Introducing Courtney Upshaw

                First off both Tyler and Matt in their draft prediction mentioned the chance of the Ravens trading back out of the first round. That is exactly what the Ravens did with their 29^th pick in this past weekend’s NFL Draft. The Ravens traded the pick to the Minnesota Vikings in return they received the 35^th pick and the 98^th pick. With the pick from the Ravens the Vikings selected Harrison Smith a Safety from Notre Dame.

                Watching the draft there was a sense that this was going to happen. Don’ta Hightower was taken by the Patriots at 25 a pick that all three of us here thought the Ravens wanted to make. Overall I am a fan of this as the Ravens were able to trade back 6 picks and get the guy who they most likely would have drafted at 29 anyways in Courtney Upshaw. With the other pick they received from the Vikings they took Gino Gradkowski a Center/Guard from Delaware. Gradkowski has the potential to be the Ravens Center of the future or at the very least provides some young and depth to the offensive line which is always a good thing.

Upshaw should fit right into the Ravens defense.

More following the jump.

Ravens Draft Preview: 1st Round Targets

With the first round of the draft being this coming Thursday its time to look at who the Ravens may select with the 29^th selection in the first round. I have looked through all of the mock drafts that I could find and these are the names that the experts have said the Ravens may pick.

Image from Wikipedia.

More after the break.

Breaking Down the Ravens 2012 Schedule

So as you have probably heard by now, the NFL schedule for 2012 was released Tuesday, as a part of a three hour TV special extravaganza on the Mothership. Usually by the third week of baseball season, Ravens fans are already dying for something to talk about as the Orioles are 2-15 and mathematically out of playoff contention. But with the Orioles in first place, this news about the Ravens is a nice little reminder that we have another exciting football season coming up this fall.

We knew the schedule would be tough after finishing in first place last year (and getting matched up with the AFC's other first place teams this year), as well as divisional matchups against the vaunted NFC East and a challening AFC West. So I'm going to break down the schedule game-by-game and give you a predicion of how I think the Ravens will finish up, and Matt and Vince will also chime in with their predictions.

Check out our game-by-game picks after the jump:

Early Look at Baltimore Ravens Offseason: Free Agency

As I sit here pondering what the Ravens need to do this off-season, I have to remind myself it hasn't even been a week since the Super Bowl. So much has yet to happen before 4 p.m., March 13th -- the official start of NFL free agency. With the NFL draft scheduled for April 26-28, it's a crapshoot trying to figure out where all of the free agents will end up at this point.

Nonetheless, I thought it would be interesting to look at all the Ravens free agents and take a look at the entire league list of them, and prematurely pencil in a few that I'd like to see in the purple and black next season. As we approach combine season in a few weeks, O's, Bros and Natty Bohs will take a closer look at the draft prospects that look intriguing and "play like a Raven" (just kidding, I feel we hear that phrase thrown around about each player they sign. Although it may be indeed be true)


Could Ray Rice actually don a new Uni in 2012?
Credit: ESPN.com

Without further ado, here are your Ravens 2012 free agents:

Unrestricted
Brendon Ayanbadejo, Reserve Linebacker, former Pro-Bowl ST, active tweeter
Matt Birk, Starting Former Pro-Bowl Center, Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year
Ben Grubbs, Starting Pro-Bowl Guard, did not block for Cam Newton at Auburn
Andre Gurode, Reserve Guard/Center, got stomped on once by one Albert Haynesworth
Jarrett Johnson, Universally regarded underrated Starting Outside Linebacker
Jameel McClain, Starting Middle Linebacker, Repping the Orangemen now that McNabb is done-zo
Brandon McKinney, Reserve Defensive lineman, have a feeling Pagano is going to grab him ASAP
Haruki Nakamura, Reserve Safety/Special teams, resides in wonderful Carroll County #whatsup
Cory Redding, Starting Defensive End, dubious honor of being on the 0-16 Lions
Ray Rice, Starting Pro-Bowl Running Back, Coverboy of new NFL Blitz video game
Kris Wilson, Reserve Tight End, swags out in postgame interviews
Tom Zbikowski, Reserve Safety/Special teams, not a silent Z

Restricted
Dannell Ellerbe, Reserve Inside Linebacker, posterboy of Harbs doghouse
Lardarius Webb, Starting Cornerback, caught in the Webb, deserved Pro-Bowl bid
Cary Williams, Starting Cornerback, serious note: interesting story to this man's life

*Sidebar* Because of the new CBA in the NFL some slight changes occured to restricted free agents. Here's a brief summary of how it works, and what the Ravens must do to keep Webb and Williams (I'm ok with losing Ellerbe, more on that later)

The Ravens must tender an offer to the RFAs. Once done, another team can sign the RFA to an RFA offer sheet, but the Ravens then have 7 days to match that offer sheet and retain the player under the terms of that offer sheet. If the Ravens were to choose not to match the offer sheet, then they would receive compensation based on which level of RFA tender was made to the player.

There are 3 RFA tenders (the new CBA did away with the “high” tender of 1st and 3rd round draft picks as compensation):

1st Round Tender: allows the team to receive the other team’s 1st round pick
2nd Round Tender: allows the team to receive the other team’s 2nd round pick
Low Tender: allows the team to receive a draft pick equal to the round in which the player was originally drafted or the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) for an undrafted player

Thanks to an article at ravens24x7.com for this nifty little summary.

So now that we're all clear on that, let's look at some names that make sense (at least in my purple-tinted view of the world) as Ravens for next season. (click read more below)

No more Ricky, what's next for the Ravens?

The Ravens kept three running backs on their 53 man roster throughout the 2011 season, those being Ray Rice, Ricky Williams and Anthony Allen. With Williams announcing his plans to retire earlier today an emerging question is who the Ravens primary back-up to Ray Rice will be going into training camp.

The first option that the Ravens have is to use what they currently have. Outside of the starter Rice, the other running backs the Ravens currently have under contract are Anthony Allen and Damien Berry. Berry was an undrafted free agent out of Miami who was on the practice squad for the entire 2011 season and Allen, a seventh round draft pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, was only active for the first five games of the season and had only three carries for eight yards. I doubt that the Ravens will be content going into the 2012 season with three carries from a running back who was primarily a triple option back in college as their primary back-up.

For some reason, I don't think Damien Berry has a future with the Ravens
Photo: Baltimore Sun

The first place that the Ravens could look is in free agency. They could go a similar route to what they did last offseason in signing an established veteran. A few names in the free agent pool that popped out to me were Chester Taylor, Michael Bush, Tashard Choice, LenDale White, Ryan Grant, Ladainian Tomlinson and Le’Ron McClain. Of these I have a few favorites. Ryan Grant is a back who had a few successful years in Green Bay before a season ending injury in 2010 lost him his starting job. Although he has a Super Bowl ring from the 2010 season with the Packers, he was on the IR for the entire season and may be hungry to win one himself. His numbers last year are similar to what Williams put up with the Ravens, so he may be ready to come in and fill the same role for the Ravens.

Other names that pop out include Le’Ron McClain and Chester Taylor, both former Ravens. McClain would be strictly a back-up running back due to last season’s addition of Pro Bowl fullback Vonta Leach. Taylor, had 13 carries for the Arizona Cardinals, so he may be a little past his prime and is probably not a viable option.

LaDainian Tomlinson has been in the backfield with the Jets the last two seasons. He moved to the Jets with the primary goal of winning a Super Bowl that has evaded him on his otherwise Hall of Fame career. Michael Bush is a younger option and has been replaced by Darren McFadden in Oakland. However with McFadden returning from injury the Raiders may want to keep Bush as a safety option. (More after the jump)

Run Ricky, Run. Into retirement again

Well. Ricky Williams, who just squeaked by the 10k career rushing mark this season with Baltimore, is retiring according to multiple sources. Not too much to speak about in regards to his time here in Baltimore, signed after Willis McGahee was cut in the offseason Ricky ran for 444 yards and 2 TDs. Biggest game in the purple and black? December 4th against Cleveland (could have guessed it'd be against the Browns) when he went 16/76/1.

Will he be missed? In my opinion, meh. He could return apparently, my guess is he wants to miss offseason workouts and some TC. Wasn't a problem in the locker room by all accounts, veteran guy who showed some occasional moves. But overall I'd be excited to see Anthony Allen get a look at being Ray's #2 and groom him in.

If this really is the end, it was nice to see Ricky here for a year in the twilight of his career. We're used to that as Orioles fans, it was weird seeing one on the Ravens who was actually not completely washed up.
 
-MVP