Another "Mocking the Draft" for Baltimore
by Mr MaLoR on Mar 15, 2010 5:00 AM EDT
57 comments
Over at Mocking The Draft, we have begun our 3rd installment of the SB Nation blog-wide live draft for all 32 NFL teams. On Saturday, we successfully finished up the first two rounds with few road blocks and the first round open thread generated over 1,000 comments. The 3rd and 4th rounds will occur next weekend. Shying away from many of the mock drafts around the internet, the representatives for each team made it very interesting with some of the picks they were making.
A few that stood out were
- QB Sam Bradford going 9th to Buffalo
- RB C.J. Spiller going 10th to Jacksonville
- Trade involving Tennessee and Tampa Bay which sent WR Dez Bryant to Tampa Bay at #16
- Pittsburgh ignoring their O-Line and Secondary issues by taking LB Sean Weatherspoon at #18
- Bruce Campbell falling out of the 1st round and being selected with the 1st pick in the 2nd round.
When it got to my pick (Ravens) at 25, I saw that there were many players left on my board that I felt could still be there if I moved back in the first round. Players like DE Jared Odrick and Carlos Dunlap, TE Jermaine Gresham, and CB's Devin McCourty and Kyle Wilson. What I decided to do was make an offer with Joe Baker of the Colts blog, Stampede Blue, and offer a trade to swap first round picks. The offer presented to Joe was the Ravens 1st round pick and the higher of our two 5th round picks for the Colts 1st round pick and 3rd round pick. The trade was accepted and here is a list of the trades made so far in the first two rounds.
Trades:
#16- The Titans trade the 16th pick to the Rams for their 2nd 3rd 4th and 7th round picks
#19/24- The Falcons trade the 19th pick to the eagles for the 24th and 87th pick.
#25/31- The Colts trade 31st and 94th picks to the Ravens for 25th and 152nd picks.
#26- The Cardinals trade the 26th pick to the Raiders a 2nd and 4th round pick.
So with the 31st pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens select........after the jump.
1st Round #31 - CB Kyle Wilson - Boise State (5'11" 195 lbs) Highlights
- First off, Wilson was the #25 player on my overall draft board, so he was obviously one of the best players available. With this pick, the Ravens get a huge security blanket in their Secondary. With Fabian Washington and Lardarius Webb coming off major knee injuries, Wilson would be a great option to get some starting time while Webb gets 100% and can come back playing next to Foxworth. From what I have seen on Wilson, he is the best press coverage CB in this draft. He knows how to get physical with a WR without drawing the penalty and can move his hips very fluently. Very good at mirroring the WR shifts in routes and reacts quickly to the QB's decision. Great athlete who can be used as a kick returner and is dangerous with the ball in his hands. In my opinion he is the best return man in this draft. Shies away from tackling at times and does not look to play the run too well, but this team is set up already to stop the run. We need pass coverage. Oh yea, he has dreadlocks.
2nd round #57 - TE Rob Gronkowski - Arizona (6'6" 264 lbs)
- My first impression when watching Gronkowski was that this guy reminds me so much of Jason Witten. This was a steal for me since Gronkowski was #41 on my board and even in the top 40 on others. Some have stated that Gronkowski is a more complete Tight End than projected first round pick Jermaine Gresham out of Oklahoma. Great explosion off the snap and is even quick enough to line up wide in the NFL. His hands are the best aspect of his game with great upper body flexibility to catch any ball near him. Not the most elusive player to make people miss, but is physical enough to break the first tackle. Sat out the entire 2009 season because of lower back surgery, but has publicly stated that he will be 100% come draft day. Fits a need for the Ravens who really have no other contributors outside of Todd Heap, who is in the decline of his career. Shannon Sharpe brought along Heap, now it is Heap's turn to bring along Gronkowski as the next great Ravens Tight End.
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I would love it if Ozzie pulled this off
In MaLoR we trust?
You picked up a guy that many of us wanted and were able to move back in the first and pick up a 3rd without surrendering any picks.
Serious Mock Draft...
I thought I was crazy about the draft, you guys take it another step with some serious trades. Keep it up, I have another level of insanity to aspire too for the draft.
I like the picks Malor, Wilson is a nice safe pick to fill a major need. Gronkowski too seems to fit the Ravens persona of every player being well rounded.
Benn lasted one pick longer than Gilyard in the second round (didn’t fall to your pick though). I kinda still hope we go WR in the first round.
I woudln't hate that...
We need to start taking WR’s like we do LB’s (usually two every year) and maybe a few will pan out one day… maybe.
I would not mind a WR in the first either. The only problem is that after Dez Bryant, the rest of the guys seem like a reach at 25 because there will be so many other players who will most likely give us more of an immediate impact than a rookie WR. A DE, CB, TE or LB could possibly be starting next year for us and putting up some decent stats while a first round WR would probably be fighting for the #4 with Clayton because Boldin, Mason and Stallworth is a pretty damn good top 3.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
Mason and Clayton won't be here forever
and I’d like a high pick to come in and learn under the current WR’s so there is no drop off when they leave.
Yea, breeding one with these guys here to take over for Mason would be a great move. Just gotta hope the right guy is there. I am ready for a 6’3" guy, not Golden Tate.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
I just have a bad feeling about him...
I’ve been wrong before, but I just feel like he is getting overvalued at this point of the pre-draft season.
No doubt he is a great college WR, but there is a reason why very few WR 5’10" and under are successful in the NFL. We need height.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
I agree
And Thomas was one of the very few players to score a 7 out of 7 on his interview with Baltimore and he said that we really like him. Could be a great choice.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
I'd prefer Thomas to Tate,
But if we did take Tate, I would have no problem with it. The kid had multple 200 yard games last year, he’s prone to explosions. He’s a serious run-after-the-catch threat.
Demaryus will probably not be there at 25, but if he is I think he’s too good to let go. He’s got superstar potential.
"Just win baby. Yeah, I stole that."
--Jon Gruden
I think he will go 2nd round
Maybe not all the way to us at 57, but that ankle injury more than likely knocked him out of the 1st round. Only reason I do not want Tate is because of height. I am ready for a 6’3" player, not another 5’10" guy.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
agreed
I like the kid whos the TE too.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-combine/09000d5d8169e021/Gronkowski-TE-demo
I’d take Demaryus at 25. Tate, no, but maybe in the 2nd if we draft defensively in the first round.
"Just win baby. Yeah, I stole that."
--Jon Gruden
"he's prone to explosions"
Nice, I like that.
I don’t think he’ll(Thomas) be there at 25 too. If he is, we need to take him. He looks like the next Vincent Jackson.
Ya I still would like to address WR for the future, even if it is a project. Mason could retire at anytime, stallworth is only on a one year deal and Boldin is turning 30. I believe WR is still a need and would still like to address it at some point in the draft. Probably not the 1st round unless bryant was to fall, but hopefully later on.
Ozzie will definitely go into this draft with more than 5 draft picks. I expect at least one of our top 4 picks to be used on a WR.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
A question gentlemen
Isn’t Cam Thomas a poor man’s Ngata. I would think a pass-rushing DT would be a better fit. MaLor I expect Ozzie to target a WR in the 5th round espcially if no addiional picks are acquried.
I have liked what I have seen in Cam Thomas so far. Sort of plays like BJ Raji from last year’s draft. Only problem I have with drafting a DT real high is that we need Ngata playing NT, not DE. And having a guy like Thomas might continue that trend. I would like to see Dwan Edwards and Kruger/Pryce/Rookie on the 2 DE spots and Ngata at NT with Gregg as the back up. But hey, if Ozzie thinks Cam Thomas can improve our pass rush, then I am all for it. I would rather load up in one position then reach at others.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
I love both those guys and
now we’ll have to settle for three guys fighting for two corner spots( Foxworth, Webb and Wilson). Gronks gives us a big body at TE to take over for Heap at some point.
My only issue is the addressing of our pass rush, and for that I still would have gone for a pass rusher witht the first pick, and then perhaps Gronks in the second. As par as a pass rusher, while I have liked Dunlap, the scouts have soured on him a bit and I hear he had a DUI, which Ozzie avoids in draft picks, and now am focusing on us getting Odrick (Penn St.), who fits our needs and personality perfectly. Great job though.
aka 'Rexx'
Speaking of BW
What’s up with the new profile photo? You jumping ship to the worthless baseball side of the city (sorry Camden Chat, not you guys, who do the O’s great!). Just saying, your avatar should stay Boldin’s #81 jersey.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 15, 2010 9:02 AM EDT up reply actions
I understand about the pass rush
I would have picked Dunlap, but for the purpose of this post and the entire mock draft, I wanted to switch it up and give you guys a different scenario. In all 3 of these live drafts that I have done, I have gone Gresham, Dunlap, Wilson all in the first round. If you go back and look at each one of those drafts, all 3 of those guys were there at 25 and Dunlap and Wilson were there at 31, so I really could have gone either way and I like any 3 of those guys.
Just wanted to give the Beatdown some variety and look at all possibilities of where we can go here.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
Irrational Trade
Rams giving up their #’s 2,3,4 & 7 for the 16th overall? Heads would roll over that one. What were they going for? Herschel Walker!?
aka 'Rexx'
Actually, it wasn't the Rams
who traded all those picks, it was the Bucs. Both of you got it wrong at the end of your posts, even though it was posted right with the specific selections. also, he has the 25th pick listed as “Philadelphia (from Colts) – Kyle Wilson.” <—-ooops!
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Mar 15, 2010 8:54 AM EDT up reply actions
It’s funny that many of the best corners are excellent return men.
Webb, Reed and McAlister are examples from the Ravens. Many of them are also good or great special teams players. That’s actually something that I use to grade college defensive backs by. If a defensive back is a stand-out return man or special teams ace, I think that says alot about their upside. Many of the attributes that make a player a great return man (quickness of reactions and feet, vision, fearlessness) also give the player a very high upside.
And McCourty is also a very good returner. I like guys who play CB and return because you know that they were one of the best athletes on their team while also being a great football player. Can’t fail when you have those two aspects in a player (Webb).
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
Excellent job, by the way. I’m convinced that Wilson will be a stud in the NFL.
He may be the lowest-risk player in the entire draft. His type of abilities and skill-set easily translate to the NFL.
Good picks but ...
According to the Trade Value Chart you didn’t get the right value, really didn’t need to add our 152nd. How did the trade happen, did they ask to trade up or did you look for suitors to trade down? Because if it is the former it means they valued the player they selected enough to trade up, meaning they either thought he was more valuable than that spot or simply didn’t think he would make it to them. Either way the team trading up generally should pay slightly more.
I do like the trade though since there were several players at 25 that must have been on your radar, so it was very likely that one of them would be available at 31. I would be happy with getting Kyle Wilson in the first and Gronkowski in the second in the real draft, so definitely have to say good picks.
I was aware that I might have given up a little more than I would have had to, but sometimes to do what you want you have to give up a little something extra. That 5th round pick to me was not as important to me as getting a 3rd. I really did not want to go the entire 3rd and 4th round with out a pick, so if that meant I had to surrender one of our 5th round picks, so be it.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
That’s true, I have a feeling Ozzie might try and do the same thing since those third and fourth round picks can be very valuable.
Most needs are covered, just get some D-Line depth and after that it’s pretty much just BPA.
Yup. CB, DE and TE are our 3 biggest needs I think most people would say. I will be happy filling any 2 of those needs in the first two rounds. Now, if someone would step up already and sign Gaither, we could address all 3 in the first two rounds!
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
Gaither is really good though. Sure we can move Oher over to the left side, but having young, elite bookend tackles is very rare. Most teams would love to have that. I think Ozzie keeps Gaither unless the Ravens would get a top 20 pick. It is easier to find a RT in the draft, but I don’t think any of us want Oniel Cousins back in the lineup.
Gaither is really good
And if no one signs him I will be just as happy keeping him and Oher together. The reason it is a smart move to ship him off now is because he is going to ask for elite LT money next year after his contract is up. Obviously we are not going to be able to give him that money with having to resign Ngata plus also having someone who can play LT better than Gaither (Oher).
So getting a first round or some extra picks for him now is worth taking the hit at the Tackle position next year, rather than letting him walk after next season and not getting anything out of it. Plus Ozzie has said that Right Tackles are fairly easy to come by in this league. Remember Willie Anderson? We could sign another veteran for the short term while we pick up another stud in the draft and breed him into a beast.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
Get something while you can, absolutely (especially a first round pick – that’s just dangerous for Ozzie), but can the Ravens sign a veteran free agent with the final 8 rule? Wouldn’t we have to lose someone else first? Or does Bannan take care of that?
We can sign any number of free agents up to about 3.6 million in the first year with limitations on salary increases
or on FA over 5.6 or so.
plus we can sign one that matches Bannan’s salary on top of that.
I like these picks a lot if gronkowski is healthy. He did state that he feels a 100% but then read a rumor his back was giving him a little bit of trouble and thats why he didn’t work out for the arizona pro day. You never know with those serious injuries. Hopefully he is healthy because I do agree he is a very complete player and an absolute better value at our 2nd pick then gresham with our 1st. Keep these solid drafts coming Malor.
Thanks
I just started watching a few of his games about a week ago from 2008 and he was just running people over every time. He is such a humble guy who looks like he wants to work hard. This team needs to keep a white boy at TE like Heap, just seems right.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
racism?
Why do we need a white boy at TE? Why does that matter? I’ve always thought Heap was overrated as a fan favorite, when he’s only been a pretty good player, and I’ve wondered if it might be partly because he’s white. Same for Matt Stover, who I saw rated as the best Raven ever in some SI poll awhile ago, ahead of Ray Lewis and Ogden.
by Brian Adams on Mar 17, 2010 12:32 AM EDT up reply actions
people forget...
as amazing as our defense has been for so long, it’s being anchored by two players who are on the verge of retiring (Ed Reed & Ray Lewis), which i’ve always felt Ed Reed was more of an anchor to the team than Ray. these positions need to be addressed immediately, especially the seconday. We need to get young talented guys now that Reed can help develop and likewise with LBs. our secondary was pretty awful last year. we need to use our great defensive scouting ability and do what we always do… DEFENSE! because, the offense is at least decent now.
I agree. I still don’t want to shy away from helping the offense out a little more. Are we set on starters for next year? Yes we are. But depth is not really there, especially at TE. Tight End is such an important position on this team and it can only help to give Joe and Cam someone who compliments Heap really well and will be a starter in the future.
With defense, we definitely have to reload. The last two years we have gone into the playoffs with basically nothing at CB. I would not mind spending 2 high picks on CBs just to make sure we have legitimate depth at CB for next year. I think a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd round pick (Webb) would have more of my trust than Walker, Carr and Ivy.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
I think adding a TE (like Gronkowski) basically fills all the needs on the offense for the foreseeable future, which means either most of this year’s draft and next year’s draft can be used to reload on defense. Lewis and Reed have been cornerstones, but when they leave there will still be a strong foundation in Ngata and Suggs. Obviously it is extremely difficult to replace two all time greats, but the Ravens have the foundation to weather a hit like that.
Yup, and in the draft I would not mind if we came out of the first two rounds with a LB like Weatherspoon, Spikes or Washington to eventually take over for Ray. Also would not mind if a Safety like Taylor Mays or Earl Thomas fell to us in the first round. I would rather load up on strong positions than reach on a need, which will be filled anyway because we have Ozzie.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
Did Jesus 2.0 go in the first?
The night is darkest right before the dawn
by Baltimore Warrior on Mar 16, 2010 6:49 AM EDT reply actions
Ozzie should trade...
Down about 10 spots, into there early 2nd round. Assuming there is alot of talent on the board, this would be enough of a drop to net us a mid to high 3rd rounder based on the draft pick value chart. I would rather we traded down 10 spots and grabbed Odrick, then stuck at 25 and grabbed Gresham or Wilson. Deep enough draft that we can get a solid CD in the 2nd and a TE (who is not much worse than Gresham) in the early to mid 3rd round. I am a big Anthony McCoy fan, being that I am a USC fan. He was a solid receiver as a soph for them, if I remember correctly and he has great size. always a chance hernandez or someone else slides into the 3rd round. I just feel Gresham is a reach, 1st round isnt the place to take a TE. Great grades for blocking, speed and receiving from ESPN.com for Mccoy. I would just be sad if Ozzie stays put to grab one of the many late1st/early 2nd guys on the board, when he likely could drop down and still have his choice of 1 or 2 of those same players.
I am praying we dont take Gresham!
Yea, I have been a big time McCoy fan since 2008. He is a monster and the thing that is so good about him is that blocking is probably his best attribute. With the WR that we have now, McCoy would fit perfectly with our offense. A great blocker, then on 2nd and 3rd downs he could sneak behind the linebackers. And I am sure you will agree with me that no one wants to his this guy.
His highlights are incredible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5jcyz-nSVs
Huge down field threat. I can imagine that CB in the first clip getting thrown to the side being Ike Taylor.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
Yes
This guy looks to have the goods. The fact that he can wide flex is also an asset. Keep it quiet MaLor somene else might here us! Lol.
Love it
The hands, the hops, the speed, the running people over. I am just salivating. Perfect blocking/receiving combo for us. Don’t bother drafting a WR, just take McCoy!
He is THE ONE Ozzie! LOL
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