Washington agress to 1 year

Kelley Washington (formerly from NE) veteran WR came to work out with prospective teams & after seeing his potential the Ravens have decided they want him & Washington decided Baltimore is the place for him. Along with Washington the Ravens also worked out with Jerry Porter & Tab Perry who's expectations fell short after their shotty performances at training camp. The Ravens have been looking to bring in another pair of hands to help out on the pass game. After they didn't take anyone from the draft (as everyone expected/wanted) we've all been waiting to see what Ozzie was going to do about the situation. At first the idea of bringing Boldin in was being thrown around, but I think that in would be the answer but those thoughts were put to rest, since we don't have the $$ he wants & what he wants I don't think he worth. Then Newsome said we already have a receiver on the roster, Demetrius Williams, but once again he is sidelined with an injury...again (how many injuries/lack of playing does it take before you need to get rid of a player?). So with these options not available a couple of veterans were brought in to see if we could get a deal on someone. Washington stepped up & showed he wanted to be part of the team & that he wants to go to work. He also practiced down the beltway with the Redskins, but obviously he came back to Baltimore. The deal hasn't been fully finalized but after a quick physical the deal should be done by next week. Welcome aboard Washington, don't worry you'll actually get to touch the ball now that you Moss isn't on your team anymore. Let's see if you can help us out.

Willie Anderson put to Reserve/Retired list

I think we knew this was coming, Willie Anderson was drafted by the Ravens last minute after the Bengals cut him this past year. He definitely gave our O-line strength making room for our RB's & giving protection for good ol' joey boy, but with our first round pick (Oher) was drafted in Willie's position I think the young blood was destined to take over. Willie has been battling injuries for a while & I think being a 13 year veteran his injuries aren't going to any better. Thanks for your help in Baltimore for the short time you were here.

Neal Leaves Baltimore

Lorenzo Neal agreed to a deal with the Oakland Raiders last Friday. This will be Neal's 17th season playing ball. With the Ravens the Fullback played all 16 games making holes for our RBs to get yards & sometimes getting the ball to get 1st downs himself. He was only with the Ravens for a year but the veteran proved he still got value. Neal was previously with SD so hes going back to Cali & we'll see if he helps out Northern Cali as much as he did with us. With Neal leaving, Ravens are saying McClain will be reverting back to his original FB position (which he was drafted to the Pro Bowl for) . McClain ran the ball last year for the most part, along side of Rice & McGahee, but he said “With the success I had last year at halfback, I'm leaning more towards tailback, but you know me, I’m going to play my role and do whatever I can to help the team. I know they've got a plan for us and it involves the whole 11.” We'll see how this move effects out offense, since performance wise I think McClain was better than McGahee & Rice, but if McGahee can ever get to the 100% he was at 2 years ago he should be able to step it up again. I think this will definitely be affecting our run game next year, hopefully our airborne attack gets better with Flacco.

Draft 2009 Results

Draft 2009 results:

Rd 1, Pick 23 (23)	Michael Oher OT
Rd 2, Pick 25 (57)	Paul Kruger DE
Rd 3, Pick 24 (88)	Lardarius Webb CB
Rd 5, Pick 1 (137)	Jason Phillips ILB
Rd 5, Pick 13 (149)	Davon Drew TE
Rd 6, Pick 12 (185)	Cedric Peerman RB

Michael Oher (OT) picked first round (23rd pick after we traded up from the Patriots) will bring more protection for Flacco. Great pick, we did need more protection on the line & Oher will give it. With the other picks we added more arsenal for the defense which I guess this is a good idea I'm not sure it should have been priooritzed over the much needed recievers but our scouts & Newsome seemed to think so. Finally, we added another TE & RB which I really don't think we needed, but I guess they'll be helpful in the long run sitting on the back burner. So DHB was drafted (I feel way to prematurely & who I wanted mainly because he was from MD & was sick at the combine) by Oakland our chances of snatching him were put to rest. The other WR's that had been on people minds: Kenny Britt (Rutgers) taken by Tennessee, Hakeem Nicks (UNC) taken by the Giants, & Brian Robiskie (Ohio State) by Cleveland I think we're all wondering what Newsome plans to do about our need for more WR's.
He reported to the Sun "I will again say this: We went to the AFC chapionship game with the guys that we had, and Demetrius was not healthy. We get a healthy Demetrius Williams back -- and he's working toward that -- then with the way we're going to be able to protect it, the way Joe Flacco can throw it, the way our running backs can run it, and the way we play defense and special teams, we'll be around at the end of December and January just with the team we have right now. I feel very good about that." - Newsome. So apparently we're just gonna stick with what we got with the WR's. I can't argue too much with this decision, Mason & Clayton did fine last season (even better than usual with Flacco throwing better than our usual QB's). Come next year they should perform just as well if not better now that they know Flacco can get it to them. I think we can hold out on picking up more WR's at least 1 more year before our current WR's ages catch up with their careers. So overall our picks were a OK, not spectacular & not exactly what everyone wanted but still smart (can't get everyone at 26th). Even with all the players drafted you can't look too much into their college & combine stats. When the season starts & the injuries come into play we'll see how these guys adapt to the League & their true potentials.