Suggs hasn’t been the force that he’s been in past years, in both the pass rush and making plays in the second level. Is this because he’s sitting pretty with a newly signed contract or because he’s gained some weight and isn’t as mobile as he once was? We think it’s a little bit of both and if the Ravens are going to make a push for the playoffs, effort and leadership need to come from the players that you pay that way.
Great post over at Baltimore Sports Report about what Baltimore Ravens haven’t lived up to expectations in 2009:
Time To Shake Up The Ravens?
from Baltimore Sports Report by Zach Wilt
There are clearly parts of the Ravens roster that just aren’t getting the job done.
Do you give up on them? Do you let them grow since the season is likely a wash anyway? Do you put the pressure on them?
It all depends on the player.
Frank Walker – Bye bye. Walker shouldn’t have made the team to begin with. Anyone that followed training camp knew right away what Walker was about. Lots of talk, little coverage. He’s quite possibly the worst part of the Ravens terrible secondary and was so bad that he was benched against the Bengals. He’s taking up a roster spot, which is one of the reasons Baltimore cut Matt Stover. Good riddance Frank.
Domonique Foxworth – Threaten. Two weeks ago I told you that Foxworth was a $28 million bust and I stand by it. He is the Ravens biggest flop since Willis McGahee. Too big of a contract for too little performance. Foxworth is the best of the bad secondary, but for the contract was given he’s not shutting down number one wide receivers.
Fabian Washington – Threaten/bench. Washington covers receivers by grabbing them. I’m convinced his method is to get penalized as many times as possible and it shows.
Trevor Pryce – Cut after season. Pryce has had a great run with the Ravens and an outstanding career, but he’s no longer getting the job done. He gets pressure one time per drive, he’s getting beat in single coverage and gives good quarterbacks too much time.
Kelly Gregg – Cut after season. It would have been a good story is Buddy Lee came back after the knee surgery and stepped up. That hasn’t been the case. He fits into the same category as Pryce, only worse. Gregg is hardly ever putting pressure on QBs and he can no longer stuff the run. He’s part of an aging defense.
Ed Reed – One more big loss and I’d shut him down. Ed might say he’s playing healthy, but come on. He’s undoubtedly playing hurt and if Baltimore wants to hold on to him for future years they need him to get healthy. Whether that requires surgery or just time to recover, Baltimore needs to do what they’ve got to do.
Willis McGahee – Release after season. The only reason to keep Willis now is in case Ray Rice gets hurt. Willis has always had a terrible attitude and his performance in Baltimore has been lackluster.
Steve Hauschka – Hot water. Hauschka has got to be on the hot seat right now. He missed a game winning 44 yard field goal inside and a 38 yard field goal in Cincinnati. That’s two strikes. If he misses another big kick I think he should be gone.
Lardarius Webb has been a star on this team, not only on kick returns, but also in his pass coverage and tackling ability. I would start him next week against the Browns.
Here’s one small thing Ravens fans can smile about. Left guard Ben Grubbs and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata were selected as the Ravens’ representatives on the Pro Football Weekly Midseason All-Pro Team.
The Indianapolis Colts placed a list-high four players on the team in quarterback Peyton Manning, wide receiver Reggie Wayne, tight end Dallas Clark and defensive end Dwight Freeney.
Shockingly, the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers — both of whom lead the AFC North with identical 6-2 records — have just one player on the team in Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison.
Derrick Mason recently “officially announced” his “retirement” on jocklife.com, which before recently, was a little known web site, which also happens to be owned by Mason’s own agent, Lamont Smith.
Baltimore Sun reporter, Jamison Hensley, posts a response to Smith’s ploy to get more money and proves the correlation between the site and his office.
Lamont Smith, who is the agent for wide receiver Derrick Mason, issued a statement about The Baltimore Sun’s reference that jocklife.com shares an office with him.
“What is the relevance of that anyway?,” Smith said in the statement. “The story is Derrick Mason’s retirement, it smells like sour grapes to me.”
He then added, “For the record, JOCKlife.com does not share an office with Smith’s agency. JOCKlife.com’s address is 36 Steele Street, Suite 220 Denver, CO 80206.”
Well, for the record, The Sun reported that the Web site shares the same address as Mason’s agents. That is true. Both are listed at 36 Steele Street in Denver. They just work in different offices.
As for the relevance, it comes across as a contract ploy when a player announces his retirement through a Web site whose domain name is owned by Smith. Previous Ravens players who retired — Jonathan Ogden and Steve McNair — both announced their retirements through the team.
Also, Smith disputed Mason worked out at team headquarters on Monday.
“He was at the team facility to chat with the team’s PR personnel and left shortly thereafter,” Smith said.
Here’s a few reasons that Derrick Mason will not be retiring any time soon:
1. Mason has not filed his retirement papers with the NFL
2. Mason has stated he is “99% sure” he won’t retire.
3. Mason spoke up earlier in the off-season about getting an extension
4. Mason had surgery to repair his arm in the offseason.
5. Mason hasn’t had a conversation with his team about retirement
6. Mason’s agent could personal benefit from announcing the retirement on his web site.
7. Mason has not said anything in front of a camera regarding his retirement.
We believe that Derrick Mason’s retirement is simply a ploy by his agent to get them both a big payday in the near future. With Brett Farve recently perfecting the “retired” routine, this may become more commonplace in professional sports. Now, Mason and his agent have their back against the wall as pieces of the puzzle have been put together. Hopefully, Mason can rectify the situation and return to the Ravens as their #1 receiver.
Here’s a few of the analysts from NFL Network’s take on the situation:
12. Nov, 2009 
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