I have been blogging on and off for about 6 years, and I truly believe that this will be my favorite entry.

It’s not uncommon for a successful coach to have his staff move on to head coaching and front office jobs. There has been some very famous “coaching trees” in the NFL past. Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells, and Bill Belichik are the ones we all think of. I am not sure if being named “Bill” is a prerequisite to establishing your own coaching tree. In these cases, they all had a high number of staffers go on to prestigious positions.

In the history of the NFL, there has never been another PLAYER responsible for his own coaching tree, other than Ray Lewis. Since drafted in 1996, he has been making defensive coordinators look like head-coaching material. There are currently five coaches who stepped in head-coaching jobs after coaching Ray Lewis and his staple defense. Jack Del Rio was a linebacker coach that jumped to a head gig with Jacksonville. Marvin Lewis won a Super Bowl with the Ravens and later took a head job with division rival Cincinnati Bengals. It is worth noting that Ray was the MVP of that Super Bowl and that defense still regarded as one of the best defenses ever assembled. Proof of that is that this Super Bowl winning team went 6 straight weeks in the regular season without an offensive touchdown. Mike Nolan coached Ray for three seasons and went on to be coach of the San Francisco 49ers. San Fran ended up hiring Mike Singletary who is the “Ray Lewis before Ray Lewis”. He too coached Ray for a few seasons as a line backer coach.

Most recently and probably the most famous will be Rex Ryan. Rex had been targeted for head coaching for years. His dad, Buddy, was the defensive coordinator of the other defense that is mentioned as the “best ever”. 1986 Chicago Bears. Rex took the New York Jets job last year and has been in the spot light ever since. He is making his name for himself for his off field antics, unconventional coaching methods, and his unique relationship with the media.

Ray’s influence even spills over to some players that have come and gone. Adalius Thomas signed a huge deal to quarterback the Patriots’ defense. Things never worked out the way it was planned. AD was cut recently and is talking to teams about where he will resurface. Bart Scott followed Rex to the Jets to be their “Ray Lewis”, and last year their defense was #1, but Bart was not Ray. I will always love Bart for his toughness and of course that head on hit on Big Ben that left Pittsburgh fans with their jaws on the floor hoping that their sexual predator would get back up. Bart and AD were both low draft picks or undrafted. They saw Ray’s work ethic, he taught them how to succeed.

Well the draft has come and gone and one thing that people rarely do when they make predictions, is go back and revisit them. My previous entry stated that I thought the Ravens needed to bolster their secondary with the early round draft picks. Did they? No. However, they addressed a need that indirectly helps their secondary. They did that by drafting Sergio Kindle who will give us that speed on the outside to get us to the QB quicker than last year. That alone will help support the secondary who won't have to cover for as long and will be able to be a little bit more aggressive. Last year the Ravens did not get to the QB like traditional Ravens defenses have in the past. They only sacked the QB 32 times, which is the second fewest the Ravens have ever had. Added pressure on the QB = hurried decisions by said QB = better secondary coverage and less big plays

Then by drafting "Mount" Cody to plug up our middle, we now have three guys (Kelly Gregg is often hurt and is 33) in the defense line middle that can stop the run, put added pressure on the QB, and free up our roving LB's and Safeties. Thats when this defense is at it's best. I was starting to worry that our defense was just starting to look old, but this draft surely injected some youth into the group.

I did think they needed a TE, which they thought that as well to take two TE's back to back. This will ensure that no matter what happens to Todd Heap, they have coverage. So I was correct about that. I think we should say that I was right about the whole draft as their moves did address the secondary...KINDA! I absolutely love the draft (though I don't get caught up in mock picks and etc), but it does make me miss football and makes me wish that kickoff was next Sunday. Four full, long months.

Well I would love to be able to post an entry about how much I love the Ravens first round pick last night. And how this guy is going to be exactly what the Ravens need. Instead we get to talk about how they were involved in the most puzzling pick of the night. In case you missed, Baltimore traded their 25th pick to Denver for a 2nd, 3rd, and a 4th round pick. Denver then used the 25th pick to select Tim Tebow, one of the most intriguing prospects to ever come out of college and enter the draft. It’s a puzzling pick because no one is really sure how the Broncos plan on using him, considering Kyle Orton had a good year last year and they have already acquired Brady Quinn in the off season. Not to mention, they gave up quite a bit to get him (I understand they had been trading all night so they had some extra picks). I do think that the Patriots planned on taking Tebow but they were just trading down until the other QB’s started going to make their move. McDaniels knows how the Pats think, and it’s obvious, he’s trying to think like them.

Ok this is a Ravens blog, what could this mean for the Ravens. Did the Ravens make the trade because 1) there was nobody on the board that they felt was worth the 25th pick or 2) they looked at getting the picks back that they gave up for Anquan? My thought is it was a combination of both. I think they were intrigued with Dez Bryant falling to them and once Dallas traded to 24 to swipe him, they felt there is enough secondary help that should be sitting there in 15-20 picks.

I have decided who I WANT the Ravens to get. He was there at 25 and is still on the board. The league saw what a defense can do last year with a shut down corner so that is trendy pick, so I say they go safety and get TAYLOR MAYS! Most projected that he wouldn’t make it out of the first round, so the fact that he is still there makes it hard to not get my hopes up (like they were for Dez Bryant). But I love the idea of having another stud safety to learn from Ed Reed and be our cornerstone for when Ed does retire, whether it’s after this year or in 3 years.

Really quick on the new draft format, I love it. So far…

Recently I found the Baltimore Ravens ranked #2 best in the league when it comes to the "best and worst war rooms in the NFL". It was computed based on your picks and how many starts the player has compared to similar draft positions, etc. Ozzie Newsome is already known as one of the better draft day GM's in the league (forgetting about when he passed on Boldin the first time). I have no idea how much stock to put into this ranking, but I will admit that it offers some confidence that Ozzie will continue to do right for the team. Now what is right for the team?????

If I had it my way, I'd go CB in the first no question. It's awful that Ladarius Webb got hurt as bad as he did, just as he was turning into what we needed. Now there is worry that he won't even be ready at the start of the season. I feel the CB position has been a weakness to the Ravens ever since Chris McAllister's decline and Samari Rolle's time here wasn't anything more than irritating. And Rolle version 2.0 isn't working great either (Chris Carr). The corners were just bad to start the year last year but did get better down the stretch, right before they digressed again once Webb and Washington went down. This draft would be a great one to get a shut down CB with that late first round pick because some projections have as many as 6 CB's going in the first round.

After CB, some areas that concern me are Safety and D-End. With Ed Reed flirting with retirement for the second straight year, you have to assume he's not going to be here a ton longer, finding his replacement in the second to come in and learn from one of the best ever is very appealing to me. However, more immediate is our lack of defensive end pressure. I'm looking for Paul Kruger (99 Draft Pick) to start filling a roll as D-End, but they still to have a traditional pass rusher to create havoc on the ends, we have the havoc in the middle. I also believe the team feels they need to address TE as Mr. Heap is not his old self. Offensive line is always a place that you look to improve, and I wouldnt be shocked if the Ravens take some O-Line help later on in the draft.


That is just what I would like to see just on the drafting side, but there are some moves I wouldnt mind seeing them make. Gaither out for a first or high second is intriguing and I wouldnt mind seeing Troy Smith get traded for some value either. Though I like him, he doesnt wanna be in Baltimore, so let him go, just get something back for him! This league is full of backup QBs. Why do I seem to be the only person that wants Kelley Washington to re-sign? He was so clutch on third down, and he doesnt dropped balls thrown at his numbers on forth down when the game is on the line. Cough Cough. Mark Clayton is lucky the Ravens got their NE revenge in the playoffs.

A lot of times big free agent signings or trades have a certain iffyness to them (I'm already making up words). When the Ravens dealt their 3rd and 4th round picks to the Cardinals in exchange for Anquan Boldin and a 5th rounder, the general consensus has been anything but iffy. This was a move that the Ravens have had to make as they have been hounded for years with the lack of a strong #1 receiver.

Boldin becoming a Raven seems to have been in the cards (pun intended) since the 2003 draft when Ozzie Newsome was targeting him but did not pull the trigger fast enough. Ray Lewis started the advocation for Boldin last year over text messages with Anquan. That would have been a good tweet though. Boldin didn't hide his excitement about becoming a Raven. According to Kurt Warner he is the "Offensive Ray Lewis". It seems to be clear to all involved that Anquan is perfect candidate to "Play like a Raven".

The "Quan Deal" overshadowed another important move to bolster their receiving corp. Signing Donte Stallworth for under one million (but incentive heavy) is an absolute steal. He made a mistake, will be on his best behavior, and he can still fly. He just ran a 4.4. It was just two seasons ago that he signed that $35 million contract. Now we can't forget Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton, though I would have much rather moved on from Clayton and stuck with Kelley Washington. Washington was clutch last year on third downs while Clayton had a ball hit him in the numbers while still, to lose the first showdown with the Patriots.

Well Ravens nation, keep checking back and get your Raven fix until the season begins. Till then let's just hope that Boldins debut is as good as when he debuted in the NFL. When he torched the Lions for 217 yards. Heeyyyyyo!