Posts tagged JaredGaither at FanHouse

Good thing the season doesn't start tomorrow, because the Ravens might have to un-retire Steve McNair, have him drop a few pounds, and move to left tackle or defensive line. Jared Gaither, the guy in line to replace Jonathan Ogden, sprained his right ankle yesterday, and 2006 first-round pick, defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, was carted off the field earlier today with an injured right leg.

Starting running back Willis McGahee is also recovering from a leg injury and safety Ed Reed, cornerback David Pittman, running backs Cory Ross and P.J. Daniels, and offensive tackle Davie Hale joined him on the sidelines today. In less depressing news, cornerback Chris McAlister was given the A-OK to return to practice after rehabbing from offseason knee surgery.

I'm not sure this will have much effect on how the Ravens start the season; presumably, everybody will be relatively healthy in short order and the preseason schedule will give the team an opportunity to prepare for the real thing.

That said, if Kyle Boller wins the starting quarterback gig, it won't much matter how all these injuries turn out; the Ravens will be playing for 2009, when Joe Flacco will hopefully be ready to assume the full-time job (if not sooner).

[FoxSports.com: Ngata hurts leg, adding to list of Ravens injuries]

For those of you looking forward to the supplemental draft to break up the drudgery between now and the start of training camp, I have some bad news: it's been canceled due to lack of interest. That's right, this year, you won't be able to sit in front of your computer and wait for random NFL.com updates alerting you to which team team took a fourth-round flier on a player you've never heard of.

"No one applied at the time of the deadline," 49ers general manager Scott McCloughan confirmed Thursday. The NFL sent out a memo to all 32 teams informing them of the announcement Wednesday.

The cancellation comes as a surprise because there had been rumblings that several players were considering applying, including high profile talents such as Southern California middle linebacker Rey Maualuga, Oklahoma State tight Brandon Pettigrew and Mississippi State offensive tackle Michael Brown.

Yes, surprising, indeed. Last year, the Chargers forfeited a 2008 fourth-rounder to take Georgia cornerback Paul Oliver, and a round later, the Ravens grabbed offensive tackle Jared Gaither, who could be in line to replace Jonathan Ogden.

Oliver only appeared in three games last season, but Gaither made two starts, and heads into training camp tentatively penciled in as Baltimore's left tackle.

According to NFLDraftScout.com, only 37 players have been selected via the supplemental draft since its inception in 1977, with Bernie Kosar, Cris Carter and Brian Bosworth among the most noteworthy. One of these names is not like the other.

I don't know if Jared Gaither suddenly becomes an answer to a Trivial Pursuit: the Baltimore Ravens Edition question, but he'll get first crack at the left tackle job vacated by Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden when he announced his retirement earlier this week.

Gaither, a fifth-round supplemental pick last July, entered the NFL amid all sorts of questions, both good and bad. On the upside, he's 6-9, 320 pounds and has plenty of quickness for a big guy. But he also failed out of Maryland, and only managed 15 reps of 225 during his Pro Day workout (Brady Quinn, by comparison, does 15 as part of his pre-warmup routine).

Gaither started two games last season, and the Ravens front office is intrigued by his potential. Of course, it's not clear if Gaither is truly dedicated to football, which is kinda worth knowing before giving him the job of protecting the quarterback's blind side.

Baltimore featured one of the youngest offensive lines in the league last season, and the inexperience showed. That said, this unit could evolve into a very competent group, which should make Joe Flacco very happy. In the meantime, Kyle Boller will have to pay the price for progress, in the form of a crapload of sacks. Thanks, dude.

NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.

The Baltimore Ravens have already taken their first step toward 2008. John Harbaugh is the new coach and brings with him the expectation of a more disciplined team that takes better advantage of its resources. Some have argued that this team is close to playoff position but, truthfully, change is needed to restore this team to the level of a contender. As it has for years, the major obstacle for the Ravens to overcome is at football's marquee position.

1. Quarterback – Elvis Grbac. Randall Cunningham. Jeff Blake. Chris Redman. Kyle Boller. Anthony Wright. Steve McNair. Those are the men who have started at quarterback for the Ravens since Trent Dilfer won Super Bowl XXXV in 2001. Other than McNair in 2006, not a one of them has done anything to earn a second season on the job, and McNair went down in flames in year two. Boller didn't embarrass himself at the end of this season but he didn't do anything to warm the cockles of your heart either.

Billick was Boller's biggest champion and we don't know who will be running the offense in 2008, so it's anybody's guess as to who will be under center.

The Baltimore Ravens selected Maryland offensive tackle Jared Gaither in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL supplemental draft, according to a report at Pro Football Talk.

There's a lot to like about Gaither. He's a massive athlete who stands nearly 6-foot-9, weighs 320 pounds, and ran a 40-yard dash at his individual workout that would have made him the fourth-fastest offensive lineman at this year's scouting combine. He also has experience at both left and right tackle.

But there are also things not to like: He flunked out of Maryland, which leads to questions about his dedication, and he has questionable upper-body strength, with a pitiful performance of 15 reps at 225 pounds on the bench press (which has been blamed at least in part on a shoulder injury).

Gaither probably won't play much this year, but Jonathan Ogden won't be around forever, and if Gaither can some day take Ogden's place, he'll be a bargain for the Ravens' 2008 fifth-round pick.

Also in the supplemental draft, the Chargers selected Georgia cornerback Paul Oliver.

Maryland offensive tackle Jared Gaither has decided to leave school and enter the NFL's supplemental draft, according to reports at Scout.com and DraftHeadquarters.com.

The 6-foot-9, 350-pound Gaither immediately becomes the top prospect in the July 13 supplemental draft, in which teams can give up 2008 draft picks to acquire players who will play for them in 2007.

Gaither was ruled academically ineligible this month, and there had been previous indications that he would try to regain his academic eligibility this year, play for Maryland in 2008, and enter the draft in 2009.

But that doesn't make much sense, and if Gaither does, in fact, enter the supplemental draft, he's making the right move. Some team will probably give up a third-round pick to acquire him, and he'll have earned several hundred thousand dollars before 2009, when he'd otherwise enter the league. Gaither probably won't contribute much as a rookie, but NFL scouts love his athleticism and potential.

If a team is going into their sixth week of the season -- their fifth game -- the last thing they should be talking about is an "identity crisis." However, the Terps admit that they're not all there yet. Maybe that's a good thing. If they were all there and their last four game are an indication of that, we could pack in our season as fans.

Cornerback Josh Wilson said in the WashingtonPost.com, "Right now, there're a lot of people trying to get a feel for the game." Well, that's what training camp and exhibitions are for. That's no excuse. Ohio State or Auburn seemed to have a pretty good feel for the game in Week 1.

Punter Adam Podlesh said, according to Fox Sports.com, "I don't think we've found (an identity) yet. We're still working on that. ... We've still got a lot of improving to do if we want to deal with these ACC teams, but we have the capability to." Teams don't win without an identity. Football is a team sport. It doesn't just take individual talent to win. They need chemistry to win. They need to learn to gel with each other. Spend sometime together off the field. Have a slumber party, a camping trip, or go on one of those workshops where you have to close your eyes and fall and your partner has to catch you. Just hope you're not the guy catching huge offensive tackle Jared Gaither, Dan Ennis.

The Fridge has said he knows that the Terps aren't playing their best football. I could have told you that. Hopefully, Friedgen is talking about how his team played before this week of practice. There's only two days to go before they're on the field against a good team in Georgia Tech. It's only two days before the get into continuous ACC play. There's no more DI-AA teams left. There are no more "should-win" games. There's just games they're going to need to play to a level they haven't at all this season.

So if the Terps want an identity, I'll give them one. They're the scrappy underdogs who fight their ass off each game to get a win. They're the team that never gives up and fights a team to the very end. They're the team who has a nice double headed running game that opens up a conservative yet effective passing game. They're the team that your team should fear because they can win any game any where no matter what the rankings are coming in.

There you go. Now, hopefully, they'll go ahead and do all that.

Enough is enough. I've read as many articles as possible about Steve Slaton and the #5 Mountaineers, Sam Hollenbach and the questionable Terp offense, Maryland kickers and Pat White. I'm thankful that this is a Thursday game because two more days of this, and it'd have been on overkill. This can be the biggest game of Maryland's season, and it's not even a conference game. It's a rivalry game though, and those are often just as important. So I'm going to do my final thoughts on this game. I'll be at work before the game so I won't be able to cover any last minute adjustments.

This game features an underdog Maryland traveling to a raucous Morgantown to face the #5 team in the nation. That doesn't spell victory for the Terrapins, as the 16 point spread might show. However, rivarly games never turn out the way the analysts predict. Rivarly games end up to be close ones no matter how the two teams are ranked. I don't expect the Terps to lose by 16. In fact, if they won, I wouldn't be completely shocked -- let's say, pleasantly surprised.

I'm that guy. I'm the one guy who doesn't watch Law & Order. When I'm flipping the channels and I see it on, I automatically turn it off. What's even worse is that there are times it's on two or three channels at the same time! I don't understand the appeal at all. I've been around when my friends were watching, and I suppose they were entertained by the perverted plots lines of SVU. Like the one where twin mail order brides were involved in a secret prostitution ring until one tried to get out by marrying a guy, yet she was killed so the other sister took her place without the guy knowing.

Last year, the Terps seemed to require their own Law & Order show. Basketball player Travis Garrison recently pleaded guilty to sexual assault. The football team got into a bar brawl, which forced the Fridge to do his own investigating. And yesterday, the Baltimore Sun reported the charges safety Marcus Wimbush incurred from that same night.

He was charged with a fourth-degree sex offense and second-degree assault. Basically, the story goes that he grabbed some girl's ass in a bar, and then after she wasn't down with that, her friends intervened, and he grabbed a friend of her's by the throat. Of course, this is all "alleged" there. But I've spent my time in Maryland and seen first hand how sports starts think they're royalty there. Remember basketball's Nik Caner-Medley's "I'm from Maryland and nobody and beat me" fiasco? They think they're where it's at and the students perpetuate the image by treating them like celebrities (as long as they're doing well.) Why wouldn't any girl's ass be fair game to these king of kings?

Since Wimbush's charges are misdemeanors, it's up to the school to dole out punishments. If it were a felony, he'd be cut automatically. The trial is in January so I would expect no action to be taken against Wimbush until his season and college career -- he is a senior -- is over. He is a member of the secondary who, last year, allowed the least amount of touchdowns in all Division 1A football, so we shouldn't be surprised that the Terps kept him playing. He has been having a slight knee problem, but will probably still start against Middle Tennessee State tomorrow.

What bothers me isn't the fact Maryland is going to play Wimbush, but the fact that grabbing a girl's ass and then grabbing another's throat is only a misdemeanor. You know what also is a misdemeanor? Jaywalking.

Speaking of Law & Order, Jared Gaither will be making his return at tackle tomorrow night after being suspended by the Fridge for unknown reasons. The 6-9, 350 beast should make a running game that already looked dominate even better. I'm still wondering what he was suspended for. It could have been something simple like talking back to the coach or skipping practices. Or he could have been a pimp who ran an underground prostitution ring who used illegal immigrants and mail order brides as their whores. Either one.