Baltimore Ravens - I covered the hiring of John Harbuagh in a previous post. So I'll try not to repeat myself. I do believe that hire sends a message of rebuilding in Baltimore. If they felt that they were close and were looking for continuity, they would have gone with Rex Ryan.
While I believe the new coaches primary concern should be if they believe Kyle Boller or Troy Smith can be the solution for them. I personally think Boller has seen all the chances he will get. Smith on the other hand I think has the potential and deserves another look. He probably would have gotten that look had Billick stayed. Harbuagh may not be to likely to gamble with the microscope he is likely to be under.
If Brian Brohm makes it to the Ravens pick they have to take him. Again Billick at the helm would leave some wiggle room where they could go defense, where they will likely lose Terell Suggs to free agency. They could possibly look to replace Jonathan Ogden who is likey to retire. Harbuagh will almost certainly go with the safe pick. Brohm is a good prospect, who could end up being a steal this late. He would only have dropped this far based on the poor play of his Louisville Cardinals.
Here are the players by position where the Ravens have signicant need
Quarterback
- Matt Ryan, Boston College
- Brian Brohm, Louisville
- Andre Woodson, Kentucky
Defensive End
- Chris Long, Virginia
- Vernon Gholston, Ohio State
- Derrick Harvey, Florida
- Calais Campbell, Miami (FL)
- Phillip Merling, Clemson
Offensive Tackle
- Jake Long, Michigan
- Ryan Clady, Boise State
- Michael Oher, Mississippi
- Sam Baker, USC
- Jeff Otah, Pittsburgh
- Chris Williams, Vanderbilt
The Baltimore Ravens have named a successor to Brian Billick. Billick was terminated after going 5-11. It wasn’t that record on it’s own that did it. It didn’t help that he posted that record following a 13-3 season that took them into the playoffs, where they lost to eventual superbowl champion Colts. The real deal breaker for Billick was the fact his vaunted defense was the only team to surrender a loss to the 1-15 Miami Dolphins.
The Ravens announced Friday that John Harbuagh will be the teams new head coach. The biggest issue that they have is that the team he is taking over doesn’t have enough offense to beat USC-as his brother, Jim did with Stanford this season.
Adding addition difficulty to his job, is that he will most likely lose Rex Ryan, who he beat out for the job, as defensive coordinator. On a team where the defense has been the lone bright spot, this loss of continuity could be devastating. Especially considering the locker room leaders; Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, even first year Raven Willis Mcgaee had spoken out in favor of Ryan. All of a sudden Jason Garrett is looking smarter and smarter for taking that 3 mil in Dallas.
John Harbaugh was previously the defensive back and special teams coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. He asked head coach Andy Reid to move from special teams to defensive backs in order to get more consideration for a head coaching position. Careful what you ask for, John. You just might get it.
Philadelphia Eagles – The Eagles 2007 season is now over. Having ended up with a 8-8 record, they just missed the playoffs. The bridge from 2006 to 2007 was awkward from the moment Roger Goodell walked to the stadium and uttered the words “With the 36th pick the Philadelphia Eagles select Kevin Kolb, Quarterback from the University of Houston”. In any other city this would have cause a small ripple, the actual Quarterback controversy would have taken at least half a season of bad play or at least a quarter season worth of games missed to injury. Not in Philly, the city that boo’d Santa Clause. No they were questioning McNabb’s Job before that rehabbed knee saw it’s first real snap. The questions now continue, McNabb is under contract through 2010. They almost have to extend him for a year or two. Kolb may very well be the QB of the future but that isn’t this year and probably won’t be next. Sign McNabb up for those extra few years. Keep him on to lead the team and mentor Kolb. Of course McNabb could push for a trade, but why? I mean I can only see two real reasons why he would leave. He could leave to chase a championship or he could leave to go for the long extension. Possible openings include Atlanta, Baltimore, Minnesota, and the Bears. Atlanta just isn’t anywhere near pushing for a ring. Baltimore would have right up until Billick got the axe now it is unlikely with their assortment of problems and a new coach trying to fix them that they are real contenders. Minnesota is a consideration but them seem to feel Tarvaris Jackson is a viable starter in the NFL. That leaves us the Bears who actually fit both the Championship hunt requirement as well as the likelihood that they would give him a long contract. They do not have a Quarterback of the future waiting in the wings. The only problem with the Bears scenario is that he would definitely be looking at giving a home town discount. Chicago is one of the franchises that is a little tight with the purse strings. I would not consider this out of the question he seems to be a lot more hung up on being wanted than on more tangible issues.
The entire Eagles defense is pretty well locked up, all the starters are under contract, and only a few non-key reserves are up for free agency, all of whom are expendable. Most notable of the expendables is Jevon Kearse who you shouldn’t expect to see in Eagles green next season.
On the offensive side there is some concern with their tight end LJ Smith, he is currently up for free agency, if they are unable or unwilling(if the competing offers in a shallow TE market, get to high) to re-sign him they have a possible solution at hand in rookie Brent Celek. While obviously this would be an initial downgrade it is not as if Smith set the world on fir especially in the Red Zone.
The main concern, as it has been other than the cup of coffee shared with Terell Owens is the primary receiver spot. For the majority of recent memory the Eagles have carried 2nd or 3rd tier receivers but no real primary game breaker target. They will have to address this in the draft Where they will likely be looking at Desean Jackson, Early Doucet, Malcom Kelly, Limas Sweed. (Note:I like them in this order I think Doucet and Kelly are a toss up)
Next update - Houston Texans
