like one solid muscle, sort of like a rhino. As most of us know, Dawan Landry is ripped. Well, he is ripped! I cannot believe that he is only 208 pounds, because his arms and neck make him look close to 240. If Landry put on 20 pounds, he could be a middle linebacker in this league.
Our secondary may be the best this team has ever seen, definitely the fastest. Some had their struggles, such as Frank Walker who got beat on a few passes, but players like Dominique Foxworth and Lardarius Webb blankted their Wideout all day. Webb looks to have the most fluid hip motion and best ability to change direction of any of the CB's. He stuck with Justin Harper very well on one pass that looked to be an easy catch. But Webb used his speed to get in front of Harper, creating an incomplete pass on a long ball. I was very impressed with the physicality of Foxworth also. On a pass to Demetrius Williams on the sideline, Foxworth was with D-Will the whole way there, but Williams seemed to create space at the last moment. As Williams went up for the ball, Foxworth got in Williams' face and forced D-Will to catch the ball out of bounds. He looks to have very good press coverage for being a man to man DB his whole career.
The first string Offensive Line looks incredible. They are big, strong, fast and maybe the most athletic in the league. With Matt Birk at Center, you can really tell why he has been a pro-bowl selection so many times. His fundamentals are perfect and having such a great veteran on this extremely young O-Line will only help everyone else. Oher looked great today as well. He is a physical freak and for someone who weighs 300 pounds, it really does not look like he has too much body fat. At one point in a 11 on 11 drill, Gaither was lined up at Right Tackle and Oher was at Right Gaurd. This move had Heap back on the O-Line at the LT position.
On the other hand, the 2nd string of O-Lineman was extremely sloppy this morning. On one particular drive, they had 3 false starts in about 5 snaps. They missed multiple blocks and the QB taking the snaps would have gotten destroyed had the defensive players had the chance. Their run blocking was not on point and these guys really need some work.

Well, unlike Bruce who has a great position to take great photos 6 inches away from the players, I was in the bleachers with the rest of barbaian fans snapping away. Here are a few photos from my spot in the corner of the endzone.

Quarterbacks John Beck, Joe Flacco and Troy Smith right before practice starts

Bruce's prom date, Haruki Nakamura tending to a cut on his elbow and Tom Zbikowskit taking in the 10,000+ fans' cheers.

Strong Safety Dawan Landry

The Dreads, KJ Gerard and Lardarius Webb

Linebacker Tavares Gooden doing drills

Wide Receivers Marcus Smith and Justin Harper

Thanks for reading and I look forward to reporting more training camps throughout the next 3 weeks for those who are not as fortunate to make a trip to McDaniel College.

Ravens Training Camp: Wednesday PM Edition

Bruce Raffel — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:34:57 -0000

The afternoon session in Westminster was a bit more subdued than the morning one. As the day moved towards the end, some of the veterans began to trickle in to say hello to the coaches and other players. We saw LB Jarret Johnson, safeties Ed Reed and Haruki Nakamura, WR Marcus Smith and DT Justin Bannan on the field in shorts. Veteran CB Samari Rolle made an appearance in uniform, but just seemed to be stretching and not participating.

I overheard one of the defensive line coaches laughing, saying he heard that DT Haloti Ngata has brought his own bed with him to the team hotel!

Believe it or not, OL teammates Robby Felix and Bryan Mattison were STILL going at it, one-on-one!

The offense was practicing a wide variety of sets, including multiple wideout and triple option plays with different players at every position.

In 7-on-7 drills, the offense had a good series of plays. QB John Beck hit newcomer WR Jayson Foster, Troy Smith hit Justin Harper and Joe Flacco completed a good one to Demetrius Williams, who outjumped a shorter Lardarius Webb. Beck then hit Mark Clayton with Fabian Washington hanging all over him. Another fingertip grab by Clayton, once again over Washington, would have been a catch-and-run 50 yard TD in a game situation.

In field goal drills, rookie Graham Gano drilled a bunch with different holders, including successfully with Joe Flacco holding. Fortunately, CB Chris Carr will not be a holder, as when he did put one down for Gano, Graham drilled his offensive linemen in the back, causing them to yell, "Carr, get out of here!"

As I said earlier in this piece, DT Justin Bannan was there in shorts and a sleeveless top, showing off his incredibly huge "guns" which are apparently notorious amongst the players.

CB Derrick Martin, due partly to the absence of enough safeties (although it is runored that due to CB depth, he is moving to the safety position), played with confidence and was very talkative, directing the rookies playing alongside him on defense.

Fabian Washington and Lardarius Webb broke up consecutive passes with nice defensive moves.

WR Isaiah Williams (Maryland Terrapins) was cut after yesterday's session to make room on the roster for newly signed WR/KR Jayson Foster.

Photos after the "Jump."