What ails the Baltimore Ravens beyond the injuries? Luke Jones and Nestor take a hard look at rest of NFL and teams like Detroit and San Francisco that are winning with missing pieces and wonder what the purple path is from last place and offensive and defensive line play that don’t figure to markedly improve as the depth charts thin further.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Ravens’ struggles, highlighting their 1-5 start and the impact of injuries on key players like Lamar Jackson, Ronnie Stanley, and Roquan Smith. They noted the Ravens’ defensive line issues, with only three healthy edge rushers, and the need for better offensive line play. Jones emphasized the importance of winning the next two games against the Bears and Vikings to stay in playoff contention. They also touched on the potential offseason challenges, including salary cap management and the future of key players like Jackson and Marlon Humphrey. The conversation concluded with plans for upcoming events and crab cake tours.
- [ ] Analyze the Ravens’ upcoming matchup against the Bears and determine if they can get their season back on track.
- [ ] Consider potential trade options for the Ravens to address their pass rush and offensive line issues before the trade deadline.
- [ ] Evaluate the long-term salary cap implications for the Ravens and how that may impact their roster decisions in the offseason.
Maryland Crab Cake Tour and Upcoming Events
- Nestor Aparicio discusses the Maryland crab cake tour, including events at Costas in Timonium, State Fair, Coco’s, and Faidley’s.
- Nestor mentions the Maryland lottery promotion and the excitement around Shohei Otani month.
- Nestor talks about the Maryland crab cake tour, including the biggest crabs of the year and the various locations they will visit.
- Nestor highlights the upcoming events, including breakfast at State Fair and a visit to Coco’s and Pizza John’s.
Luke Jones’ Weekend Activities and NFL Observations
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss their weekend activities, including spending time with nieces, church events, and pumpkin crawls.
- Nestor mentions the excitement of watching other NFL teams and the problems many teams are facing.
- Luke Jones talks about the lack of excellent teams in the league and the impact of injuries on young quarterbacks.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the performance of various teams, including Kansas City, Green Bay, and Philadelphia, and the challenges they face.
Young Quarterbacks and Team Performance
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the performance of young quarterbacks like Caleb Williams and Justin Fields.
- Luke Jones mentions the story of the weekend, highlighting Joe Flacco’s impact on the Bengals and the Steelers’ defensive struggles.
- Nestor and Luke talk about the importance of young quarterbacks and the challenges they face in the league.
- Nestor mentions the performance of various quarterbacks, including Joe Flacco, Tyrod Taylor, and Joe Flacco’s impact on the Bengals.
NFL Teams and Their Challenges
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the challenges faced by teams like the Bengals, Steelers, and Giants.
- Luke Jones talks about the performance of the Patriots and the potential of Drake May as a long-term quarterback.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the Broncos’ comeback win and the potential of Bo Nix as a quarterback.
- Nestor mentions the stability of teams like New England and the Giants due to improved quarterback play.
San Francisco 49ers and Injury Impact
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the San Francisco 49ers’ performance despite significant injuries.
- Luke Jones highlights the 49ers’ ability to win games without their franchise quarterback and top defensive players.
- Nestor and Luke compare the 49ers’ resilience to the Ravens’ struggles with injuries and poor performance.
- Luke Jones mentions the impact of injuries on the Ravens’ roster depth and the challenges they face in the league.
Ravens’ Struggles and Future Outlook
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ struggles, including their 1-5 start and the impact of injuries.
- Luke Jones talks about the Ravens’ offensive line issues and the lack of a consistent pass rush.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of winning the next few games to stay in the playoff race.
- Luke Jones mentions the challenges the Ravens face in terms of roster depth and the need for improvements in the offensive and defensive lines.
Pass Rush and Defensive Line Issues
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ pass rush issues and the lack of a consistent defensive line.
- Luke Jones talks about the impact of injuries on the defensive line and the need for trades or promotions from the practice squad.
- Nestor mentions the importance of a pass rush in making quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers and Joe Flacco look better.
- Luke Jones highlights the challenges the Ravens face in stopping the run and the impact on their pass rush effectiveness.
Offensive Line and Quarterback Protection
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the importance of offensive line play in protecting the quarterback.
- Luke Jones talks about the challenges the Ravens face in terms of offensive line depth and the impact on quarterback protection.
- Nestor mentions the importance of Ronnie Stanley’s health and the need for consistent offensive line play.
- Luke Jones highlights the need for improvements in the offensive line to support the Ravens’ quarterback and running game.
Salary Cap and Future Roster Building
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the challenges the Ravens face in terms of salary cap and roster building.
- Luke Jones talks about the high cap numbers of key players like Lamar Jackson, Matt Bok, Roquan Smith, and Marlon Humphrey.
- Nestor mentions the need for tough decisions in terms of roster building and the potential impact on key players.
- Luke Jones highlights the importance of extending Lamar Jackson’s contract and the challenges in doing so.
Impact of Injuries and Future Plans
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the impact of injuries on the Ravens’ season and future plans.
- Luke Jones talks about the need for the Ravens to win the next few games to stay in the playoff race.
- Nestor mentions the importance of accountability and the need for improvements in various areas of the team.
- Luke Jones highlights the challenges the Ravens face in terms of roster depth and the need for trades or promotions from the practice squad.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
NFL playoffs, Ravens path, young quarterbacks, pass rush, offensive line, defensive line, injuries, Lamar Jackson, roster depth, trade deadline, salary cap, Justin Tucker, John Harbaugh, fan frustration.
SPEAKERS
Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
Hey, welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive, positively into the other side of the bye week, the World Series week. We call it Shohei Otani month. Here, Reggie, who it’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. And we get together and do the Maryland crab cake tour. So we’re gonna do that on Wednesday at Costas and Timonium. Got a lot of people in Dundalk beating on me. Now, I got Greek people in Dundalk say, you, you don’t come to Dundalk anymore. They move to Costas and Timonium. You don’t go, I’m like, when I want crabs, I’ll hit Dundalk. And by the way, the crabs are, don’t tell anybody. They’re the biggest this time of year. Get out this week and eat some crabs. Go to Costas and Dundalk anywhere you want to go. Next week, we will be at State Fair having breakfast on Tuesday morning in Catonsville. Life is great. The 21228, I’m looking forward to getting back to State Fair. Get some chicken and waffles, maybe some shrimp and grits. We’ll do that for breakfast. And then we are at Coco’s on November 5, and on November 7, two days later, we’re going to bring the show back out to to our friends at faidley, so we’re getting back out on the road. Everything’s good. Luke Jones is here. He is rested. Been spent I don’t think do you get rest when you spend your weekend with your nieces and doing church events and doing pumpkin crawls and like all the Halloween and all that stuff. Or is it’s nice to have a bye weekend, at least, I thought so. I think it’s nice every weekend is a bye weekend for me. Now that Chad steel put me on the I’d be going to Minnesota in two weeks, and that would be fun. I don’t need to shop at the Mall of America right now anyway, and they need to win football games, but it is kind of fun watching all these other teams with problems. You know, not many as big a problem as one in five, but there are some problems in the league. And quite frankly, sitting and watching the weekend of football, you realize how many bad teams there are. That’s what stood out to me. No excellent teams, lots of bad teams. And I think that that speaks to injuries as much as it speaks to anything in the league, and how hard it is to win with young quarterbacks, unless they’re Jackson, Dart Bo Nix, we got some young quarterbacks playing well too, dude,
Luke Jones 02:02
yeah, no question. I think there’s very much a thought of like, who is the best team in the league right now? I mean, you and I talked in a previous segment that maybe it’s Kansas City at four and three, right? I mean, they’ve been trending really well, but you kind of look and you say, All right, well, you know, Green Bay looked great the first couple weeks of the season. Since then, not as impressive, but they’re still four, one and one. I mean, you go down the list, Philadelphia feels like, you know, they’re five and two. But if you watch the talking head shows there, there’s all kinds of questions about the Eagles, right? I mean, I almost feel like Philadelphia has graduated into that Kansas City territory where it’s just like, whatever the eyeball test looks like, they’re going to figure it out, right? I mean, they’re going to
Nestor Aparicio 02:48
Well, the other thing is, with these teams that have won a Super Bowl, no offense to the 18 guys on the fringe of the roster that don’t have a ring, but all the rest of them that you treat the regular season differently after you win a Super Bowl. And I know that because we’ve won a couple around here and we’ve lost the you know, we’ve lost some championship games where you dust off and you come back a little hungry or a little different, but for all of those teams laying in wait, and I’ll put the Tampa Bay Bucks in there, I will put the Detroit line. Teams that haven’t won anything but feel good about themselves because they have a quarterback, they’re trending in the right direction. Maybe the defense is caught up enough that they don’t have to win 41 to 38 every week Buffalo and some other places where the Pittsburgh, where the field looks lopsided offensively, defensively based on what their output is going to be. I got a lot of observation. I wrote a bunch of stuff down over the weekend, but young quarterbacks is kind of where I would start on this. And who’s a contender, who’s a pretender, who’s a real quarterback, who’s a I mean, we’re gonna see one with Chicago this week, Caleb Williams, right? Like, see a guy, I mean, I see Justin fields running around for another team. Now, I saw Ty Rod Taylor throwing picks and interceptions. I saw Joe Flacco be victorious in, you know, the star of the week, Joe Flacco, stole the weekend. He’s the player of the weekend, really. I
Luke Jones 04:07
mean, certainly the story of the weekend. I mean, it started Thursday night, obviously, and made Cincinnati look different. Not that I necessarily view the Bengals as a team that’s anywhere close to the top tier, or probably not even the second tier, but they’re out of the bottom tier, right? I mean, how they looked with Browning as their quarterback, they look like they might be the worst team in the league, and they looked markedly better with Joe Flacco on the flip side of that, the Pittsburgh Steelers, despite still being in first place, being four and two, Aaron Rodgers, I think, is playing pretty well. What’s up with that defense? I mean, we talk about this ravens roster, and some of the things we’ve talked about with what a one in five start has included, that Pittsburgh defense was awful on Thursday night. I mean, and it’s one thing to talking about not covering Chase and Higgins, they couldn’t stop the run. I mean, go look at what Chase Brown’s numbers had been running the football player. Prior to Thursday night. So, yeah, you look around this league, and
Nestor Aparicio 05:03
I just went up to Thursday night to some degree, by the way, by the way,
Luke Jones 05:08
expert defense has played bad in some other games too. I mean, think about how the Jets move the ball against them in the opener, right? I mean, and you see what the Jets have looked like, kind of since then. Off,
Nestor Aparicio 05:18
I would say this, the Steelers made the Bengals look credible. We have to play the Bengals twice, sure, last week before they got slack. Oh, even when they got slack or we’re like, okay, Thanksgiving, you know who’s gonna be licking their lips that night. Are interesting. Now, they’re interesting now,
Luke Jones 05:31
yes, I think that’s the best way I could put it. I mean, I do. I think that Joe’s going to lead them to reel off six of seven or something like that? No, because I think there are too many flaws on that roster. But two weeks ago, I might have thought they’d lose six of their next or lose six of their next seven, and be the exact opposite. So we’ll see how that plays out. But you mentioned young quarterbacks, and I think you look at the landscape of the AFC right now, beyond the known commodities, right? Patrick mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar, and they’re not young quarterbacks anymore, but they’re the elite of the elite, right? When they’re on the field, when Lamar Jackson is healthy and upright, the ravens are a way different team, even regardless of what one in five looks like at the moment. But I think what’s interesting is you look at the top of the AFC standings right now. Not so much Indy with Daniel Jones, because he’s been around. He’s, you know, he’s been cast off already. But Drake may in New England, who, I think even going back to the end of last year, as bad as the Patriots looked, and obviously the the head coach situation, there was a disaster last year you fire one year gone when you’re talking about mayo and you bring in Vrabel. But the thing that really stood out for me watching the Patriots a couple times last year, at the end of the year, was that Drake May was playing quietly, playing some pretty solid football, considering how little was around him. And, you know, I see a guy that’s playing good football, you know, I see someone who, don’t, get me wrong, I’m not going to sit here and say he’s the next Tom Brady in New England, but he’s looking like he’s he could be a guy, like a guy that could be your guy for the next decade. I mean, he looks like he has that kind of potential. So that’s made New England way more interesting. It’s made it that the bills don’t necessarily just have a cake walk through the AFC East. I mean, the bills right now are half game behind them, with New England having a head to head. So you know, it’s not just a cake walk for them with with the Patriots playing the way they’re playing. So you look at them, and then the other one is Denver. It’s weird because Bo Nix last year, you know, especially considering where the Broncos were at the end of the season, playoffs and all of that, I haven’t been very impressed with him. But then you see what they did as a football team on Sunday, where, I mean, it was clearly the game you mentioned Joe Flacco and and the Bengals kind of being the, you know, that team that you say, hey, they were stars of the weekend, maybe the beginning of the weekend, but it was very much Denver pulling off just a miraculous comeback. I mean, they were, they were down 19, nothing going into the fourth quarter. And that fourth quarter was just insane, and they win 3033 to 32 I mean, a gut wrenching loss for the Giants, in the sense that you can’t blow a lead like that. But, man, I mean, give, give Denver credit, and Bo Nix made some plays, and certainly the Broncos did what they needed to do, and they’re five and two now. So as much as I just spent a couple minutes talking about the chiefs, you know, earlier in our conversation, look at them. I mean,
Nestor Aparicio 08:47
three weeks ago, look at those teams. It’s like there’s a two teams that can’t win the Super Bowl, to me, right? I mean, the giants in the Bengal or the the Broncos, they’re not winning the Super Bowl. But it’s an interesting game in the afternoon. It’s interesting, if you’re a Broncos fan, to say, Do we have a quarterback, or do we not have a quarterback? And certainly for the Giants who were, oh and everything, three weeks ago, and this kid that looks like spikoli comes in and, you know, puts his helmet forward. I mean, both of those franchises a month ago were like, What are we? They’re a month in now, and they feel more stabilized because of the quarterback play. And that’s going on in lots of New England. It’s going on in lots of places in league, maybe not Cincinnati, but they’ve already got a quarterback who’s injured, right? So there’s places where you’re figuring out your quarterback. I know we don’t have a backup here. That’s all I know. I know we have a
Luke Jones 09:33
quarterback, yeah, well, since you mentioned that, and speaking of backups, I saw a team on Sunday night, and Kyle van Noy alluded to this a couple weeks ago. If you recall, you know, going back to the San Francisco 49 ers ravaged by injuries as they have been, right? I mean, look, Brock Purdy is not Lamar Jackson, but he’s still their franchise quarterback, and they’ve been without him. Multiple games now, and they’ve lost a slew of other guys, including their defensive leader, Fred Warner, who’s better than roquan Smith. Yep, they won on Sunday night. They beat a Falcons team that the previous week did some impressive work against buffalo, right? I mean, so it speaks to the craziness of this league, and how it’s week to week. And, you know, you try to do the whole Well, if Team A beats Team B and Team B beats Team C, then A, you know, like that whole thing that we all try to do, even though we know it doesn’t work, right? It never works out that way. But I will say this, and this is where it makes the it doesn’t paint the ravens and as flattering a light, San Francisco has been ravaged by injuries. I mean, they’ve lost a ton of really important guys to their football team. They’re five and two. Now, do I think they’re the best team in the NFC No, I don’t, and I do think those injuries are probably going to cap their ceiling at a certain level, but it’s very much a credit and a testament to them and their coaching staff in the way that they’ve been able to cobble together wins, even missing some of their top guys, whereas the Ravens have not been able to do that, missing their top guys, right? So, I mean, that is much more of a compliment to the 40 Niners, but yeah, it is somewhat of an indictment of the Ravens in terms of, you know, we talked about this, not so much the Rams game, but when the Ravens were blown out by Houston, right? Especially when we found out before the game that no Ronnie Stanley and Kyle Hamilton, in addition to Lamar and roquan Smith and Marlon Humphrey, right? You look at that inactive list, you kind of said, Okay, this probably isn’t going to go the way you want it to go, but the way that they were just destroyed, absolutely embarrassed in that football game. We talked about it at the time, how bad of a look it was that they put up such a little fight. And in contrast, you’re seeing what the 40 Niners have done in some of these games, you know, without your franchise quarterback, without some of your stars on defense. You know, it’s been impressive, and it’s been a compliment to Kyle Shanahan and that coaching staff, whereas you look at the ravens and they’ve lost four in a row. Now we can keep talking it up and say, Okay, well, injuries, injuries, injuries. And we, you know, some people did the same thing talking about the baseball team for six months, right? Injuries, injuries, injuries and and look, injuries have absolutely been a big part of this. I’m not going to sit here and say it hasn’t been. Of course, you’re not going to be as good without Lamar Jackson and company. But at the same time, when you recognize that injuries are part of this league, attrition is part of this league, and you’ve got to be able to weather that, at least to a point where you don’t completely bury yourselves. That’s where you look at the ravens and say, Well, you know, one in five is one in five, and the math is going to be really, really difficult for them the rest of the way. Whereas the 40 Niners, even though Fred Warner is out for the year, and even though they’ve lost some other individuals, you know, to season ending injuries, you know, but they’re going to get Purdy back. They got Kittle back. You know, they’re not going to get Nick, you know Nick Bosa, but you know they’re, they’re very much in a position where, you know they
Nestor Aparicio 13:12
they’re holding their own, right? Yeah, yeah.
Luke Jones 13:16
So, you know, the Ravens haven’t been able to do that, right? So the hope is okay, Lamar, assuming he’s back this week, assuming some other guys are back this week, then okay, it’s go time. But I thought that was That was impressive on Sunday night for the 40 Niners, especially if you watch and I was watching baseball. So I can’t sit here and say I was watching that entire broadcast, but I did hear them talk about it enough, and I know how important Fred Warner is to them, but it was impressive the way that they circled the wagons in a way that the Ravens couldn’t, quite frankly, because Fred Warner, he’s their Ray Lewis, right? I mean, he’s the 49 their defense, he’s their Ray Lewis. So you know, for them to do that, I mean, that was impressive, and it speaks to their roster depth in a way that the Ravens roster depth has not been painted in a very flattering light over the last month, right? I mean, that all the talk, and I was as guilty of this as anyone, all the talk about the Ravens having the best roster in the league, they certainly didn’t have the deepest roster in the league, that’s for sure. So, you know, but, but you kind of look at the way this league is. You hear it week to week, ebbs and flows however you want to describe it, right, whatever cliche, whatever, whatever mantra you want to throw out there talking about the NFL, you do know that you have these pockets of time where things are going to be rougher, and you have these times where you try to get well, right? We’ve talked about it with the Ravens. I mean, these, these next few weeks feel like very, very winnable football games. If this team wants to have any thoughts of getting back in the playoff race and making a run. I mean, it’s going to start with needing to win these next few games, right? I mean, it’s non negotiable. Right? I mean, the math would suggest, if you don’t, then, mathematically, you’re going to be cooked. So they’re they’re already in a really bad spot from a math standpoint. So, you know, this league is as much about, and you hear this a lot, this is a coaching point. You know that games are lost way more than they’re won. And you know, the teams that are able to navigate that and find ways to win. I mean, we’ve talked about it so much with Kansas City over the last few years. You know this post Tyreek Hill offense that the Chiefs have had, or, you know, go back to where they were at the beginning of the season, when Rasheed Rice was still suspended and worthy was out, and they were trying to figure out what their offense was going to be. You know, not that they didn’t get off to a slow start, because they did. But now you look at them, they’re four and three, and, you know, they might be the best team in the AFC right now. I mean, the way they’re looking. So, you know, you’ve got to navigate it. It’s a long season, and that’s why all isn’t lost for the Ravens just yet. But, man, they certainly didn’t weather the storm very well. And hopefully you’re getting Lamar back and things start to feel way better moving forward. But you know, it could already be too late. It might be too late. We don’t know that yet. We’ll find out here in the coming weeks. But you know a team like San Francisco in contrast, man, at five and two, they’re, they’re in it, and you know they’ll get some guys back, they’ll get the quarterback back, and you know they’ll have a chance. Whereas, you know the Ravens at one and five, you know it’s, it’s going to be tight, it’s going to be tough to state. The obvious.
Nestor Aparicio 16:40
Luke Jones is here. He will be in Owings Mills all week long. I’ll do in the Maryland crab cake tour on Wednesday afternoon. Leonard Raskin is going to come out on Wednesday to hang out with us. We’re going to be at Costas and Timonium. I will have Raven scratch offs to give away. That is up and running. We’re going to be at State Fair next Tuesday, in the morning for breakfast, stop by in Catonsville, and then the week of the fifth, we’re going to be at Cocos on the fifth, the seventh. We’re going to be at Pizza John’s following week. We’re going to be at faidley’s, getting ready for Thanksgiving and getting ready for the crab cake shipping season as well. Big appreciation all of our sponsors who power us up put us out on the road, including our friends at GBMC, where I’m having my colonoscopy. One month countdown on that, everybody keeps saying, piece of cake, no problem. I’ll let you know. Thanksgiving week around here. I’ll keep everybody in the loop, and I should remind all the men out there to do what I have always said I should be doing that I’m actually doing, and do it now, and don’t be dumb like me, and wait till you get old and gray to get your colonoscopy so I feel healthy. I’ll let you know in a few weeks. My thanks to GBMC for having my back on that. All right, quarterbacks and quarterbacks getting off the spot pass rush in the league, I would say the one thing that makes quarterbacks look bad is a pass rush and a bad running game as well. That always contributes, but the pass rush side of where the ravens are, where the league is. You know, I see guys crawling on their legs to wrap guys up in their feet. And, you know, I see guys limping around cool, young quarterbacks limping at the end of games every week. It’s rough and tumble. The pass rush has been non existent for the Ravens. I’m looking around the league. And I don’t, I don’t know what the advantage is. It may be part of the show already said. Bose is not playing his brother. The guys that are good at this have been injured somewhat, right? To even our guy, Matt abigay from the middle, injured pass rush is so important. There’s nothing that makes Joe Flacco look better than a clean pocket.
Luke Jones 18:40
Yeah, yeah. I mean, no question about it. I mean, and that’s one of the areas for the Ravens where I don’t know where that how that’s getting better. I just don’t at Look, can they make a trade or two? Sure, do I think they’ll make a trade. I mean, you kind of need to at edge rusher, right? I mean, because Tavis Robinson’s out six weeks now with a body problem like they had at safety two weeks. I mean, right now that they have three healthy edge rushers right now, Kyle van Noy, okay, check David a job, oh. I mean, sound a good on draft day, yeah, this is not ideal. It’s just not so. I mean, you’ve got to figure this out in some shape or form. And, you know, obviously Mike Green being the big one that you’re hoping can get better as the year goes on. But that doesn’t mean he’s going to transform into Terrell Suggs overnight, right? I mean, you’re hoping he takes steps and gets better is and they’re going to play him 50 snaps, right? He’s going to have to play now. I mean, he already, he already has been playing a lot the last couple of weeks. So, I mean, that’s been trending that way anyway, but
Nestor Aparicio 19:42
there’s nothing getting him off the field the way Simpson. They said, No no more, no more. You have to have a player to put in there if you’re going to bench
Luke Jones 19:49
him. I mean, they have three healthy head thrusters right now, and one of them’s in his mid 30s, who ideally is not going to be able to place. You know, you don’t want Kyle van Noy playing 60 snaps. Well, it’s also.
Nestor Aparicio 20:00
They’re not the play in 95 degree heat either. Oh, sure, sure, but, but, but even so, yeah, but if you have a 35 year old guy, it’s a different that’s a different Sunday, I think, and, but, but it’s not, it’s not even
Luke Jones 20:12
so much about that. It’s just their level of effectiveness, right? I mean, the idea, right? You want Kyle van Noy going into the season, the idea was, he’s your third best pass right? He plays, or he might be your best, best pass rusher, but you want him to play the 30 most important pass rushing snaps, and then he can be fresh for those specific snaps, right? Whereas now you only have three healthy edge guys. And look whether they sign someone, whether they promote someone from the practice club. I mean, they’ll whatever they’re going to do, right? And we’ll reconvene if and when they make a move that’s worth talking about, but until then, you’re just talking about needing a couple more warm bodies. I mean, David ajabo is number three. Now, he’s done nothing this year to warrant
Nestor Aparicio 20:54
that Darius Smith was a guy we had talked about Clowney, you know, the older guys, the dairy Smith retired again, right? I mean, he’s done, right?
Luke Jones 21:01
Well, he says, so, yeah, yeah, so, so, I mean, clowney’s in Dallas. I mean, so you kind of look at it and, and this is where I don’t say this to be to make an excuse for the ravens, but you traded off a away, and then the next Sunday, tavius Robinson gets hurt, right? I mean, at some point in time, you also look at this thing and just say, you know, it just doesn’t feel like it’s going to be your year when it comes to things like that, either on top of questionable decisions or questionable roster building or questionable questionable coaching or underperforming players, right? Sometimes, yeah, the injuries and, you know, your weaknesses are exposed. You know, we talked about the defensive line depth, and then you lose Matta BK, right? We talked about the inside linebacker depth, and then Rokon Smith has a multi weak hamstring injury, right? I mean, so, you know, you can’t have perfect depth everywhere. We understand that with the salary cap, but the Ravens did have some areas where they were relative weaknesses, and they’ve been exposed, right? So how do you move forward now? And that’s where I look at this thing. I mean, I don’t know what their pathway is for a pass rush that, don’t get me wrong, like, let’s forget even talking like top five, top 10. Can you get your pass rush to a point where it it it does something for you, right? I mean, it’s been a non factor other than maybe the Cleveland game and even that game, and this is
Nestor Aparicio 22:27
what makes it trouble for Aaron Rodgers and Joe Flacco Sure. Say what you want about their defenses, about them, their age, whatever. If you can’t make them move, they’ll kill
Luke Jones 22:35
you. They can still hurt you, absolutely. I mean, there’s no question about that. And that’s where I look at I mean, the thing I’d say about Rogers, and I haven’t watched Pittsburgh a ton, but I’ve watched them enough. Now, for someone who’s 41 going on 42 he still moves pretty well. I mean, he moves like a 35 year old. No, I mean he right. I mean he’s not taking off and running. I mean, he never was the guy that ran for a ton of yards, but he was always the guy that can move his feet around the pocket, scramble, wait for someone to get open, and then deliver a pass right throw off his back foot more effectively than a lot of quarterbacks, and he can still do those things. So if you can’t harass those guys, they’re gonna they’re gonna hurt
Nestor Aparicio 23:19
Well, the other part for him is what Brady talked about last week, which is premium plays, which, by the way, is better than premium pricing. I point that at the Sasha brown premium plays. That’s how Brady described it. You were at the game, so I was listening to it. He’s like, you know, Matthew Stafford’s up with a line of scrimmage. He’s going to get them into a premium play in every play, every play. He’s coming up to the line of scrimmage with 1214, 15 seconds. He’s coming up, he’s reading everything. He’s seeing who the mic is hit, and then he’s going to back off, put himself into the play he wants and kick your ass. And that’s where Aaron Rodgers and Joe Flacco. Maybe not Flacco as much, because he might even know the offense all that well in Cincinnati. But in the case of Aaron Rodgers, that’s where it’s problematic, because you already don’t have a pass rush, he doesn’t have to really worry about things happening fast, the way he does when he’s playing miles Garrett, let’s say right, like where one bad guard will get the whole thing blown up, but he can design protections. Get the right Justice Hill into the right spot to protect him. Figure out who his hots are, knowing he’s got a tight end no like all of that being said for really good quarterbacks, that’s what makes them really good. That was Peyton Manning. Couldn’t move the last 10 years of his career. He had a bad neck, but he could come up to the line of scrimmage and one, Mississippi two, Mississippi, three, Mississippi, he’s rid of the ball, and somebody a lot faster and better is in single coverage running away from somebody, and a safety needs to make a tackle, or a linebacker needs to make a tackle, or a linebacker needs to make a tackle on a wide receiver or a scat back that they can’t catch. That’s the mismatch part. Of having tools, of having great players around you, and when the Ravens offense is working, Lamar sleight of hand, RPO Derek, Henry, big holes, if you have Ronnie Stanley and Tyler linderbohm doing their job the right way, hot reeds like Isaiah likely and and Mark Andrews. Oh, by the way, big fat back like Pat Ricard, if you want him in, guy with hands to throw the ball up D hop will go get it deep. You got Bateman, you got zay flowers to create mismatches across the middle. At any point, zay flowers can create a mismatch. So you have all of that in this offense too. But the difference is, if you pressure Lamar, or you beat up on the guard of choice, whoever, whatever guards they have out there, or the left tackle, some guy named note, boom. It makes Lamar a lot more edgy about having to get rid of the ball or what’s going to happen with the ball. A lot more thinking going on than the calmness of Aaron Rodgers walking up to the line of scrimmage in Pittsburgh to kick you out of the playoffs the first week of January, on a 28 degree night, which he kind of likes, that sort of weather, as I remember in Green Bay, walking up to the line of scrimmage and quiet, and you have no pass rush, and all he has to do is figure out where’s my mismatch and on every play and Just matriculate the ball down the field like a veteran quarterback,
Luke Jones 26:24
and look what you mentioned about Lamar. I mean, that’s every quarterback, right? I mean, in the same way that if the Steelers don’t protect Rogers, he doesn’t look very good, but Lamar has a boatload of tools, but no line, sure, well, but I’m just saying in a general sense. I mean, you’re, you’re spelling out the issue when you can’t protect your quarterback. I mean, it’s why. I mean, what Joe burrow has done at times in Cincinnati when he’s been able to stay healthy and when his offensive line hasn’t gotten him injured, it’s kind of been miracle work of what he’s been able to do, because he hasn’t had very good offensive line play, and he’s hurt again as a result, right? So, yeah, I mean, this is where, when I’m trying to look at the ravens, look at their schedule, look at who they’re getting back from injuries, trying to project out how this is going to go. This is where I have a really tough time, regardless of what the schedule looks like. And it’s not, it’s not an imposing schedule. You know, their their last 11 games, I you know, especially knowing that the Ravens have gone on some tears in the past, in the Lamar era. You know, we all remember them winning 12 in a row in 2019 and the role that they got on two years ago, when they end up being the number one seed again and all that, right? They’ve done they’ve made runs like this before, but because of the state of their pass rush and specifically their defensive line, which, by the way, let’s also, let’s not overlook the fact that they’ve had their issues stopping the run as well. Now they were better against the Rams in that department, and that was encouraging, but that’s been an issue for them as well, and that it ties together with the pass rush, because if you’re giving up too much yardage on the ground in early downs, then you put the opposition in a lot of third and shorts, where your pass rush is going to be neutralized. You know, even, even if you do get pressure, like you’re you’re just in a position where it’s short yardage ball comes out quick move the chains, end of story, right? So, but I look at that, and then I look at the Ravens state, the state of their offensive line, and having some concerns about Stan Lee’s health after three straight weeks dealing with an ankle going into the bye. I hope the bye week gave Ronnie a chance to rest up and the ankles 100% I don’t know if that’s reality, though. I don’t know if he’s going to get out there against the bears on Sunday, and it’s bothering him, and he’s going to have to exit the game again. Or, you know, I mean, what? What that’s going to mean for a month from now? You know? So it’s I can envision lots of things about this team still going in a positive direction in terms of what needs to happen for them to win nine of 11, to finish 10 and seven.
Nestor Aparicio 29:12
Well, that the positive direction would just be, I don’t need points against the bears. They need to
Luke Jones 29:16
wear, sure, but, but when I think about the level of consistency that’s needed to win nine of 11. I’ll sign off on Lamar Jackson, no duh, right? A two time MVP quarterback. I’ll sign off on what you just spelled out in terms of Derek, Henry and Patrick Ricard coming back, and the skill players that they have. And I’ll sign off even on their defense with roquan Smith coming back, that part of it, the idea that Hamilton is now on a position where he can play nickel and play close to the line of scrimmage, I think that can raise the floor of their defense.
Nestor Aparicio 29:47
I think they believe they were a better team without away and with the safety from from the chargers and Hamilton with the line of scrimmage, was better than having a dot A O
Luke Jones 29:57
way at the line of scrimmage. I mean, and it does. Have to, you know, there were, look, I’m not going to give Eric to Costa a pass. They lost our Darius Washington in May. They had five months to get a third safety that was viable. So that’s when Eric Decosta to me, however, that being said, he would say they got one. Now I would just cost them their edge rush. I would say you needed one two months ago, and there were other safeties out there that to be had like we’re not. You didn’t need to acquire Ronnie Lott, right? I mean, although he Gilman is not an all pro, you know, he’s a solid football player. So anyway, I’ll buy those elements of the defense being better than what we’ve seen. I’ll buy obviously, Lamar coming back, their offense being better, Patrick Ricard being back on the field, their running game being better, but is their offensive line and is their defensive line going to play at a high enough and consistent enough level for these next 11 weeks for you to win nine of those games. That’s where I struggle, that those two areas are where I really struggle, even with the schedule that they have, which is quite forgiving on paper, right? I mean, we talked about it all offseason when, well, the first six weeks were it was a bear. It was a bear. No question, no question. I mean, five of six against playoff teams from a year ago, so fully acknowledging that. But I have my doubts whether this offensive line is going to be good enough and consistent enough the rest of the way. I absolutely have my doubts whether they’re going to find nearly enough good quality play on their defensive line and at edge rusher that they’re going to be able to and that includes stopping the run. Yes, no question. So those are the two areas where I look at this and I’m just like, I don’t know if it’s going to happen. We’ll see. And again, they have
Nestor Aparicio 31:52
games one in the trenches, just like John Madden Mattel, they
Luke Jones 31:55
have two weeks, roughly a little over, you know, two, basically two weeks until the trade deadline. Do I think Eric to Casa is going to make a move or two? Yeah, do I think, realistically, there are enough moves that he can make that are going to remedy all those issues on the offensive and defensive lines?
Nestor Aparicio 32:13
No. So lose one more of these games next week, unless they’re three and five, three and five and you’re dealing like you’re six and two, fine, but if you’re two and six or, you know, yeah,
Luke Jones 32:25
I mean, then maybe, maybe you sell off, Mark Andrews, maybe you sell off, you know, another player that, wow,
Nestor Aparicio 32:31
it’s October 12. You give me, I mean, literally, you’re absolutely right. If they lose this time next week or next Friday, we are talking about All right, what direction do you go in as a seller? The oil sold off nine guys right at the deadline, literally, right? And this whole offseason, this is what Elias is. We got 18 young players. We brought in. I don’t know though about draft picks, but I know Eric loves draft picks, but I also know, and this is the weirdest thing, they have never, ever, ever, ever, throwing the talent on a season around here to deal out players like that would be unprecedented, but also smart, if they’re, if they’re one in seven smart, yeah.
Luke Jones 33:11
And again, that’s where we come back to you have to win these next two games like there’s just, it’s not negotiable. If you can’t win these games, the math says it’s over then, right? I mean, even if you go one and one, these next two, I mean, you’re two and six, are you really gonna lose one more game the rest of the way
Nestor Aparicio 33:35
you get a deal draft picks out to get a pass rush six, right? And don’t
Luke Jones 33:39
get me wrong, there’s always nuance from the standpoint of, could you acquire someone that has that is under contract for the next couple years? Then, yeah, that’s a difference. Two and
Nestor Aparicio 33:47
six sounds awful. And they’re this close literally, and we’re talking about them being a buyer instead of a seller that. And yeah,
Luke Jones 33:55
and that’s where you get into if you lose. I mean, obviously my Miami is dreadful. I mean, they are
Nestor Aparicio 34:02
terrible. Better not lose than them, but it’s a Thursday night tricky game on the right. It’s a weird game.
Luke Jones 34:06
Man, no, like, you have to, you have to win. Like, if you lose that game, you You stink. Like, at some point in time, just like, it’s time to stop talking about you in any of these terms whatsoever. Browns feel good about themselves right now, but, but even, even the bears, right? Yeah, the bears are four and two. They’re not, they’re not a bad team. Let me, let me be clear, they’re better than they’ve been. I think Caleb Williams might, I’m not convinced yet, but might, you know, he certainly flashes good things. You know, I’m not as impressed with him as like Drake may with New England right now. But you’ve got to win this game, because it’s one thing to talk about losing to the bills or Detroit or at Kansas City or Houston or the Rams when Lamar didn’t play in those two games, right? You can look at any of those games and. Isolation, the eyeball test of the Texans game, feeling so terrible aside each of those losses in isolation, you can rationalize it and still think the Ravens have a path to be in a good team. If you lose to the bear, assuming Lamar is back, and if he’s not back, then that’s a totally different conversation. And then it’s like, where is he with his health? When is he coming back? He coming back? What’s going on? Did he have a setback? Right? I mean, go down the list of all those questions it creates. But assuming Lamar is back on the field, if you can’t beat the bears, then why the heck am I supposed to think that they’re going to go to Minnesota and beat the Vikings? Why am I sure that they’re going to go to Cleveland and beat the browns. Okay? The Jets are terrible, so I’ll give you that one. But why? Why am I convinced they can beat the Bengals? Why am I convinced they can beat the Steelers, right? Why am I convinced that they can beat New England? Why do I think that they’re going to go to Green Bay and beat the Packers, right? So they have to win all of those games to get to 10? Sure, sure. But my point, like, if you lose to the bears at home coming out of your bye week with extra time to prep, then, like, like, forget about all this nine of 11 stuff. Like, you just you’re not good. Like, like, it’s that simple for me. That’s why this is must win. I mean, it just is on so many level. Like, the math, yes, but you know, at some point the eyeball test like you’ve got to give me something to work with here, right? I mean, you haven’t won a game in over a month.
Nestor Aparicio 36:29
Well, they are a touchdown favorite at home. I mean, they are right as we sit here, you
Luke Jones 36:32
know? And I’ll tell you right now. I mean, you know, I’m still days away from writing my 12 ravens thoughts with a prediction for Sunday’s game. If Lamar Jackson’s healthy and practicing this week, I’m picking the ravens to
Nestor Aparicio 36:43
win. Dude. I called hardball a fraud, and I mean it, and I stand behind it, and if he would get in the room, I’d let him know. But I think they’re going to be seven and seven, I think I still think they’re going to win six of their next eight games. I really do, I think, and I want to believe that it’s because the pedigree tells me that. And it’s because what sitting and watching all these terrible teams, like the dolphins, like the jets, and completely winnable games like the Chicago Bears in the Minnesota Vikings at this point that I look at it and say, they’ll find a way. Given pedigree, given Harbaugh, given as good as he is, he’s going to the Hall of everything. Just ask anybody how great a coach, John Harbaugh, is, that they’ll figure this out. But figuring it out really starts with number eight, and until we see him do it on this this is their this is opening day for them, right for the rest of the season, like they’re going to win or have a season, or they’re going to lose, and it’s not going to be one, and that’s where they put themselves, at one and five. So if you’re going down to the game this week, you’re selling your tickets off cheap. You’re going down tailgate, whatever the weather is going to be, whatever. Yeah, I’m with you. It’s kind of the season. Yeah, if they lose,
Luke Jones 37:47
I mean, if they lose, Sunday, it’s over. Like, it’s over. I mean, like, because, again, they’re not going nine and one. What are you hanging your hat on this idea of what you thought the Ravens were going to be? But in reality, it hasn’t been that at all. Right? So
Nestor Aparicio 37:59
certainly hasn’t been for Ronnie, Stanley, Marlon, Humphrey, stroke wansman, the players, the actual Derek Henry, fumbling the ball, not having a lot, not having holes like the players themselves. They flowers, dropping balls and disappearing after games. This is where I bring up accountability. I bring it up top to bottom. And I think hardball is unfireable. So the heart of my column is why you’re not going anywhere. So you have all the rope in the world. You got a job for life, like this orange crook down in DC thinks he’s got a fiefdom, and he’s here forever. And do whatever we want. There’ll be no consequences, because there’s never been any consequences. I don’t know where the consequences are. If this thing finishes five and 12 under any circumstances. Lamar is hurt. Roquan’s hurt. Ronnie Stanley got hurt on us. Marlon got old. Young guys didn’t take you know, we can’t get him the ball. The offensive line was no good, the defensive line was no good. I’m already making the excuses up for one and five, because that’s what it is. What it is right now is the offensive line and the defensive line aren’t good enough, aside from all of it, let alone the injuries on their best day, can this outfit beat the Chicago Bears or the Miami Dolphins? Well, we’re gonna find out this week, right?
Luke Jones 39:12
Yeah. And, I mean, you’ve got to be able to beat the bears. If you can’t beat the bears, then at some point we’re just, it’s like, we’re, we’re like, in this time warp, talking about what we thought this team was in the preseason compared to, like, what reality looks like. And and this is where you look at it and say, hey, it’s challenging. They have flaws. Their offensive line, short of them acquiring an All Pro guard, I don’t know how much better it’s going to get, and that’s when, and that’s even assuming that Ronnie Stanley can stay healthy, which I don’t know, right? I mean, I’m concerned about that the defensive line, matta BK is not walking through that door. I mean, he’s just not. So are you going to go out and get a an impact or? A defensive tackle? Can you go out and get a edge rusher that, you know, is it going to be a 12 sack guy, but can at least be, I don’t know, you know, seven sacks well
Nestor Aparicio 40:13
next weekend, you’re three and five. You’re thinking that way. In the meantime, between here and there, it’s, you know, bubble gum and paper clips and staples and trying to pull
Luke Jones 40:23
it together when, no matter how I and let me be clear, I don’t care how they beat the bears, yeah, I think everyone would feel way better if Lamar comes running out of the tunnel and they win by three touchdowns and they do that all right? Everyone’s feeling good. Everyone’s feeling better. The bye week did some good for everybody, physically and mentally, for everybody. But you know, even if they win 20 to 17, and you know, it’s kind of a slog, it’s still a win. I mean, they just need to win, like it’s it’s really that simple. You haven’t won in over a month. You have one win on the season, you need to win, but if they don’t, then I don’t know what we’re talking about, because it’s like again, bills, okay, lions, okay. Chiefs, sure lose to the Texans without Lamar. I mean, I didn’t like how ugly it looked, but the end result, I wasn’t shocked by the fact that they lost, given the guys that were injured in that game, same with the Rams. No, Lamar. Not shocked. But if you do have Lamar, and you drop it this game to the bears, like, I don’t know what this even is, you know, like it’s, it truly is just a bad football team then, and on top of that, they’re one in six. And then you’re talking about needing to win nine of your last 10. You’re going to go nine and one after that to get to 10 and seven. I mean, it feels like dream land then, I mean, it’s, it’s already, we’re not talking about the highest probability scenario, because we’re assuming these guys come back and they’re not going to have a bunch of other injuries, which is a big assumption, right? Just because you’re injured early in the season doesn’t mean you’re not going to have
Nestor Aparicio 42:05
there’s so many assumptions here that the kicker is going to make big kicks, that Lamar is going to stay healthy, that guys are going to catch balls, that that there’s going to be some semblance of a pass rush, that there’s just, well, it’s just, this is an ugly road. You and I’ve spent 15 years talking about a pretty good football team. We haven’t been maybe 2015 when, when Flacco got hurt or whatever, but they were bad that year. Yeah, we haven’t had a whole lot of this and certainly not this far in with HAR ball, which is why I went after his fraudulence last week in a lot of ways. And I’m on the outside looking in. I don’t have questions to ask anymore, so I get to ask them rhetorically to the universe at this point, in front of our audience, I would say, you know, you’re getting to the to the point of the fans walking out of the stadium, not showing up, not using their tickets. I mean, I was at a Cooper’s north over the weekend grabbing some lunch. Terry’s like, I didn’t use my tickets. Like, what? Well, I had this and I had what? Your seats were empty, yeah. Well, you know, okay, that’s where we are now. I mean, I’ve lived a life in front of this audience here for 30 seasons. That’s not the way it’s been around here in regard to the football team. And bishati Better be smelling his brand protectors like Chad steel and Sashi Brown, and the people that have built this thing in the community or destroyed it. In my case, they’ve destroyed my fandom piece by piece. They’ve come after me. You’ve seen it. You’ve witnessed it, and how they behaved all along and how they’ve treated the media the aftermath of this Justin Tucker thing. And don’t underestimate the fact that he’s gonna be kicking in the league three weeks from now. And nope, can’t talk about that channel, so it’s gonna be a big story in the league when Justin Tucker comes and and maybe nobody reads the banner piece, and maybe he gets a job with the Cardinals or the Giants or some god forsaken team where he’s going to be fringy, but he’s going to be kicking in this league in a couple of weeks, because he’s one of the 32 best kickers on Earth. His suspension is up. His age is going to get him a gig. He wants to kick again. He loves himself. He loves his videos. He’s, I mean, he is what he is. I’ve witnessed it for 15 years, and I have my opinions on that, but he’s going to come back. And that story is going to come back, and if they’re two and nine when it happens, and har balls flailing and the stadiums empty, and they’re in last place, and God forbid, they would lose to the Browns three weeks from now, because they’re underneath of the browns in the standings. And I don’t remember in October ever where that’s been the case. So there’s a lot of bad ish going on with this franchise right now, and that’s just not even the stuff I know that’s happened off the field that I alluded to in my fraudulent column last week, that I would encourage everyone to read. I may read it aloud and put it on the radio this week, because I feel like it needs to be heard, and not just piling on when they’re one in five, the owner is going to pile on the sponsors the F. Fans the city is going to pile on when all this happens. And I’m surprised they didn’t pile on more on the Justin Tucker thing. That’s why I think it’s going to come back. If the story is going to come back, and it’s going to become more of a national thing, when the greatest kicker in the history of the game, history of the game, the greatest kicker in the history of the game, is going to come back and kick four weeks from now for somebody else, that’s all. And he’s going to come in in key situations to win games, and they’re going to talk about it. We’re gonna have a little talk about Justin Tucker, in a way that the country didn’t talk about him. I think a lot of these things could be happening in the next couple of weeks, when they’re playing Thanksgiving night as a three and 18, whatever. I don’t know, they better not be, they better be five and six, or, you know, whatever six and seven, whatever it’s going to be, but things can really get bad here, and they’ve been really bad, and you’ve experienced it. I’ve watched it on TV. I don’t know what the bowl of that stadium looks like. Boo and har ball, and there’s 4000 people left at the end of the game to boo him, and the stadium’s empty. I’ve seen that two in a row. Now. Better make sure it’s not that way. 330 on Sunday against the lowly bears.
Luke Jones 46:04
Sure. I mean, lot to unpack there, but I’ll look. I’ll take a step ahead. I mean, if you have that kind of season, and this is going to apply, regardless of how the rest of this,
Nestor Aparicio 46:16
well, they’re on the pathway to that season right now. They’ve got H, O, R, they do. We’re going to
Luke Jones 46:21
sit here and argue with you, but much more. I mean, the Justin Tucker thing is going to be a big thing for who signs him. I know you. I’m not saying it’s not going to be talked about at all, but for the race, going to need a kicker. I watched football a weekend, right? I that’s still that’s a lot for a team to take on for a kicker, especially a kicker coming off of the worst year of his career, he didn’t do anything. Just ask the Ravens. Ask, I mean, ask him he didn’t do anything. Only did was ravens caught him. Yeah, okay, yeah. He didn’t do anything. Nobody. But I’m saying the risk is
Nestor Aparicio 46:53
lawyers. Okay. I’m just telling you what a prickly thing this has been for eight months for the people at the banner and for people in the ravens, and they all wash their hands of it. I’m just saying, I don’t, I don’t think their hands are as clean as they want them to be. Once he comes back, because I think he’ll come. You think he’s blackball. Let’s go. I mean, I’ve seen these kickers missing extra points and go, Dude, the only reason Denver’s HEROES today and the Giants aren’t is the Giants kicker stunk,
Luke Jones 47:20
right? But you’re, you’re also taking on a predator, signing someone to be your kicker. I mean, I mean, I’m not saying, believe me, the NFL doesn’t. Nothing surprises me with the NFL at this point in
Nestor Aparicio 47:33
time, she rice is high five and fans in the end zone effort, but, but
Luke Jones 47:37
if Justin let people for dead, if Justin Tucker doesn’t get a job three weeks from now, when he’s eligible, that’s not going to surprise me. Now, if he never kicks in the league ever again, that might surprise me, but I’m not convinced that he’s being signed in week 11. Like, right? Like, you know, I’m not convinced that his phone rings immediately and he’s on a team we’ll see. We’ll see, but
Nestor Aparicio 48:01
I will. The Chiefs kicker has been running around telling women they need to be barefoot, pregnant in the kitchen, and he’s been kicking, and it’s been doing, are we
Luke Jones 48:08
really going to compare those two things? No, okay, I was just gonna say, I mean, like, come on, like that, that those aren’t remotely comparable. And I’m not. I’m not even going to, you know, whatever Harrison butter said, I mean, doesn’t
Nestor Aparicio 48:22
mean whatever Justin Tucker did can’t be proven, right? So, you know. But
Luke Jones 48:25
my point, I just, I think that’s, I think that’s an unfair comparison to Harrison butter compared to what Justin Tucker did. But anyway,
Nestor Aparicio 48:32
I’m saying controversial kickers, just in a general sense, he’s a kicker, if he makes the kick, he’s a hero. It’s the NFL dude. Rasheed rice is running around like I don’t know what I think he’s gonna play again. I just do. I’ve always believed that, but it’s always different, because he’s so good when it’s your own guy. He wasn’t good last year.
Luke Jones 48:53
Justin Tucker is a big reason why they lost multiple games last year. It’s always different when it’s your own guy, compared to going out and signing up for that anyway. I’m not terribly interested in talking about Justin Tucker right now, because for the ravens, when you’re talking about where they where they are at the end of the season, regardless of how the rest of this year goes, Lamar Jackson has a 75.4 or $74.5 million cap number for 2026 you’ve got to do an extension. We know how the last extension went. How easily is that going to happen? Nnamdi Mada BK has a $30.9 million cap number next year. Is he going to play football again? Roquan Smith has a $32.7 million cap number next year. Now that’s not money, but that’s with restructuring his deal. That’s his cap number. That’s a problem. Roquan Smith is not playing like that kind of a linebacker, and hasn’t going back to last year. Now maybe he will the rest of the way we’ll see Marlon upper, he has a $26.2 million cap number next year. Those are. Yeah. I mean, that’s what I just spelled out. Is a huge 42% of your cap. I mean, that’s a huge, I mean, that’s 150 100 $60 million right there. Now that’s cap. That’s not cash. That’s capped, though. So my point is, I mean, this is going to be an interesting off season in terms of, and don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s like 2001 cat flow up the roster, kind of salary cap situation, but there’s going to be a lot of tough decisions in maneuvering. And are you going to be able to resign Tyler Linder bomb and, you know, kind of go down the list. So it’s, it’s fascinating in that way. So, you know, are you going to resign Isaiah? Likely Mark Andrews is presumably walking right if he’s not traded at the trade deadline. I mean,
Nestor Aparicio 50:48
so they might get a high draft pick. I mean, but, but the
Luke Jones 50:51
point is, there’s, you know, you’re there are some tough decisions, and there’s going to be some very choppy waters to navigate, from a roster building standpoint come March. You know, even with a $74 million quarterback, yeah, and yeah, coming off maybe a year you don’t make the playoffs, yeah, and coming off of a year where he’s not happy because his bat, his past protection was lousy, or whatever, right? I mean, Derek
Nestor Aparicio 51:15
Henry would be a year older next year, yeah. I mean, so that piece of that weaponry that you think you have in the running game.
Luke Jones 51:20
So I don’t mean this to say that the sky is falling 100% and they’re completely doomed or anything like that. But, man, that’s some uncomfortable that’s some uncomfortable territory that that’s going to have to be addressed, you know, with some of those guys, and you know, what’s going to happen? Does Matta BK have to retire? How do you how do you sort that out from a salary cap standpoint, you know? So, I mean, it’s tough. So yeah, you want to try to get off the mat. You want to try to see if you can make a couple moves here at the trade deadline to help yourselves. You want to, certainly need to win these next two games to get to three and five and see what the deadline looks like, and see if you can, you can go on a run, but if that doesn’t happen, man, everything we’ve been talking about, which has been our ball and pending free agents, and where this team is, you know, Zach Orr and Todd moncken and all of that, man, from a salary cap standpoint, and you go into this offseason, and You do wonder what’s going to happen from a roster building standpoint, and are you going to say goodbye to some guys who have been mainstays here? You know is, is Marlon free a cap casualty is, you know, are you able to sign Tyler linderbaum Or Or do you put yourself in a position where you’re not sure if it’s feasible? I don’t know. You know, I’m not saying I wouldn’t want to resign them, but he’s going to be making a heck of a lot of money at the center position, you know, where that’s going to be a you would assume, whoever pays him, it’s probably going to make him the highest paid center in the league. I mean, that’s generally how it works, you know, when you’re talking about one of the top three or four centers in football. So, you know, it’s a lot, and how easily Are you going to be able to play ball with Lamar Jackson in terms of working out an extension that’s going to help you in the best possible way in terms of not just your cap in 26 but the next three or four years after that? So it’s a lot. So that’s why, when you have a year like this, man, you’re just looking at this thing and you’re saying, you know, this was supposed to be like I thought, thought this was a great roster, thought this was the best roster in the league, thought this was a year where you had a great chance to win a championship. And, you know, right now, it certainly doesn’t feel that way at all. I mean, that’s Captain Obvious. So man, there’s, there’s a lot to unpack with how this could go the rest of the way. You know, not just for the playoffs or not just for John Harbaugh’s future or the future of any number of players, but you know your salary cap and where you go from here. If this does, you know, even if it doesn’t bottom out in embarrassing fashion. Let’s say they go seven and four the rest of the way. Nestor, seven and four over 11 games is not a bad record. But what does seven and four mean? They go eight nine. Barring Pittsburgh and Cincinnati being lousy, they’re not making the playoffs with that. So what does that mean? You know, where do you go from there? I mean, I think it’s, it’s really, really interesting. And then that’s where you look at, okay, what, what have these last couple drafts produced, right? You start to question everything. So it’s, it’s heavy. It can get way heavier than it’s already felt that and that’s the point I’m trying to make. When you kind of look at what their 2026 cat picture looks like, and the heavy lifting that Eric Decosta is going to have to do to figure that all out, beginning with working out an extension for your quarterback three years after, you know, not quite three years after the fact that you had a heck of a time getting it done the last time. So is it going to be easier this time around? Or are you going to have you can be sweating it out once again? And you know, there’s a lot of questions that are going to be asked here, especially if the Ravens lose a couple games here over the next month. And you know, they’re playing out the string after that. Luke
Nestor Aparicio 55:11
Jones can be found at Baltimore. Luke, he’s on the internet everywhere I am he is, but he gets to go to Owings Mills into Camden Yards. We’ll get some baseball in here before it’s all over with, how about that show? Hey, Otani, huh? Stayed up late with that one the other night, and I’m glad I did. That was almost like watching a no hitter, except it’s kind of weird. The whole The whole thing’s weird. Dodgers in the World Series, we will have an American League opponent, as we do not right now, because we’re all like brewing the coffee to stay up late with game seven. So it is a it’s an exciting baseball week. It will be an exciting football week. Around here, we got two football games, one on Sunday, one on Thursday night, and we will be talking at length about it. I’ve had a lot of fun here. The last week. I’ve had Marvin Lewis on Howard Balzer on, Todd Radom on we’re putting crab cake tours together. On Wednesday, we will be at Costas in Timonium, the new Costas at the racetrack, all part of our Maryland lottery giveaway promotion. I have Raven scratch offs to give away, hopefully a lucky batch for you next week at state fair on Tuesday, and then the week after that, the fifth at Cocos, the seventh at Pizza John’s, and then on the fadeleys, the week of the 10th. Lots crab cakes ahead and lots of conversation ahead as well. Big appreciation everybody that marched in the new King’s march over the weekend as well. Want to give a shout out to everybody out there that’s defending the country against corruption and bad football. I am Nestor. We are W N, S T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore positive. Stay with us.
