NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

I doubt Baltimore has much interest in either player and that would be a shame if they don’t.

If you look around the NFL, the only way to overcome predictable playcalling that puts your quarterback on his back and simplistic schemes that never put defenses on their heels is to overload with fool-proof elite offensive weapons.

You could argue this description fits Anquan Boldin with his great leaping ability, angles, physicality and catch radius. The same for Todd Heap. Ray Rice is near this level but is used primarily in the running game that suffered from average blocking a lot of the year.

When you combine elite offensive talent and superb offensive scheme/playcalling, records are set. The Ravens don’t have that option as they are again saddled by the prevent offense of Cam Cameron.

When you just have elite talent and meek play-calling, you get what the Cardinals were in 2008-2009 and the Steelers with Big Ben: playmakers winning match-ups, overcoming the simplicity of the offense and sometimes improvising (Kurt Warner often called his own plays) when the play called inevitably is sniffed out.

This is why I am endorsing using the first pick on Titus Young. The guy is a little bit weak, a bit of a diva, and thrived on a team that generally pillaged the WAC. That being said…

Titus Young averaged a full yard per catch more than ALL FOURTEEN other div. I receivers in Pro Football Weekly’s top fifteen receivers for the 2011 Draft (Edmond Gates from Abilene Christian was higher). He makes a lot of dazzling catches and he is far more developed in his route-running than Torrey Smith and possesses a wider array of tricks than Leonard Hankerson. I know that after Terrence Cody, David Reed and Sergio Kindle, Baltimore fans probably don’t want a player that has an injury history. That said, they’re in a bit of a bind. Their last game was an embarrassment and a microcosm of the lack of aggressiveness with which the Ravens attacked opposing defenses.

The Ravens’ motto should be the same as the Chicago White Sox, “All In”. Drafting Titus Young is possibly not enough. Randy Moss is out there and he’s a receiver that has historically been unstoppable when highly motivated. Titans coach Mike Munchak has confirmed what Percy Harvin and Bill Belichick have said, which is that he leads by example at practice, blocks well, and is loved by his teammates. He will likely be a low-risk, high-reward guy. If you have him for a one-year deal, he is bound to put up big numbers. What people wondered about was how he would work in a limited role. In Tennessee, he was on the field for a handful of snaps each of the last few games. Maybe he didn’t learn the offense. I don’t know. People who want to blame Moss need to realize that for him to get two quarterbacks, the offensive coordinator and head coach all fired (which all happened), he would need to be on the field.

The Ravens aren’t going to come out, guns blazing, with an up-tempo, spread-them-out, diverse attack that continually takes shots all over the field. The most they can do is draft and sign players that can succeed and create match-ups even when the defense knows what is coming. Bisciotti and Harbaugh need to get serious about creating match-ups because their window is closing.

The rumors this week out of Miami are that the Dolphins are interested in Cincinatti quarterback Carson Palmer. Not only are members of the Dolphins organization interested in him, but Fins legend Dan Marino also in favor of the Dolphins trying to acquire Palmer, for the right price.

And those are the keys words, for the right price. You see, Dan would be interested in the former USC quarterback only if the Dolphins would be able to nab him for a 2nd-3rd rounder.

The problem with that is that the Bengals owner Mike Brown is very high on Palmer, and it will most likely require a 1st round pick as well as some other form of compensation to ship Palmer from Cincy to South Beach.

At this point in Palmer's career, is a 1st round pick really worth the trouble, for a stopgap at best? I say no. Heck, I would have to be in love for a player to trade away my 1st round pick, and would have to strongly consider and debate on whether to trade away my 1st for someone like Kevin Kolb, who has more of an upside.

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The Titans are talking today to maybe the most high profile player in this years NFL Draft, that being Cam Newton, who could go as high as one, but would have to fall quite a bit to reach the Titans.

Newton is scheduled to visit the Titans today. It’s one of his nine pre-draft stops, and the impression Newton makes with those teams could go a long way in deciding whether he goes first overall to the Panthers, slides to the Titans at eight or lands somewhere else.

“We know he loves to play the game of football,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said on Wednesday. “But this isn’t the NBA. In the NBA you don’t have to worry about (preparation and) that kind of stuff, but in the NFL you have to. It requires a lot of film study and you have to love it and that is what they are trying to find out about Cam Newton.

“Things came easy to Cam Newton (at Auburn). I hope he doesn’t think they’ll come easy in the NFL.”

Teams are allowed to bring in 30 players for pre-draft visits. The Titans, who have announced their intention to part ways with Vince Young, are hosting a number of quarterbacks.

According to Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News, Eagles quarterback Michael Vick said he plans to gather his receivers, including running backs, for workouts next week, probably in South Jersey. NFL players are barred from team facilities during the lockout.

“We’ve had a nice offseason, a little too long,” Vick said. “I wish we were in the offseason conditioning [program], but hey, we’ve still got each other, we can do it together.”

Vick said he has no more insight than the rest of us as far as resolving the labor impasse, which yesterday shifted to U.S. Judge Susan Richard Nelson’s courtroom in St. Paul, Minn. “Hopefully, compromises can be made and we’ll be playing football,” Vick said.

Vick said it’s important for Eagles players to not let their focus waver just because of the lockout.

“We all hold ourselves accountable, for being responsible for the success of this organization,” Vick said. “We’re all taking responsibility to step up as leaders and do what’s right for us and the football team.”

The rumors about Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger getting hitched this summer are officially true. AP wrote the following today on Big Ben’s marriage to a 26-year-old physician’s assistant this summer. The QB spoke about the marriage for the first time to the Post-Gazette this past week. Here’s a portion of the AP piece that is running today.

Ben Roethlisberger will marry a 26-year-old physician’s assistant whom he said he met during training camp in 2005 and has been friends with ever since, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for a story in Thursday’s editions.

“We were kind of on and off for five years – almost six years now – so I’ve known her for a while. It’s not like a random new person. We dated a while ago; we have been friends ever since,” Roethlisberger told the Post-Gazette.

There has been a lot of talk about the Ravens offensive failures from last season. Even more speculation has been made about what Baltimore will do to try and improve its receiving corps. Would they retain some of their veterans or will they draft a young receiver to grow with Quarterback Joe Flacco?

Regardless of what Baltimore chooses to do for next season, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, has made it clear that he wants to return to the Purple and Black. Here are a few of his comments from the National Football Post.

“I really, really, really enjoyed my time there,” Houshmandzadeh said. “You will never hear me say anything bad about the Baltimore Ravens. It was an unbelievable experience for me. Obviously things didn't go the way I would have liked. But from top to bottom, unbelievable, man, the way they treat you, the way they run things, it is unbelievable. The things you hear about it, about the Baltimore Ravens organization, is true. I couldn't believe the way they treated me and just the way they treat everybody there. It's an unbelievable experience."

This may seem strange considering T.J. was pretty vocal in his frustration about his role in the offense behind Anquan Boldin and Derrick Mason. But perhaps he realizes that this team may be his best shot at the moment to get to a Super Bowl and he has said that he wants a chance to prove himself again. Most fans remember his key drop in the AFC playoffs against the Steelers rather than the game-winning touchdown he snagged to beat Pittsburgh in Week Four. I’m sure that that play has weighed on his mind over the past few months.

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