Baltimore Ravens

Owner: Steve Biscotti
Founded: 1996
Stadium: M&T Bank Stadium
2010 record: 12-4
Last playoff appearance: 2010, 12-4, W30-7 KC, L31-24 PIT
General Manager: Ozzie Newsome (November 22, 2002 – current)
Head Coach: John Harbaugh (2008 – current, 32-16 record as head coach)
Offensive Coordinator: Cam Cameron
Defensive Coordinator: Chuck Pagano
Defensive alignment: 3-4
2010 NFL Rankings:
OFF: 22.3 PTS (16th)        322.9 YDS (22nd)              208.4 PASS (20th)             114.4 RUSH (14th)
DEF: 16.9 PTS (3rd)          318.9 YDS (10th)                224.9 PASS (21st)              93.9 RUSH (5th)
Pro Bowlers: Haloti Ngata DT, Terrell Suggs OLB, Ray Lewis MLB, Ed Reed FS, Billy Cundiff K
2011 opponents:
1 Sep 11 vs. Steelers 1:00 PM
2 Sep 18 at Titans 1:00 PM
3 Sep 25 at Rams 4:05 PM
4 Oct 02 vs. Jets 8:20 PM
5 Bye
6 Oct 16 vs. Texans 4:05 PM
7 Oct 24 at Jaguars 8:30 PM
8 Oct 30 vs. Cardinals 1:00 PM
9 Nov 06 at Steelers 8:20 PM
10 Nov 13 at Seahawks 4:05 PM
11 Nov 20 vs. Bengals 1:00 PM
12 Nov 24 vs. 49ers 8:20 PM
13 Dec 04 at Browns 1:00 PM
14 Dec 11 vs. Colts 1:00 PM
15 Dec 18 at Chargers 8:20 PM
16 Dec 24 vs. Browns 1:00 PM
17 Jan 01 at Bengals 1:00 PM

TEAM NEEDS: DE, OLB, SS

Potential Free Agents:
TJ Houshmanzadeh WR
Tony Moll OT
Marshal Yanda OT/OG – re-signed – 5 yrs, 32 million
Haloti Ngata DE/NT – franchise tag
Prescott Burgess OLB – re-signed –
Chris Carr CB – re-signed –
Kevin Houser LS

Free agent acquisitions:
Ricky Williams RB – 2 yrs
Vonta Leach FB (Texans) – 3 yrs, 11 million
Brandon Jones WR (Titans)

Free agent losses:
Marc Bulger QB – retired –
Willis McGahee RB – signed by Broncos
Le’Ron McClain FB – Signed with Chiefs
Donte Stallworth WR – signed by Redskins
Derrick Mason WR – Signed by Jets
Todd Heap TE – signed by Cardinals
Jared Gaither OT -
Chris Chester OG/C – Signed by Redskins
Kelly Gregg DT – Signed by Chiefs
Fabian Washington CB – Signed with Saints
Josh Wilson CB - signed by Redskins
Dawan Landry SS – Signed by Jaguars

Picks in 2011 NFL Draft (overall draft grade: A):
Rd 1, Pick 27 (27)              Jimmy Smith CB, Colorado
Grade: A              Rated: 21
Analysis: Everyone’s heard about his character concerns, but will they all disappear when he’s in a locker room with Ray Lewis and the rest of that Ravens locker room? I think so.

Rd 2, Pick 26 (58)              Torrey Smith WR, Maryland
Grade: A              Rated: 42
Analysis: Another great value. Smith has great speed, but like Derrius Heyward-Bey from Maryland a few years ago, his hands need improving.

Rd 3, Pick 21 (85)              Jah Reid OT, UCF
Grade: C-             Rated: 183
Analysis: Reid started to gain some traction according to some reports, but he certainly couldn’t have risen into the top three rounds.

Rd 4, Pick 26 (123)            Tandon Doss WR, Indiana
Grade: A              Rated: 90
Analysis: The Ravens’ offense has been looking to catch up with their defense for years. Doss is big target for Flacco at 6-3.

Rd 5, Pick 33 (164)            Chykie Brown DB, Texas
Grade: A              Rated: 147
Analysis: The Ravens needed some help at corner and Brown was a good value here according to my board.

Rd 5, Pick 34 (165)            Pernell McPhee DL, Mississippi State
Grade: A              Rated: 114
Analysis: McPhee transferred to Mississippi State (with no money) after starting out at the JUCO level. He looked primed to bust out his senior season, but didn’t produce. He’s a solid pick and fills a need at DE.

Rd 6, Pick 15 (180)            Tyrod Taylor QB, Virginia Tech
Grade: B-             Rated: 228
Analysis: The Ravens will be losing Marc Bulger, so they needed a backup QB. Taylor is kind of underrated, but he’ll be developed by the Ravens.

Rd 7, Pick 22 (225)            Anthony Allen RB, Georgia Tech
Grade: A              Rated: 222
Analysis: It’s close to where I had Allen ranked at, which I like to see. Big back.

2010 Ravens Draft review:
Here are some interesting nuggets of information I saw from watching the 2010 NFL Draft press conferences of the Ravens: Pre-draft press conference: Head coach John Harbaugh talked about how Ozzie’s talked about in the past about taking the best available player who’s best for their team. General Manager Ozzie Newsome talked about how being a receiver is so much more than skill. Intelligence is a big part of being able to become a good NFL wide receiver (reading coverage, hot routes, etc). Newsome said that there’d be a tight end that could be taken in every round. They took two. So far, they’ve mentioned future picks Kindle and Cody. Once the draft starts, according to Director of Player Personnel Eric DeCosta, they don’t tweak the board much. He gave an example of when they took Joe Flacco in 2008, they weren’t going to take Chad Henne with their next pick. The night before the draft, if they have two players at the same position who are even, they’ll go back and watch a few of their games and try to figure out whom to rate above the other. A reporter brought up that he remembered Newsome saying in the past that he watched games of when players lost, to see how they played when the lost. Newsome also said that he watched players when the ball was away from him. It’s not an end all, be all, but it’s taken into consideration. DeCosta revealed that the Ravens weren’t planning on drafting Ed Reed. They had a player rated ahead of him and that player got picked. Reed was rated 24th and they were picking 24th. Newsome stated that there’s a lot of information that’s divulged in private meetings with players when asked about marijuana use among players. They like honest players and once they get to Baltimore, they could be influenced by the people they have there already. DeCosta said that within the last 15 years, they’ve seen an increase in the number of players who’ve used marijuana. Both Newsome and DeCosta expressed that they think players who have character issues are able to come to Baltimore and end up thriving.

Put together a list of five players they wanted to target after the first night of the draft when they traded out of the first round. Newsome said they got three out of the five players. DeCosta said they wanted to get players that they didn’t want to play against. Newsome also said that they have one of the most conservative medical staffs, so there were a lot of players that were taken prior to their picks that the Ravens wouldn’t have drafted.

Rd 2, Pick 11 (43)              Sergio Kindle DE, Texas – Reserve/Non-football injury list

Rd 2, Pick 25 (57)              Terrence Cody DT, Alabama – 13 games, 1 start, 13 TCK

Rd 3, Pick 6 (70)                 Ed Dickson TE, Oregon – 15 games, 3 starts, 11 REC, 152 YDS, 13.8 AVG, 1 TD

Rd 4, Pick 16 (114)            Dennis Pitta TE, BYU – 11 games, 1 REC, 1 YDS

Rd 5, Pick 25 (156)            David Reed WR, Utah – 13 games, 1 RUSH, 15 YDS, 21 KR, 616 YDS, 29.3 AVG, 1 TD

Rd 5, Pick 26 (157)            Art Jones DT, Syracuse – 2 games, no stats

Rd 6, Pick 25 (194)            Ramon Harewood OT, Morehouse – no games

Looking back at my grades for the 2010 Ravens draft class: I gave the Ravens’ draft class an A-. I loved their first two picks in Sergio Kindle (A) and Terrance Cody (A). I also liked late round picks Arthur Jones (A) and Ramon Harewood (A). David Reed (C) ended up being a good return option for them, but he got into a little bit of trouble with the law recently. So B- would be a better grade for him. The tight ends Pitta (B+) and Dickson (B-) didn’t get many looks, but could have a bright future if the Ravens will follow how the Patriots used Gronkowski and Hernandez last season. The way Sergio Kindle’s (A) life has gone within the past year (tumble down the stairs with head trauma injury and a later DUI), his grade in hindsight could be dropped down to a C. If he can come back and set himself straight (body and actions), then his grade may return to the original A. Overall, the 2010 Ravens’ draft was kind of a disappointment. I think it should be dropped down to a B.

First Round Picks From Last Five Years: Michael Oher OT, Joe Flacco QB, Ben Grubbs OG, Haloti Ngata NT

2010 Stat Leaders
Joe Flacco  306-489  62.6%  3622 YDS  7.4 YPA  25 TD  10 INT  93.6 RTG

Ray Rice  307 ATT  1220 YDS  4.0 AVG  50 LNG  5 TD

Anquan Boldin  64 REC  837 YDS  13.1 AVG  61 LNG  7 TD

Billy Cundiff  26-29  89.7%  49 LNG

Ray Lewis  139 TCK

Terrell Suggs  11 SCK

Ed Reed  8 INT

Out of Season Storylines (Because there is no offseason)