Kubiak to Ravens as OC

[ThomasTomasz]

With the departure of Jim Caldwell to the Lions, the Ravens have been looking to fill a vacancy at the offensive coordinator position. They've found their man and it's former Texans coach Gary Kubiak, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora reports.

Kubiak's name has been bandied about plenty in relation to the Ravens gig, and the team announced the hiring Monday afternoon.

Rumors have circulated as well about the possibility of an "all-star" staff of sorts, including Kyle Shanahan, though La Canfora reports that nothing on the Shanny front is finalized yet.

Kubiak was fired midseason by the Texans after a disastrous start to a season that ultimately culminated in a two-win year.

Before being hired by the Texans, Kubiak served as the offensive coordinator on Mike Shanahan's Broncos staff.

The Ravens top concern has to be their offensive line and perhaps making a transition to a zone-blocking scheme won't be the easiest thing in the world. But just about anything in the run game would be an improvement over a nightmare year in 2013 that saw Ray Rice average 3.1 yards per carry.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...s-hiring-gary-kubiak-as-offensive-coordinator

Solid hire, and hiring Shanahan will be a good move I think. I would have preferred Shanahan as the OC, as I actually think he did a good job in Washington. All the rest of the drama contributed to the craptacular season we endured.

 

[Glenbino]

Get ready to see a lot of improvement along that O-Line in a hurry.

Kubiak has adhered to the teachings of Alex Gibbs and you can see it in the seasons his RBs have had going back to Terrell Davis.

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[ThomasTomasz]

Get ready to see a lot of improvement along that O-Line in a hurry.

Kubiak has adhered to the teachings of Alex Gibbs and you can see it in the seasons his RBs have had going back to Terrell Davis.

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Shanahan got some good performances from Redskins backs as well. Should be interesting how long it takes to get the zone blocking scheme established. It took the Redskins over a season to get things down, not sure about the Texans.

 

[Glenbino]

Shanahan got some good performances from Redskins backs as well. Should be interesting how long it takes to get the zone blocking scheme established. It took the Redskins over a season to get things down, not sure about the Texans.

It will go beyond the run game I would imagine.

I doubt you'll see many more 5-7 step drops from Flacco. He's going to be running a lot of play action and bootlegs to keep his linemen off an island.

It should be interesting to see how he adjusts after spending the first half of his career squarely in the pocket.

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[NAHSTE]

Get ready to see a lot of improvement along that O-Line in a hurry.

Kubiak has adhered to the teachings of Alex Gibbs and you can see it in the seasons his RBs have had going back to Terrell Davis.

That's kind of my concern. Someone can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Baltimore's OL full of larger mauler types? Kubiak's scheme requires agility up front.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

That's kind of my concern. Someone can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Baltimore's OL full of larger mauler types? Kubiak's scheme requires agility up front.

Actually, that could be why they had issues this year. All of their starters are slightly over 300, with the heaviest being Oher at 315, and he's a free agent. I think their line could have been better in a zone-blocking scheme because they aren't huge guys, and that could be why Rice and Pierce could barely get anything going on the ground this year.

 

[Glenbino]

He'll find these guys late or off the scrap heap and make them players.. Smaller linemen always slip through the cracks in the draft.

Baltimore may use early picks to grab some athletic tackles, but the interior guys will come. They always do for anyone who runs a disciplined version of this scheme.