2nd Preseason Game: Who Impressed you?

[Camden_yardbird]

I have to admit I did not see the starters play in this game, but we know they will be there. But talking about the guys trying to make the team and playing in the second half, who impressed/ did not impress you last night.

Impressive:

Troy Smith: Besides the sack he took at the end of the night I would have to say that the rest of his performance impressed me. He looked like a leader and composed player. He has terrific skills which he showed off rolling out to both sides and hitting receivers. His long throw the to end zone was okay considering how wide open that receiver was. And he had a perfect no look pass - which I found ridiculous. Too bad the receiver was not ready.

Yamon Figurs: And speaking of that receiver. I realize it was probably the 7-8 CB on their depth chart but Figurs burned him. His return game was good where it needed to be I would bet he managed to get to the 35y line on average. I would have loved to see him catch some of those punts though and not let them drop, even if he didnt go anywhere.

? Jones: Rookie DE #94. This guy looked good. He got really good penetration and got to the QB a few times. Showed a good freenyesque spin move as well. Didn't notice him against the run.

Unimpressive:

Barnes: He just did not impress me. He looked slow and unrefined. He certainly has skills, but I saw him in pursuit and on the edge of the pile too many times. Maybe if Ray can teach him how to take some better angles he can be a better linebacker.

Olsen: Olsen had some horrible 3 and out drives. He did not really look like he had any intangibles, or overall impressive skills. Smith looked much better.


I would just like to see what other people thought as players vie to round out this team. It is guaranteed that more than a few of these 3-4 quarter preseason players will need to contribute for the Ravens to succeed.

[NewMarketSean]

Left at the end of the 3rd so I couldn't see Troy Smith or the other punter who apparently was booming the ball.

Mike Anderson impressed me and that's about it.

[ScottieBaseball]

I, too, thought Smith was impressive. I also thought Mike Anderson looked like he's going to be a tough, strong compliment to McGahee. The no-look was amazing, especially compared to Kyle who struggles sometimes to hit an open guy when he's looking RIGHT AT HIM...BEFORE THE BALL'S EVEN SNAPPED.

As far as Barnes is concerned...I heard during the pre-game stuff on the radio that he was out yesterday. Are you sure someone just wasn't wearing his number? I don't remember seeing him, but I could be wrong.


I have to admit I did not see the starters play in this game, but we know they will be there. But talking about the guys trying to make the team and playing in the second half, who impressed/ did not impress you last night.

Impressive:

Troy Smith: Besides the sack he took at the end of the night I would have to say that the rest of his performance impressed me. He looked like a leader and composed player. He has terrific skills which he showed off rolling out to both sides and hitting receivers. His long throw the to end zone was okay considering how wide open that receiver was. And he had a perfect no look pass - which I found ridiculous. Too bad the receiver was not ready.

Yamon Figurs: And speaking of that receiver. I realize it was probably the 7-8 CB on their depth chart but Figurs burned him. His return game was good where it needed to be I would bet he managed to get to the 35y line on average. I would have loved to see him catch some of those punts though and not let them drop, even if he didnt go anywhere.

? Jones: Rookie DE #94. This guy looked good. He got really good penetration and got to the QB a few times. Showed a good freenyesque spin move as well. Didn't notice him against the run.

Unimpressive:

Barnes: He just did not impress me. He looked slow and unrefined. He certainly has skills, but I saw him in pursuit and on the edge of the pile too many times. Maybe if Ray can teach him how to take some better angles he can be a better linebacker.

Olsen: Olsen had some horrible 3 and out drives. He did not really look like he had any intangibles, or overall impressive skills. Smith looked much better.


I would just like to see what other people thought as players vie to round out this team. It is guaranteed that more than a few of these 3-4 quarter preseason players will need to contribute for the Ravens to succeed.

[Miller192]

Haloti Ngata really impressed me, I think this kid is going to have a great season.

Mike Anderson also ran well, unfortunately for him there's about 11 million reasons why he wont get many carries this year.

Troy Smith looked better. I think he should be relegated to the practice squad though. PS rosters expand this year due to the elimination of NFL Europe so I dont think they need to use a roster spot for him. This team doesnt need to carry 3 QBs on its active roster.

[birdtown]

Did Barnes play?....I thought he was going to sit out this week.

[Hank Scorpio]

I have to admit I did not see the starters play in this game, but we know they will be there. But talking about the guys trying to make the team and playing in the second half, who impressed/ did not impress you last night.

Impressive:

Troy Smith: Besides the sack he took at the end of the night I would have to say that the rest of his performance impressed me. He looked like a leader and composed player. He has terrific skills which he showed off rolling out to both sides and hitting receivers. His long throw the to end zone was okay considering how wide open that receiver was. And he had a perfect no look pass - which I found ridiculous. Too bad the receiver was not ready.

Yamon Figurs: And speaking of that receiver. I realize it was probably the 7-8 CB on their depth chart but Figurs burned him. His return game was good where it needed to be I would bet he managed to get to the 35y line on average. I would have loved to see him catch some of those punts though and not let them drop, even if he didnt go anywhere.

? Jones: Rookie DE #94. This guy looked good. He got really good penetration and got to the QB a few times. Showed a good freenyesque spin move as well. Didn't notice him against the run.

Unimpressive:

Barnes: He just did not impress me. He looked slow and unrefined. He certainly has skills, but I saw him in pursuit and on the edge of the pile too many times. Maybe if Ray can teach him how to take some better angles he can be a better linebacker.

Olsen: Olsen had some horrible 3 and out drives. He did not really look like he had any intangibles, or overall impressive skills. Smith looked much better.


I would just like to see what other people thought as players vie to round out this team. It is guaranteed that more than a few of these 3-4 quarter preseason players will need to contribute for the Ravens to succeed.

Barnes didn't play last night.

The entire offensive line was terrible, couldn't pass block, couldn't run block, couldn't do much of anything.

Impressed by Quinn Sypnewski and I also thought Jarret Johnson played well.

It was good to see Rhys Loyd back in town kicking off. I think he might stick this time.

As far as Smith's no look pass - I'm assuming you're talking about the one on 3rd down to Cory Ross on the swing? He flung it sidearm but it wasn't a no look pass. It was weird looking but even Troy's not arrogant enough to throw a no look pass. The kid's trying to make the team.

[Elbren]

I'd have to say Ngata and Smith.

Ngata is just a beast. I watched a 350+ lb man jump several feet into the air to swat down a ball and laterally run down ball carriers like he was a LB. Just crazy.

Didn't get a chance to see Olson, but I thought Smith was very impressive. His numbers from the game would probably look a little better if he was throwing to good receivers. He hit guys in the hands a couple times and they just dropped it. He had one down field pass that should have been a touchdown, but the receiver spent too much time looking over his shoulder for the ball. (Can't remember his name. I think it was the WR/ball return guy we took in the 3rd round?)

[OregonBird]

I wasn't impressed w/much last night, especially the starting groups.

On offense, Gaither looked solid out there, M. Anderson ran hard. Other than Gaither, the O-line looked kind of soft.

On defense, I thought the defense got pushed around. Other than Ngata, "God's Linebacker" was getting pushed around and making his tackles 4-6 yrs off the ball. Shockey actually landed a nice blow on him. There also seemed to be some missed tackles. I saw several blitzes where it appeared the LB's had a chance to make the tackle behind the line but ran past the carrier only to have him run for 5-6 yrs.

Brendan Jacobs is a stud, a real battering ram!

I still believe the defense will be solid, Top 5 and the offense will be Top 15. I still have the same concerns, they are:
1. McNair- does he have the accuracy on the short passes, can he throw it long enough, often enough to keep the defense honest?
2. Billick/offensive playcalling- Does Billick still have an offensive mind to get more creative on play calling? Last yr versus Indy was a joke.
2. O-Line- physical and consistent enough?
3. Defense- can J. Johnson step up? Can the secondary blow fewer coverages? Are Samari Rolle's legs too old?

[TGO]

I'd have to say Ngata and Smith.

Ngata is just a beast. I watched a 350+ lb man jump several feet into the air to swat down a ball and laterally run down ball carriers like he was a LB. Just crazy.

Didn't get a chance to see Olson, but I thought Smith was very impressive. His numbers from the game would probably look a little better if he was throwing to good receivers. He hit guys in the hands a couple times and they just dropped it. He had one down field pass that should have been a touchdown, but the receiver spent too much time looking over his shoulder for the ball. (Can't remember his name. I think it was the WR/ball return guy we took in the 3rd round?)

Yes, it was Figurs, and yes, he should have caught that ball. It was a pretty throw by Smith.

Ngata really stood out to me, as I posted in SG's Ngata prediction thread. He was just steamrolling everyone.

To the OP, #94 is Bannan, who is not a rookie but a 6th or 7th year depth guy. We signed him from the Bills, I think last year actually.

[porterhouse]

It was just a crappy uninspired sloppy game with even a few cheap shots thrown in by the Ravens.

I was most un-impressed with the defense. Giants were able to run the ball down our throat most of the time. We seemed too concerned with doing trick stuff to get to the QB and Giants were having none of it. Our pass D was very disappointing as well. Nobody in our secondary looked good.

I'd rather just see us play some solid defense sometimes rather than all of these schemes.

O-line was a disappointment as well. McNair and Boller were under siege much of the time and McGahee couldn't do anything.

Only positives I can think of were Mike Anderson, maybe Ngata and Jarret Johnson. Troy Smith is an interesting player, seemed quite poised although maybe a bit too quick to run with it. It would be hard to have to let him go once cuts start being made.

Well maybe it was just one of those games - let's hope so. But this reminded me more of '05 than '06.

[Camden_yardbird]

Okay, Barnes was not the guy I was looking at then. I wasn't sure about that, and am relieved it was not him.

The guy I was looking at may have been #54, who according to the photos I have seen is Prescott Burgess. He's an outside linebacker which better explains why he was behind some of the players. Good skills, but needs to be refined.

[orioles119]

My only concern is that Mark Clayton will be okay.

[Hank Scorpio]

My only concern is that Mark Clayton will be okay.

I think he'll be alright. The good news is that they've got 3 weeks to worry about it.

[Objectivity]

Troy Smith looked better. I think he should be relegated to the practice squad though. PS rosters expand this year due to the elimination of NFL Europe so I dont think they need to use a roster spot for him. This team doesnt need to carry 3 QBs on its active roster.

It doesn't need to, but if we put Smith on the practice squad then any team who wants to add him to their roster can do so. That's how we lost Derek Anderson last year or the year before. We put him on the practice squad because we didn't need a third QB and Cleveland added him to their roster.

[Miller192]

It doesn't need to, but if we put Smith on the practice squad then any team who wants to add him to their roster can do so. That's how we lost Derek Anderson last year or the year before. We put him on the practice squad because we didn't need a third QB and Cleveland added him to their roster.

That's true but it's the player's option if he wants to go or not. I doubt any team is going to give him much more than a 3rd string backup position, that's why he went in the 5th round. He would also be making good money on the PS and his best opportunity is probably in Baltimore. It's all how the Ravens handle it with him.

I just don't think there is a roster spot for a 3rd quarterback right now.