Right Off Russell

Courtesy of Ravens.com

The Baltimore Ravens website did a nice little, feel-good piece on Marcus Smith. The article talks about how Smith’s improvements and game experience give him a legitimate shot to play behind Mason, Clayton and D-Williams. The article quotes Harbaugh as saying

“Comparing to a year ago, it’s night and day. We talk to our guys about making the most progress between their first and second year, but Marcus just goes to work.

“The thing about Marcus is, you see a little bit of improvement every day because he works as hard, or harder, than anybody on the team every single day. So, you start adding all of that stuff up and you watch him out here at practice and you guys are like, ‘Wow, this guy is really playing well.’”

My gut feeling is that Washington is still the odds-on favorite to win the 4th spot. Any thoughts on who will make up the top 4 or 5 within the WR corp?

Here’s a rundown of the offensive positions that the Ravens might be looking to fill during the 2009 NFL Draft.

Cornerback
Situation: Samari Rolle, Domonique Foxworth, and Fabian Washington are all in for the 2009 season, but it’s hard to imagine that a team that places as much pressure on offenses couldn’t benefit greatly from a shutdown corner. The problem is that there are no real top tier corners in this draft, which is good news for the Ravens as there are good value players likely available at the end of the first through second rounds.
First Day Favorites: Wake’s Alphonso Smith and UConn’s Darius Butler might be nice picks. Butler has caught a lot of attention from defensive guru Bill Belichick, who took the short trip to see his pro day and work with him specifically.

Safety
Situation: The team has opening day starters in Ed Reed and Dawan Landry, but now’s the time to start building for the future. Landry has had injury issues and Ed Reed is turning 31 this year.
First Day Favorites: There might not be a single Safety picked in the first round of this draft. In the second round, look for the Ravens to potentially make a move on hard hitting Patrick Chung of Oregon, or Chip Vaughn of Wake Forest.

Here’s a rundown of the positions in the front seven that the Ravens might be looking to fill early during the 2009 NFL Draft.

Defensive End
Situation: Quality 3-4 DE are odd birds. The need to be tall (6-3 or more) with a long winspan to keep blockers at bay, and they need to be big (around 290 pounds) to be able to stuff the run or power through blockers with little assistance to pressure the quarterback. There aren’t a number of players who can play 3-4 end early in the draft, so even though this is an area where the team has a 34 year old starter named Trevor Pryce, they might not get a chance before they’re snapped up.
First Day Favorites: In the first round, the talk is all about LSU’s Tyson Jackson and San Jose State’s Jarron Gilbert. Tyson Jackson is the best pure 3-4 defensive end in the draft, but Gilbert has wowed with his athleticism and might be a “late bloomer” who catches lightning in the Pros. Former Ravens DC Rex Ryan spent a good deal of time with him during SJS’s Pro Day. In the second round, look out for 6-4 265 pound monster Paul Kruger from Utah. Kruger would likely need to add some weight and could have been a first rounder, but a car accident as a child caused him to lose his spleen and one kidney, which might worry some teams.

Inside Linebacker
Situation: With the departure of Bart Scott and the aging Ray Lewis, the team might look to the middle rounds to find and build a prospect here for eventual replacement at one of these positions.
First Day Favorites: James Laurinaitis is looking to buck the trend of recent LBs to fizzle after leaving Ohio State. If you watch tape of his junior year in particular, Laurinaitis was around the ball a lot can he transition to the pros? Clay Matthews is another player that teams are interested in, his clean cut demeanor and Patriots style mentality might be a bit of a switch from Ray Lewis, but he’s a slow-burner who could be a starter in the league for a solid career.

Outside Linebacker
Situation: Terrell Suggs is what makes this team chug, but OLB might be an area where the team wants to add depth, and an eventual insurance policy with Suggs long-term situation still in flux.
First Day Favorites: Vol Robert Ayers, Georgia Tech’s Michael Johnson, Northern Illinois Larry English could all be in the mix when it comes the Ravens time to pick at the end of the first round. In the second, the Ravens could tab David Veikune, the DE from Hawaii.

As the blog grows a little … we’ve noticed you’re coming from all over, Canada, France, Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, and yes, even Maryland!

We’ve been watching the readership of this blog slowly grow over the past few months, as it grows, what can we do to better provide the Baltimore-based sports coverage that you are looking for?

What are you looking for from us? Why do you keep coming back? What would you like to see us do better?

Your answers in the comments would be very welcome!

Our friends over at MASN are launching their 2009 HD game programming this year, starting with the final pre-season game between the Orioles and Nationals (co-owners of the station) on MASN Saturday April 4th for your viewing pleasure. This season MASN will have 210 games (105 for each team) in sweet sweet hi def.

Are you ready to see your favorite Orioles smallest flaws and imperfections up close all season in HD? So are we!! Check the list of who will have HD this season here, or local listings for more information.

The free agent news is stacking up!

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that after losing a few players to other teams earlier in free agency, the Ravens have been active in the secondary market and are talking to or are close to offering deals for more than a few players:

Chris Carr CB – Expected to be announced Wednesday. After letting aging vet Samari Rolle loose the team signed Carr. Carr was picked on during his extended spot duty playing during the middle of the season for the Titans last year, and he looked exposed. Carr will certainly add depth to this team, but don’t expect him to be more than a nickel player, where he plays best against opponents slot receivers.

LJ Smith TE — Expected to sign Wednesday. For his size (6-3, 258) Smith is a capable blocker, but he doesn’t have the oomph that other TEs might offer in the running game. When healthy, Smith is a great pass-catching TE who can run crisp routes and create separation, but the trick for him is to stay healthy. Smith of course has connections to coach John Harbaugh from his time in Philly. Smith will be visiting Owens Mills tomorrow, and are expected to sign the Eagle of six seasons.

Orlando Pace OT — Meeting tomorrow night with team. Seven-time Pro Bowl left tackle Orlando Pace was cut by the Rams for salary reasons. Not as great as he once was in open space, Pace still has a few years of solid football left in him and the Ravens would be wise to bolster their line with a player of Pace’s caliber. Fatigued by playing for a directionless franchise for the past few years, a team like the Ravens might be the right place for a player like this to re-energize his career.

What do you think? Are you in favor of these moves?

While Koji Uehara may not have been the jewel of the Orioles off-season free agent acquisitions, his signing does indicate the club is making an effort to become a player in the Asian markets.  Uehara may end up nothing more than a 4th or 5th starter, with middle reliever talent, disguised as a no. 2 starter behind Guts, but he does accomplish 2 things in the McPhail Plan.

First and foremost, he is a stop gap or bridge to the future of Orioles pitching.  Uehara will be expected to take the ball every 5th day and hopefully log around 200 innings.  The pluses are that he works primarily off locating his high-80’s to low-90’s fastball, walks very few batters. Uehara is an economical pitcher, which could allow him to go deep into games; something few Orioles starters have done in recent years.  He also has a nice splitter, or shuuto.  This gave Mr. Baseball fits for much of his Japanese career.  The negatives are that his is 33 going on 34, having 10 years of service time in Japan; and for the last 2 years he was relegated to the bullpen.  Uehara also has a penchant for giving up the long ball.

Secondly, Uehara represents the Orioles first foray into the Japanese and/or Asian market.  No he is not Ichiro, Dice-K, or even Hideki Matsui, but the Orioles need to have all talent resources available if they hope to keep in the AL East.  There is no hope of out spending the Yanks and Sox for talent.  The O’s need to be better at finding talent all over and if players like Uehara make inroads in Japan for talent in their prime then his signing is a success.  Also, winning 10-12 games with a sub .450 ERA would be nice.

Here are some Uehara highlights from Japan.

USA Swimming has decided to slap the hand of their meal ticket Michael Phelps with a ceremonial punishment according to the Sun.

USA Swimming said late last night that it has decided to suspend Michael Phelps from competition for the next three months as punishment for a photo that was published in a British tabloid over the weekend that appeared to show him smoking marijuana.

The organization’s board of directors voted on the decision, saying the intent was to send Phelps a “strong message” that it did not approve of his behavior. USA Swimming also said it is withdrawing financial support from Phelps during the suspension

Financial support?  Although it seems more relevant now that Kelloggs has dropped him, but when his deals are valued at the $50 million mark, it’s not exactly hurting him much.