Ask A Raven fan

I think most are pleasantly surprised by how well we’ve transitioned to the 4-3. There’s a couple of reasons for that. We added Phil Taylor next to Tuba Rubin and they’ve controlled the middle and kept blockers off D’quell Jackson and he’s been a beast roaming the middle. Rookie Jabaal Sheard has been a really nice pass rusher with 4.5 sacks, good pressures and creating turnovers. He’s still learning the moves too. In time he will be trouble for a lot of RTs. Dick Jauron has been excellent as you would expect from a former HC transitioning to DC.

Obviously Joe Haden, former #1 pick has been a big part of the pass defense, but he’s also aided by solid, if aging Sheldon Brown and free agent Dmitri Patterson who has also been solid. A couple of rookies, Buster Skrine and James Dockery have shown promise. Skrine has the wheels to cover Torrey Smith but he may not see the field much. I won’t lie. Part of the reason we are #1 against the pass is because a lot of teams have run on us a lot but I would say we potentially have a top 10 pass defense who is very young and on the rise.

I would say Jabaal Sheard has been the best rookie, though Phil Taylor and Greg Little have had flashes of future greatness. Their inconsistency is holding them back a bit but they’re young. Little in particular has very little experience as a WR so he’s learning how to be a pro and a position that he’s only played a couple of years in college and didn’t play last year at all. Every one of our draft picks made the final 53 so we are really a team with a lot of youth who have all shown good stuff.

Next year most of us think we need a game breaking WR. Blackmon if we can, but after we sweep the division we’re probably going to be out of that. A lot of people want a new QB. I wouldn’t mind RG3 or Barkley but I don’t see Jones being much of an improvement over Colt and I also think Colt with weapons could be really good. We have a good RT who is always injured so we need one of them and possibly a Guard depending on how Jason Pinkston finishes up. Being such a young team, they were not so pretty at the start of the year but have played better as of late. Getting Pashos healthy has helped a lot. On Defense we probably could use a complementary true RDE opposite Sheard and maybe a LB to help Fujita and Gocong who are solid if not spectacular. A lot of people here don’t care for Shurmur but I’m not one of them. I think not having an OC hurt him this year and also I don’t think he has the players to fully implement the offense he wants to run.

Others have covered the Rook and 4-3 questions well but I disagree with Bobby about why our pass D is ranked so highly.

Yes looking at overall Rushing yards allowed the Browns D looks bad (ranked 29th) but look at the more important (IMO) Yards per attempt and the Browns are an average 19th at 4.3 YPA and we are 15th in terms of Rushing TDs allowed.

Mind you we have those middle of the road rankings while facing the 3rd, 4th, 7th, 12th, 15th, 17th, 21st, 26th and 30th rushing Offenses.

To say that teams could pass on us if they want to is false too IMO as we are 5th in completion % against and 2nd in passing TDs allowed.

1) The defense has been better than I’d expected. I don’t know if they are better; they are younger, more talented, and way less consistent. Jauron has been a pleasant surprise for me. I hated him as a HC but he did well with the Bears as a DC and he’s doing pretty well for us. But I just love Rob Ryan—not his system per se, but his whole attitude.

2) Joe Haden has been our best player in the secondary by far. He’s still learning, and he’s still a little rough around the edges. He’s also looked worse after missing a game with a knee injury. If TJ Ward is playing, he’s pretty good too. Sheldon Brown is a vet, Dimitri Patterson is a pretty good nickel back, and Mike Adams is a versatile backup. Usama Young plays the run well.

3) To me, Jabaal Sheard has been the most impressive rookie. I don’t know how many sacks he has, but he’s pressuring thew QB often and he’s been decent against the run. He did really well in the Big East, but I didn’t expect his pass rushing ability to transfer to the NFL to well.

4) Andrew Luck, of course! We might draft a QB, as Colt has been back and forth between improving and regressing. We could also use at least another WR, or any “homerun threat” on offense, really. A RT would be really nice, or an outside linebacker to play in our 4-3. We could use a guard, a #2 CB, a RDE, or a FS too. We have a lot of needs but not many gaping holes.

1) I preferred Rob Ryan, but I think he’ll be a HC next year anyway. I didn’t like the Jauron hiring at all, but he’s done a great job so far. Just need to fix the run D

2) Joe Haden. I think he’s a top 5 CB. Absolutely shut down.

3) I like Phil Taylor. Jabaal Sheard has been great too. Neither will likely be pro bowler players, but they are good starters.

4) in order: WR, o-lineman (need everything but LT and C, although a good backup LT would be nice), LB, DE, CB, DT (depth), FS

I’d be stunned if we didn’t take a WR. I could easily see Michael Floyd of Notre Dame coming here. Not sure where he’ll go in the draft. Too early. OLB as our other 1st rounder. It’s not that far fetched that we take a WR with both of them. Other than Greg Little, none of them are part of the future.

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Do you think your surprise losses were do to playing flat or did those teams find an area of weakness to expose?

How do you think you would game plan to beat the Ravens?

Tuba Rubbin and Jabaal Sharted….you guys can’t lose.