The Raven’s inability to stockpile talent and maintain coaching consistency throughout the organization has eroded a championship base that seemed solid following the team’s Super Bowl XXXV victory.
Here are the most recent missteps of a franchise sunk so low, it turned to a career special teams coach for direction.
- Not trading up for Brady Quinn. The former Notre Dame stud could start for nearly two-thirds of the teams in the league — and the Ravens could have had him in 2007. But the team refused to make a trade up from the 29th overall pick. Cleveland had the guts and traded with Dallas to move to No. 22 to get him.
- Not grooming a replacement for Jonathan Ogden. The left tackle was the face of the franchise and the best the team could do to find a replacement was selecting Jared Gaither in the fourth round of the supplemental draft. The team’s answer for replacing it’s best player of all-time was to get a guy who couldn’t even hack the academics at University of Maryland.
- Not grooming a receiver. Where to start? Devard Darling, Clarence Moore, Demetrius Williams and Matt Willis. Are you laughing or crying at the group of recent Ravens receivers who would struggle to crack a Canadian Football League roster? Mark Clayton has show he has talent, but without a quarterback to get him the ball or scheme to include him, he hasn’t developed like many of the league’s No. 2 receivers.
- No offensive consistency. Matt Cavanaugh. Jim Fassel. Brian Billick. Rick Neuheisel. Cam Cameron —all of whom have served as the Ravens’ offensive coordinator the past five seasons, with Cameron taking the reigns this fall. No wonder the staple of the offense is the three-yard pass to the fullback — players can’t remember all the new plays each season.
- Losing Phil Savage and James Harris. Phil Savage, the Browns general manager and James Harris, the Jaguars vice president of player personnel, were each pupils under Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome before each took their new position in 2005 and 2003. Since the pair of evaluators left, the Ravens drafts have been less then stellar. Savage even signed Ravens castoff Derek Anderson, who turned into a Pro Bowl quarterback. How did those games against the Browns work out last season, Ravens’ fans?
Dave Carey covers sports for The Examiner. He can be reached at [email protected].
