What will be of the young receivers on the Ravens roster?

Last preseason Harbaugh and his coaching staff were trying to get an idea of what young wide receivers Marcus Smith and Justin Harper could offer the Ravens offense. Today fans are counting the days these players have to impress coaches before they are cut from the roster.

Everyone came away with little to no insight as to what Marcus Smith could do because he got injured during the exhibition games and never caught a pass during his rookie year. Justin Harper had gotten an extensive amount of reps with Troy Smith and displayed his inconsistent catching ability and decent route running skills. Going into the season many Ravens fans were worried about who Joe Flacco was going to throw to and rightfully so. As we saw, things worked out thanks to the unsung hero of the 2009 receiving core Kelley Washington.

This season those looking from the outside in see a major improvement in the receiver group because of the veteran presence that has come in to bolster the depth. Anquan Boldin and Dante Stallworth are two players expected to have an immediate impact on the passing game. Unfortunately for players like Marcus Smith and Justin Harper this means younger players will not be split out wide during the regular season because there are so many talented players on the roster playing their position.

Lest we not forget Mark Clayton and Demetrius Williams, the two players fighting for the fourth wide receiver spot. Both of these players have more experience in the NFL than Harper and Smith. Clayton holds the franchise record for the most 100 yard receiving games with 8 and Williams has remained since 2006 on the team despite injury because of his ability to make plays down the field.

The proverbial nail in the coffin of Smith and Harper's tenure on the Ravens was the drafting of wide receiver David Reed in the fifth round. Reed has been spotted during OTA's with good hands and route running skills not often seen in a rookie. Reed can also return kicks, something the Ravens made need if Webb has a delayed return. Reed is another player expected to be placed ahead of Smith and Harper on the depth chart.

The only way either man will make the roster is contributing to special teams, something Smith has done but Harper has not. This reason alone is why Smith has a decent chance of making the roster. His biggest deterrent is staying healthy. I do not see Harper making the team this year but he could land on the practice squad. He has not demonstrated he is good enough to be depended upon to catch a pass when needed.

Donnis- More fire

Donnis- More Fire (Usershare)

I have officially become a fan of Donnis. He has impressed me again with another leaked track off of his new mixtape "Fashionably late". Donnis took an old concept, used his good ear for beats to pick a good backing instrumental and spit his becomingly trademark southern punchline flow over it. Listen to the hot 808 driven track, its 'fiya'.

Kid Cudi- All talk featuring Chip tha Ripper

Kid Cudi- All Talk 

New song from Kid Cudi aka Mr. Tree. "All talk" is more lighthearted than a majority of his first album. It features a very talented underground rapper from Cleveland named Chip tha Ripper. It's worth a few plays so check it out

Lil Wayne- Knockout featuring Nicki Minaj

Here is the video for Lil' Wayne's song "Knockout" featuring Nicki Minaj. This video is one of the five  Wayne said he shot days before he was sent to jail. He is trying to maintain his presence through music videos while he is "locked down upstate".

Nicki Minaj does her usual thing but she and Wayne are doing a little too much touching for me. Im starting to think Weezy was knockin Nicki's thang out behind the scenes if you know what I mean.

Rumor Confimed: Alicia Keys is pregnant

There has been a lot of talk about Alicia Keys' change in figure over the past few months. Photos of her small baby bump on display in concert are circulating the internet right now.

Swizz Beatz has finally come out and said that he is the father of his fiancee, Alicia Keys' baby. This news comes as shocker to me. We knew that Beatz pretty much dumped  ex-wife Mashonda for Alicia but who knew they were "active together". I always saw Alicia as the perfect girl who was waiting for marriage. I guess marriage didn't come fast enough for these two celebrities.

Kanye West- Power featuring Dwele

Kanye West f. Dwele - Power | New Hip Hop Music & All The New Rap Songs 2010

I am not overly impressed with Kanye West's new song "Power". West has 
kept his fans waiting about a year for new music from him and this song 
does not placate our urge for his music.

The beat is well done and Dwele does give positive input to the song 
but West's rapping isn't quite up to par. The punchlines didn't knock 
me out of my chair. However with all of that being said, West does 
sound like he is making strides toward a comeback and I expect his 
song to garner decent radio play during the summer.

Should Ellerbe start?

Dannell Ellerbe started off his time with the Ravens with  high expectations because he joined a select few players in Ravens history who earned a spot on the 53 man roster in 2009 as a rookie free agent. Did he do enough as a rookie to become a starter on defense?

During the first few weeks of his rookie campaign, Ellerbe was healing from an injury he suffered at the end of his college career but when he set foot on the field, he never left. The first team he played against was the New England Patriots during week 4. He was contributing only on special teams until Tavares Gooden got hurt and left a space open for Ellerbe to play next to Ray Lewis on defense.

It was not until week 14 when the Chicago Bears came to M&T Bank Stadium that Ellerbe was awarded his first career NFL start. From that point on he began showing the professional football world his ability to stop the run and defend the pass from the inside linebacker position. Jay Cutler, the quarterback he played against in that game, finished the day with a 7.9 quarterback rating. Ellerbe finished off the regular season by intercepting a pass thrown by Raiders quarterback Jamarcus Russell. He ended the season with 41 tackles, one pass deflection and one interception.

The Ravens do have other talented players at the inside linebacker position like speedy linebacker Tavares Gooden, the person Ellerbe succeeded as starting linebacker, versatile player Jameel Mcclain who has played inside and outside linebacker positions as well and savvy veteran Brendan Ayanbadejo who has been a standout special teams player in his career but hasn't established the reputation as a solid starter on defense.

Ellerbe is young and only improving under the veteran leadership of Ray Lewis. Many have already compared him to Bart Scott because of the way both of these players came from obscurity to starting in the NFL. In my eyes, Ellerbe does not get spoken in the same breath as Scott until he earns a Pro Bowl nod and has over 100 tackles in a season. However he is the best person on the roster to start next to Ray Lewis if proves he can improve on his pass coverage and remain durable over a long period of time.

*Important to note that Harbaugh has yet to knight Ellerbe the starter which means there is still a competition for that spot.

Are rappers taking the underground thing too far?

So many rappers decide to give their fans a "taste" of what can be expected from their album by creating mixtapes and making them available to listeners for download on the internet. I did not really think about this until I listened to new mixtapes by Rick Ross and Fabolous. Fabolous released a mixtape called "There Is No Competition 2: The Funeral Service". It is a Gangsta Grillz project where half of the songs are original cuts by Fab and the other half is a collection of freestyles on popular beats.

Rick Ross just released " The Albert Anastasia EP" which in my eyes is not an EP because it has a 13 song tracklist. This mixtape has all original music including the songs assisted by John Legend and Ne-Yo called Sweet Life and Super High respectively that are supposed to be the first two singles for Ross' upcoming album "Teflon Don".

Don't get me wrong both mixtapes have a lot of good music and do showcase exactly what these rappers can do when they get focused but they, Rick Ross especially, are putting out  too much for free. If I download Rick Ross' mixtape, I will see no purpose in purchasing his album because he has satisfied my craving for his music with the music he released without charge. I know I am not the only one who feels this way so this method of promotion is taking money out of his pocket.

"Teflon Don" is supposed to come out in July. After listening to this new mixtape by Ross, which by the way is pretty outstanding, I can now adjust my attention to Eminem who has kept much of what he plans to release to the public this summer a secret. "Not Afraid" is not the best song Eminem has ever done but it is one of the few new songs available by Eminem right now, the true fans have no choice but to listen and love it.

Artists need to continue to make quality songs but hold them for their albums in order to leave their fans to curiously and impatiently wait on the final product. With all of this being said, gather a few minutes and listen to Rick Ross' new "ep" called "The Albert Anastasia EP". Mixtape below.

Download Mixtape | Free Mixtapes Provided by DatPiff.com