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dcfields
Joined: 28 Dec 2007 Posts: 415 Location: Coral Springs
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 11:22 pm Post subject: Doss moving faster |
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http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/sports/ravens/ravens-doss-moving-faster/article_d7d3643d-d12e-502c-9851-dc4aaa4327e5.html
I was pleasantly surprised when I read the article above. I was hoping Tandon Doss was going to be a contributor last year but better late than never, I suppose.
To have two good possession guys in Boldin and Doss accompanied with speedsters in Jones and Smith should present a lot of options for Flacco.
When you throw developing tight ends Dickson and Pitta into the mix, this offense is starting to resemble something like what New England & New Orleans are doing in the passing game. Speading the wealth.
Granted, the aforementioned teams have two of the best QBs in the league. What they don't have is the rushing threat the Ravens do in Ray Rice. A lot of variety is sure to keep opposing defenses on their toes. I just hope the offense develops the way I am envisioning it.
On another note, I somehow missed that the Ravens signed Bobbie Williams. Great locker room presence, a wiley veteran, and a real good player when he was younger and healthier. If he's healthy, he probably starts on Day One. Hopefully, he will assist in the development of the young linemen as well. |
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Flaccomania 
Joined: 12 Aug 2008 Posts: 16531 Location: Parkville, MD
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 7:32 pm Post subject: Re: Doss moving faster |
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| dcfields wrote: | http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/sports/ravens/ravens-doss-moving-faster/article_d7d3643d-d12e-502c-9851-dc4aaa4327e5.html
I was pleasantly surprised when I read the article above. I was hoping Tandon Doss was going to be a contributor last year but better late than never, I suppose.
To have two good possession guys in Boldin and Doss accompanied with speedsters in Jones and Smith should present a lot of options for Flacco.
When you throw developing tight ends Dickson and Pitta into the mix, this offense is starting to resemble something like what New England & New Orleans are doing in the passing game. Speading the wealth.
Granted, the aforementioned teams have two of the best QBs in the league. What they don't have is the rushing threat the Ravens do in Ray Rice. A lot of variety is sure to keep opposing defenses on their toes. I just hope the offense develops the way I am envisioning it.
On another note, I somehow missed that the Ravens signed Bobbie Williams. Great locker room presence, a wiley veteran, and a real good player when he was younger and healthier. If he's healthy, he probably starts on Day One. Hopefully, he will assist in the development of the young linemen as well. |
While it's certainly nice to hear this, I take it with a grain of salt as it's the off-season. Just last year we heard how good Doss looked and how bad Torrey looked and we know how 2011 turned out But, I do hope Tandon can contribute this year. _________________
Why not Michael Jordan? |
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raven5255 


 Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 13635
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:14 am Post subject: |
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Its encouraging progress, but personally Im not convinced Doss will be able to make an impact this season. It would take a really spectacular camp on special teams and as a receiver to put himself in contention for playing time. He was inactive last season because he couldnt outplay LaQuan Williams and David Reed for special teams duty. So not only will he have to catch up to those guys, but now he also needs to show he can compete with Jacoby Jones for the 3rd receiver spot. LaQuan has also received plenty of praise this offseason, perhaps having the best OTAs of any receiver. At this point, if anyone challenges Jones for the 3rd receiver spot, my guess is it will be LaQuan.
Last season our #2 receiver spot was wide open, as Flaccomania said, many thought it would be Doss ahead of Torrey Smith. This year it looks to be much tougher. The other factor to consider is even the #3 receiver will get limited reps if Dickson and Pitta continue to progress as they have. It will likely take obvious passing situations and special packages for them to see the field, otherwise I would expect to see the 2 tight ends get more reps than whoever the #3 or 4 receiver is. I like what Doss brings, but he's got a lot of work to do to make an impact this season, as does anyone outside of Boldin and Smith. Im excited to see the receivers compete in the preseason, but Im going to limit my expectations for the regular season. |
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dcarey20
Joined: 15 Feb 2006 Posts: 7179
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:43 am Post subject: |
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If his second season is anywhere near his rookie year in terms of impact, what a waste of a 4th round pick Tandon Doss was.
I'm hopeful but I'm more towards what 5255 said, I'm limiting my expecations as well. |
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spiritoftruth
Joined: 22 Nov 2006 Posts: 1956
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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I love offseason fluff like this. _________________
| NextBigThing wrote: | | I am a Patriots fan, I know all about excellence. |
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BaltimoreTerp 

Joined: 13 Feb 2005 Posts: 24816 Location: Brooklyn, New York
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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Considering he had zero catches in his rookie year, I would expect that he is faster because there's literally nowhere to go but up from where he was at developmentally in his first year.
Whether that amount of improvement is a jump to being roster fodder who makes 10 catches all season or someone who actually becomes a meaningful contributor remains to be seen. _________________ "The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day.” |
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wackywabbit 
Joined: 20 Dec 2009 Posts: 3838
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 8:32 pm Post subject: |
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| BaltimoreTerp wrote: | Considering he had zero catches in his rookie year, I would expect that he is faster because there's literally nowhere to go but up from where he was at developmentally in his first year.
Whether that amount of improvement is a jump to being roster fodder who makes 10 catches all season or someone who actually becomes a meaningful contributor remains to be seen. |
Who says that 10 catches isn't a meaningful contribution in our offense?
That's more than double what our number 3 receiver last year accumulated. In fact that's more than every receiver other than Boldin and Smith accumulated combined....
How did Cam Cameron keep his job again? |
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coordinator0
Joined: 18 Jan 2008 Posts: 5873
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:02 pm Post subject: |
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To be fair when two TEs and a RB have a total of 170 catches it doesn't leave many for the third WR. If the Ravens had a bigger percentage of passing plays it would be a bigger deal but that's not how their system operates. It's not surprising they decided to play to their strengths with the two TEs and Rice in the passing game since Evans was out and never seemed to make a connection with Flacco until the Patriots playoff game. I'm not writing off Doss yet but the lack of reps for him last season was concerning considering his main competition for the 3rd WR spot was Williams and Reed. I'm not taking the ST ability into consideration here since the 3rd WR is usually an important enough part of the offense to disregard that.
I do agree with the sentiment that Cameron needs to open up the offense more. I'm not a particularly big fan of Jones but hopefully Cameron feels like there's more incentive to put 3 WRs on the field. If Doss has improved that will make it even more likely, we might even see a 4 WR set or two( ). I'm not counting on anything concerning Cameron though. |
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raven5255 


 Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 13635
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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| coordinator0 wrote: | | To be fair when two TEs and a RB have a total of 170 catches it doesn't leave many for the third WR. If the Ravens had a bigger percentage of passing plays it would be a bigger deal but that's not how their system operates. It's not surprising they decided to play to their strengths with the two TEs and Rice in the passing game since Evans was out and never seemed to make a connection with Flacco until the Patriots playoff game. |
I agree with this. Cameron definitely has his flaws but he but he really used his best players as often as he could. Fact is that our 6 best skill players last year by far were Ray Rice, Vonta Leach, Torrey Smith, Anquan Boldin, Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson. As a result we had a lot of standard personnel packages, i.e 2RB, 1TE, 2WR or 1 RB, 2TE, 2WR. Dickson and Pitta basically functioned as our 3rd WR last season. Im sure the staff would like to see Jones develop a more prominent role in the offense though. He and Torrey could really have the ability to stretch the defense vertically. |
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sp6488 
Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 6230 Location: MD
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 4:12 pm Post subject: |
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| raven5255 wrote: | | coordinator0 wrote: | | To be fair when two TEs and a RB have a total of 170 catches it doesn't leave many for the third WR. If the Ravens had a bigger percentage of passing plays it would be a bigger deal but that's not how their system operates. It's not surprising they decided to play to their strengths with the two TEs and Rice in the passing game since Evans was out and never seemed to make a connection with Flacco until the Patriots playoff game. |
I agree with this. Cameron definitely has his flaws but he but he really used his best players as often as he could. Fact is that our 6 best skill players last year by far were Ray Rice, Vonta Leach, Torrey Smith, Anquan Boldin, Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson. As a result we had a lot of standard personnel packages, i.e 2RB, 1TE, 2WR or 1 RB, 2TE, 2WR. Dickson and Pitta basically functioned as our 3rd WR last season. Im sure the staff would like to see Jones develop a more prominent role in the offense though. He and Torrey could really have the ability to stretch the defense vertically. |
I know that we all have the instinct to say "ughhhh Cam Cameron hates three WR sets..." But, last year Evans was injured, so that's a large reason he wasn't on the field much. When he was back in the playoffs, we saw three WR sets that were very effective. Jones was brought in for a reason, not to languish on the bench. No way Q and Smith are benched for much time either. _________________
| Tzimisce wrote: | I'm sorry you're drowning in a sea of delusion.
I won't be sorry when the Ravens finish 8-8. |
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dcfields
Joined: 28 Dec 2007 Posts: 415 Location: Coral Springs
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:00 am Post subject: |
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| raven5255 wrote: | | ...now he also needs to show he can compete with Jacoby Jones for the 3rd receiver spot. ...The other factor to consider is even the #3 receiver will get limited reps if Dickson and Pitta continue to progress as they have. |
This was my point exactly. Not to say "Doss is a savior", but to say that it FINALLY appears as if we have some competition for receptions.
I don't care whether it's Jones, Pitta (Flacco LOVES Pitta), Williams, Doss or any other "non-starter", I just want someone or any combination of players to be able to frequently move the chains (Kelley Washington in '09 -- 27 of his 34 receptions went for 1st downs). THAT'S what I'm looking for. We know who's #1 & #2 at WR & TE. Jones is probably #3. Who's the next man up?
I'm just excited about the competition factor. It makes everyone better when players have to work harder to get on the field. I don't see any room for error with "the other guys". There is great potential here.
Something worth noting: Jacoby Jones (6'2", 220) has 82 receptions in the past 2 seasons. 54 of which have gone for 1st downs. |
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coordinator0
Joined: 18 Jan 2008 Posts: 5873
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:16 am Post subject: |
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| I don't know I think you're overrating the 1st down stats a bit, the Ravens do have receivers that are moving chains on a good percentage of their catches. Last year Boldin had 44/57 catches going for 1st downs, Pitta 28/40, Smith 34/50. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to look for but I'm not putting a ton of stock into it being a big need for the Ravens. |
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Flaccomania 
Joined: 12 Aug 2008 Posts: 16531 Location: Parkville, MD
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:22 am Post subject: |
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| coordinator0 wrote: | | I don't know I think you're overrating the 1st down stats a bit, the Ravens do have receivers that are moving chains on a good percentage of their catches. Last year Boldin had 44/57 catches going for 1st downs, Pitta 28/40, Smith 34/50. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to look for but I'm not putting a ton of stock into it being a big need for the Ravens. |
Agreed, especially because Cam's system is built more on getting vertical -- so more often than not, a catch will go for a first down. _________________
Why not Michael Jordan? |
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