[News] Late For Work 5/2: You're Gonna Like Ravens' Draft Grades

[Crusader]

Just think Ravens will have TWO first rounder hitting the field this year at the same time. Got to be a Ravens first.

[stixfix69]

we will make the playoffs this year, and some of the rookies will have a impact, and some of last years draft class will as well, at the end of the day, all that matters is that we field a playoff team, and i feel we will this year....Yep...write it down...:)

[goldenboldin]

yea you're right they definitely have more info than anyone else, it's their career, they have scouts round the clock looking at prospects. i love this team and will root as i always do, i just need to temper my feelings about not getting flashy picks. it won't matter if these rooks produce over the next 3 years, then we'll really know.

[cbrook1862]

The most intriguing prospect for me is Kamalei Correa, seeing as though we chose him over Myles Jack and Noah Spence. I think if he bulks up and develops more technique with hands and pass rushing moves, he could quickly become a impact player on this team. Can't wait for mini and training camp to start but i'll specifically be paying attention to him.

[TheRavengers]

I saw some of Kenneth Dixon's highlights and game tapes, that there is pretty impressive.

[fluffy201]

Well I guess the real draft grades won't be out till at least a quarter of the year has been played. I mean we needed a left tackle and we got one, supplied tremendous depth to the D Line and O Line. Unfortunately we couldn't help our secondary aside from the 4th round pick, which isn't promising. However,if our D Line gets a helluva pass rush, we may be in pretty decent shape. Still would love to add another corner, but like tackles all the good ones are gone by the second round (mostly).

[EdTheMythicalOne]

I've wrote it elswhere: for thos who were disappointed by the Stanley pick, a fun fact to consider: when the Titans were on the clock, Tunsil was still on the board - still they opted for Conklin - which means that they would have surely not pick Tunsil at #1 (as there seems to be no logic that they didn't pick him at #8 but would have do so at #1). Since there was only one OT - Stanley - off the board when the Titans picked, it's logical to assume they would have picekd Stanley or Conklin at #1. And, as basically no serious draft analysis put Conklin ahead of Stanley, it's only fair to assume that there's a good chance that if the Titans kept the #1 pick, they would have picked Stanley.

Which means there's a good chance we picked a potential 1/1 pick in Stanley...

Tunsil dropped because of that video that leaked. Had that not happened the Titans very well might have taken him.

I find it odd that after the Richie Incognito fiasco that the Dolphins would pick up Tunsil and all that background noise he's got going on with him. There's gonna be more stuff coming out I'm sure. Somebody has a vendetta against him.

[EdTheMythicalOne]

If you look at the only indicators you have to go by, which is college production, then the Ravens drafted a lot of playmakers. Guys who lead their divisions in scoring touchdowns, getting sacks, etc. In fact with two picks we got the #1 and #2 all time scoring players in FBS history: Keenan Reynolds and Kenneth Dixon.

And guess what? Guys with character issues affect you on game day when you're expecting them to be there and they're off on a suspension. You can't make plays if you can't play.

So if I got guys on my board with nearly the same grades, nearly the same production, but the difference is one is falling out of windows, getting caught smoking weed, or hanging out in nightclubs and taking Molly until the cows come home...guess who I would take 10 out of 10 times?

[juice78]

A few notes to all:

To Ryan Mink and the rest of the PR team: we get it, it's your job to create good press for the team, but you yourself said the team needs a flashy defensive star to reinvigorate that lost swagger.

To the "only-time-will-tell" set: I get this, too. The Ravens drafted lots of players unknown to the rest of us. Players that will need a season or two to develop. The problem with this is that this was expected when the Ravens were in the playoffs every year and drafting at the end of each round. It's not easy to accept this mantra when they have the 6th overall pick and for months (and especially after the Titans and Browns traded down), we kept reading about how the Ravens were guaranteed to get a defensive playmaker and how they essentially had two first round picks this year. The Ravens failed to trade up to get Ramsey and then drafted an LT, who was ranked the second-best at his position by MOST draftniks. It's hard to accept that with the #6 (effectively #4) overall pick, the Ravens get a non-stat producing offensive lineman. Then, with the 5th pick of the second round (36th overall and therefore effectively the 4th pick of the 2nd round thanks to the Patriots shenanigans), they pass on a highly-ranked, big-name, albeit injured (yet doctors said earlier that day that he would NOT need microsurgery), defensive playmaker who would have been a day-1 starter. He was gold falling from the sky and Ozzie passed. Then, we're like "well, Spence is on the board still, I've heard of him," but they trade down again, and lose out on him. He did ecstasy, so what? He cleaned up. What followed was the drafting of tons of players most of us had never heard of. Yes, I get that they're the ones studying college players year-round, but more often than not, 4th and later round draftees don't become starters in the first two seasons, and this team needed more than just one day-one starter from this draft.

To all the overly critical, angry fans: it's just a damn game.

[EliteRavens]

That 4th round was awesome... picks picks picks

[EdTheMythicalOne]

Heh, I took a shot at playing GM in a thread on the forums called My Current Guess at the 53 man Roster:

http://boards.baltimoreravens.com/topic/68401-my-current-guess-at-the-ravens-53-man-roster-merged/

I even explain my thought process if you want to digest all of that. I don't claim to know anything more than any other fan here. Just going by what is in my mind as logical decisions and what I think the Ravens have shown in the past.

They tend to keep most rookies they draft if they can and tend to clean house of guys that have been around a few seasons and haven't shown anything for a variety of reasons be it injury or lack of talent.

[juice78]

A few notes to all:

To Ryan Mink and the rest of the PR team: we get it, it's your job to create good press for the team, but you yourself said the team needs a flashy defensive star to reinvigorate that lost swagger.

To the "only-time-will-tell" set: I get this, too. The Ravens drafted lots of players unknown to the rest of us. Players that will need a season or two to develop. The problem with this is that this was expected when the Ravens were in the playoffs every year and drafting at the end of each round. It's not easy to accept this mantra when they have the 6th overall pick and for months (and especially after the Titans and Browns traded down), we kept reading about how the Ravens were guaranteed to get a defensive playmaker and how they essentially had two first round picks this year. The Ravens failed to trade up to get Ramsey and then drafted an LT, who was ranked the second-best at his position by MOST draftniks. It's hard to accept that with the #6 (effectively #4) overall pick, the Ravens get a non-stat producing offensive lineman. Then, with the 5th pick of the second round (36th overall and therefore effectively the 4th pick of the 2nd round thanks to the Patriots shenanigans), they pass on a highly-ranked, big-name, albeit injured (yet doctors said earlier that day that he would NOT need microsurgery), defensive playmaker who would have been a day-1 starter. He was gold falling from the sky and Ozzie passed. Then, we're like "well, Spence is on the board still, I've heard of him," but they trade down again, and lose out on him. He did ecstasy, so what? He cleaned up. What followed was the drafting of tons of players most of us had never heard of. Yes, I get that they're the ones studying college players year-round, but more often than not, 4th and later round draftees don't become starters in the first two seasons, and this team needed more than just one day-one starter from this draft.

To all the overly critical, angry fans: it's just a damn game.

Why is it hard to be excited about a draft, in which the highlight was the 4th round?

"The Ravens have had mixed success in the fourth round over the years. The last full-time starter they picked in the fourth round was center Jason Brown (2005). The only fourth-round pick since Jarret Johnson (2003) to get a second contract in Baltimore has been tight end Dennis Pitta (2010).

Baltimore is hoping this class breaks that trend." - Ryan Mink

[eze17]

Tunsil dropped for a number of reasons, not just the video. My concern for that guy is that he's heading to south beach with a load of cash in pocket...

[pcwag33]

Bengals have drafted better than Ravens over recent years, and this year looks that as well.

[pcwag33]

Bengals have drafted better than Ravens over recent years, and this year looks that as well.

Billings for one.

[designermaryland]

Look what they said in 2013
BALTIMORE RAVENS: Credit general manager Ozzie Newsome for his thorough understanding of his team and the draft board. He simply lets the board work in his favor and selects the right players to fill the team's biggest needs at the right value. Safety Matt Elam replaces Bernard Pollard as the designated tough guy in the back end, bringing better ball skills and awareness. Brown, a plug-and-play starter at inside linebacker, has the athleticism to rack up gaudy production as a sideline-to-sideline playmaker. Tackle Brandon Williams and end John Simon add depth to an already imposing defensive front. GRADE: B

love this. i think the press gives the ravens high grades each year simply on past production and give them way too much credit. i dont think any team got lower than a C grade on some articles. all 32 teams cannot possibly all hit. the praise ends up just being a bunch of hot air in the end. since flacco, we have hit on about 1 to 1.5 average to above average talent starters per draft and the rest are out of the league in a year or two. that cannot be an A quality grade.

[designermaryland]

  2 hours ago, pcwag33 said:

Bengals have drafted better than Ravens over recent years, and this year looks that as well.

Billings for one.

i agree. if you look at the past 5-6 years, they are crushing the ravens on draft productivity.

[EdTheMythicalOne]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm always excited about a Ravens draft. I just can't wait to see our new guys and see them actually getting on the field and seeing what all the hype is about.

I think the underlying themes for the 2016 Ravens draft are:

Safe: We went with a lot of guys that supposedly don't have any off field issues aside from I think it was Alex Lewis.

Production: We took guys with solid if not stellar college production, leaders in yardage, scoring, sacks, etc.

We didn't go sexy. We didn't gamble on character issue guys like in the past (Sergio Kimble) and I don't think we took any big swings and misses like a Terrence Cody type pick. I think we should get at least a little something out of every guy we selected other than some of the lower choices.

I think our biggest gambles were Bronson Kaufusi in the 3rd, then Maurice Canaday and Keenan Reynolds in the 6th. Kaufusi is supposed to have the will, motor, and some technique to go along with his size, but not the strength. He'll need to get cranking in the gym to fix that. Canaday has some confidence issues and lacks some speed, but he's got size. Keenan is a "slash" type player and might only contribute as a return man. He won't hold up in the backfield and will only be a receiving threat/gadget play guy and as a receiver he needs to work on his hands. I also don't thinnk Joe Flacco will be looking over his shoulder at him worrying about his QB job.

Edited May 3, 2016 by EdTheMythicalOne

[EdTheMythicalOne]

1 hour ago, designermaryland said:

i agree. if you look at the past 5-6 years, they are crushing the ravens on draft productivity.

How many Superbowls have the Bengals won with their great drafts?

I am not saying that to take a jab at you. I understand that they are amassing some great talent and it is fun to have 3 great teams in the AFC North. If the Browns ever got their act together that would be something.

Why do I like a tough division like we're in? Because it means if you win this division or are good enough to Wild Card from it, you are battle tested. You didn't cupcake your way to a division title or the playoffs.

[EdTheMythicalOne]

8 hours ago, eze17 said:

Tunsil dropped for a number of reasons, not just the video. My concern for that guy is that he's heading to south beach with a load of cash in pocket...

I mentioned that in a previous post somewhere too. For all of the teams to take him, it is Miami which is party central. They also had that Jonathan Martin/Richie Incognito fiasco a few years ago.

I don't think the trouble for Tunsil is behind him yet. Somebody is out to get him and I don't think he's as far away from that lifestyle as he said he was. He seemed more concerned with the fact that somebody hacked his account than he was about his actual actions.

[Maryland]

Ravens definitely played it safe on character issues and injury-plagued prospects, but can you blame them? We've been one of the most injury-plagued teams over the past 2 seasons, and the RR saga was an embarrassment for every Ravens fan.

I don't have a big problem with "reaching" on some high-character guys. We need some good-guys in the locker room to keep it strong and set an example for other players who may be on the fence about their passion for the game/team.

I'll bet you Ed Reed was one of those "reach" high-character guys coming out of college. He turned out pretty fine and made the players around him better with his work-ethic. Same with Ray. We need more players like that.

[Halshayeji]

16 hours ago, bioLarzen said:

I've wrote it elswhere: for thos who were disappointed by the Stanley pick, a fun fact to consider: when the Titans were on the clock, Tunsil was still on the board - still they opted for Conklin - which means that they would have surely not pick Tunsil at #1 (as there seems to be no logic that they didn't pick him at #8 but would have do so at #1). Since there was only one OT - Stanley - off the board when the Titans picked, it's logical to assume they would have picekd Stanley or Conklin at #1. And, as basically no serious draft analysis put Conklin ahead of Stanley, it's only fair to assume that there's a good chance that if the Titans kept the #1 pick, they would have picked Stanley.

Which means there's a good chance we picked a potential 1/1 pick in Stanley...

Silly me was hoping we take Floys and Conklin would fall to the late twenties and we move up for him lol

[Halshayeji]

I honestly don't get all the negativity. We addressed the most important need with Stanley. Sure I would have liked Tunsil if he wasn't a nutcase but a close second is fine with me. I'd be stressing of we ignored our Oline till the third round.

Pass rush was our second most important need and we finally offset the losses of Ngata and McPhee.

B.Williams, Jernigan, Guy, Davis, and Kafusi make one hack of a rotation! KLM and Urban will have to kill for playing time.

Outside, Suggs and Doom are our starters regardless of who we drafted. Correa and Z.Smith can keep them fresh and develop at their pace until one of them explodes. Correa is the biggest question mark to me coz I really didn't know this guy till a few days ago. But he seems like exactly what we need. Stay out of trouble and has a lot of potential. Very high motor.

My main concern is the number of players we could lose by trimming the squad to 53. Maybe we could have traded some of those picks for next year or a CB. Other than that we did good. (Ps:- Chris Culliver just got cut)

Edited May 3, 2016 by Halshayeji

[usmccharles]

9 minutes ago, Halshayeji said:

I honestly don't get all the negativity. We addressed the most important need with Stanley. Sure I would have liked Tunsil if he wasn't a nutcase but a close second is fine with me. I'd be stressing of we ignored our Oline till the third round.

Pass rush was our second most important need and we finally offset the losses of Ngata and McPhee.

B.Williams, Jernigan, Guy, Davis, and Kafusi make one hack of a rotation! KLM and Urban will have to kill for playing time.

Outside, Suggs and Doom are our starters regardless of who we drafted. Correa and Z.Smith can keep them fresh and develop at their pace until one of them explodes. Correa is the biggest question mark to me coz I really didn't know this guy till a few days ago. But he seems like exactly what we need. Stay out of trouble and has a lot of potential. Very high motor.

My main concern is the number of players we could lose by trimming the squad to 53. Maybe we could have traded some of those picks for next year or a CB. Other than that we did good. (Ps:- Chris Culliver just got cut)

Yea I completely agree.  Some people view the fans who like this draft just sticking up for Oz and the FO and being homers.  I think we added a lot of talent and we got potentially 4 pass rushers to make a difference.  I think the 53 cutdown will force us to get rid of some guys, I don't see LT staying on and I think Camp is on a very short leash, especially with the signing of Reynolds. 

[Purple&Black]

I was admittedly frustrated the first two days since we passed on some elite level talent (on paper). 4th round made my weekend much brighter. hopefully these guys pan out. I have high hopes for Dixon. I think he will the the starter by the end of the year. He's a steal. My only question is why pass on guys with questionable character early only to select Alex Lexis who arguably has more flags than any other player not named Tunsil or Nkemdiche. Not a fan favorite draft, but definitely a solid one. We got what we needed most...depth.

[Purple&Black]

Glad we passed on Tunsil. The week leading up to the draft he started to remind me of Mckinnie, worried more about the party than the game.

[usmccharles]

4 minutes ago, Purple&Black said:

I was admittedly frustrated the first two days since we passed on some elite level talent (on paper). 4th round made my weekend much brighter. hopefully these guys pan out. I have high hopes for Dixon. I think he will the the starter by the end of the year. He's a steal. My only question is why pass on guys with questionable character early only to select Alex Lexis who arguably has more flags than any other player not named Tunsil or Nkemdiche. Not a fan favorite draft, but definitely a solid one. We got what we needed most...depth.

Early on is the key.  Taking a guy in the first 3 rounds, in my opinion you don't want to take too much risk on a guy that most of the time has a good chance of instantly contributing.  Your talking about a guy who was taken 130th compared to guys that were gone by the 40th.  I understand that the reward is higher with the early on guys, but this way, if Lewis doesn't pan out, it wasn't that big of a deal...but if our first round failed because of off the field issues....that would be a huge hit. 

[Drinkmore Beer]

Criticizing the Ravens for picking so many potential contributors is nuts. The best 53 players will make the squad. If that means some vets get cut, that's just pro football.

[Jaybirds]

19 minutes ago, Drinkmore Beer said:

Criticizing the Ravens for picking so many potential contributors is nuts. The best 53 players will make the squad. If that means some vets get cut, that's just pro football.

Ozzie did say in interviews that we tried to trade back into the 2nd round.  When that didn't happen, we tried to trade back into the third.  So I think it's okay to say we had too many picks.  But that's a nice problem to have.  When things didn't go according to plan, we got some steals in the 4th round. 

[Minionhunter]

Favorite picks for me are Correra (waiting to see what he is like in a year when he bulks up in their training program) and Moore (he just gets behind defenses and no one can pinpoint how) plus he ate the Bengals shiny new first round corner alive, just ate the flesh off him in college.