 So YouTube team keep it clean. We know Raven season. It didn't end how we wanted it to due to unfortunate circumstances, but I got a very special guest that I'm bringing on to talk with me about this 2021 Raven season, about the past and also the future with this upcoming season. We talk about Lamar Jackson, John Harbaugh, Patrick Queen, this, that and the third. So many different players, coaches and a mix of everything. And you get to hear from their perspective. So without further ado, let's go ahead and hop into it. Team keep it clean. We got a very special guest in the building today. None other than the NFL chick, Rita. Appreciate you joining us. How you doing today? I'm good. Thank you for having me on the podcast. Oh yeah, no problem. You already know. So just to jump straight into it, how did you get started like being a Ravens fan? How did that come about? Well, I'm from Baltimore. And my dad and my uncle have been PSL holders since the beginning. They've been fans since 96. So, you know, I really didn't have a choice. And that's what we do on Sundays. I come from a big background of sports folks. My dad played football, my uncle played baseball. So, you know, sports is really ingrained in us. Big, you know, Orioles, Ravens. So when the team came, you know, that's what we did on Sundays. We had Sunday dinner and we watched the football game. And that was literally it. So. So yeah, you really didn't have no choice then. I had no choice. So on Twitter, and by the way, your Twitter handle is the NFL chick. Why? Why are you the NFL chick? How did that come about? So I started a blog back in, like, 2008. And around that, well, no, it's actually before then. I started a blog. I don't know if a lot of people remember this, but I think, like, Fox Sports had, like, a blog community. And so this was, like, 2005, 2006. And, you know, that was the name that I came up with. And then I made it independent in 2008, you know, where I got my own, you know, URL. And I started blogging more often. And at the time, I was an intern with the Ravens in 2008. And I can remember my boss at the time was just, like, yeah, doc, you know, just document your experience. And first it was supposed to be about my experience with the Ravens, but then it turned into, you know, football news and football talk. So it just kind of went from there. And, you know, like, some of my articles that got cited and, you know, people was asking me to come on their shows and stuff. And it just kind of grew from there. But really it just was a name that I came up with because that was the only name I felt like that would stick. And it's done. Yeah, it's done. Now, you have a podcast yourself with the Gridiron girls. How often do you do the podcast and let everybody know what it's about? We do it every week. And it's myself, I'm the Ravens fan and my best friend, Chels, who is a Cowboys fan. Please pray for Chels, by the way, you know, cause she's going through it right now after that loss, particularly after that play call before the loss. But we talk and we've been doing Gridiron girls for, since 2009. And it started with, we were doing kickoff parties. We would do a party for the first game of every, you know, every year. And then, you know, we were blogging and then we did a podcast. So I don't know if people remember Blog Talk Radio, where you like called in this number, but we were doing blogs way back then before it became such a huge platform now. So it's just cool to have now all of these resources just to get your content out. And so like, like how you do as well. And yeah, we do it every week. So, and we curse. We don't keep it clean like you do over there. But not too bad. It's not too bad. But sometimes your team needs to get cursed. No, you know, and that's kind of how it goes around there. But I won't do that today. Well, I appreciate it. So these Ravens, speaking about getting cursed out and the team that just needs some jacking up from time to time. This was a season. That this was a, it was a season. Had a lot of highs, had a lot of lows and everything in between. Well, if you had to choose one word to describe Ravens 2021 season, what would that be? Or even if it's not one word or phrase, a phrase or a word, whichever. I mean, would it be anything else outside of health? I don't really know what other words you could use to describe or lack thereof to describe the season. Like from the beginning. I mean, if you think about it, training camp started with Lamar and I think was it Gus, both getting COVID. And he didn't even play like the first, they didn't play the practice the first week of training camp. And you didn't think anything about it, you know? And then, you know, the injuries slowly started to mount up and you wonder in hindsight, was that an omen from the beginning of training camp until how the season ended with Tyus' Achilles injury? It's crazy to me. I've never seen this before. People like to cite the 2015 season and I don't think that this is the same at all. Because again, like you had the beginning of training camp guys going down and it just transcended throughout the entire season with major, major injuries. So I've never seen anything like this before. And I'm amazed by the fact that within all of the injuries, they were still in the fight pretty much every week minus the Michaels game, of course, at the end. But that they were still like a score or so away from winning a football game against really good competition. You know, against teams that have advanced to the playoffs since then. So yeah, the health has got to be the word of the 2021 ratings for sure. Yeah, and it's something that like you said, it literally continued throughout the entire season. It was like every single week it was something new. Every single week it was somebody else getting hurt. Every single week it was somebody being out. And it's crazy because last year, Ravens got hit with that whole COVID thing. And that was just nasty. But it's like, man, with all the injuries that Ravens had, I would have gladly took something like that this year. Even if it lasted two games, I would have gladly taken that. I mean, obviously don't want nobody to get COVID or nothing like that. But I would have taken that situation over all these injuries that the Ravens literally had from beginning to the end. It ain't make no sense. And then we still had the COVID situation, right? The package thing. Like, I don't know who those dudes were, you know? Like these some dudes off the street. I tried to get my son to go up there. My son is six, three, six, four. I was like, go over there and I have to be a quarterback. They could use your services. He's really good at flag football, y'all. So I was trying to get him a job over there because I mean, everybody else was getting a job. I didn't know who those other dudes were, you know? Why not let him not get an opportunity? I mean, it couldn't have been no worse than what it was, man. Exactly. So, you know, even with, in addition to the injuries, we still had the COVID issue of guys being out. Now it's just a double whammy, man. So it's gonna be, it's hard to, it's gonna be hard to move on from this season because of the narrow losses that they had. But it's gonna be easy too, in the sense of like, yeah, but though all of our guys weren't there. And so I just don't anticipate, you know, 2022 looking the same prayerfully. Yeah, cause you get, you expect to get a lot of guys, but one thing that I am concerned about with a lot of guys that are gonna be returning is how they'll look when they return. Will they look like themselves? Will they look like, will they be fully healed? And of course there's no good time for somebody to get hurt, but for the guys that got hurt before the season started or very, very early on in the season, they sort of have a benefit with them coming back because the injuries got knocked out. And if they had surgery that got knocked out early as opposed to like with Tyus Bowser, that was the worst, man. I felt so bad for that dude, man. Because I'm like, man, he, last game of the season and you're not even like, they did, they lost. And even if they would have won, they would have made the playoffs because the dolphins, they won. Right, the dolphins won, yeah. So it's like, man, like his injury was like, not necessarily in vain, but it was like in vain. It was like for nothing. It's like, man, you just feel for that dude because in Achilles, that could take a little minute to come back from. Right, and, you know, Cam Acres is a very rare guy. Like we've seen Cam Acres now playing after what I believe the right before training camp, he was during training camp, he hit that happen. That doesn't happen with everybody, you know? And Tyus is a guy that ascended all year long. He has played at such a high level. And also I co-host a show with Tyus, with Pressbox and I've had an opportunity to talk to Tyus and get to know Tyus, he's such a good dude. Like he's the last person, not that you wish injury on anybody, right? You know, but you would, to get to talk to him and see how good of a dude he is and how much work he puts in, he's the last person you wanted to see this happen to. And I'm with you, like how long is this gonna take? We probably won't see Tyus at minimum till six weeks into the 2022 season. So now that's another position that you have to worry about whether it's in free agency or whether it's in the draft, that you didn't think that you had to before because he was playing at such a high level. And so that's just really unfortunate. Right, that's true. Now, you call yourself Lamar Jackson's very godmother. And I know yesterday, either yesterday or the day before yesterday, you tweeted, he just need to get a blank check. Ravens just need to give him a blank check. Where do you feel after this season? Do you feel like Lamar Jackson with the whole contract situation? Do you feel like Ravens should be able to have it figured out by now? Or do you feel like they should still just wait and see? Because it can be tricky because depending on how somebody might look at it, somebody might be like, well, they were winning with him, which is the end-of-be-all. That's the biggest thing right there, you play and win in football. But he did have that little slump toward the last couple of games that he was playing. But then you could look at, hey, when he wasn't out there, they lost. They did not win without him. And it does not look like this show can go on without a Lamar Jackson. So how do you feel the Ravens should be when it comes to the contract situation with Lamar? I wouldn't linger this on personally. If I'm the Ravens or if I'm Lamar, yes, we know that he has a fifth-year option. And a lot of people like to bring up the Joe Flacco debate because he played during his fifth-year option. But this is not the same situation. Now, Ravens tried to sign Joe that offseason before the fifth-year option. And Joe declined because he felt like his team was very close. Obviously, we noted that missed kick and that drop pass by Lee Evans and that AFC championship game, they should have been in the Super Bowl. And he bet on himself because they were so close to getting to the Super Bowl that they would get back there. Guess what? He was right. In a situation with Lamar, I just don't think that that's, look, and good for Joe, right? That worked out in his favor. That doesn't mean that that works out for everybody who does things like that. I think that Lamar is a huge asset to this football team. And we were able to see that with how it went when he was out. I think, and I don't know if you could tell me this, but I feel like the last nine quarters or 10 quarters or something, they only had like one offensive touchdown or something like that. Some crazy stat, that's asinine. And how much of a valued player does Lamar then come into play? Because in his struggles, even in his struggles, he wasn't still going to give you one offensive touchdown in so many quarters. And then I tweeted that because Kyla Murray played the way that he did in his playoff game against a division opponent. Yes, I know I understand that he didn't have D'Andre Hopkins. But honestly, when you look at the guys that Lamar had, when he had his MVP season, he didn't have a D'Andre Hopkins. He didn't have the guys that he has now currently on his football team to produce. He didn't have a Zach Ertz that they traded for, because they felt like that they had some aspirations to go far in the playoffs. And so I've said that because guys that people think are better or better throwers or better football players tend to struggle as well with better personnel. To me, that says a lot about who Lamar is and the impact that he has on this football team. And I love Snoop. I love Tyler Huntley. I think he's a great backup. And so none of this is any disrespect to him. But I think that what we learned in those last five games is that he is a good backup. And there's some of the things that Lamar can do. He can't do. And that's why I said, get this man a blank check, because the personnel is in place. I love the why I receive a group. I think that they have the potential to be really good. You've got two 1,000 yard catchers. I think that it gets better if Lamar plays those last five games. And I just think that this is a young group and that it's important to have some continuity, particularly in the quarterback situation. And I feel like dragging this along doesn't help anybody. I heard what Lamar said. I'm not focused on that. I'm focused on getting better and winning. That's a nice thing to say, Lamar. I get it. But you need to be focused on your money, OK? Because at the end of the day, football is not a forever sport, and you deserve. You are a unanimous MVP. You are a big part of what this football team is. You deserve every dollar that this team decides to give you. And I think you need to get it now. Yeah, I agree 1,000% with that. With something that you just talked about, when you referenced the 2019, that MVP season, when you compared it with Kyla Murray and his weapons that he has of the Andre Hopkins, Zach Erson, AJ Green, Rondell Moore, he got some nice, nice receivers. Christian Kerr, yeah, he got some good weapons. And with Lamar Jackson, he had a rookie Hollywood, a rookie Boykin, Seth Roberts, Willie Snead, and Mark Andrews, too. But something that it's like with the Ravens this year, his weapons were better, especially once they got healthy, because Rashad Bateman was out for a little while. But once he got healthy, he was like, oh, OK, this dude, so he had Rashad Bateman, had a Sammy Watkins, had a Hollywood Brown, and DuVernay and Proshay, when they got the opportunities, they show what they could do as well. And then even Tyler Wallace in the limited amount of time that he did get to play, which really wasn't much, but we show you he could do some stuff, too. Right. But what was missing from this year, as that was there in 2019, was the offensive line. He did not have the same offensive line, the same quality of offensive line. So it just puts a lot of stuff into perspective for me, because in 2019, he showed you with who he showed you that he did it with. He led the league in touchdown passes, and he showed that he could play. Lamar, obviously, we know he can play. But with the weapons that he had back then, it just shows you how big of a difference an offensive line makes. Because the weapons, in my opinion, are better now, and they're obviously more seasoned now. But back then, he had a better season, but he had a better offensive line. So going into this offseason, what do you feel the Ravens need to, what position group do you feel like the Ravens need to invest in the most? You said it yourself, the offensive line. I am big on trenches, and I hope that, use all the draft picks. I think they got 10. Use them all. Offensive line, defensive line. Boaster it up, because at the end of the day, those two things are what makes teams strive and makes them good. And you made a very good point that the less weapons that he had, but the good offensive line is what he had, is what brought him to where he was. So imagine what Lamar looks like with the 2019 offensive line, the 2021 guys. That's nasty. That's nasty business when you start to think about like what that would have been like. And obviously I don't think that we saw, foresaw Stanley not being able to make it and moving Villanueva to left tackle and all the other injuries that we saw during the offensive line. The one good thing that we saw that, I don't know how good of a thing this is, because I don't know if he stays as Bradley Bozeman solidifying himself as a good center. But I don't know if Bozeman even stays. I feel like he's set up to have a really good payday. And I don't know if the Ravens are going to be in position to pay him, which really sucks because now you have to start over. Zeiler is really good at right guard, but we, and you would like to think that Stanley comes back, right? But we don't know. And so there's so many question marks on the offensive line. And when you look at what they did in last year's draft to where, you took a full back that didn't even make the football team as opposed to taking an offensive lineman, that came back to Baichi. And so what I really hope is that whether it's free agency, whether it is the draft, whether it's both, that they invest really well in the offensive line because in order for Lamar to be great, he could really have a bunch of regular dudes, but that offensive line is what's going to keep him going. And that's extremely important. And I would like to assume that they know that as well over there at the castle and that they'll make the adjustments. Right. And in 2019, that was the last year that he actually finished the entire Raven season. And he had that good offensive line because we saw last year, he finished the regular season, but then he got knocked out of the playoffs because he didn't finish the game against the Bills. And then this year, the pass rush came through Jock from the Browns. So Lamar, and again with the whole, the narratives that, it feels like they've been dying down recently, but actually, you know what? No, I guess, because Lamar hasn't been playing, that's the only way that they died down. But he still trends every week. Yeah. Every week that he's, even though he hasn't played in weeks, he still trends. Trended the other night. Trended the other night. Something that people would say, oh yeah, running quarterback, they get hurt. All Lamar Jackson, he's not going to last, but it's crazy that his injuries, they didn't come from him running around. They ain't come from him scrambling. They came from that pressure that got through to him. Cause of course, and then last year, well, two years ago now against the Bills, it came from that bad snap, that snap that went way over his head. Then he went to go chase it. And then he got popped and landed on his head. And then of course this year, they let Jock come through and then he dove at him. And I didn't even want to get into all that. It looked like there was a little twist, but I, It absolutely should have been a flag at the minimum. It should have been a flag. I mean, anybody else gets a flag for it. So I have no issue with you saying, hey, like what's up with that? You know? So it's wild though, but something that you spoke on, something else that you spoke on with the trenches, we're building up both the offense and the defensive line. Bradley Bozeman, of course, we know, yeah, he could go cash in and free agency, but he knows like whether it's from the Ravens or it's from another NFL team. He is him and shout out to his wife too, who is very obviously supportive of her husband, which is great, but she's very interactive with a lot of Ravens fans. And just a quick side note, that is one thing that I really do appreciate about the Ravens, because I don't see, maybe because I interact with so much of Ravens Twitter, but, and I don't know if other fan bases like players are like this, but a lot of Ravens players. And of course you got Lacey DeCosta, you got Nikki Bozeman and some others too, but they're very interactive. It's like his wife as well, she's very interactive, yeah. Yeah, so I really appreciate that about them. But with Bradley Bozeman, he, whether it's from the Ravens or from somebody else, he's going to be a very rich man very soon, so he couldn't be gone. But they also have some question marks on the flip side when it comes to the defensive line. Cause you got Brandon Williams, free agent, Kaleas Campbell, free agent, even Justin Ellis, he's a free agent. And then you have questions about Derrick Wolf, if he's going to come back. He's in there, but he didn't play it down, forgot all about it. So I mean, you put him up and I was like, oh wow. Oh yeah, he was still on the team, wasn't he? I never thought about it. So he's still there. So you got a lot of, a lot more questions than answers when it comes to your defensive line. Of course, Matt Abike, he'll be here, Broderick Washington, he'll be here as well. Both of those guys are under contract, but as far as the Wolfpack along with Jelly, do you feel like, like with Kaleas, do you feel like any of these guys could come back? I'm praying that Kaleas comes back. I know that he talked about some retirement talk, but then he kind of backed off a little bit of it in his last interview with the, you know, the end of the year, you know, interviews that they were doing. And so I really would like to see, I feel like he didn't get a fair shake because of all the injuries that happened. And I feel like he potentially feels cheated as well. I would really love to see Kaleas come back for that. You know, Brandon Williams is a guy that, you know, on social media, some people love him, some people hate him. But my thing is that when Brandon Williams, yes, has he been inconsistent at times? Sure. But at the end of the day, the Ravens were one of the top rush defenses in the league. And I think a lot of that has to do with Brandon Williams. And we can't take that away from him. That when he comes in that he's a big body that has some impact in that regard. And so, you know, I don't think he comes back, which is unfortunate unless he comes back at some type of lesser deal and he just really wants to stay in Baltimore, but I just don't really see that happening. So now you have to come up with some interior alignment. I don't know how you feel about the guys that's, you know, on the bench. Not on the bench, but the guys that are behind them, right? And so do you go in free agency? I've seen people talk about, you know, bolstering the defensive line with Chandler Jones, or do you go through the draft and build? So I would like to see how this goes because to me, the defensive line, like you said, has so many question marks because so many people are leaving. I don't, I wouldn't have to assume Pernel McPhee is probably a free agent. You know, I wouldn't, you know, because he's an older player. So, you know, I would love to see how this works because just as important as the office of line needs to be re-bolstered, that defensive line needs to as well. And so whether you just bring in a good, a big-time player or you just decide to build through the draft, it needs to be done. And that's why I made the joke like, I would just like to see them draft, nothing but trenches. Cause you need, you really need it on both sides. I'm gonna assume Derek Wolf is done, you know, he couldn't play it down and he has back issues. I can't assume that a guy his age that gets any better for him. You know what I mean? So there's so many holes that needs to be filled on this defensive line. And I would love to see Calais back, but Calais is not the only person that needs to be slotted here. We got to work on some more interior linemen as well as a pass right. Yeah, I agree. Now, back in 2018, the Ravens, they barely made the playoffs. Of course, you know, the whole Lamar Jackson story, he came in and took over for Joe Flacco. And there was a week 17 game against the Browns, the M.T. Banks Stadium. I remember being there, that was the loudest I have ever heard M.T. Banks Stadium ever. It was crazy. But the very last play, Wink, he sent the Blitz and C.J. Mosey. He looked like he was getting ready to Blitz, but then he backed up and ended up picking up, picking off Baker Mayfield. And then they had another game the following week. And yep, I flew back up from Miami for that game. And it wasn't pretty, but it was. The Chargers game, yeah. Yeah, so we, that was C.J. Mosey's last game as a Raven. So then the Ravens following year in 2019, they decided, all right, so we're going to roll with Peanut, with Patrick Onwasu and Kenny Young. Those are going to be our guys. They tried it, tried it to the experiment and it didn't work out for. So then they hit up an old friend, good old Josh Bynes and a new friend too, that they met that year in training camp when they had the joint practices with the Eagles, L.J. Fort. Yeah. So those two came and solidified the lineback and core core and really held it down. So then that Josh Bynes had a good season, L.J. Fort had a good season. They were like, they were two signings that I was like, oh, okay, like what are these guys going to do? But they had a huge impact. Right. And then Josh Bynes, he got the contract from the Bengals. So he was with them for a year in 2020 and the Ravens, they drafted Patrick Quing. They also drafted Malik Harrison. And then they brought back L.J. Fort as well. But then this year, this past season, they tried it with Malik Harrison and they tried it with Patrick Quing and then of course, L.J. Fort, he unfortunately got hurt. Yeah. And then Malik Harrison, we know his situation. So he missed some time as well. But they called back Josh Bynes again. So we know Patrick Quing, he had a little bit of inconsistencies this year and Ravens, they seem to have not quite figured it out yet at inside linebacker. But how do you feel like the Ravens will move forward when it comes to that position? Cause we know Patrick Quing, this was an up and down season for him. But he's shown those flashes. And you know, like with Patrick Quing, I feel like once he gets it, he gonna get it. Yeah. But he just gotta get it. You could see that potential there. You could see that speed. And I love like one of my favorite plays from Patrick Quing this year. It actually came in the last game of the season against the Steelers, where this dude, cause he reminded me of Ray Lewis. I forgot what year it was, but when we played the Chargers and Darren Sprouls, we played the Chargers and it was fourth down. And like this is it. That was oh nine, I believe. Yeah. And Ray Lewis, like he timed the snap perfectly. Yeah. And he tackled it, it was cray. Yeah, that was oh nine. It was wild to see that. So then, yeah. And this fourth, I was about to say the fourth quarter. In this game, with Patrick Quing, he did, he timed that snap perfectly and started disrupting Najee Harris. And I forgot who ended up making the tackle, finishing it up. But I just loved that play because it's like, Patrick, we know you got it in there. It's just a matter of getting it out. Yeah. So how do you feel like the Ravens will handle their lying back and situation moving forward? I thought that Patrick Quing, when they moved them during the season, I thought that he played better. I do think that he still has some inconsistencies there, but I do think that from that point on, you start to see that he was playing better. And I told you before that we was hosting a show with Tyus Bowser. And so Tyus would always bring guests. So one week he brought in Patrick Quing. And Quing said at first, it really bothered him that he had essentially in his mind, he got demoted. But at some point, he just had to keep working hard and doing the work. And he felt comfortable in a new role in which they put him in. And he stated he felt like he was playing better. And I agree. I felt like he played better once the Ravens made some adjustments. I'm with you. I think that Quing has a lot of potential. He also mentioned that he talks to Ray Lewis about things and maybe that's good for him. Sometimes you need some motivation and someone to kind of talk you through some things because that's a good person to go to for it. Right, exactly. Everybody's not gonna have a Ray Lewis type of career where you have immediate impact and you're just good right out the back. You know what I'm saying? And so I think that Patrick Quing struggles are mental. And I think that he'll make the adjustments. And I think that he'll improve. This will be year three upcoming for him. And I think he'll be fine. I mean, now, you mentioned Josh Bines who he was on Superbowl team. So that tells me how long he's been in this league. Obviously you can't keep rolling with that with guys like him. You gotta kind of bolster up some youth a little bit. Experience is great, especially for depth. But are we gonna keep asking Josh Bines to be a guy that's a starter when you probably could use more depth, excuse me, more youth in that position? I don't know what Malik Harris is gonna be. I am, the jury is still out on me and you're right, the unfortunate situation of him being shot didn't help people, you know, see what his development is like. And so maybe we'll have a better idea in 2022. But I definitely think that linebacker is something that Patrick Quing improves in 2022, but you also have to start figuring out who is going to fill some spots. Do you wanna invest in Malik? Is he the guy that you really feel like has a lot of potential and he just needs to, you know, it'll snap eventually. Or do you go out in free agency and say, okay, no, I gotta get another guy because we really need some help here. So I'm excited for Patrick, he's a good dude. I think that he improved, you know, and I think like you, you see so much in him and you just want it to be a little bit more consistent. And I think 2022 is the year of him being consistent. I'm gonna speak then to his sister's family. Man, and I feel bad for a lot of young Ravens players who have to play certain positions on a Ravens team because it's unfair to them, but they will forever be compared to guys that played those positions in previous years. Absolutely. Obviously with an inside linebacker, everybody who came after Ray Lewis is always going to get compared to Ray Lewis. And it's not fair because he was just, he was great. And then another position is free safety. You know, Erie, man, he, I always tell people, like you can watch highlights of Erie and that's cool. But if you ever like got to see him play live, whether not even just in person, but actually watch a whole game while Erie was playing, it is one of the most fun things to watch ever. I remember back in the day as Ravens fans, when we would be more excited for the defense to be on the field. They're not offense, cause you just felt like they had a better chance of making a big play happen. But the free safety position, a lot of questions there. DeSean Elliott, this was a, this is, this was the third year at a four years where he unfortunately ended the year on engine reserve. His rookie year, I think he fractured his arm, sophomore year, he had a knee injury. The third year he finished it, but then this year, the fourth year, he had, I forgot the injury that he ended with, but he ended up on IAR. So Brandon Stevens, somebody who you could tell that the Ravens liked from jump, they drafted him in the third round. And they see a lot of potential in him because he's somebody that was a running back, then he switched to corner. And then in his very first NFL season as a rookie, in this complex defense, they switched him to play safety. Right. And you saw in pre-season like this guy, he was on the field a lot and he was running with the starters too. So you could tell that he was going to have a role. And with DeSean Elliott's injury, Brandon Stevens, he had a role already, but with DeSean Elliott's injury that really put him up that much more and made him, gave him that OJT that on a job training a lot earlier than expected. But how do you feel like the Ravens, as far as the safety position, what do you feel they do there? Do you feel like they're going to roll with Brandon Stevens? Do you think it's a possibility they could bring DeSean Elliott back? Do you think they could look for the draft for that like true, free safety? What do you think they do there? So I don't think that they bring DeSean Elliott back, which is unfortunate because I really like DeSean Elliott. I do think he's a good football player. I do think that they will invest into the development of Brandon Stevens. But that is another position that I jokingly said trenches, all trenches, but safety really is another position that I really hope that the Ravens look into investing in the draft. We know that this is a team that loves DBs, right? They love getting DBs and that's good. I have no issues with that, but I do feel like the safety position is something that they need to invest more in. And unfortunately for DeSean, I just feel like that they're not going to resign him unless he takes some really small deal. And he doesn't have to do that. I think he's a good football player. So I really like Brandon Stevens, but I do think that they need to invest in the draft and getting another safety there if you're not gonna bring back Elliott. But I think that you have to be, if you watch Stevens, you see the potential of Stevens. You have to be a little bit excited about what he can bring with a little bit more experience this upcoming season. But I do think it's a situation and potentially cornerback too, because Jimmy Smith, I have to assume is not coming back. You know, I know what he said, hey, Baltimore was my home, blah, blah, but they might not even offer him a deal. You know, he's an 11 year vet and he's done his time, you know what I mean? So safety is definitely something on my list and cornerback as well, because we know this team loves cornerbacks. But those are my things that I really would like the Ravens to invest in. Office of line, defense of line and absolutely safety, because I don't see them bringing back to Sean. And then it's crazy that you mentioned Jimmy Smith. When you look around the league, you see Richard Sherman, you see some guys like Daryl Rivas, you see even Ravens on Marcus Peters. And there's a lot longer of a list that we could go through, and this is not just with cornerbacks, it's really with any players, but for somebody to literally stay with the same team, especially and not at the quarterback position, but for somebody to stay with the same team for the entirety of their career at cornerback. Yeah, that's crazy, man. Absolutely, absolutely. It doesn't happen like that. I know, it doesn't. And look, Jimmy deserves to retire here, right? Like I know aside from all the injuries that he's had over the years, you know that Jimmy was healthy. He was going to be probably in the ring of honor. He was that good of a football player. He just couldn't stay healthy. So again, I don't see it happening unless he decides to come back and they give him something he did too. But you have to look at that as well, because now that's one more guy that you have to replace. So safety for sure, but then also cornerback as well, because we know this team loves cornerbacks. And another one that they could possibly lose when I think it is heading that way is Anthony Averett. Yes. Anthony Averett, his season, it was up and down this year, but he did get to show that, hey, he could start in this league. He could play ball, but I do think that he will be playing ball somewhere else next season and he'll get to get a nice contract. And it's, that is the one thing about football. The worst, the thing I hate the most about football is injuries. But with injuries, they provide an opportunity for somebody else to show like, hey, I'm with it or no, I ain't got it. So with Marcus Peters, unfortunately, his, and that was such a huge blow. But with Marcus Peters injury, that gave Anthony Averett an opportunity to step up in a contract year too. So it works out for him, obviously not for the greater good of the team, but it works out for Anthony Averett personally to where he got to put a lot of film on for a lot of other NFL teams and show like, hey, okay, I can come play for you. So we'll see what happens with him, but I just, I don't envision a scenario where Anthony Averett returns to the Ravens. I agree. I mean, I didn't envision him being an outside guy. I don't, you know, maybe he didn't envision him so being an outside guy is kind of forcing that position. And as much as the flock gives him a lot of flack, for lack of a better term. I thought he did the best, I thought he did pretty well considering, you know, his size is small, but you know, listen, he did what he could and I felt that more times than not, he did a pretty good job. And so like you said, I just feel like he can put that together and say, hey, I did this, you know, I played outside, you know, pretty much all season long. And this is what I feel like I should be able to get paid. I think PFF gave a specific, you know, like his QB rating over there because he got picked on a lot at first, but eventually he came around and was able to make some plays. And it didn't end as bad as people would like to think that it did. So I don't see Averett staying either. And good for him, you know, like, of course you want to be selfish and be like, we need to be happy. But at the end of the day, you know, if he was able to bolster up a good new contract as a result of this and being put in a position that he didn't expect him to be in, and now he could potentially be a top free agent, then I'm more than happy for him. Right. And yeah, we talked about a lot of guys whose contracts expired this year. Ravens have a lot of pending free agents, but there are also some guys that they have one year left on their deals. Obviously Lamar Jackson for now, he has the one year left on his deal. This is the fifth year option. Yeah. But John Harbaugh, he also has one year left on his deal. So we know Ravens, normally they don't like having these coaches with these sort of lame duck contracts to where they only have one year left. How do you feel like the Ravens are going to look at Harbaugh this year? Do you think he'll get an extension this off season or do you think they'll let him play this thing out? I want to be honest, he should get one this off season because there was no way that he should have been in as many games as he was in with so many guys being out. You lose to the Packers by one and hold Devonte Adams for 44 or 46 yards total for a game with guys that I ain't never seen or heard of before. You lose to the Rams by one. Yes, they were lost as I get it. And I'm not really a fan of moral victories, but I think from a coaching perspective, you do have to account moral victories when it's a situation of playing without a vast majority of your starting core. You know what I mean? And so I don't know how this is going to play out. I'm saying, and I look, I know that a lot of people are, they feel in some type of way about Harbaugh and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Greg Roman has yet to be fired, but I am a proponent of Harbaugh. I think that he is one of the best coaches in the National Football League. And I think that, you know, giving him or allowing him to give himself or, you know, to not pay him as such is blasphemy for real. You know what I'm saying? And I don't think that he should be a lame duck coach. He doesn't have a reason to be a lame duck coach. Like why would he be a lame duck? You know what I mean? Like given the circumstances, why would he be a lame duck coach? You know what I'm saying? But I really would like to see that that gets played. If, I wonder though, if he's the lame duck coach to see if he keeps Roman on for this last year or how this all plays out when they have a healthy group of people. And I wonder if that's what's holding them back. Because I think that we can agree that Harbs is a little bit of a loyalist. Oh yeah. And so, you know, you know, he's going to want to ride with his guy. And Harbaugh is probably going to say, well, look, the Ravens finished the season, top 10 in offense, even with all the injuries that we had, even with no running backs that we had, even with this, that, the third, even with Lamar not playing for five games, still finished the season top five, you know. And so I wonder if his new contract is tied into what he decides to do with Roman. And if Roman comes back for 2022, if that means that they're going to wait until the off season to give him a new contract, if they do. That's exactly what I'm thinking that I think they let him play this thing out. And I think they give him, all right, John, let's see what you got. Yeah, everybody got hurt last year. All right, get your pass for that. I think they're going to give everybody a pass for that. Right, right. And then they'll see, all right, let's see what you got. Cause he's on the last year of his deal. Lamar's on the last year of his deal. And they want to really see Ravens, see if they can put their best foot forward and see, all right, it's all on you now. If you're going to roll with Roman, all right, cool. Roll with Roman. But hey, it's all on you. You got to make this thing work. Yeah, Ravens were top 10. I think they were like six and totally or something like that. I forgot what it was. But then on the flip side, now we know there were injuries and stuff and Lamar wasn't playing like a little less than half the season, but they were 17th in scoring offense. And that's something serious right there that definitely needs some improvement. And again, context is everything. You got to remember Lamar, he wasn't playing the last half of the season. But I do think that they still need to be, like you said, moral victories, it's cool, but yeah, moral victories, no, that ain't going to get it done. Right. And I think John Hopper definitely needs to be held accountable. Sure. It's great that they were fighting and they were in all these games to the very end, especially minus the two Bengals game. And it's great that those two Bengals games, those were literally the only games where the Dolphins game, it was by more than one score they lost by, but those are the only two blowouts this whole year. And the first Bengals game wasn't even really a blowout until like the fourth quarter, right? Where it was still pretty close, I believe in the third quarter. And then some tackling got missed and boom, it somehow 40 points got put up. But it wasn't like it was like that the whole game. You know, it was a close game for at least three quarters. And then somehow it kind of went off the rails, right? The second time, all right, when you had Josh Johnson playing, I don't know what y'all want me to do with that. You know what I mean? Like, and that's no disrespect because I felt like Josh Johnson played pretty well, you know, considering, you know, but you know, what y'all want me to do with that game? You know what I mean? And that was crazy too, because he had literally one day of practice with the starters because Tyler Huntley went on a COVID list. Yes, he did. And I forgot what day it was on, but yeah, Josh Johnson literally had one day of practice with the starters. Yep. And he came in like, he came in looking like he was a starter that first drive. He was willing and dealing, moving the ball down. I was like, well, okay, let's go, Josh. Oh, and then stuff kind of like fizzled out. There was a fumble here and then it just, yeah. And it was like, going into that game, it was like, like you say, like, what'd you expect? It was like, we were hoping for the best, but it was like, it was what it was. Now, flipping it to the defensive side of the ball. I know we've been going back and forth on both sides of the ball, but Wink, with his scheme, it's known to be extremely complex. Something that I saw a lot of this year is pre-snap. Guys having a lot of conversations, guys looking like they don't know exactly what place to be in, what spots to be in, guys communicating back and forth and right before the ball is getting ready to be snapped. Do you feel like with Wink that his scheme is the best for this team and that they can have success with it? Of course, we know a lot of people were hurt, but how do you feel about Wink just overall in general? Not a fan. Oh, okay. Listen, I think that Wink at times is too aggressive. I think that Wink, in my opinion, I'm sorry, you shouldn't be running, you know, cover zeros with guys that you got off the street. And that's how I feel about that. Why would you expose those guys to having single coverage against top players and you aren't getting any pass rush anyway? You're not really getting, it's not even working, you know what I mean? Because people are picking up the blitzes. And so you're exposing guys that don't have a lot of experience or aren't really that great at the position in which they're playing because they weren't playing there not too long ago. You know what I'm saying? It is, I do wonder why guys leave here and go to other places and somehow explode when it comes to certain things. Judon is a good example. I think, you know, how does he leave and have all of these sex? And then somehow it felt like he was a little bit more constrained here in Baltimore. And so, you know, I feel like at times when I'm calling, like, you need to run us out of here. Like, what are you doing? Run us out. And eventually he hears me and doesn't be like this a little too late. You know what I mean? The aggressiveness to me is unwarranted in a lot of situations particularly when you knew what you were dealing with from an injury perspective. And so I'm not a fan of, it's not to me saying I'm not a fan. Like I'm not a fan of some of his games. I think that if he had the players, this game is fine. I think that he forgets that he doesn't have the players and runs the game anyway. And that's what I have a problem with. That is my issue with Wink. And it's funny because I always say like, as much as y'all give Greg Roman these issues, I don't see y'all really doing after Wink the way that y'all do. And my thing is, it's like, you know, the Ravens were like 31st, I guess, and past defense. Yeah, that's because you're running these zero blisses and nobody's getting sacked and they're still getting the ball off. Carson Wentz had, still doing that code game, Carson Wentz was like at one point, like eight of nine and like two touchdowns or something like that against the Blitz. And he just kept doing it. And from what I was told, my mama always said, we keep doing something over and over again, thinking for something different, that's called insanity, okay? So he's a little insane sometimes. Lots of times it hurts the football team. And so, you know, maybe he could do that with a team that has the personality that can run the scheme in which that he's trying to do. But for the 2021 Ravens, particularly with all these injuries that he also had to deal with, no. And now I just got a problem with that. I got a problem with you continuously being aggressive and putting these guys on an island and setting them up essentially for failure. Because that's what happened. Yeah, yeah, it was a lot of that. And I like how you put it. It was a lot of exposing of guys who just, they didn't have the experience like that. They weren't regarded as top players. Yeah. So unfair. You know, I just feel like that's so unfair to do. You know what I mean? Like, I think that that's my biggest issue. You know, like, they don't deserve that. They deserve some help. And you don't get a man some help. No, he said, no, I'm not helping y'all. Y'all, y'all, and that's how this became the 31st worst past the national football league. Yeah, it was rough. And another spot that was rough this year was for the running backs. Yes. After seeing Gus Edwards for the past couple of years and then seeing J.K. Dobbins, his emergence last year, a lot of us had high hopes for this Ravens run game. And of course, still having Lamar Jackson too. We were like, oh, yeah, run game. Oh, it's about to be on fire yet again. But then J.K. got hurt. Gus got hurt. Justice Hill got hurt. And the Ravens had to do some tinkering. This was a season for me, personally, that really made me appreciate just how special J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards are to this team. Because me and I've been on record saying it before, like before the season started, when the injuries were happening, it sucks about Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins and Justice Hill. It's terrible. But I still felt like, as long as we got Lamar Jackson, our running game will be just fine. Found out the hard way early on, you can't just, it ain't just a plug-and-play. They had Devontae Freeman, who early on, he was like, ugh, I don't know what. He struggled a little bit, yeah. Yeah. Throughout the season, he got a lot better, more comfortable. Latavius Murray, he was getting touchdowns every game early in the season. But I just feel like he wasn't shaking nothing. But I feel like when they put Ben Cleveland in there, that opened up the interior of the offensive line for Latavius Murray. They tried with LeBiond Bale. It wasn't a good fit. His style is just, it's not a good fit for the Ravens. He's a very, very patient runner. And Ravens don't have an offensive line to be patient behind. It's just, it wasn't for him. So I was very surprised, though, because I was very surprised at the humility from the Ravens to be able to admit that they were wrong about something like that, with a free agent signing. Because they signed LeBiond Bale, and it just, it wasn't looking pretty. And then when they cut him, I was like, oh, wow. They actually cut him. So, but anyway, in the run game, going into next season, Devontae Freeman, do you think he has a chance to return? I hope he does. I feel like he earned it. At the very least, he earned an opportunity to come back. Whether or not they sign him, if they feel like they can get somebody else to come in, OK? But I feel like Devontae did a pretty good job down the stretch. And I feel like he has an opportunity. Tyson Williams, apparently, they don't want to do nothing with him, let that man go. Let him go, let him go play somewhere else and be productive somewhere else. Because apparently you don't want him. And I get it, he fumbled. I understand. He had a fumbling problem. But if you weren't going to play him, then you should have let him go somewhere else and have an opportunity. So you don't trust him. I know that they signed McCrary for the reserves. And so there's a possibility there. But in terms of experience and in terms of productivity, I feel like Devontae did a really good job. And he deserves an opportunity to come back with J.K. Dobbins, with the Gus Edwards. And so I loved how he stepped it up. And when the Ravens, I think down the stretch up, it's only one game that really comes to mind where he wasn't really doing much. And then they put in Latavius and Latavius was the kind of the one that. Oh, the stillest game there. The stillest game, the last game. He got hurt. He had like a rib injury or something. Yeah. But prior to that, he wasn't extremely productive. And look, the stillest was ready for that type of style of run play. Latavius is more of a, you know, more of a little bit, more of a bully. And like you said, Ben Cleveland comes in and does some things and helps him get open as well. But I loved Devontae Freeman, particularly like in the second half of the season. And I said, I would love to see him have an opportunity to come back and be a third back, you know, for JK and for Gus. Because now you have a nice mix going on here. You know, you got Gus, that's obviously the power. You got JK, that's a little bit more savvy. But Devontae also can, you know, catch. And he can stay in the flat for you. And so I just really appreciate what he brought to this team who really needed something in the run game, who was desperate for that. And I just feel like he's earned the opportunity to at least get another look-see for 2022. Yeah, yeah, I agree, especially since with JK and Gus, they should be back by next year. And you hope that they're healthy for next year. But how healthy will they be? Will they be themselves? You just, you want to be more safe rather than sorry. And I always say, stay ready so you ain't got to get ready. Nate McCrary, like you mentioned, they signed him to that future deal. But I do expect them to bring back Devontae Freeman, even if it's just for like training camp or whatnot. And he's a year on this belt now. You know, he knows the playbook now. So, you know, why wouldn't you bring somebody who has a year of experience under the same system and was productive under that system? And like you said, if one of those other guys won 100%, well, this guy already knows what we're doing here. So, you know, we can bring him back and, you know, we know that he has been productive for us. So, I love it. Now, somebody who there's been a lot of debate about possibly coming back to the Ravens and then bringing him back and retaining him is Tony Jefferson. Tony Jefferson, we all know his story. The Ravens signed him in the off season. Who was it, five years ago? I forget how long ago, but they signed him and he was somebody, he had some struggles when he was with the Ravens before. But back then and especially now in the games that he played for the Ravens, one thing that he always showed for sure was heart. And one thing that I really appreciated, especially about Tony Jefferson, was even in that Bengals game, there was a play at the very end where Borough threw it up, I wanna say to Tyler Boyd. And it looked like it was a touchdown. I remember watching and I was like, oh man, they done throw another touchdown on us. But Tony Jefferson, he got up and he was like, no, no, no, it's incomplete. Yeah, I remember that. And it was, yeah. Yeah. So then they showed the replay and they showed Tony Jefferson, he knocked it out at the last second. I'm like, man, this dude, it takes a lot for somebody to still show heart and even still show interest in a game that's clearly been decided, it's already over. So with Tony Jefferson, do you think the Ravens bring him back or do you think that they're gonna be like, all right, well, appreciate you, Tony. It was nice, but we're gonna go in another direction. I don't think he comes back, but it was really nice that he came back and he was really productive in the short time that he was here. Because I think he had got cut from, was the San Frans Practice Squad, I believe. So that just kind of worked out perfectly because we clearly needed some help at that moment and he came in and he was able to be productive. But I feel like that the Ravens didn't bring him back after his injury for a reason. And I don't think that that reason changes unless somehow they're in desperate need of some safety help. I just really appreciate though, how Tony was able to come in and show leadership and be productive and show that he still has it. If it's not gonna be the Ravens, if he still wants to play, I hope he gets an opportunity because I feel like he earned that much in that short period of time. And it was great to see him back. I just don't feel confident that the Ravens are gonna be like, yeah, let's go ahead and give you a new deal. So we'll see real soon. Now in closing, what's your outlook on the Ravens for next season? How do you feel? And I know it's a lot that's to be determined as far as free agency to draft and he trades and obviously other team schedules and their rosters as well. But what's your outlook for the Ravens for the 2022-23 season? Well, hopefully first of all, I really hope that they have a healthy 2022. Let's put that in the universe now, right? I hope that you guys have a great 2022 in terms of health and that way, let's get that one out the way. Now, I believe that Eric DeCosta will do his job in terms of bolstering what needs to be the offensive line and the defensive line. I think that he's clearly aware that there were issues. We've seen what over 20 different formations this season alone, that's all. That's ridiculous. And so I think that that's not even, that's a no-brainer, that that's a concern. And like you mentioned earlier in the podcast that Lamar's thrives when he has a really good offensive line and this run game benefits from it as well. So I expect the front office to do their job and to upgrading this offensive line, whether it's through free agency or the draft. And I think that 2022 is a redemption tool of sorts. I think that it's a lot of people that they gotta get off because we heard so much talk because everybody started zero blitzing and then in the injuries and all of these things. And I think that Lamar is a very smart football player. I don't think that he doesn't recognize the zero blitz. I think that Lamar thinks that he could still get certain plays off in spite of it. And what he learned was that maybe that's not necessarily the case. And so what I expected some growth from him in the regards of him living to see another down, not taking the fact that he doesn't have to take getting the ball out. If there's a running back in the flat, if there's a wide receiver in the flat, take those plays and live to see another down and stop playing hero ball. And I think Lamar is super smart in the fact that he knows the things that he needs to work on and that he typically does those things in the off season so he could try to get better because he's always striving to get better. That's always been the type of player that he's been even in college. So I really think that as long as the Ravens are healthy, it's nasty season out here. Hey, let the Bengals have their fun. That's fine. They earned it. They deserved it. It's really okay with everybody riding on Joe Burrow right now in Jamar Chase. It's cool. But if you give Lamar an offensive line, it's gonna be some real nasty work coming 2022. So the redemption tour will be on its way. And I just want everybody to be prepared because we told you so here on this podcast that this was going to happen. Especially since you got the worst schedule since you were at the bottom of the division. Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Good luck to everybody out there. That's all I have to say about that. I know you said that you were jumping out the game and you wasn't gonna really be involved in it like that no more. But I remember last off season, you dropping some tidbits of information, you dropping some rumors and stuff that you found out about since you plugged in. Can we expect that from you this off season too? I mean, if the streets is talking. There it goes. If the streets talk, I might, but the streets gotta talk and it gotta be some real stuff. So listen, if I can get some information from the streets or some information that may benefit the Ravens, I might come out of retirement and let y'all know. But I got harassed so bad. Oh yeah. It can get ugly on you. I mean, people were DMing me. I had to turn my DMs off. Like I literally had to turn my DMs off. It was that bad. And so that part of it was not fun for me at all. But I love sharing good news, right? So I can't stay here and say that I wouldn't if something came to me that was credible. I just don't want people to be asking me a whole bunch of questions. If I knew the answers to the questions, I would have told you the answers. I only tell me y'all what the streets tell me and sometimes the streets won't tell me everything. They just tell me a little bit. If I got some good news, I'll probably share it. But my DMs are still off because I don't want to be harassed. I feel you, because people on the internet, they just be on there talking crazy. Oh my god, people was adding me to like DM chats, like Ravens chats. And somebody told me I look like Rasputia. I mean, I'm 5'7", I'm not skinny, but I don't think I'm Rasputia. Oh, they said so much mean things. And I was just like, I didn't even do anything to deserve it. I was just giving it to them. You know, I was like, dang, I didn't realize I was that big. They say anything online, man. Yeah, yeah, it was an interesting time. So yes, if I have some good news, I might share my good news with you first. And then I'll tell it later. OK, sounds good. All right, one last time before we get out of here, let everybody know where to find you at. Tell them about the podcast and anything else you want them to know about. Sure, it's Twitter and Instagram and Facebook at the NFL chick. Griddy and gals, that is G-A-L-S. That is the podcast, but we also are on Instagram and Twitter. And I also do work with Pressbox. If you're in the Baltimore area, I will be at Maryland Live at the Fandals Sports Book this weekend with my co-host, Glenn Clark. We will be hosting the Tampa Bay Rams game and we'll be giving out prizes and letting guys know what good prop bets there are. And it should be a good time. OK, cool. Appreciate you coming on. Thank you for your time. Thank you for all your. Oh, yeah, for sure, for sure. And thank you for all your insight, too. We appreciate it. I appreciate you. Thank you. Oh, yeah. Boy, he like automated, automated. Boy, that's my homie, ain't that right and graven? Right and graven. Right and graven. Shout out to Graven.