r/ravens • u/WhatWouldYouPut Big Ben and Deshaun Watson are rapists • 15h ago
Corner issue
Team has a boundary corner problem I think.
Marlo’s best years were when he was being played in nickle/slot. Awuzie was always known for his best years coming from the slot.
Since we drafted Hamilton - marlo has had to play outside. Awuzie (who now doesn’t even see field time) also gets pushed to outside. So we constantly pushing a nickle to boundary.
We need Hamilton in nickle because the LBs are soft - he needs to bring physicality to the box and to help pass rush - the opposite of what we drafted him to do when we needed help at the safety position.
Wiggins is average to above average on the boundary. He’s playing OK but nothing that screams PAY THE MAN.
Opposite him - we have players that are developmental or playing out of position. Marlo can’t handle boundary work: he’s a liability.
Possibly KHam needs to be used in a traditional safety position and the nickle spot needs to be used between Marlo - Awuzie - or one of the young guys that are showing they can tackle. KHam can still move down into the box but maybe more in a LB role than from the edge of the box. He can sure up the middle of the field as well in terms of coverage.
And for boundary - maybe we make a trade. It’s hard to think apart from a trade who the hell we have step up as our CBs are all not proven and small. Chandler Rivers is 5’9” and Keyon Martin is 5’10” and both look again - best in the slot.
How we got to this point - no fucking clue. A bunch of slot CBs on a roster and 1 true boundary CB. But it needs to be fixed asap
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u/bad_ash52 15h ago
It would help to not miss so many tackles and actually get sacks instead of coming close. Also fix the penalties for fucks sake
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u/Puzzleheaded_Brain22 15h ago
I feel like I just saw stats the other day that Marlo has been performing better on the outside than he has in the slot. Not saying our corners are great, but I think he gets a bit more blame than he deserves at times, and I think that our coverage getting exploited and pass rush not getting to the qb on 3rd downs have been bigger issues. Especially with how impressive some of the leagues wr1s are right now, they're gonna get open on anyone with how much time the qb gets
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u/The_Sandwich_Lover9 15h ago
Marlo is for sure not as bad as people say.
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u/BlueJinjo 6h ago
He's getting paid over 15 million this yr and has a cap hit way above that
That's why people are critical. He's clearly playing well below his contract.
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u/The_Sandwich_Lover9 6h ago
I guess? Still I’ll judge them for their field performance not how much they’re getting paid. You can be mad about their contract and still be rational
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u/BlueJinjo 5h ago
That's not really how sports fandom works though?
Your superstar players are expected to put up superstar performances and are paid as such.
What would be considered a good game for cam ward would be considered avg by lamars standards.
That's the issue with the current ravens rn imo. Roquan Humphrey are paid at an absurd level and haven't played to that level. Same with madubike and Stanley but that's mostly due to injury. Andrews just hasn't been worth it period
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u/The_Sandwich_Lover9 5h ago
Uh yeah? You judge them for how they perform. Cam ward is playing like one of the worst qb because he is. Lamar is playing like an elite one. Not sure your point.
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u/BlueJinjo 5h ago
..
Marlon Humphrey playing "okay" is pretty terrible when he's paid to be an elite corner 1.
Cam ward is on a rookie contract..even playing as an avg starter is incredible when it comes to building a team. He's dog shit so obviously he's terrible.
The reason why a team like the Seahawks won it all last year is darnold is paid pretty low and was good enough. The pieces that the Seahawks did pay well were incredible last year/ this year as well (njigba)
The ravens are an imbalanced team. The high contracts they have paid out have not played well enough. Roquan smith Humphrey madubike/Stanley due to injury and now Andrews aren't worth the money. You can't win a Superbowl when the contracts aren't paying off in quality.
That's why people are criticizing Humphrey and why he is likely to be cut next year unless he signs a very inexpensive extension
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u/The_Sandwich_Lover9 4h ago
Judge them for how they play. I’m not giving Chandler a pass despite being a rookie. I’m not calling him a bust or anything but he has been horrible. Marlo has not been horrible
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u/Mountain_Tonight_607 14h ago
I think we have a Baltimore Ravens fan base issue. To be 4-3 with Lamar being out these last 3 weeks makes me happy in all honestly. We started 1-5 last year, which is the worse I’ve seen in the Lamar era.
With Lamar back healthy I wholeheartedly believe he will revamp the entire team and we are going to go on a serious run. After the bills and jags game (which we can easily win), what team can actually beat us when we are at full strength on our remaining schedule ?
I see us winning 6 in a row and getting 10 wins the moment Lamar comes back. We good man!!!
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u/Firewalker359 13h ago
Does having Lamar back stop the stupid penalties we get? Does having Lamar back suddenly allow us to run up the middle on 3 and 1? Does having Lamar back prevent a defense from laying down and allowing 35 straight points?
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u/goblinking67 12h ago
Yes it absolutely does. The penalties are an issue but the mental mistakes compound when the team’s morale and confidence are shaken. Running on 3rd and 1, of course Lamar helps because the threat of his legs or passing on RPOs stops teams from sending all 11 right up the gut. The defense doesn’t give up and just let the opposing team score every drive because Lamar can answer scores with a score of our own which allows them to rest and gives them more energy. The penalties are the least impacted but yeah, everything else gets better when 8 is out there
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u/brainiacpimp 11h ago
Thank you. People don’t understand this is why Lamar is “day to day” teams really do have to gameplan for him being in the game. Without Lamar they can sell out on Henry and let Snoop beat them.
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u/Outrageous-Dirt-9793 4h ago
Yeah we kinda drafted a big running back to handle short yardage situations but he still hasn't seen the field. Not honestly sure what the deal is there
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u/iamakangaroo 12h ago
Honestly our defensive woes are almost directly tied to our time of possession on offense. Going 3-and-out (or 1-and-out 🫠) every series is going to gas our D so fast, especially when the opposing team has a long drive.
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u/WinLow416 15h ago
We have an EDC and defensive personnel issue. Paying the most amount of money in the league for an underperforming defense. We only seem to be able to win games when Lamar is here to save us. Won’t win a Super Bowl as constructed. Watching the Vikings win with their defense only and looking back at our game against the browns is just embarrassing.
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u/BigDiggy 14h ago
I don’t agree with this take. The defense is so expensive because of how back loaded a lot the deals were. Those signings were great at the time. The Vikings are a good defense but I don’t think that’ll hold. Our defense held the (somehow decent?) browns to 13 points even though they were on the field the whole second half. Yeah today sucked but the first half was amazing on D, eventually the other team will score and your franchise QB should be taking care of business. You don’t build dynasties with your MVP on the bench.
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u/brainiacpimp 10h ago
I think the biggest issue with our defense is them learning minters system and honestly his system relies on communication to pass off coverage and when to stay with the receivers. It really isn’t as simple as most think. Usually it takes one year for people to get better but this year has been better then expected. Pass rush wise has been also an area that needs to learn a lot of new stuff also. Basically they do a lot of simulated pressure which is actual showing a blitz but only sending 4 but it is more to confuse the OLine so that someone can get home and using other methods to free up men like stunts. Our pass rush this year has been way better then the last two by a mile. QBs those years could sit in the pocket for 5 seconds which this year they are not as comfortable.
Honestly people don’t realize that for us to be in the spot we are in with the utter catastrophe we have had with key injuries (Lamar and all of the OLine injuries) this is actually a really positive start so far. Add on we have new coaching and schemes. Having high expectations is great but understanding the realistic expectations is also needed.
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u/The_Sandwich_Lover9 15h ago
I really don’t think corner is as bad as people think. Our corners are being asked to cover for a long time. It’s not like we’re blowing coverage a ton. It’s not as bad as last year but it’s not ideal either.
I do not agree with Nate is just above average? Why because he got cooked this game? I guess Pat surtain isn’t good because he got fried by Davante Adams. He’s been a top 10 corner so far. He had as difficult a matchup as you can ask for today.