As one season comes to an end, here are some of my initial thoughts and questions for the Baltimore Ravens in 2011.

I guess I should preface this with that I am writing this not considering the potential NFL Lockout. You can read the arguments of the NFL Players’ Association, and the NFL at the links below:

NFLPA: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?id=5995362
NFL: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?id=6011712

Having me pontificate on what will happen in the negotiations for the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, and what impact that may have on the Ravens in 2011 would be a fruitless endeavor. Like everyone else, I will wait and see.

That out of the way, I do have plenty of thoughts and questions on the Ravens as the focus turns to next year.

1) For the 3rd consecutive season, the Ravens reached the playoffs and won at-least a game. For the 2nd time in 3 years (and the 3rd time since the 2002 season) Baltimore was bounced from the playoffs by their rival the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Ravens had another quality year, but were built for the Super Bowl or bust – and went bust. My assumption is that a large complexion of the roster will be different when the 2011 year kicks off. How does the roster and Coaching staff change?

1a) Obviously Derrick Mason has toyed with retirement the last several years. Will he want to come back for the second year of the $8M contract he signed last March?

1b) Ed Reed spent large parts of last Summer going back and forth between talks of retirement, and wanting a contract extension. He has $13.7M left on his contract through 2012. After missing the first 6 weeks of this year, he still led the league in interceptions. I do not see Reed retiring (if for no other reason than he would owe the team money for previously paid bonus money if he retired for any reason other than injury). My question is will he be in a good frame of mind if he does not receive an extension?

1c) Birk is owed $3M for 2011, and will be 35 years old. Assuming he wants to return, will the Ravens be looking to find some younger depth behind him?

1d) Houshmandzadeh had 171 catches for 1,815 yards in the 2008 and 2009 seasons. In 2010 with the Ravens he had just 30 catches for 398 yards. His 13.3 yards per catch did exceed his career average of 11.5. He is a Free Agent. My sense is that he would be more prone to want to return, if Mason decided to retire.

1e) The Ravens fielded calls last August for Willis McGahee, but the assumption was that with $3.6M owed to him in 2010, nobody was going to offer more than a lower round draft pick. No matter what the Ravens were offered, the organization clearly decided his depth was more important in a year with post-season aspirations. McGahee has 3 years left on his contract with $6M owed to him ’11. You have to have two capable backs, I would think he again returns.

1f) I think Kelly Gregg played better down the stretch, with his 4th and 1 play in Kansas City standing out. Harbaugh went out of his way to laud the 34 year-old lineman recently. Harbaugh obviously knows much better than I do, but feel Gregg was very quiet for most of this year. While he is not a FA until 2013, is there any chance the Ravens decide he is too expensive to retain?

2) It would be shocking if Coach Harbaugh is not signed to an extension, what I am interested to see is the length of the deal, and if there are changes to his staff.

2a) Cam Cameron has been a Head Coach at Indiana in College, and with the Dolphins in the NFL. As the Offensive Coordinator with the San Diego Chargers he had a lot of success. In ’04 the Chargers scored 446 points, in ’05 SD averaged 26.1 points per game, in ’06 the Chargers scored 494 points. This year the Ravens offense finished 22nd overall, with the 20th ranked passing offense. This was Cameron’s 3rd year working with Flacco (who played every game) and there were numerous weapons on the roster. While Flacco’s numbers again improved, it is hard not to believe the Ravens underachieved as an offense.

Cameron has stated he believes this Coordinator job is better than many Head Coaching opportunities in the league. Will the Ravens believe he is a better option to return vs. any options potentially available? With the way the season ended today in Pittsburgh, I think it might be hard for Cameron to return.

2b) The Ravens again had a Top 10 Defense (21st against the pass, 5th against the rush) and most importantly allowed the 3rd least points in the league (270, 16.9 ppg). At mid-season some Ravens fans were wondering if Marvin Lewis or John Fox could be possible Defensive Coordinator replacements if they were fired as Head Coaches. While Fox did become available, I think there is zero chance that Baltimore looks to replace Greg Mattison. I think Mattison deserves credit for the adjustments he has made at half-time, and how dominating the Ravens defense has been in the 3rd Quarter this year. Whatever adjustments he made with Suggs after the bye changed the complexion of this season.

3) Looking at the 2011 Opponents (Home: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Houston, Indianapolis, Arizona, San Francisco, New York Jets) (Away: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Tennessee, St. Louis, Seattle, San Diego)

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/Gameday/Future_Opponents.aspx

The Ravens are likely to go 4-2 in the division (winning the home games, losing at Pittsburgh, losing one of the two vs. the Bengals, or Browns). Outside of the division that is a challenging home-schedule, but I would expect the Ravens to go 4-1 against HOU, IND, ARZ, SF, and the Jets. On the road St. Louis and Jacksonville are improving, Tennessee is typically a difficult road game, and two West Coast trips could be tough. On the conservative side I could see a 2-3 record in those 5 games.

Overall at first-glance that gets me to a 10-6 record.

4) Just how many zero’s is Ngata going to get when he signs his contract extension? When Ndamukong Suh was drafted 2nd overall last year he signed a 5 year $68M dollar deal with over $40M guaranteed. You have to think Ngata’s asking price will at-least be equal to that.

4a) What about Flacco? He has 2 years and $5.9M left on his initial rookie deal. He has taken the Ravens to the playoffs in each of his 3 NFL seasons. Would not this off-season be the right time to work on an extension?

4b) Ray Rice is scheduled to make $550k in ’11. As we stated above his back-up McGahee is scheduled to make $6M. That is a problem, all the more so considering Rice is a FA in ’12. I would have liked to have seen an extension after last year. It should be even more imperative now.

4c) After playing in all 16 games each of the previous two seasons, Heap suffered a hamstring injury this December and missed 3 games. Heap had a yard per catch average of 15 this year (vs. 11.8 for his career) with his 40 receptions. Prior to the 2010 season the Ravens drafted both Dickson and Pitta as Heap’s ultimate replacements. In the playoff victory against Kansas City, Heap showed how valuable he still is to the offense. There were some who believed he would be cut after this 2010 season, but I do not see it. I think Heap returns for the last year of his contract, and the Ravens continue to work on further establishing Dickson opposite of him.

4d) Ben Grubbs turns 27 in March. The former 1st round pick has his Rookie contract end after 2011. Do the Ravens look to extend the LG?

4e) Le’Ron McClain was a restricted FA who signed a one-year contract last June. He is a 2x Pro Bowl player. He had 900 rushing yards and 10 TD’s in 2008, and has served as a blocking-back ever since. He is excellent in blitz pick-up, and also has 70 receptions over the past 3 years. Pretty clearly he would like to be more involved with the offense. Is he willing to not receive additional carries, in exchange for an extension?

4f) Josh Wilson is a Free Agent, but turning just 26 in March. The 5’9 192 lb CB was acquired after Foxworth’s ACL injury. Wilson had 3 picks this year and has previously excelled as a Kick Returner. Assuming the Ravens do not part ways with Foxworth, are they also willing to extend Wilson?

4g) I anticipate Baltimore will be able to retain Cundiff, but with Cundiff’s success with Kickoffs, does the price become greater than expected?

5) Donte Stallworth was active for 8 games and had 2 catches, and 5 carries. Is there any reason for him to return?

6) Jared Gaither and I traded messages on Twitter where he stated he wanted to stay with the Ravens. He said the same thing in an interview with Aaron Wilson:

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/blogs/sports/ravens/article_c053b9ca-fe4b-11df-9f3f-001cc4c03286.html

Gaither being part of the Ravens in 2011 needs to happen for both sides. I do not know if the Ravens would be willing to move Oher back to RT, but that would be my preference. Gaither is only 2 months older than Oher. After watching Oher at LT all of this 2010 season, I do not know how anyone could believe he is the superior player. Let us say the professionals at the Castle disagree with me, and believe Oher is the better LT. At a minimum I would think they would agree the line would be improved with Gaither at RT, and Yanda back at Guard.  I would also imagine that Rice (who saw his yards per carry drop from 5.3 last year to 4 this year) would also be excited for Gaither’s return.

7) Another player that spent all of the 2010 season on Injured Reserve was CB Domonique Foxworth. Last year when the Secondary was struggling, he showed his leadership by gathering the group together for additional film-study. While he is not a great tackler that is going to help in the run game, he has excellent speed and solid cover skills. You can never have enough talented CB’s, but the Ravens probably have mixed thoughts about retaining him for the $4.4M he is owed in 2011.

Chris Carr had a solid year (but he is also a FA), and Washington at-least provided experienced depth (even if he was benched). Still, I think if the Ravens could extend Wilson, and decide to retain Foxworth to go with Webb; that Baltimore would have a very capable CB trio.

8) I would guess the Ravens still have aspirations for Kruger, and hopes for Kindle. However, with the issues related to both; will the Ravens target a DE/OLB for the 3rd consecutive draft?

9) 2010 Rookies Terrence Cody, and Ed Dickson both impressed me with their athleticism. After going through their initial seasons, and going through off-season training, mini-camps, and training camp; will they take the next leap?

10) Ray Lewis was selected to the Pro Bowl for the 12 time in his illustrious career this year. For the 3rd consecutive season, Lewis played in all 16 regular-season games. He carries a bit more weight than he did when he was younger, and does not run quite as well sideline-to-sideline. He still plays at an exceptional level and continues to be a great student of the game. With his film preparation he is always well positioned and does not waste movements. He is not going to go from near the top of the game in 2010, to done in 2011; but it is realistic to wonder if 2011 is the year Lewis finally looks human.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

X