A lot of people don't really understand what a team's Big Board might look like, and I've decided that I can start an exciting conversation about the draft and explain what a Team's Big Board might look like.  First a couple facts.

A Big Board consists of a list of players.  Each player is listed with a position (or positions) that he would likely play on the team and a grade.  This grade will at least include what round value the team thinks the player has, but many teams increase that to "early 1st round" or "late 2nd round" separation for the early rounds.

Note that not every player will be on a team's big board, and while there is a lot of ranking, the groups are much more important than the ranking.  For example, Matt Stafford, despite that he is an excellent quarterback prospect, will not even be on the Ravens big board.  They won't grade him and they won't draft him because he would simply be a distraction to the team, given that we have a franchise QB.  Stafford may be the #1 guy on another team's draft board.  The other case is someone like Andre Smith, who cleanly wiped himself off of many draft boards due to his behaviour at the combine.  Some teams wouldn't draft him regardless of the circumstances, while others will simply put a lower grade on him.

Finally, the Ravens will not have 32 players with 1st round grades.  They may not even have 26 players with 1st round grades.  A team that watches every player that they've deemed worthy of a 1st rounder is in a tough spot.  That team will probably try to trade down no matter the circumstances.  For example, last year the Ravens had only 3 players that they felt were worthy of the #8 pick, widely believed to be Matt Ryan, Chris Long, and Sedrick Ellis.  Glenn Dorsey didn't fit their scheme, and I think it was already clear the Dolphins were drafting Jake Long, but I'm not sure.  When those 3 players were drafted, they simply traded down with the Jaguars, taking a well below "draft chart" deal to do it.  It worked out for them, however, as they were able to draft Joe Flacco #18 when they might well have drafted him #8!!!

So, what might the Ravens "Big Board" look like?  Here are a list of players I think are widely considered to be 1st round possibilities.

• QB - Matt Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Josh Freeman
• RB - Knowshown Moreno, Chris Wells
• WR - Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin, Darius Heyward Bey, Hakeem Nicks, Percy Harvin, Kenny Britt
• TE Brandon Pettigrew
• OT Eugene Monroe, Jason Smith, Michael Oher, Andre Smith, Ebon Britton
• G/C Duke Robinson, Alex Mack
• DT BJ Raji, Peria Jerry, Evander Hood
• DE Brian Orakpo Everette Brown, Tyson Jackson, Michael Johnson, Aaron Maybin, Larry English
• LB Aaron Curry, Rey Maualuga, Brian Cushing, James Laurinitis
• CB Malcolm Jenkins, Vontae Davis, Darius Butler, Alphonso Smith, Sean Smith

Everbody's list is going to be different, and this is really just a quick crack at it.  This is thirty six players already, so if you get upset that I left someone off, make sure you can find someone he's clearly better than.  But again, I'm not aiming for perfection.

Next up is eliminating some of these players off the board.  The quarterbacks are simply not options for the Ravens early thanks to Joe Flacco.  I'm honestly a little shaky on both Moreno and Wells, and although Ozzie has drafted running backs early before (Jamal Lewis and Ray Rice), it's not his favorite position to draft early either.  Plus we have invested in three separate running backs at this point that all figure to get carries.  If I thought Knowshon Moreno was a superb prospect I'd put him on the board, butI simply don't.  I simply don't really see Ebon Britton as a 1st round prospect, I just realize that OT is a position people reach for.  WR is the shakiest position to draft (including QB!) and if the Ravens go here they are going to want to be very careful.  Rumor has it that they are looking to "hit a double" as opposed to a "home run."  I agree with that philosophy and think if you are going to spend a 1st round pick on a WR he should be an excellent route runner, blocker, physical, etc.  That takes out Jeremy Maclin, Darius Heyward Bey, and Percy Harvin, leaving three physical, very skilled receivers on the board.  This may be too many, as not a single WR was drafted in the first round last year, which might be a trend.  I simply don't like Duke Robinson that much, as we can find excellent guards later in the draft and are loaded at the position right now.  The Ravens do seem to like Alex Mack though, so we'll leve him on the board.

Cut from the first round - Stafford, Sanchez, Freeman, Britton, Wells, Moreno, DHB, Maclin, Harvin (Nine players)

As for defense, I don't see Michael Johnson fitting our scheme, and believe Aaron Maybin is an overrated 1 year wonder.  James Laurinitis is also not a fit for our scheme.  I think Evander Hood is also really a 4-3 guy.  Peria Jerry is also really a 3-technique, which are not heavily employed by the Ravens.  Larry English is a solid pass rusher, but not much else, which is difficult for the Ravens where they ask for a large skill-set out of every player.

Cut from the first round - Johnson, Maybin, Laurinitis, Hood, Jerry, English (six players).

So on my "Big Board" we only have 21 players that get a 1st round grade.  WOW.  That was fun.  So now to form a ranking

1. Aaron Curry - Pairing him with Ray Lewis would be simply absurd.  Not the biggest need, but probably the best player.
2. Michael Crabtree - a simply excellent receiver prospect.  Not as fast as some like, but he's still the full package.
3. Eugene Monroe - Superb tackle would solve all our offensive line problems
4. Jason Smith - above, but with less polish and run-blocking
5. Brian Orakpo - play him opposite from Suggs and watch the sparks fly.
6. Malcolm Jenkins - was the player I most wanted at the beginning of the season.  Concerns about his timed speed might drop him because teams are stupid.  Watch him play and tell me he is slow.
7. Everette Brown - Stock is rising... rising... RISING
8. BJ Raji - What, we've already got Haloti Ngata? We'll figure out something awesome with two awesome tackles.  He's really good, even if he doesn't fit a need, the Ravens love to draft defensive linemen.
9. Michael Oher - Honestly, I might be underrating him.  See Monroe and Smith, but some intelligence concerns that are heavily overhyped.  He's awesome.
10. Vontae Davis - the above nine I consider the elite prospects that we might consider trading up for.  From now on we're talking second half first round prospects.  Vontae will likely be taken by #26, but there's a chance he might fall as rumor has it the corners are dropping as a position due to a strong free agent class.  If he fell to us that would be the ideal scenario for the Ravins.  Vontae is really really good and would make our secondary elite.
11. Tyson Jackson - when a supertalented defensive lineman who perfectly fits your system at a position where your starter is 34 and there is no heir apparent falls to you, you thank God for blessing your team and waltz write up to the podium and take him.  Consider this the Haloti Ngata rule where Phil Savage "outsmarted us" by getting a 6th round pick for letting us take Haloti when clearly he was better off with Kameiron Wimbley.  Hilarious.
12. Brandon Pettigrew - A superb blocker and solid pass catcher.  Don't think of this as a replacement for Heap.  We can start the both of them and they'll compliment eachother very nicely.  2 TE sets are also effective against zone-blitzing 3-4 defenses, not that I can see how that's relevant.
13. Kenny Britt - underrated by a lot of draftnicks.  The man has more speed than we give him credit for, and has all the underrated qualities in a WR (route running, run blocking, getting off the line of scrimmage, abilitiy to go over the middle).  Attitude issues are a concern, as he could become a headache, but most WRs are headaches, so we're kind of stuck.
14. Hakeem Nicks - He's an extremely polished route runner who should be a very good receiver in the NFL.  He lacks the attitude of Kenny Britt, but is still physical and won't likely give the team headaches.  But this guy really isn't that fast and won't be the downfield threat that Cam Cameron wants.
15. Rey Maualuga - He's a bit overrated because he can't "do it all" as a linebacker, but he's still really really good.
16. Darius Butler - Absurdly underrated corner.
17. Sean Smith - playing speed is still a concern, but he could be a steal.  I think he's more risky than the Ravens might be going for, but the upside of Nmandi Asomougha is one heck of an upside.
18. Alphonso Smith - yes the 5 foot 9 is a concern, and limits his upside, but he's could very well be Cortland Finnegan.
19. Andre Smith - he's still on here, as he's simply too talented and his film is too good despite the character concerns, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Ravens took him off their board.
20. Brian Cushing - Injury prone, but excellent when healthy.
21. Alex Mack - Taking interior offensive line early is never that much fun, but Alex Mack is a very good player that will keep our offensive line going when Matt Birk hangs up his cleets.  Center is so important in our division.

So there you have it.  21 players total in the 1st round, but it's still likely the Ravens get a player they think is worth the #26.