LOMBARDI'S WAY: HELP WANTED ~ TOUGH, SMART DETERMINED FOOTBALL PLAYERS

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Lombardi's Way - LOMBARDI'S WAY: HELP WANTED ~ TOUGH, SMART DETERMINED FOOTBALL PLAYERS

Posted On: 7/6/07

Written By:

Tony Lombardi

LOMBARDI'S WAY: HELP WANTED ~ TOUGH, SMART DETERMINED FOOTBALL PLAYERS

“Players get better.”

That’s an opinion subscribed to by Ozzie Newsome and Eric DeCosta.

This highly acclaimed draft day tandem seeks out players that are tough, smart, possess a thirst to compete and demonstrate leadership and good character. They also look at things such as body style. Can a player put on weight without sacrificing speed?

Throw it all in the mix and the pair will hand over collegiate talent to a solid coaching staff that grooms the players to be professionals.

That is the way of the Baltimore Ravens.

The developmental process isn’t singular nor is it a one year process. The process is ongoing and the players develop not only their individual skills at the NFL level, they develop within a system. Familiarity and repetitions breed on field success. The players work in unison and the resulting whole grows greater than the sum of the parts originally handed over to the coaches.

DeCosta has stated that both he and Director of Pro Personnel George Kokinis look to build the Ravens’ roster from the bottom up. That means digging to find complementary players that augment rosters. It means searching for players to fill the fifty-third and fifty-second spots on the 53 man squad and making sure that their No. 53 and No. 52 are better than that of their competitors.

To borrow from Brian Billick it is a process, one that is battle tested and perhaps perfected by the New England Patriots. The Ravens’ front office brass isn’t shy about admitting organizational plagiarism. And why should they be? After all, the Patriots have for all intents and purposes written the blue print for sustained success in the era of the salary cap. The Ravens are wise to follow that blue print.

The lineage has traveled from Bill Belichick to Ozzie to the Jaguars and Bengals and Browns and 49ers. When Rex Ryan leaves for greener pastures, the lineage will extend even further. Knowing the process is the first step. Executing it is another and that too comes with time as evidenced by the organizational inefficiencies of the Bengals and Browns.

Speaking of time, the clock is winding down on Kyle Boller’s tenure as a Raven. In what could go down as the biggest organizational black eye to date considering the cost to obtain Boller (a No. 1 pick and a No. 2 pick), it appears that the only thing that can save the beleaguered QB’s career in Baltimore is an injury to Steve McNair. And that assumes that Boller can lead the Ravens into the postseason if such an injury occurs. If McNair goes down and Boller succeeds, it’s possible that he could stick around. But then again, it’s even more likely that such success would inspire Boller and his representatives to price him out of the Ravens price range as a back up and move him to a team where he has a better chance to compete for the starting position.

That said Boller leading the Ravens into the playoffs is wishful thinking at its best. A playoff quarterback has to win on the road and Boller has an active 8 game road skid – make that a road train wreck. Most signs point towards a departure and that’s a shame given such an expensive price and the overall good guy and teammate that Boller is. Looking back, throwing a raw quarterback who was never a consistent collegiate winner into a starting position as a rookie was a huge mistake. 2007 could be one heck of a long season for Boller.

Marshal Yanda looks like he should be one heck of a football player. The trouble is, he looks like he could be one heck of a guard and that is where the Ravens could potentially have one heck of a log jam with Jason Brown, Ben Grubbs, Keydrick Vincent, Brian Rimpf and Yanda.

At 6’3”, Yanda has the physical build of a guard and he isn’t tall enough for tackle. It’s not as though the height is as important as his reach which is 31 ½”, 1 ¼” less than that of Ben Grubbs, a guard. Tackles need that reach to extend and get to speed rushers off the edge. How many times have you seen a defender beat a tackle only to get pushed just before reaching the quarterback? That final lunge, that final reach can be the difference between a sack and a big play down field. And those extra inches help. Comparatively speaking, Joe Staley at 6’5” has a 33 ½” reach.

Football without a doubt is a game of inches.

Just ask Troy Smith.

Originally posted May 8, 2007