FalcFans Forums

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-o ... rom-ravens

Early Tuesday afternoon, Ravens left tackle Bryant McKinnie posted this interesting, somewhat-cryptic update on his Twitter page after contract negotiations with his team went awry.






Bryant Mckinnie✔
@BryantMckinnie

Decision is made! I'm gone!

4 Sep 12 Reply
Retweet
Favorite



That inspired a collection of “Wha?” and “Huh?” retweets from all the assembled media, including a devastatingly-clever “Gone to get lunch?” RT from me.

It was all surreal, until Ravens Insider reported that McKinnie sent him a text message that said McKinnie was no longer a member of the Baltimore organization.

McKinnie was owed $3.2 million in base salary for 2012 -- which would be guaranteed if he's still on the roster by 4 p.m. ET Tuesday -- but according to the Baltimore Sun, the Ravens wanted to renegotiate his deal in an attempt to cut his pay (hey, it's no big deal. He's only protecting the team's franchise quarterback).

Clearly, McKinnie wasn't interested in that -- CBSSports.com's Jason La Canfora, though, is reporting that McKinnie was amenable to some sort of team discount; just not the paycut the Ravens want him to take. Here's some more context for why.




Ravens RapidReports@CBSSportsNFLBAL


McKinnie couldn't exactly afford a pay cut after team was forced to garnish half his wages for not paying back a lockout loan.

4 Sep 12 Reply
Retweet
Favorite

At this point, it's unclear whether the Ravens actually have waived McKinnie.

If he is gone, as Rapid Reporter Jason Butt points out, Michael Oher would move to left tackle (remember, the team brought in McKinnie because it was unsatisfied with Oher at the left tackle spot), 2012 second-round pick Kelechi Osemele would suit up at right tackle, and the team would be down to eight offensive lineman.

"We couldn't come to an agreement on a contract restructure, which leads to me being released,” McKinnie told NFL.com's Albert Breer.

McKinnie was out of shape and average at best last year. He promised to come in in better shape this year and did not.

That being said, he's an upgrade over Baker....but that would effect the Holmes drafting, wouldn't it?

The Falcons are going to miss the boat on a number of good left tackles since they drafted Holmes in the coming years.

But it's moot anyway, cuz the Ravens are keeping McKinnie.

Glass half empty =



Glass half full =

The Falcons drafted a beast of a left tackle in Holmes and he will be protecting Ryan's blind side for years to come.

Regarding Holmes, the glass isn't even out of the cupboard yet. If we're lucky, he won't see the field this year. He certainly has potential, but if he has to go at LT, everyone should be:

doesn't the glass already have a crack in it?

If he's better than Baker, then he should play. No?

well, define 'better'. If you mean better in that Holmes has more physical attributes, can keep Ryan's blindside safe and him clean, I would say 'yes'.

But you also have to remember that Ryan needs to 'feel' safe and have some 'chemistry' with his LT, and maybe he has that with Baker. I say 'maybe' because I'm not 100% sold that is the case.

It's a little too early to put Holmes in there yet..IMO. He has already injured himself, and he has struggled with his footwork and grasping the blocking schemes and assignments..It may ( and I say maaaaay ) be the case that Holmes is more physical, but Baker by 'experience' and his relationship with Ryan is the better choice...

Now, if Baker still sucks, or gets injured then by all means, but I think I need to see Baker play 4 qtrs of regular season NFL game to see if he has made progress since last year before I would even consider Holmes at LT.

What if we lose McClure, who’s body may not make it through another 16 game season, or what if RT Tyson Clabo were to go down? What has been a makeshift line would then turn into a scramble just to find enough warm bodies to throw out there...

The sad fact is we missed some opportunities in the free agent market to land some big name, big time, big bodied veteran NFL offensive linemen.....I guess we will see if King Konz and 'Bootsy' Holmes are the solution to our woes...But lets just say I'm less then certain..

If Baker doesn't step up big time, the only chemistry Matt Ryan is going to have is with the team physical therapist.

I think the leash should be very short on Baker, but I agree with Fun gus that Holmes isn't quite ready yet.

He looked very slow to me in the preseason games going up against 2nd/3rd string DEs. Because he's so big, it made him effective, but against 1st string DEs, particularly those that he'd see early this year e.g. Dumervil, Orakpo, Cole, Charles Johnson, etc. will eat him alive with their speed, which would likely lead to Holmes trying to overcompensate and probably lead to a thousand false starts, and playing on his heels, which is the last thing you want for an O-lineman. Then the offense is forced to overcompensate by using RBs and TEs to chip, slanting protections, and against certain teams that have other good pass rushers (such as DEN with Miller, WAS with Kerrigan, and PHI with Jenkins and Babin), you're leaving your other O-linemen out to dry.

Now could Holmes get better by November/December? Sure.

As for Baker, I don't think his problem comes from speed. He can match up with speed. His problem is power. Baker has no punch, and thus any decent speed rusher that has developed a good bull rush is going to just go through him and drive him back into the QB.

Unlike say Clabo, and most competent starting OTs, if they don't have great feet, they make up for it with their upper bodies and hands, in that once they can get a hand on you, they control the DE. These 270-pound DEs aren't going to be able to fight off a 315-pound tackle. These elite pass rushers almost all rely on their speed to get guys off balanced because they aren't going to consistently strong arm someone that has 30-50 pounds on them.

Clabo struggles vs. speed, but if he can get his hands on you, then he can control you. The problem with Baker is that can't do this. Even if he can get a hand on his man, he never controls him, and this is why he struggles.

Holmes has the potential to be a Clabo-type, and perhaps will get there. But the issue I have with Holmes is that I didn't see him do to a high degree at Southern Miss against low-level pass rushers, and thus I don't see him doing it right off the bat in the NFL.

Most of the LTs that come into the league and are capable or better in Years 1 or 2 are Top 20 picks. It's rare to find someone that isn't of that caliber that will succeed early as an NFL tackle, particularly on the left side.

Holmes is a player that has the tools that just hasn't quite put it together yet, and will need time and development. It's the classic mid-to-late round OT that get drafted. Now there are plenty of these types of guys starting today in the league, like Donald Penn, Jermon Bushrod, Demetress Bell, etc.

The problem is that the majority of these guys take 3-4 years before they really start to hit their stride. Even a player like Duane Brown, who I thought coming out in '08 was of the same mid-round caliber, struggled initially his first few years in the league before he really started to hit his stride last year.

And at the point if Holmes hit his stride, I don't think it's going to be this year, next year, and probably not the year after. I'm thinking it's going to be 2015 before you're in a position where you're no longer dreading the Holmes vs. Cole, Holmes vs. Orakpo, etc. matchup.

And then the question is what happens between now and then at left tackle?? Do you continue to get below average production??

Because the team is a needs-based drafting team, as long as they have some semblance of hope that Holmes can solidify the spot, they aren't going to draft a left tackle. Nor are they going to spend the money in FA to solidify the spot if a good player is available.

This is evidenced by how many chances they've given Baker despite an overwhelming 4-year body of work that tells us he can't do the job.

And while you may call it the "glass half empty" approach, but you have to ask the question: "What if Holmes is not better than Baker?" And given this team's past, it basically means 4 more years of wasted offensive potential.