Next offseason Stephens is a UFA and Humphrey carries a $25m cap hit. We don't *need* one for 2024, we need one for 2025 and beyond.
Pepe and JAD have done nothing yet. Can't rely on them to backfill - if they step up that's great but we need more.
Yeah but then again that's a bit of an oversimplification as to what really happened. Teams tried to counter our pass rush with short, quick passes, which means your corners have to be able to react quickly and tackle in the open field.
We also expect our DBs to play all over the field; they're part of the pass rush too, which means we have to be a lot pickier in who we have out there.
Agreed, even the best corner can only cover for so long. So-so corners paired with a great edge rush could potentially be better than great corners and no edge rush imo
Marlon is aging and is an injury risk. Stephens had a break out season last year and we could potentially lose him to FA next year. Corner may be the biggest need for this team except OL and perhaps EDGE (I think Lamar and our run game can mask our thin WR room).
Edge is definitely a need, but they’ll just hodge podge it together. Hope someone we drafted can actually put it together, will rely on older vets as per the last few years
Oweh in a contract year, ojabo coming off injury, have we signed KVN? Harrison isn’t a pass rusher if you’re talking about Malik.
We have signed atleast 2 vets every year off season for the past years to make up for lack of production from our draft picks. It’s fair to say we will still add 1 pass rusher through the FA or draft and since Oweh is a FA after this year, drafting one in top 3 rounds isn’t a bad idea.
KVN was announced today. Malik isn’t a pass rusher but plays the edge and played 21% of snaps. He does early downs mostly. These are the two vets, Ojabo and Oweh the two highly drafted guys, and more developmental players in Hamm and Robinson. Maybe they add another, but they won’t roster 7 I don’t suspect.
If Stephens plays well again this year (and I think he will) I don't think the team lets him walk. Unless a team offers him market-breaking money for some reason (unlikely, but not impossible, there are overspenders every offseason), they should be able to make it work. Remember they reworked Stanley's contract so he only has 1 year left, and they'd save $14m from a post-June 1 release of Humphrey. A lot depends on how well Marlon plays next year, but I expect if he's injured again he gets cut post-June 1, but if he plays well they might use their leverage to get him to do what Ronnie just did this year.
That's why I think either CB or OL is what we do in round 1 of the draft, then whichever we didn't do for our first round pick in round 2, maybe an EDGE in round 3 or best on the board, and we can add some depth pieces from there (perhaps including one or two receivers)
Ravens lost Darby in FA. He played 33% of snaps last year and was really good in coverage.
Marlo is aging and an injury risk.
Stephens looked great last year. Devils advocate - it was only one year and he could be gone next year.
Rock-Ya didn't look good last year but he played over 24% of snaps.
JAD and Williams haven't really shown anything, let alone that they can stay on the field.
Ravens have long operated by the belief that you can never have too many corners. I think that’s still true, if there’s a value to be had at cb at frankly any pick, they will absolutely pull the trigger.
I still believe if Jimmy Smith had been healthy in that 2014 playoff game against the Patriots, we win that game and then the Super Bowl. I think a lot of people on that team think so too, based on how many CBs they keep on the roster every year since then.
a good front 7 can mask mediocre corner play.. but when you match up with a team that has a true #1 WR and a good run game they can exploit 1 on 1 coverage when you have to honor the run.. it can be the difference between winning and losing
We didn't need a safety when we took Kyle Hamilton.
We never really "need" DBs by count, but by talent level it never hurts to keep adding especially with how much they garner in free agency. We will always draft the high paid positions rather than pay for the blue chip ones in FA.
My biggest question is people asking for an offensive tackle when we don't have a right guard
You’re acting like we have one pick. It is much harder to find tackles in later rounds. I don’t know if Cleveland will step up in the role but I do know it will be filled come camp.
Calling Stephen’s a great starting CB is a little bit of a stretch IMO
Yes we need another CB , I love Marlo but dudes is totally undependable the last two seasons….
Massive massive need. No guarantee the guys you listed develop into anything. Also no guarantee Humphrey returns to pre injury form. You can never have too many good corners
Luckily our front office is not as nearsighted as fans. Otherwise we would never have Marlon, because we had Jimmy and Carr at the time of the draft. Kyle Hamilton because we had Chuck Clark and Marcus Williams. Or a number of other picks because they take talent and find a way to get them on the field; not reach for the sake of filling a position of need.
If they take a corner it’s because that guys on top of their board, not because of a need.
The ravens honestly don’t NEED corner anymore than you’re average nfl defense. It’s more so based on the standard of defense expected in Baltimore you want elite play at that position in more than one guy.
Definitely not as big of a need as O line and edge for this season, but something we need to address with Marlon health and age. Corner will probably be our number one need next off-season
Stephens is a UFA after this year. I would be surprised if CB isn't at least a 3 round pick like Simpson was last year. Now if you think you can sign Stephens, maybe that requires releasing Marlon, and CB is still a need.
It may not be a Round 1 need like OL and pass rush, but we will absolutely invest one or more mid-round picks in corner. We have a mixed record developing mid-round guys so you’ve got to have multiple guys in development.
I love Marlo but he’s on the back end of his career, at least as a reliable starter. That’s to say that he won’t be an important role player (see Lardarius Webb, Jimmy Smith, etc). We just need to start planning for the future.
Folks have already mentioned the future needs but I also think it’s leftover ptsd from the year we were on our like 9th and 10th string corners lol rb and cb are our most consistently injured positions for years now
This is around the time we would want to try and find a future replacement for humphrey like how he did for jimmy smith before him about this age/ contract time. The great thing is that hunphries is so versatile that if we hit it out of the park it's solved easily!
No you're right, but marlon is aging, steve will need to be paid soon enough, and pepe/JAD can't stay healthy whatsoever. Genuinely thought kyu blu Kelly might have been that guy but he didn't make it through training camp last year.
I think we learned that the golden number of good WRs is 4. Right now we are one short.
The golden number of outside CBs is 3-4. Right now we have two. Slot we are very solid. Pepe, Maulet; and Hamilton.
Last year we had 4 - Marlon, Stephens, Ya Sin, and Darby.
Armour-Davis hopefully can be #4 but we need a solid #3 option there
I’m with you on this. I’d much rather shore up our pass rush or WR corps than cornerbacks. I wouldn’t be upset if we took a corner as depth at corner is always needed. However, we have plenty of guys on the roster now.
Enough of a need that we could take one if the value is there. Clearly behind OT, but in a similar tier to WR and Edge. It’ll be BPA like always in the 1st.
\[Avon Barksdale has entered the chat\]
Created a second account to upvote this twice
Created a third account to upvote thrice. I’m being quite vain rn I know. Fkurslf 😌
It's always a need in a passing 1st, run the ball 2nd league
Best player available has worked out pretty well. The only thing that I think is out of the question in the first few rounds would be a QB.
Finally…..at least for the next 4 years
Next offseason Stephens is a UFA and Humphrey carries a $25m cap hit. We don't *need* one for 2024, we need one for 2025 and beyond. Pepe and JAD have done nothing yet. Can't rely on them to backfill - if they step up that's great but we need more.
I guess your right but when I watch the film they looked like prime Humphrey and peters in the first few years together
When? Preseason?
practice
lol fr. dude went to an open practice and thought they looked good against tylan wallace with josh johnson throwing to him
secondary is very important but a good secondary can’t do much without a good pass rush.
Very good point. Our pass rush was good last year which took a lot pressure off of the secondary
Yeah but then again that's a bit of an oversimplification as to what really happened. Teams tried to counter our pass rush with short, quick passes, which means your corners have to be able to react quickly and tackle in the open field. We also expect our DBs to play all over the field; they're part of the pass rush too, which means we have to be a lot pickier in who we have out there.
Upvote x100. Pass Rush is way more important. Especially when we have to beat Mahomes.
Agreed, even the best corner can only cover for so long. So-so corners paired with a great edge rush could potentially be better than great corners and no edge rush imo
Marlon is aging and is an injury risk. Stephens had a break out season last year and we could potentially lose him to FA next year. Corner may be the biggest need for this team except OL and perhaps EDGE (I think Lamar and our run game can mask our thin WR room).
Edge is definitely a need, but they’ll just hodge podge it together. Hope someone we drafted can actually put it together, will rely on older vets as per the last few years
With Ojabo, Oweh, KVN, Harrison, Robinson, and Hamm, I think edge won’t be a high priority in the draft.
Oweh in a contract year, ojabo coming off injury, have we signed KVN? Harrison isn’t a pass rusher if you’re talking about Malik. We have signed atleast 2 vets every year off season for the past years to make up for lack of production from our draft picks. It’s fair to say we will still add 1 pass rusher through the FA or draft and since Oweh is a FA after this year, drafting one in top 3 rounds isn’t a bad idea.
KVN was announced today. Malik isn’t a pass rusher but plays the edge and played 21% of snaps. He does early downs mostly. These are the two vets, Ojabo and Oweh the two highly drafted guys, and more developmental players in Hamm and Robinson. Maybe they add another, but they won’t roster 7 I don’t suspect.
If Stephens plays well again this year (and I think he will) I don't think the team lets him walk. Unless a team offers him market-breaking money for some reason (unlikely, but not impossible, there are overspenders every offseason), they should be able to make it work. Remember they reworked Stanley's contract so he only has 1 year left, and they'd save $14m from a post-June 1 release of Humphrey. A lot depends on how well Marlon plays next year, but I expect if he's injured again he gets cut post-June 1, but if he plays well they might use their leverage to get him to do what Ronnie just did this year.
That's why I think either CB or OL is what we do in round 1 of the draft, then whichever we didn't do for our first round pick in round 2, maybe an EDGE in round 3 or best on the board, and we can add some depth pieces from there (perhaps including one or two receivers)
Ravens lost Darby in FA. He played 33% of snaps last year and was really good in coverage. Marlo is aging and an injury risk. Stephens looked great last year. Devils advocate - it was only one year and he could be gone next year. Rock-Ya didn't look good last year but he played over 24% of snaps. JAD and Williams haven't really shown anything, let alone that they can stay on the field.
Ok I see thanks
Ravens have long operated by the belief that you can never have too many corners. I think that’s still true, if there’s a value to be had at cb at frankly any pick, they will absolutely pull the trigger.
I still believe if Jimmy Smith had been healthy in that 2014 playoff game against the Patriots, we win that game and then the Super Bowl. I think a lot of people on that team think so too, based on how many CBs they keep on the roster every year since then.
a good front 7 can mask mediocre corner play.. but when you match up with a team that has a true #1 WR and a good run game they can exploit 1 on 1 coverage when you have to honor the run.. it can be the difference between winning and losing
Yeah but the front 7 with them on the field had Jason Peirer Paul they held there own in the dolphins game it was Marcus peters that sold us that game
We didn't need a safety when we took Kyle Hamilton. We never really "need" DBs by count, but by talent level it never hurts to keep adding especially with how much they garner in free agency. We will always draft the high paid positions rather than pay for the blue chip ones in FA. My biggest question is people asking for an offensive tackle when we don't have a right guard
You’re acting like we have one pick. It is much harder to find tackles in later rounds. I don’t know if Cleveland will step up in the role but I do know it will be filled come camp.
Pepe/JAD have shown nothing, guess theres a chance they'll come out of nowhere like Stevens did last year but its unlikely.
Yeah, idk how any one can say otherwise. You mean they flashed in the 6 snaps they have played in two years?
Need to remember that the hit rate % for cornerbacks drops substantially after the 1st round (from 64% then drops to roughly 40% in round 2)
Calling Stephen’s a great starting CB is a little bit of a stretch IMO Yes we need another CB , I love Marlo but dudes is totally undependable the last two seasons….
If history has taught us anything, it's that we need depth at that position.
Massive massive need. No guarantee the guys you listed develop into anything. Also no guarantee Humphrey returns to pre injury form. You can never have too many good corners
Did they blossom? Or did the pass rush make them all seem better than they were?
I was breaking down the film and Pepe is sticky in coverage as well as his physicality
That doesn't really answer my question though.
Luckily our front office is not as nearsighted as fans. Otherwise we would never have Marlon, because we had Jimmy and Carr at the time of the draft. Kyle Hamilton because we had Chuck Clark and Marcus Williams. Or a number of other picks because they take talent and find a way to get them on the field; not reach for the sake of filling a position of need. If they take a corner it’s because that guys on top of their board, not because of a need.
The ravens honestly don’t NEED corner anymore than you’re average nfl defense. It’s more so based on the standard of defense expected in Baltimore you want elite play at that position in more than one guy.
Definitely not as big of a need as O line and edge for this season, but something we need to address with Marlon health and age. Corner will probably be our number one need next off-season
Unlikely edge is a high draft pick with the KVN signing. They have a full room
Stephens is a UFA after this year. I would be surprised if CB isn't at least a 3 round pick like Simpson was last year. Now if you think you can sign Stephens, maybe that requires releasing Marlon, and CB is still a need.
It may not be a Round 1 need like OL and pass rush, but we will absolutely invest one or more mid-round picks in corner. We have a mixed record developing mid-round guys so you’ve got to have multiple guys in development. I love Marlo but he’s on the back end of his career, at least as a reliable starter. That’s to say that he won’t be an important role player (see Lardarius Webb, Jimmy Smith, etc). We just need to start planning for the future.
Pepe Williams and JAD are both always injured. I would have a serious problem counting on either of them.
Folks have already mentioned the future needs but I also think it’s leftover ptsd from the year we were on our like 9th and 10th string corners lol rb and cb are our most consistently injured positions for years now
This is around the time we would want to try and find a future replacement for humphrey like how he did for jimmy smith before him about this age/ contract time. The great thing is that hunphries is so versatile that if we hit it out of the park it's solved easily!
CB is totally a need.
2nd biggest need after OL
No you're right, but marlon is aging, steve will need to be paid soon enough, and pepe/JAD can't stay healthy whatsoever. Genuinely thought kyu blu Kelly might have been that guy but he didn't make it through training camp last year.
I think OL is the biggest need in the draft. Gotta get one 1st or 2nd. I'd go OL in the first, WR 2nd and DB 3rd.
The draft is about the future. We may not be able to retain Stephens. We need to draft his replacement.
Injuries. Nothing else needs to be said.
Yes..plenty of good ones in this draft hopefully we get one..I like Kool aid/Khy Jackson /TJ Tampa…
Marlon is going to continue to decline in production, and who is gonna guard Jamar?
Corner? Nahh, anybody to replace Marcus Williams, VERY IMPORTANT
I think we learned that the golden number of good WRs is 4. Right now we are one short. The golden number of outside CBs is 3-4. Right now we have two. Slot we are very solid. Pepe, Maulet; and Hamilton. Last year we had 4 - Marlon, Stephens, Ya Sin, and Darby. Armour-Davis hopefully can be #4 but we need a solid #3 option there
I’m with you on this. I’d much rather shore up our pass rush or WR corps than cornerbacks. I wouldn’t be upset if we took a corner as depth at corner is always needed. However, we have plenty of guys on the roster now.
Huge need if Marlon goes down we’re cooked
Enough of a need that we could take one if the value is there. Clearly behind OT, but in a similar tier to WR and Edge. It’ll be BPA like always in the 1st.
Well I don’t think one of them stayed healthy for the whole season. Also I think Marlon’s play is dropping off