Kenneth Murray Is Not Playing Much...WHY?

[richpjr]

Went back and looked at some scouting reports... yikes.

https://thedraftnetwork.com/trackers/2020-prospect-rankings

I also remember the Ravens fans were super scared we traded up to take Queen.

One scout said Queen would be a bad fit for an odd front, but he's the leading tackler for the Ravens odd front.

There are a lot of Raven fans still not sold on Queen (at least according to a relative who lives in Maryland). Racks up a lot of tackles, but gives up a lot of big plays.

[powderblueboy]

Staley was hired in January and had a good amount of time before the draft and FA period to evaluate game film.

But game film on Pipkens & Quessenberry was rather sparse & they were developing.
Staley couldn't have known they would be completely useless.

He would have had to rely on Telesco and staff, who should have had some general idea of where they were at in their development.

[powderblueboy]

Went back and looked at some scouting reports... yikes.

https://thedraftnetwork.com/trackers/2020-prospect-rankings

I also remember the Ravens fans were super scared we traded up to take Queen.

One scout said Queen would be a bad fit for an odd front, but he's the leading tackler for the Ravens odd front.

BTW, Herbert was at #16 on their list, and Justin Jefferson was #22

[Silversurfer]

Maybe Staley can give Lincoln Riley a quick phone call and see what gets this guy going. For some reason the Chargers had him Mic'd up and he was on the bench the whole time, pretty sad lol. Not sure why Murray is giving pre game hype speeches over Tranquil or White. Watching the Ravens Queen and looking at Murray, couldnt help but think of Teo, hope that aint the case.

[CivilBolt]

I recall Telesco saying it was coach Lynn who was pounding the table to draft Murray.

That explains everything

[richpjr]

From Popper's article:

Kenneth Murray only played nine defensive snaps in the game. He tweaked his ankle early on in the Week 11 win against the Steelers — the same ankle that forced him onto IR for five games early this season. And Staley said the ankle issue was the reason Murray was used so sparingly.

[UtahBolt]

I was at the game, in the 12th row behind the Charger bench and I personally watched Murray working that ankle all game. He was on the sideline rotating it, flexing, it, stretching it and trying to keep it loose every time he was out of the game. You could see something was not right and he was feeling it.

Also watched Kelemete walk of the field after the drive where he was called for the holding penalty (and I think a false start?) and violently throw/slam his helmet into the ground. You could definitely see he was frustrated and struggling. Yes, it was as noticeably bad watching live as he looked on TV.

[wu-dai clan]

K9 with a healthy ankle is still slow to diagnose. At EDGE, he might be able to save his career.

I am done patiently waiting for our draftees to develop, when we ought to recognize that they were misses or non fits for new regimes.

What is especially pissing me off right now is Kelley and Rountree. We have a screaming need for RB#2. Herb and Oline are who I have in mind.

Lack of offensive balance is exactly why savvy defensive minded coaches shut us down, NOT Lombardi's play calling.

Sorry for meandering off topic, but K9 is yet another draft/player development fail.

[wu-dai clan]

No sniveling or whimpering. The season is on the line. The Bengals would just as soon bury us. K9 has an ankle. K9 has a chronic shoulder. Shit, maybe K9 should retire.

[Steve]

Went back and looked at some scouting reports... yikes.

https://thedraftnetwork.com/trackers/2020-prospect-rankings

I also remember the Ravens fans were super scared we traded up to take Queen.

One scout said Queen would be a bad fit for an odd front, but he's the leading tackler for the Ravens odd front.

Most 34 teams spend the majority of their time in an even front. Ravens were spending a lot of time in an even front with their base personnel vs Cleveland on Sunday. They do a good job of protecting him like they did with Ray Lewis and the get the same kind of results. They also let him rush and blitz a lot more than we let our ILB rush/blitz.

But if you want to let a LB make impact plays, you need to let him play the assignments that let him do those things. ILB doesn't get to rush the passer much when they line up inside. Micah Parsons has very few (none?) sacks when he lines up as a regular LB. When he lines up as an edge rusher and they ask him to rush the passer, he has an impact.

Murray lines up inside and then gets asked to drop into pass coverage. He isn't going to make impact plays doing that. Not in our bend but don't break schemes that Staley and Gus have played. Even when K9 gets to rush, much of the time it is not putting him on the edge, where he has one guy to beat and the space to maneuver in. He is being asked to tie down a blocker to give the other rushers one on one, but K9 is giving up too much size and lining up too far off the ball to accomplish much rushing inside. He has a couple of nice rushes, but he just doesn't do it enough to have much of an impact.

In our D, it is just not worth taking ILB really high in the draft. They don't get asked to do the things that let them make an impact. They will get that token play or two here or there, but never the type of production that justifies the draft capital being used. ILB are the RB of the D. Draft them in bulk in the middle or end of the draft, and bring in UDFA off the street to find them. Don't spend high picks, because they just don't justify the use of the draft capital.

The only exception is for teams like the Ravens or TB, where they use their ILB on 30-50% of their rush packages with all the double A gap blitzes, and games. But we haven't done much, if any of that since Pagano left, which was when the last ILB looked pretty good with Jatavis Brown. Pagano turned him lose on the inside blitzes where he had the speed to run QB down. They also kept his zone assignments simple, and he was kinda-sorta OK in coverage. BUt Gus asked him to read and react, read things and think too much, and he never did it too well. I bring it up because there is a pattern.

[wu-dai clan]

Mobile QBs.
OZ runs.
Coverage when matchups are forced.
Coverage vs TEs, RBs.
Freeing up Derwin.
DIME.
ST.
Plenty of work for a player like Nakobe.
Why cannot Staley evolve to using inside blitzes ?
BTW Ravens protective behemoths are about done.

[jamrock]

K9 with a healthy ankle is still slow to diagnose. At EDGE, he might be able to save his career.

I am done patiently waiting for our draftees to develop, when we ought to recognize that they were misses or non fits for new regimes.

What is especially pissing me off right now is Kelley and Rountree. We have a screaming need for RB#2. Herb and Oline are who I have in mind.

Lack of offensive balance is exactly why savvy defensive minded coaches shut us down, NOT Lombardi's play calling.

Sorry for meandering off topic, but K9 is yet another draft/player development fail.

Murray is too high of a pick to be a development player. He was supposed to be a search and destroy LB. the RBs just don’t have it. JJ should be RB #2 but he got no game time against the Broncos and hasn’t been healthy again. Lots of nagging little injuries. But he and Ek would be a decent package, not great, but decent.