For Clayton and Williams to reach their potentil it is essential for the Raven's to add a bonafide deep threat to the reciever corp, if not these guys are not quite good enough to make it happen on their own. There are no recievers on the Ravens who have the ability to get open consistently an or the ability to go up for balls and fight for them and win, that aspect of our offense is sorely missing and needed for these two guys to flourish. Tha Ravens will not get to the next level on offense without the type of reciever that I have mentioned, period!

The league's history is littered w/ no. 2 recievers who couldn't make it on their own. Let's not have the next Alvin Harper please.

Worth mentioning, his stats are a bit padded due to the Bungles always being behind and having to throw.

Now watching the Arizona-Phillie game and it's 31-7 in the 3rd quarter. Does this make the Raven's win last week even more impressive or what?

Wouldn't it be ironic if the Ravens had to let Ray walk so they could afford Houshmandzadeh?

He has some good years left and would probably be a welcome addition to any team in the league, but he wouldn't help out the Ravens that much. The team doesn't really need a Derrick Mason clone. They need a legitimate gamebreaker with enough speed to stretch the field. Houshmandzadeh isn't that. He'll probably be expensive too. Better to use the cap space for all the linebackers that need to be resigned.

Pete--I cannot forget the kind of player Mark Clayton was at Oklahoma. He would haul it in and then make things happen with lively moves down field. We've seen glimpses of that but I, too believe he can be a big play guy with the Ravens.

T.J Housh sounds intriguing. And I would like to see Demetrius Williams bounce back from injury and get his chance. But, a guy I would love to see to Ravens draft--WR Kenny Britt from Rutgers. He has hands, size, speed, smarts, and grit.

Now this is a case where I would definitely save the cap space. Let Flacco progress. Draft a reciever. Spend money on a DB. We could also use some pass rushing. Price is aging. Remember, 1 of Suggs, Lewis, Scott, will not be here any more. I would trade up for Crabtree or Heyward-Bey. Our recievers have never had a QB.

My problem with Housh is that he is not really a deep threat. Other than his size, he is very similar to Mason. Plus, he is already on the wrong side of 30. I think we can find a decent receiver with speed in the draft.

Lots of good advice on this page. Mike B is correct, without a deep threat to spread the defense, Clayton and Heep have little room to operate.

TJ Houshmanzadeh and Hines Ward are among my least favorite people in the world, and if the Ravens did get TJ I would have a hard time rooting for his success. My personal grudges aside, it seems more and more obvious that the Cardinals are desperate for DB help. I reallize McAlister is on IR, but he is a Pro-Bowl receiver, the Cards are loaded on offense with Warner and Fitz and Breaston has emereged as a legit threat, so I feel like a C-Mac for Boldin swap (with some draft picks in there for somebody) is at least feasible? Aside from his immense talent, Anquan is a class act, C-Mac has seemed to wear out his welcome with Harbaugh, and Rolle should be able to hold down the ship until a draft pick like Vanderbilt´s D.J. Moore or Rafael Priest can develop and go alongside Washington. Win-win all around?

In all our wheeling and dealing this offseason for a big play wide reciever we need to keep one thing in mind.The guy we are looking for can have hands like Raymond Berry, run a 4.0 forty, and have a 40 inch vertical leap, but if he does not have the ability to read a coverage and know where the soft spot is going to be, he is worthless. Derrick Mason knows how to do that. He is not that big, he is quick but not what would qualify him as a deep threat, but the man knows how to get OPEN. There are plenty of people out there who are bigger, faster, stronger, and can jump higher than Mason, but they are not playing because they do not know how to do that. He is the dreaded "Posession Receiver". Football's version of the "Utility Infielder" No one want to be it, but everyone has to have one. He is the guy who moves the chains. He is the guy who sacrifices to put his team in scoring position. He is the guy who annoys, irritates, and frustrates you, taking your focus away from that "Long Ball" threat. It is Cover 2 all day long without him. We should all try to keep that in mind this offseason during our efforts to upgrade the Raven's passing attack.

I doubt any quality free agent receiver is going to want to play for a team without a legitimate passing game and proven QB

I prefer the rumor of franchising Suggs and trading him to Arizona for Bouldin. Isn't Housh a bit of a cancer in the locker room? Obviously, compared to Ocho Stinko, no one else could be as much of a cancer. We need a guy that would benefit Derrick Mason by moving Derrick to the slot.

Atomic --

"I doubt any quality free agent receiver is going to want to play for a team without a legitimate passing game and proven QB"

Don't look now, but the Ravens are third in the NFL in passing yards per game. And most observers think Flacco is at minimun very promising.

Im looking for us to inquire about Bryant Johnson. At 6'3 near 220lbs, he would give us a different type of receiver. As a former 1st rd draft choice he also possess the athleticism that makes a top tier receiver. He has also never really had a chance to make a difference due to lack of Qbs in his career. Most importantly, at 27 years old he would be cheaper and younger than any other option, and we need somebody to grow with Joe Flacco. But most of all...he is from BALTIMORE

I fail to see the irony Paul B. Ray should be a top priority for the Ravens. They should let Bart Scott walk, and sign Ray longterm, with the intention of letting him coach after that. Atomic, while we don't have a proven QB, he shows a lot of promise, which would actually draw interest from a player like Housmandzadeh, based on similarities between Flacco and Palmer at this point in the career. Suggs and Ray Ray should get long-term contracts in the offseason, and the Ravens should let the Mad Backer walk. Jameel McClain should fill in nicely. The idea of letting Ray Lewis leave Baltimore is blasphemy.

Don't want the Ravens to succumb to free agent "fornication" by going after every little available receiver who might be available. T.J. is good, perhaps very good as a Bengal, but I personally wouldn't want him over what we already have. Cancel all that talk as well about trading Sizzle for Boldin, I'm not feeling that either. What the Ravens need to do is continue developing their own corps and draft a young wideout and corner with the first two picks in the April draft and keep it moving.

Go Ravens...strive for 12-4 and the AFC North championship!

The Ravens should keep the recievers they have and draft darius heyward-bey from Maryland!! I think he would contribute "right off the bat" and hopefully form a chemistry and deep threat with Flacco for years to come!!

I wouldn't mind him here but TJ is another Masson and we already have the original.

Better to focus on getting a real burner preferably with hands.

The Boldin/Suggs thing isn't a rumor. It's a fantasy.

As for House? No thanks. Not only is he overrated and not worth the money he'll get, he's very similiar in style to the other receivers already here.

Plus, CB is still to the top need for the Ravens heading into 2009.

anonymous...

the ravens arent third in passing, they are 3rd from the bottom? what are you talking bout?

you are thinking 3rd in pass D

Would be a terrible idea, TJ is not the BIG PLAY wide reciever the Ravens need. Looking back on what you wrote, look at what Clayton did, 5 catches for 164 yards. I'm not ready to say he can do that on a week to week basis or even 5-6 times a year but it was really nice to see and shows he has the potential to be that kind of player and you can't it was because he was playing the Bengals. That one handed catch was because he was that good on it not that they played him that bad. The blitzed Flacco, he stood in the face of the pash rush and threw a strike down field and with one arm being kind of held back by the defender Clayton pulled off by far the best catch by a Raven this year.

Heyward-Bay from Maryland would be perfect for this team, but the question is would he be available in the 20's which is where the Ravens may be picking from??? I don't think so, he's a game changer. A dark horse in the second round could be Kenny Britt of Rutgers as one other poster mentioned, very good player and could become a legit NFL receiver pretty quickly.

As it's been said, TJ is pretty much Derrick Mason, except not as good as Mason IMO. 81catches sure, but only 810 yards. Mason has only 62 catches but 811 yards. Tell me who's better.

To Atomic, there is no doubt a big time reciever would be more than willing to come here knowing he has a QB who is only going to get better and better and has one of the better arms in the NFL and will be able to get the ball to him downfield. They'll know looking at whats going on that they would be the missing piece to the puzzle to take the Ravens from being a decent offense to an explosive one.