The Maryland Sports Blog

The Baltimore Ravens announced more roster moves today to help trim down their roster.  Notable moves include placing Terrell Suggs on the PUP list.  Here is the Ravens press release.

The Baltimore Ravens made the following roster moves Monday morning:

 

Placed the following players on Injured Reserve:

 

Player                             Pos.        Ht.          Wt.         Exp.     College                           Injury

Baggs, Stevie                 LB            6-1          240         1          Bethune-Cookman       Leg

Blackstock, Darryl         LB            6-3          245         6          Virginia                          Leg

Cook, Emanuel              S              5-10        200         3          South Carolina              Leg

McBean, Ryan               DT           6-5          305         5          Oklahoma State            Ankle

 

 

Placed the following players on Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform:

 

Player                             Pos.        Ht.          Wt.         Exp.     College                           Injury

Reed, David                   WR/RS    6-0          190         3          Utah                               Knee

Suggs, Terrell                 OLB         6-3          260         10        Arizona State                Achilles

 

 

Physically Unable to Perform (PUP): Players can begin practicing after the NFL’s sixth game and can practice up to three weeks from then before being designated to the active roster, Injured Reserve or being waived.

 

The Baltimore Ravens face the Atlanta Falcons in their first preseason game of the season. Preseason games may be meaningless to some viewers, but they mean a lot for bubble players and lower level players trying to get film on them. Here are five things to watch for during the Ravens game.

1. The starters will sparingly play- Catch what you can and take from it what you can. The starters will play about one quarter. One quarter can still give fans and coaches a glimpse of what is to come.

2. How the defense looks Suggless- The defense will be without Terrell Suggs and I can imagine that Paul Kruger will get a lot of snaps in the game. Kruger has come a long way since the Ravens drafted him, see how he does getting extended snaps.

3. Ravens offensive line- Losing, guard, Ben Grubbs is my biggest concern for the Ravens. The Ravens have a very old offensive line and in my opinion that is the most important part of an offense, after the quarterback. They need to be able to open up holes for Ray Rice and protect Joe Flacco. Last year, the offense did not preform well without Grubbs.

4. Who will be Flacco’s favorite target- Torrey Smith, Anquan Boldin, Jacoby Jones, Ed Dickson…. Flacco has a lot of players to work with. Dennis Pitta will miss all of the preseason with a broken hand, so Flacco will have to go to his other receivers.

5. Which bubble players will step up- The Ravens have always been open to having undrafted rookie free-agents make the team. Last season, LaQuan Williams was the Ravens big surprise in camp and preseason. Williams made the team and contributed as an undrafted rookie free-agent. Who will do it for the Ravens this year? The first preseason game will provide a lot of answers. Some players look great on the practice field but can not transfer it to the game when full pads are on. That is why these preseason games are so important, coaches get to find out who are gamers and who are not.

The Pro Football Weekly has just announced their yearly awards and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs has won the NFL 101 AFC Defensive Player of the Year. This is the first time Suggs has won this award. Suggs had 14 sacks this year, leading the AFC in that category. Suggs also led the Ravens in forced fumbles with seven.


This award is a big deal, Suggs has a great chance to be the first Raven to win the AP AFC Defensive Player of the Year since Ed Reed won the award in 2004. Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are the other two Ravens who have won the AP AFC Defensive Player of the Year award, Lewis won it three times.

Congratulations to Suggs, he has matured on and off the field to reach this level of play. Suggs has become nearly impossible to block with a rare combination of both speed and power.

Suggs also has two interceptions this year.

Here are the other award winners.

Tom Brady AFC Offensive Player of the Year
Aaron Rodgers NFC Offensive Player of the Year
Jared Allen NFC Defensive Player of the Year
Jim Harbaugh NFC Coach of the Year
Gary Kubiak AFC Coach of the Year

More to come

Quarterback- This is the best I have ever seen Joe Flacco play. He made great pinpoint, or as I say Manning like passes. I was referring to Peyton Manning, not Eli, Joe went through his progressions nicely. Flacco had a 117.6 quarterback rating and only hit one wide receiver, Anquan Boldin. Three touchdowns, no interceptions, Easy A+.

Running backs- Ray Rice was dominant against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Rice ran for 107 yards, had a running touchdown, and 4 catches for 42 yards with 1 touchdown. Ricky Williams also had a solid game running for 63 yards. Overall, the Ravens running backs averaged 5.5 yards per carry, unreal against the Steelers defense. Vonta Leach was powerful in blocking as well, Solid A.

Offensive line- For anyone who watched my video blog this week, you will know that I was very concerned about the offensive line. I had little to worry about. The addition of Bryant McKinnie really makes a huge difference. McKinnie allows Michael Oher and Marshal Yanda to move back to their best positions. They showed a little rust with some penalties but they jelled very quickly. B+

Receivers- Anquan Boldin and Ed Dickson both had great games. They both had receptions taken away by penalties and still put up solid numbers. Lee Evans helped take attention away from Boldin. Dennis Pitta looked like a Todd Heap clone. Boldin was the only wide receiver with a reception. Look for Tandon Doss to be active in future games. Solid B

Defensive Line- Was this group impressive or what? Haloti Ngata was just devastating. He and Terrell Suggs gave Ben Roethlisberger headaches. Rookie, Pernell McPhee saw a lot of playing time and did a great job eating up blockers. Grade A+

Linebackers- Suggs had three sacks, Ray Lewis had an interception and a forced fumble. They were very solid. Oh, and fan favorite Jarret Johnson lit up Hines Ward. Grade A

Secondary- ED REED!!! Ed Reed had two interceptions and despite losing first-round pick Jimmy Smith on the opening kickoff, the entire secondary played outstanding football. The numbers might not look good, but they started playing deep late in the game. Cary Williams had a great game despite giving up a touchdown pass early in the game. Grade A

Special Teams- The biggest surprise here was that the Steelers had a couple returns against Billy Cundiff. The kick covering team could have done better, no excuses to allowing long returns. Cundiff was solid kicking field goals and Sam Koch has some good punts. Grade B

Coaching Staff- I have never seen the Ravens play the Steelers like this. The coaching staff deserves as much credit as the players. The Ravens came ready to play while the Steelers did not. Grade A+

The Baltimore Ravens have been receiving some national attention this summer for being possible Super Bowl contenders.  Only about five teams are considered elite every year and the Baltimore Ravens are one of those teams labeled.  In reviewing the Ravens position-by-position, it is hard to argue that they are not elite.

Quarterbacks - Joe Flacco was a rookie phenom a couple of years ago.  He was quiet and kept to himself.  Now Flacco has grown up on and off the field and walks around as if he owns the Ravens.  On the field, he gets smarter on every play.   Backup Marc Bulger could be starting for a lot of teams and can step in when needed.

Grade: B+

Running backs - Ray Rice is a top five running back in the NFL; he is dangerous catching the ball and running with the ball.  Fullback Le’Ron McClain is a great blocker and can run with the ball.  Willis McGahee is a solid backup and Jalen Parmele is the starting kick returner.

Grade: A

Wide receivers – With the addition of Anquan Boldin, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Donte’ Stallworth, the Ravens have one of the better wide receiver groups in the NFL, as well as one of the most improved.

Grade: B

Tight ends – Todd Heap is finally healthy and he finally has legit backups in Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta.  Dickson needs to work on blocking but he is a match-up nightmare for defenses.

Grade: B+

Offensive line – Some question marks have popped up about the offensive line due to injuries.  When the season gets underway, I think the Ravens will be healthy and they will be one of the top 5 lines in the NFL.

Grade: B+

Linebackers – The Ravens pick up great undrafted free agent linebackers every year and mold them into great players.  This group is no exception because Jameel McClain and Dannell Ellerbe have become solid players.  The guy in the middle goes by the name Ray Lewis –  some might have heard of him.  Terrell Suggs is back in shape ready to get some sacks.

Grade: A+

Secondary – The Ravens might be missing Ed Reed but Tom Zbikowski and Haruki Nakamura are underrated solid players.  Dawan Landry is back to his old self as a hard hitting free safety.  The pickup of cornerback Josh Wilson was much-needed.

Grade: C+

Defensive line – Haloti Ngata is widely considered one of the best nosetackles in the NFL. Terrence Cody is a mammoth in the middle. Teams will not be running very far on this line.

Grade: A

Special Teams – The Ravens hold special teams in high regard.  They have players make the roster just because they are good at special teams, like Edgar Jones.  They have multiple people that can return kicks and one of the best punters in the NFL in Sam Koch.  The only question mark for this group is the kicker Billy Cundiff.

Grade: B+