Monthly Archives: August 2008
Terps Open With Win Over Delaware.
The Maryland Terrapins opened their season with a 14-7 win over Delaware. They dominated the formerly division 1-AA (now FCS) powerhouse, but had two interceptions, three missed field goals and sloppy play in the passing game that produced only 126 yards. The Terps running game was cranked up led by Da’Rel Scott gaining 197 yards rushing and freshman Davin Meggett contributing 50 yards and a touchdown. Jordan Steffy was booed and taunted by the crowd during the game before leaving the game with a thumb injury giving way to Chris Turner in the 4th quarter. Highly touted dual threat QB Josh Portis got in the game in some packages but primarily ran the ball. See ESPN’s box score for more info about the game.
Bengals Reportedly Cut Willie Anderson
Veteran offensive tackle Willie Anderson has reportedly been cut according to profootballtalk.com. Anderson has been to five probowls in his career and although Anderson has had lingering injury issues in recent years he has still played at a high level when in the lineup. The story says that Anderson did not want to take a pay cut so the Bengals cut him. Many NFL teams including the Ravens will be jockying to sign him to solve their offensive line problems.
Ravens make cuts
The Ravens have announced their cuts today with only a few surprises. With Fabian Washington and Derrick Martin suspended for week one, they are actually down to 52 players. David Pittman and Cory Ross were placed on IR and the following players were cut:
Adam Bergen (TE, 6-4, 267, 3rd-year, Lehigh)
Casey Bramlet (QB, 6-4, 220, 2nd-year, Wyoming)
Darrell Campbell (DL, 6-4, 295, 1st-year, Notre Dame)
Patrick Carter (WR, 6-3, 195, Rookie, Louisville)
Adrien Clarke (G, 6-5, 330, 4th-year, Ohio State)
Amon Gordon (DT, 6-2, 305, 4th-year, Stanford)
Justin Harper (WR, 6-3, 215, Rookie, Virginia Tech)
Alex Haynes (RB, 5-10, 225, 2nd-year, Central Florida)
Keith Heinrich (TE, 6-6, 255, 5th-year, Sam Houston State)
Adam Kraus (G, 6-6, 295, Rookie, Michigan)
Robert McCune (LB, 6-0, 245, 2nd-year, Louisville)
Allen Patrick (RB, 6-1, 200, Rookie, Oklahoma)
Ronnie Prude (CB, 5-11, 180, 3rd-year, LSU)
Joe Reitz (T, 6-7, 270, Rookie, Western Michigan)
Chad Slaughter (6-8, 340, 5th-year Alcorn State)
Gary Stills (LB, 6-2, 250, 10th-year, West Virginia)
Ernie Wheelwright (WR, 6-5, 220, Rookie, Minnesota)
Lorenzo Williams (DL, 6-0, 310, Rookie, Missouri)
Matt Willis (WR, 5-11, 190, 2nd-year, UCLA)
Ravens Roster Decisions.
The Ravens play their final preseason game tonight against the Falcons and with the impending cuts this weekend many decisions will be finalized. There are 22 more cuts required by August 30th to get below the 53 man roster limit and as expected the Ravens are going to have to make some tough decisions. Making things tougher are the injuries they’ve been facing all camp/preseason. Below is a list of the many things up in the air for the Ravens, most if not all of these will be answered by Saturday:
Ravens Cut Down To 75. Updated Roster Projection.
The Ravens have completed their first round of cuts by the August 26th deadline to get under the 75 man roster limit. They placed DL/DE Dwan Edwards, LB Terrence Melton and DT Kelly Talavou on the injured reserve and cut WR Darnerien McCants and TE Aaron Walker. Except for the move to put Edwards on the IR, non of these moves were unexpected. This appears to open the door for Dan Cody to make the team as a pass rush specialist, or one of the other backup defensive tackles like J’Vonne Parker to make the team.
Read more for my updated roster projection:
Ravens Looked Ugly Against The Rams.
The Ravens lost 24-10 to the Rams in their third preseason game. Kyle Boller and Troy Smith both ended up missing the game despite the expectation that Smith would start and play three quarters. Boller has a shoulder problem that caused him to miss practice all week and Troy Smith had flu-like symptoms and problems with his voice that kept him out of the game. With the line problems that the Ravens have been having I don’t blame either player for sitting this one out. Adam Terry is having issues coming back from injury and playing right tackle. Jared Gaither is still injured, so I think that the Ravens should move Terry back to left tackle and possibly move Marshal Yanda back to right tackle. The interior line has played well so it might not be such a great idea to upset that continuity by moving Yanda, but I don’t think the Ravens have any other options.
Ravens Projected Roster #3
This is the newest 53 man roster with most errors corrected (I was missing the long snapper) and most recent changes to the roster.
- There are rumors about the Ravens interest in Fred Miller which would clear up the picture on the offensive line.
- The running back situation is tough to call, but I think the Ravens will go with Ross who can contribute on special teams, can be a feature back and/or be a 3rd down back.
- I do not include Gary Stills and Dan Cody in this list, but you could include them and cut a corner or wide receiver instead, but I think this is pretty close to how the roster would shake out if cuts were today.
Jim Johnson is awesome…
The Orioles are considering the future of Jim Johnson on their pitching staff. He was brought through the majors as a started but finds himself entrenched as the O’s current setup man after his spectacular season in the pen. The O’s options are to leave him as the setup man, move him back to starter, or transition him from setup man to closer. There are other moves that may sway the O’s decision one way or the other like if they trade George Sherrill, the health of Chris Ray, and/or the status of our starting 5. My preference would be for the O’s to trade Sherrill while the demand is high and move Johnson to closer and ease Ray or Matt Albers into the setup role. Earlier in the year I was in favor of Johnson moving to take over one of the spots in the starting rotation, but the injuries to our bullpen changed my mind for this year. I wouldn’t be against moving him to starter if Sherrill remains an Oriole.
Orioles Trade Bradford
The Orioles did make a move in trading Chad Bradford to the Tampa Bay Rays for a player to be named later. This takes $4.5 million off of the books for the O’s. Hopefully the O’s will be able to get some other waiver trades done before the end of August. Bradford was a good specialty pitcher for the O’s so it isn’t a good thing to see him go, but the money saved and the spot opening for other younger prospects is a good thing. The emergence of Jim Johnson and Matt Albers in the bullpen probably left the O’s pretty confident that they could get opposing righties out with more regularity.
Ravens Roster Prediction Update
This isn’t really a new edition to the prediction, but some players were cut and added (CB Phillips cut and RB Haynes added) so I figured that I’d update my roster as well. Expect more significant updates after the preseason game this Thursday against the Patriots:
Baltimore Sports Post 