Daily Camp Updates

[Jeff23]

Jeff, i'd love to hear some updates from my ravens. I'd really appreciate any info.


What i am most interested about is the O-Line and who the kicker is gonna be. I hope we keep Tucker and freaking cut Billy Cundiff.

[Icness]

jeff--this got posted Thursday:
http://football.realgm.com/src_article/ ... re_ravens/

shameless self promo. I agree on the kicking front, loved Tucker in the 2nd preseason game. I tweeted my love for him about 3 times.

The OL is the biggest issue, esp. tackle. I don't trust McKinnie to get/stay in shape and I don't like Oher anywhere but RT. Osemele is a right-side player only too IMO. Ramon Harewood has been awful in preseason.

Really liked what I saw from Christian Thompson and I know the coaches are pleased. He's not ready yet but there is your Ed Reed replacement. Hope he finishes preseason strong and does at least as well this year as Nakamuri was in past in that role.

[Icness]

^^
Thanks for that.

Could not ask for more.

How about playing the Browns twice in three weeks

Watching the game replay now, and man was the speed on the defensive front impressive. They might get the NFL record for sacks this year, which is 72 by the '84 Bears. Special teams were impressive. Lots of penalties though, but even more on the Browns who looked fricking awful.

Line on the opener jumped up to Eagles -8.5, opened at 7.5 where I saw it. I'll take the Eagles and the over (+/- 41)

[Jeff23]

jeff--this got posted Thursday:
http://football.realgm.com/src_article/ ... re_ravens/

shameless self promo. I agree on the kicking front, loved Tucker in the 2nd preseason game. I tweeted my love for him about 3 times.

The OL is the biggest issue, esp. tackle. I don't trust McKinnie to get/stay in shape and I don't like Oher anywhere but RT. Osemele is a right-side player only too IMO. Ramon Harewood has been awful in preseason.

Really liked what I saw from Christian Thompson and I know the coaches are pleased. He's not ready yet but there is your Ed Reed replacement. Hope he finishes preseason strong and does at least as well this year as Nakamuri was in past in that role.

Thanks a lot. I tried to read your preview of the ravens a few days ago but all i get is this:

[aggo]

Preview works for me. Try another browser or your phone.



Icness-

What makes you do high on the eagles this year? You were quite prophetic and steadfast on on them last year on not making the playoffs, but Vick now looks as fragile as ever and that team under Andy has never really played well with the pressure. I also believe their WRs are a big hidden issue.

I think most insiders agree they have the best dline (better than my giants) is that the biggest reason why?

[Icness]

1st, the Chrome browser is the issue. I'm having it too and it's been sent up the chain. It works fine in IE and apparently in Firefox too, whatever the hell that is.

On the Eagles:
--love their defense everywhere but safety. Getting rid of Samuel restores order; they had three outside corners and none of them can play a lick in the slot. Led them to play more zone, which takes away from Asomugha and DRC's strengths in man coverage. Their LBs were not good at dropping deep in coverage last year to help out against TEs and speedy slot guys (Victor Cruz comes to mind). Mychael Kendricks is already better in coverage than anyone they had and Brian Rolle looks more comfortable too.

--they have excellent talent at the offensive skill positions. Maclin is one of the best all-around receivers in the league. DJax is one of the best deep threats, albeit a head case of one. Shady McCoy might lead the league in rushing and rushing TDs, plus he's good for 50+ catches. Brent Celek is a very good all-around TE. Jason Avant is a different kind of slot guy, bigger and tougher. The divisional defenses don't match up with them at all. Team speed is unbelievable; Maclin was the 100M champ in the Big 12 and he's the slow guy here.

My biggest Iggles worries:
depth at OL, which is awful. I think Dunlap will be okay at LT and Bell makes a good swing tackle, but inside, yikes!
depth at WR, which is even worse beyond the top 3 than the OL depth
safety play, and depth there too.
Andy Reid trying too hard
Clutch kicking, more of an unknown than a real issue

--I think Vick is getting that he needs to be more of a distributor and less of a scorer, in point guard terms. I know people very close to him and they tell me he really evaluated where he needed to improve and how he could help his team. I've never heard that from him before. I still worry a lot about his ability to play more than 12 games though.

--the interior OL will only be better. Last year it was 3 new starters at G-C-G and two of them were rookies. IMO that will translate into better up-the-gut pass protection and fewer runs for loss, which they ranked last in last year (% of runs that lost yards).

--I think their return units will improve. Only three teams had worse average starting field position off kickoffs last year. That's a highly fluid stat from year to year and it's one of the easiest ways to find surprise teams, i.e. Arizona nearly making the playoffs last year. If they bump up the return average to the NFL average, that's two less first downs per game they need to get in scoring position.

[sunshinekids99]

I suspect we're going to see all sorts of formations and groupings, from sets were Hernandez is the only player outside to empty backfields with 3 WRs and both Hernandez & Gronk split out too. I wouldn't count on any Pats WR except Welker to get more than 40 catches for the year, but the top 2 TEs will combine for 200.

That's a bold prediction. I think it will be much more split than that.

You'll see Lloyd over 40 and Gaffney will be close as well.

Or not. Surprised to see Jab go, cause in his first go round he fit in well with the team and Brady seemed to trust him. I know he had some leg issues, but didn't think they were significant.

[Jeff23]

Great ravens preview Icness, terrific stuff.

[NW7]

Now that the preseason is over(or just about!), what young players stood out the most to you Iceness? Who are some not so obvious young players that we see contribute this year? In the next year or two?

[alwayslovetheceltics]

gaffney is hurt. I think he is back sometime after week 1 when contracts are not guaranteed and he is ready to go. probably cut fortson, try to sneak him on to the practice squad and pick gaffney back up at that point

Or not. Surprised to see Jab go, cause in his first go round he fit in well with the team and Brady seemed to trust him. I know he had some leg issues, but didn't think they were significant.

[TSE]

Now that the preseason is over(or just about!), what young players stood out the most to you Iceness? Who are some not so obvious young players that we see contribute this year? In the next year or two?

Well for the Lions young players that might not be well known you can look out for DE Willie Young a 2010 7th round pick, or CB Bill Bentley from this draft. WR Titus Young could have a breakout year.

Another guy I spotted was the Cardinals' RB William Powell, he looked like a guy that was having an out of body experience during the preseason, I'm interested in keeping an eye on him. Oh and Russell Wilson of course.