Comprehensive Mini Camp Notes

[TL24x7]

Details from this weekend's mini-camp by position here (http://www.profootball24x7.com/column_view.php?cid=29&id=4446&view=archive)

[festivus]

Thanks, TL. I've been checking the site all day waiting for this & it did not disappoint.

[Dave Lap]

Yeah thanks Tony. At last, an account of the minicamp that does more than gloss over a few players.

Psyched about: David Reed, Pitta, Dickson as well as our 2 #2 picks. Suggs returning to form, Flacco healthy and with one year more experience, Boldin, Stallworth, Heap feeling and looking good!

Concerned about: Kruger-starting to get a bad feeling about his future. I'll hold off making snap judgements until after training camp and the season though.

[Stealthbirds80]

Yeah thanks Tony. At last, an account of the minicamp that does more than gloss over a few players.

Psyched about: David Reed, Pitta, Dickson as well as our 2 #2 picks. Suggs returning to form, Flacco healthy and with one year more experience, Boldin, Stallworth, Heap feeling and looking good!

Concerned about: Kruger-starting to get a bad feeling about his future. I'll hold off making snap judgements until after training camp and the season though.

You took the quote of of my mouth. Great read as well Tony. I'm interested in the development of Kruger as well b/c the signing of Redding and the drafting of Kindle who was a college DE too might not bode to well for him. Project or not this defense is too stacked for a too long in the future project that Kruger is turning out to be. I'm just impatient I guess, but his draft slot should not be reserved for a year three or four player. One or two years max for development IMO.

[RavenScallywag]

Nice in depth notes...I'm only halfway through and have lots of opinions...

Interesting shakes in the WR competition...Boldin, Mason, Stallworth are locks, I can't see us carrying more than 5 WRs, but between Clayton, Reed, Marcus Smith, and Justin Harper, having a hard time cutting down to 2. Once again, a good thing. I think DWil is gone, Eron Riley gone, Rodelin headed to PSq.

It concerns me that the only mention you make of Oneil Cousins is the coaches and fans opinions, no reporting on performance. Anything?

I'll continue to be a Paul Kruger hopeful...I think he adjusts his regiment and finds a way to compensate for his added weight and slowness. If he can get a nice strong push to get around the OL...

Glad to hear Cary Williams is impressing, I've staked my reputation on him being the reason we didn't need to add a late round CB. That said, I'd feel a little more comfortable if we added Travis Fisher off a tryout.

I'm interested to see if McCrary's gig is just for TC or if he stays on with the team in a long-term capacity. I've always wanted to see him groomed for the DL coach job, but then again, not all good players make good coaches. Hoping to see him play a major role in the coaching and succeed.

[Mikerobe]

Great read Tony, thanks. I too am wondering if McCrary wil stay with the team after training camp. I've been advocating for years for the team to bring him in and let him work with the defensive endsand outside linebackers. As far as heart and determination are concerned there has never been another Raven that equaled Michael McCrary, Ray Lewis not withstanding. I think Mac can help all of the DE's and OLB's including Suggs.

[psuasskicker]

Thanks Tony, good stuff as usual.

This was by far the most encouraging thing for me...


Terrell Suggs re-commitment is apparent. He’s in better shape and quicker off the snap. If this camp is any indication, he also appears determined to reclaim that luster lost in 2009

- C -

[Rxdoxx]

Thanks Tony, great reading.

Couple of quick comments

Name changed to Eron Lang Syne ;)

and a word to Drew, great to hear you are in shape, think you would feel better now if you were last year?

[CRZA938]

"Terrell Suggs re-commitment is apparent. He’s in better shape and quicker off the snap. If this camp is any indication, he also appears determined to reclaim that luster lost in 2009"

This was by far the most encouraging thing for me...



- C -

Agreed. This will have a domino effect on the defense...

[RavenScallywag]

Suggs sounds VERY hungry...saying things like "last year will never happen again". That kind of attitude means a LOT of good things for our D.

[RavensInBrazil]

Thanks again, Tony, great report

I don't think I've ever been more pumped about this team around this time of year :ww:

[AirFlacco]

Thanks Tony.

I'm excited about the excitement at camp and Ray's comments.

This is like our SB team.

Can't wait to see Cody and Kindle who is super faster than JJ.

Ray sure is excited about them.

[bmorebirds_24]

Ok, so I haven't said much since our loss to the Colts...I've been on often to read but have been still pretty bitter since the loss. People get excited about the release of the schedule and draft, as do I, but I can't say to too much because I know hardly anything about college football (well the players).


Reading these mini camp notes has me overly excited for July. I like the sounds of a lot of things in these notes and am ready to put the pads on and getting ready for the big run.


One thing that mini camp can NOT dictate is how our coaches have improved in some areas. One that stabds out for me is Harbs and his clock management. I thought he was terrible and could improve.


Other then Cousins (assuming Gaither is NOT moved) who are our other back-up tackles?


A question I also have is did our D line-up in the 3-4 or the 4-3? Was it a mixture or did we have a set base D?

[RavenScallywag]

We can mix it up to give a 4-3 look, but we're a 3-4 D. The drafting of Cody and Kindle really sets up the 3-4 for long term.

Our DL is Redding, Gregg, and Ngata, our LBs are Suggs, JJ, Ray, and Ellerbe/Gooden/Ayanbedejo

We can sort of give a 4-3 flavor by having Suggs put his hand in the dirt and moving Ngata back inside to DT, shifting Ellerbe to SLB. But I don't think our base package involves 4 DL and 3 LBs when we can't go but 5 lockers in the locker room without hitting a good LB.

[TL24x7]

It concerns me that the only mention you make of Oneil Cousins is the coaches and fans opinions, no reporting on performance. Anything?


It is just hard to really qualify line play in OTA's since no one is wearing pads. Consequently I will defer to the coaches and accept their opinions as the correct assessment.

I can tell you that organizationally, the team's opinion of Cousins has improved. There were a few dissenters previously.

Fans will remember his performance against Pittsburgh and his false starts in other contests. But players improve. Time will tell once they suit up in July if Cousins has.

[Carey]

Suggs sounds VERY hungry...saying things like "last year will never happen again". That kind of attitude means a LOT of good things for our D.

Agreed, that quote stuck out for me, its very encouraging.

[RavenScallywag]

I had thought about that, with no contact, hard to tell if an OL looks good, unless he's falling over his feet, really out of shape, etc.

I guess that's the part that has me holding my breath on this whole Gaither/Oher/Cousins love triangle...The coaches really talk up Frank Walker a lot, despite constant fan hate. If Walker showed some improvement, I would chalk this off as public perception, but beat writers notice it too, and he never really fixed the issues. So when we all saw Cousins look pretty bad against the Steelers, and then there seems to be almost a campaign from the coaches to talk up Cousins in the offseason, just got me holding my breath to see if it's truth or just spin.

[Losac]

The thought of Cousins going against Lamarr Woodley twice this year has me terrified. If they do move Gaither I'd hope they'd sign a stop-gap veteran to play RT or at least pressure Cousins for playing time.

[RavenScallywag]

ok, now I'm getting confused...

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/blog/2010/05/demetrius_williams_stands_out_in_first_minicamp.html

TL's notes said that while DWil moved well, he dropped a ton of passes and just didn't look that good. But Jamison makes it sound like DWil was the standout WR from minicamp.

If he improves, then it could get REAL interesting. Harbaugh's notes should hopefully dispel the notion that Harbaugh just has it out for certain players.

[baltimore_hokie]

ok, now I'm getting confused...

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/blog/2010/05/demetrius_williams_stands_out_in_first_minicamp.html

TL's notes said that while DWil moved well, he dropped a ton of passes and just didn't look that good. But Jamison makes it sound like DWil was the standout WR from minicamp.

If he improves, then it could get REAL interesting. Harbaugh's notes should hopefully dispel the notion that Harbaugh just has it out for certain players.

I'll take TL's word every time. All those dopes at the Sun are clueless.

[Sua Sponte]

Thanks T

Any word on Arthur Jones, I don't think I have seen one thing about the big fella. I thought he was discribed as a possible sleeper that fell due to injury concerns. Has anybody heard any news on Jones

[TL24x7]

Hard to really gauge line play in OTA's but from what I saw of Jones, he isn't in the best of shape. That was a knock on him at Syracuse as well. Didn't look that overweight, just seemed to get winded. But I can't say I spent much time watching him closely.

[RavenScallywag]

in general, we've been hearing that a LOT of draft picks around the league were not in football shape at their first couple practices. This is just a further indictment of the "Combine focused" approach agents persuade their clients to take. Guys train themselves up for the events at the combine and individual drills at Pro Days, but they leave themselves completely out of shape to actually play the game because it's riskier in terms of injuries.