Offense

QB- Joe Flacco, Tyrod Taylor

FB- Vonta Leach

RB- Ray Rice, Bernard Pierce

WR- Anquan Boldin, Torrey Smith. Jacoby Jones,

T- Michael Oher, Bryant McKinnie

G- Marshal Yanda, Kelechi Osemele, Jah Reid

C- Matt Birk, Gino Gradkowski

TE- Ed Dickson, Dennis Pitta

Defense

NT- Terrence Cody,

DE- Haloti Ngata, Arthur Jones, Pernell McPhee

OLB- Terrell Suggs, Paul Kruger, Courtney Upshaw, Michael McAdoo

ILB- Ray Lewis, Jameel McClain, Albert McClellan, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Dannell Ellerbe

CB- Lardarius Webb, Jimmy Smith, Cary Williams, Danny Gorrer, Corey Graham

S- Ed Reed, Bernard Pollard, Sean Considine

Special Teams

K- Billy Cundiff

P- Sam Koch

LS- Morgan Cox

Total- 17 Offense , 21 Defense-, Special Teams-3 = 41 Locks

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For the last five years Jacoby Jones has played for the Houston Texans, most would say he has underachieved, never turned into that explosive receiver opposite Andre Johnson. At 6'2" 212 lbs and the speed to blow the top off coverages, he has the intangibles considered to be a good weapon on offense. The last two seasons he has averaged 537 yards and 2TD's. In his career, he has gone over 50 receptions once (51). Caught 6 TD's in 2009. Last season he had 31 Recs, 2TD's, 512 yards, and averaged 16.5 ypc. Offensively he doesn't have eye popping numbers. Special teams is where he does his work but recently he is commonly known for the two fumbles in the playoffs against yours truly.

What is it about this guy that the Ravens felt compelled to pay him a generous $7mil over a 2 year period.

Lets talk about protecting the ball which is most important in this league. He had two huge fumbles in the playoffs which most would say got him released. What about before the playoffs, did he have fumbilitis? Receiving the ball he had zero fumbles all year. Returning punts he had zero fumbles during the regular season. I believe its safe to say he just had a bad game.

As a punt returner last year he was one of the most prolific returners in the league. Jones led the league in punt returns for more than 40 yards (5) and tied for third with returns more than 20 yards (7). Out of 49 attempts he only fair caught the ball 7 times. Shows the guy can think fast and knows what he wants to do with the ball. Our best returner for the last couple years have been Lardarius Webb, which has done a solid job. Although, sometimes I thought the fair catch signal was used prematurely last season. Last year he had four returns for more than 20 yards and one return for more than 40 yards, fair caught the ball 20 times out of 30 returns. Of course there are many things that impact a return, mainly blocking, but Jones stats clearly shows he is superior. Every year we have a top 5 defense. One thing that has been much overlooked is how often we make teams punt. Ravens defense were second in the league in success on 3rd down. Field position will increase considerably with the addition of Jones.

The Houston Texans passing offense has been up and down since Schaub has signed with them in 2007. He only played a full season 2 out of 5 seasons. Last season started with a twist when Andre Johnson went down in Week 4 with a knee injury and would miss the next 9 out of 12 games. Then Schaub would end his season early week 10 on IR, then Matt Leinert thought it was his time to shine but could not finish the game due to injury. Now TJ yates has been called upon to finish the season. When these catastrophic events took place the Texans became a run first offense which led the league in rush yards per game and second in the league in rush attempts per game. Just to recap, #1 receiver gone, one of the most prolific passers gone, and a amped up run offense. Jacoby Jones who would normally be used to change coverage because of his speed, was asked to anchor the pass offense to make way for the run game. Some thought he would step up to the challenge with Johnson going down. But its mighty hard to show you can show up being the only vertical threat on a run first team with a third string quarterback throwing to you mostly on bootlegs.

From the outside looking in I think Houston will miss him, and considering the variables Jacoby didn't have a fair shot last year and was cut prematurely. I think the Ravens noticed and saw a gem. I like the signing and I think he will clear his name by seasons end.

The Baltimore Ravens are SOLID as is, and it helps that we have players that honestly have high potential to help, if they can't we're solid enough it'll go unnoticed

Michael McAdoo

I'm honestly looking forward to see what this kid can do in camp and preseason.

I think he makes the team because last year he was RAW to say the least and Ozzie didn't want to risk putting him on the practice squad in the case someone else swooped him up. He had 1 sack and 1 forced fumble in the last preseason game. He could make a charge for a situational pass-rusher, whether it be at DE or OLB

Sergio Kindle

We all know the story here. He hasn't contributed in either of his first 2 seasons, and we've done well without him. Any good added, is extra good. He was once considered a top ten pick of the draft. He certainly has the ability, and this is his chance.

(Click on the 'Jump' to read of more Ravens with definite potential)

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just read a story by jason la canfora saying the ravens signed jones to a contract. we'll probably use him as a kick returner/punt returner. i have mixed feelings about this... i just wish our young WR's would get a chance to develop and be more involved in our offense. but there's a reason i'm not the GM. i think its' a decent signing, and with the rumors that we offered a 3rd for Umenyiora, it seems like we're being pretty active. what are your guys' thoughts?

What was Ozzie thinking when he moved up in the draft for a runningback when we already have one of the leagues best in Ray Rice?

There are some fans that jump to the quick conclusion and think it signals the end of Rice in a Ravens uniform with his contract currently being a hot topic.

Others say it's to replace Ricky Williams, who recently retired.

The Ozzie faithful say BPA all the way.

The steeler haters say it was so that the piss yellow team couldn't draft the standout runningback.

Maybe it's something more than that.

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I know many people are panicking right now, but there really is no reason too. This is one of the deepest defenses we have had in awhile and the next man will step up. Our defense is not built around one player and that is what makes our D so good. We have some of the leagues finest at all levels of the defense and I know they will help pick up the slack along with some of our younger players. While Terrell Suggs will be missed and can't be replaced individually, let me tell you why we will still have one of the top units in 2012.

1) Offense will be better:

While it's basically the same unit, the chemistry will be huge for the progression of our offense. Joe Flacco had a lot of new and young weapons to throw to last year and at times it caused some issues. The lockout hurt the situation even more since some of these young guys couldn't really get in a good off-season program. Still will the lack of chemistry, Flacco played his best when he was called on against the better teams in the league. He had a great playoff run and played some of his best games of the year against Pitt 2x, San Francisco, Houston, and Cincy 2x. I think Flacco and the offense takes another big step forward and that should relieve some stress off the D.

2) Kruger & Upshaw can put up similar numbers to Suggs & JJ:

I know some are thinking I am crazy, but let me explain. While Suggs was an animal and pulled out an amazing 14 sacks, his counter part only pulled out 2.5. I think Paul Kruger and Courtney Upshaw combined can pull a similar total number. People really underrate Kruger as a pass rusher. If you go back and watch his tape last year he consistently dominated his man. He had 5.5 sacks as a situational guy, but was constantly pressuring the QB when he didn't get to him or just missed out on a sack because someone else got there first. He has a big arsenal of moves and I think he takes over Suggs position as the top pass rusher. I won't be shocked to see a 9-11 sack season.

I think Upshaw will take over JJ's role and transition great there. U pshaw is already very good at stopping the run and has potential to be elite. He has NFL ready strength and I think is ready to contribute day one. He is a much more gifted pass rusher than JJ and will have a lot of one on one match-ups to work with on the other side. If he can play the run well and give us 4-6 sacks, which I think he can, he will have done his job.

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Im sure we all know about Suggs, he obviously was balling to hard (; But, who is going to replace him? This gives Upshaw almost a guaranteed starting role, hell, it might even be fate. Sergio Kindle is sorta a bust, although he broke his neck, so we gotta give him a break (no pun intended). Kindle is also probably going to try out DE so... Who starts beside Ray Lewis and along with Upshaw (possibly)?

Of course we will all miss the Dean of Ball So Hard University for how ever long he will be out, but since he's out, we should look to see what good we can get at it.

Courtney Upshaw-Sizzle can take him aside, teach him the tricks of the trade, and make life easier for Upshaw. If in camp, Siz would most likely be in on the downs Upshaw would be in on, and wouldn't be able to analyze him as well. Now he can sit aside, help him out and ease his transition

T-Sizzle- Many players say that sitting out in camp, and injuries have made them better players today. They are able to spend more time in the film room. More time to understand how defenses/ offenses are dealing with them. And for the rookies, not Suggs, more time to understand the playbook/ the way the game is played. He also can spend more time with Skip Bayless if that's the route he wants to go. He can defend Joe again, or call skip a douchebag again.

Sergio Kindle- Honestly, most of us here at beatdown don't really have much of an opinion about Sergio here. If he contributes, we're happy. It's only taken two years to do it. If he doesn't contribute, it goes pretty much unnoticed. He's been out for 2 years. But this gives him the chance he could need. He could to be a value pick, and have a breakout season.

Paul Kruger- He was given the benefit out the doubt, and named the starter after the departure of Jarret Johnson. Then we drafted Courtney Upshaw, and most of us gave him Paul's starting spot. Now he's most likely back in the starting role. It will be a competition between him and Sergio but he will most likely win it out. Now he can show how he plays and hopefully make the absense seem absent.

Dean Pees- In his first season as coordinator, he looses one of his cornerstones. He will have to find new ways to rush, and cover the run. However, when you have a defense like the ravens with Ray Lewis on it, a lot of that work is somewhat done for you.

The Offense- Yes, the offense is certainly effected here. That is if the defense is effected. It's not that we need to keep are defense off the feild, because that certainly still is our strong suit, but EVERYONE must step up here, that includes the offense.

Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs allegedly tore his Achilles tendon Saturday while training for the Ravens conditioning test he was due to take before training camp. The defensive player of the year and "Ball So Hard" advocate led the Ravens with 14 sacks this past season. It is quite an unfortunate turn of events for Ravens fans as one of their star players is already bitten with the injury bug before training camp has even begun.

There is no confirmed report on how severe Suggs’ injury is, but it was said that he will be having surgery next week, via ESPN. Suggs is said to be in the process of seeing a foot specialist, Dr. Robert Anderson, this upcoming Tuesday. As soon as the status of Suggs’ injury is determined it will be easier for the Ravens to see what they are up against. Suggs is a great weapon to the Ravens defense, and if he is unable to play at all this upcoming season it will leave a major impact on the Ravens defense.

Suggs sent out a very positive tweet regarding his injury this past afternoon:

"To all my loyal and true fans, know that everything the can and needs to be done, WILL BE DONE!!!!!! I WILL BE IN A RAVENS UNIFORM IN 2012!!"

Suggs was shocked at the allegations that he would be out for the entire season. He strongly believes he could be back as early as late October, or early November. "That’s just going to make it so much sweeter when I run out of that tunnel and prove everyone wrong," Suggs said in a phone conversation with ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols. Suggs has only missed three games as a Raven, this is his first major injury as well.

I understand you guys drafted Courtney Upshaw this year. I couldn't help wondering about your 2nd round pick from a couple years ago Sergio Kindle. What do you guys think about him? Will he be able to make a push for playing time, has he shown any effort recently? How much of an impact can he have?

I'm a die hard Giants fan but I love the way your defense plays (Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Ngata, and Suggs are my favorite defesive players outside of NYG) and it made me upset to hear about Suggs' injury. Just wanted to see if you guys think Kindle can help fill the void to keep this defense dominant.