GTripp0012
12-12-2008, 08:33 PM
Out of all the tape I grinded through this season, the job the Ravens OL did against us really impressed me the most. Yes, they used a lot of max protect schemes to simplify the game for Joe Flacco. Yeah, the Redskins didn't get real creative, and yes, Flacco struggled. But the Ravens OL won all of their one on one matchups in this game.
From left to right, the Ravens OL is comprised of:
Left Tackle: Jared Gaither, a 2nd year player from Maryland, who was a 7th round draft selection of the Ravens in 2007. Played on the same line as Stephon Heyer. Gaither looks like a franchise left tackle in the making. He's strong against both the run and the pass, and doesn't lose his base, against even the most experienced rushers. The thing about Gaither was that when the Ravens drafted him, they weren't looking for anything more than a depth guy, maybe a developmental prospect. Boy, did they strike it rich here.
Redskin Prospectus: This is what the Redskins were wishing that Stephon Heyer would become, but it's not happening. Gaither is clearly more developed at this point, and probably just better. The Redskins do not have a Jared Gaither on the roster, and likely will not find one in the seventh round. This guy was a top two round talent who fell in the draft for god-knows-why.
This is the kind of guy though, who the Redskins could find in the first round in 2009, and exactly what they should be looking for, especially if Virginia just happens to produce a first round OT in their backyard....Vinny are you reading this?
Left Guard: Ben Grubbs, a 2nd year player from Auburn, a 1st round selection (29th overall) in 2007 by the Ravens. Grubbs is the best lineman on the team, and he should be a probowler this year. He's the only lineman this season I've seen who looked like he could block Anthony Montgomery one on one consistently (I say looked like, because he always had help). He's well beyond his years in terms of understanding the offense and offensive line play in the NFL.
Redskins Prospectus: Grubbs wasn't a surprise, he was simply available when the Ravens picked, and is exactly who the draft analysts thought he was. If the Redskins want a Ben Grubbs, they'll have to target a top guard in a draft who fits their offensive identity (which is a smaller, more athletic lineman, with good fundamentals and feet, not necessarily with any experience pulling and trapping). They won't pick in the 2009 draft in the area where this guy has good value, so we're looking to 2010 for this guy.
Center: Jason Brown, a fourth year player who was a 4th round selection by the Ravens. Brown is the relative weak link of the line, but he's above average as far as Centers go, seems to handle the line calls and other responsibilities well, and although he got beaten by Montgomery once or twice, he didn't make any errors and kept fighting in pass protection to give his QB a chance.
Jason Brown's contract expires after the season, I believe, and he would be an intriguing FA pickup for Center next year. Of course, the last time we grabbed Baltimore's Center after he was eligible for free agency, we ended up with Casey Rabach.
Redskins Prospectus: I would consider making a play on Jason Brown in free agency, he's better than Rabach was in Baltimore, but I also don't think the Center situation is solved for the next 5 years if we do sign him. He's a better stopgap than Jansen would be, but since Jansen is already guaranteed money for the next three seasons, he's actually the cost effective solution at C.
The other point is that we might already have our Jason Brown in Chad Rinehart. If the target date to have a rebuilt OL is 2010, well, Rinehart should be in our starting lineup by then and will likely be at least as good as a Guard/Center as Brown is.
Right Guard: Chris Chester, a second round pick of the Ravens in 2006, now a third year player. Chester was garnering some first round talk in the days leading up to the draft, and was a Center at Oklahoma, but has found his niche as a Guard for the Ravens. Chester isn't and will never be Ben Grubbs, but he's versatile, gives the Ravens two guards who can pull so that they can run plays either way, and is, like the rest of the line, strong in pass protection.
He can move to Center if the Ravens don't want to re-sign Jason Brown.
Redskins Prospectus: The Redskins, hopefully can use the late rounds of the draft in 2009 to find a Chris Chester type. Chester is good, but he's not Grubbs-good, and the dropoff from the Chester's of the draft, a 2nd round pick, to the say Jamey Richard (Colts) of the draft, a 7th round pick, is very, very small. When you take an interior OL player in the first two rounds, you want to get Grubbs, you don't want to get a Chester, or a Jake Grove (Raiders) who doesn't make pro bowls, those guys are a dime a dozen in the draft.
You also risk taking a player on the OL who isn't any good at all in the last few rounds, but I trust the college scouting department to get it right, and get us a guy who can start by his 2nd year in the league, like Chester.
Right Tackle: Willie Anderson, of Bengals fame, a multi-time pro-bowler who apparently couldn't make THIS Bengals line, was released and picked up and has gone on to much better things with the Ravens. He's still a top-end right tackle. I understand the Bengals not wanting to pay the back end of his contract, and severing ties now as opposed to later, as long as the Bengals don't try to act like this is a case of addition by subtraction. Anderson is one of the biggest reasons that Joe Flacco is having an above average rookie year.
Redskins Prospectus: This is the Ravens equivalent of Chris Samuels. Whether or not Samuels ever makes the move across the field depends on how quickly the Redskins find and draft a LT prospect. At RT, a 35 year old Samuels, if he can stay healthy, figures to be just as good as Anderson has been for the Ravens.
Utility Tackle: Adam Terry was a 2005 second round draft pick out of Syracuse by the Ravens, who was supposed to be the Right Tackle who succeeded Tony Pashos. Terry started last year, but wasn't adequate, so the Ravens went out and got Anderson. Rather than getting frusterated and blaming Terry for whatever went wrong with the offense, the Ravens calmly moved Terry to the bench, but kept him in the gameplan often. He STILL might be the RT of the future, but his contract expires after the season.
Redskins Prospectus: If Gaither is who we dream Heyer can become, Terry is what Heyer already is: a potential RT of the future, who is currently best served as a third tackle. I don't know if Heyer will ever become any more than this, because I don't know whether Heyer is just an adjustment or two away from becoming a Franchise OT, or if he's on the wrong path and needs to be totally torn down and rebuilt to have success. I do know that if it's the latter with him, the Redskins are not the organization to help him enjoy his full potential.
This article is a good one regarding the differences between the Ravens and the Redskins:
The difference between the Redskins and the Ravens? Ozzie Newsome - Hog Heaven (http://redskinshogheaven.com/2008/12/the-difference-between-the-redskins-and-the-ravens-ozzie-newsome.html)
From left to right, the Ravens OL is comprised of:
Left Tackle: Jared Gaither, a 2nd year player from Maryland, who was a 7th round draft selection of the Ravens in 2007. Played on the same line as Stephon Heyer. Gaither looks like a franchise left tackle in the making. He's strong against both the run and the pass, and doesn't lose his base, against even the most experienced rushers. The thing about Gaither was that when the Ravens drafted him, they weren't looking for anything more than a depth guy, maybe a developmental prospect. Boy, did they strike it rich here.
Redskin Prospectus: This is what the Redskins were wishing that Stephon Heyer would become, but it's not happening. Gaither is clearly more developed at this point, and probably just better. The Redskins do not have a Jared Gaither on the roster, and likely will not find one in the seventh round. This guy was a top two round talent who fell in the draft for god-knows-why.
This is the kind of guy though, who the Redskins could find in the first round in 2009, and exactly what they should be looking for, especially if Virginia just happens to produce a first round OT in their backyard....Vinny are you reading this?
Left Guard: Ben Grubbs, a 2nd year player from Auburn, a 1st round selection (29th overall) in 2007 by the Ravens. Grubbs is the best lineman on the team, and he should be a probowler this year. He's the only lineman this season I've seen who looked like he could block Anthony Montgomery one on one consistently (I say looked like, because he always had help). He's well beyond his years in terms of understanding the offense and offensive line play in the NFL.
Redskins Prospectus: Grubbs wasn't a surprise, he was simply available when the Ravens picked, and is exactly who the draft analysts thought he was. If the Redskins want a Ben Grubbs, they'll have to target a top guard in a draft who fits their offensive identity (which is a smaller, more athletic lineman, with good fundamentals and feet, not necessarily with any experience pulling and trapping). They won't pick in the 2009 draft in the area where this guy has good value, so we're looking to 2010 for this guy.
Center: Jason Brown, a fourth year player who was a 4th round selection by the Ravens. Brown is the relative weak link of the line, but he's above average as far as Centers go, seems to handle the line calls and other responsibilities well, and although he got beaten by Montgomery once or twice, he didn't make any errors and kept fighting in pass protection to give his QB a chance.
Jason Brown's contract expires after the season, I believe, and he would be an intriguing FA pickup for Center next year. Of course, the last time we grabbed Baltimore's Center after he was eligible for free agency, we ended up with Casey Rabach.
Redskins Prospectus: I would consider making a play on Jason Brown in free agency, he's better than Rabach was in Baltimore, but I also don't think the Center situation is solved for the next 5 years if we do sign him. He's a better stopgap than Jansen would be, but since Jansen is already guaranteed money for the next three seasons, he's actually the cost effective solution at C.
The other point is that we might already have our Jason Brown in Chad Rinehart. If the target date to have a rebuilt OL is 2010, well, Rinehart should be in our starting lineup by then and will likely be at least as good as a Guard/Center as Brown is.
Right Guard: Chris Chester, a second round pick of the Ravens in 2006, now a third year player. Chester was garnering some first round talk in the days leading up to the draft, and was a Center at Oklahoma, but has found his niche as a Guard for the Ravens. Chester isn't and will never be Ben Grubbs, but he's versatile, gives the Ravens two guards who can pull so that they can run plays either way, and is, like the rest of the line, strong in pass protection.
He can move to Center if the Ravens don't want to re-sign Jason Brown.
Redskins Prospectus: The Redskins, hopefully can use the late rounds of the draft in 2009 to find a Chris Chester type. Chester is good, but he's not Grubbs-good, and the dropoff from the Chester's of the draft, a 2nd round pick, to the say Jamey Richard (Colts) of the draft, a 7th round pick, is very, very small. When you take an interior OL player in the first two rounds, you want to get Grubbs, you don't want to get a Chester, or a Jake Grove (Raiders) who doesn't make pro bowls, those guys are a dime a dozen in the draft.
You also risk taking a player on the OL who isn't any good at all in the last few rounds, but I trust the college scouting department to get it right, and get us a guy who can start by his 2nd year in the league, like Chester.
Right Tackle: Willie Anderson, of Bengals fame, a multi-time pro-bowler who apparently couldn't make THIS Bengals line, was released and picked up and has gone on to much better things with the Ravens. He's still a top-end right tackle. I understand the Bengals not wanting to pay the back end of his contract, and severing ties now as opposed to later, as long as the Bengals don't try to act like this is a case of addition by subtraction. Anderson is one of the biggest reasons that Joe Flacco is having an above average rookie year.
Redskins Prospectus: This is the Ravens equivalent of Chris Samuels. Whether or not Samuels ever makes the move across the field depends on how quickly the Redskins find and draft a LT prospect. At RT, a 35 year old Samuels, if he can stay healthy, figures to be just as good as Anderson has been for the Ravens.
Utility Tackle: Adam Terry was a 2005 second round draft pick out of Syracuse by the Ravens, who was supposed to be the Right Tackle who succeeded Tony Pashos. Terry started last year, but wasn't adequate, so the Ravens went out and got Anderson. Rather than getting frusterated and blaming Terry for whatever went wrong with the offense, the Ravens calmly moved Terry to the bench, but kept him in the gameplan often. He STILL might be the RT of the future, but his contract expires after the season.
Redskins Prospectus: If Gaither is who we dream Heyer can become, Terry is what Heyer already is: a potential RT of the future, who is currently best served as a third tackle. I don't know if Heyer will ever become any more than this, because I don't know whether Heyer is just an adjustment or two away from becoming a Franchise OT, or if he's on the wrong path and needs to be totally torn down and rebuilt to have success. I do know that if it's the latter with him, the Redskins are not the organization to help him enjoy his full potential.
This article is a good one regarding the differences between the Ravens and the Redskins:
The difference between the Redskins and the Ravens? Ozzie Newsome - Hog Heaven (http://redskinshogheaven.com/2008/12/the-difference-between-the-redskins-and-the-ravens-ozzie-newsome.html)