Grading the 2010 NFL Draft - Baltimore Ravens

who knows, maybe Fabian will be ready to go sooner than expected and we’ll have Dom, Carr, and Fabo playing well in the early parts of the reg season. if our pass rush improves as much as we expect it to from our draft picks, we should be fine.

you guys are lucky to have such a good talent evaulator in Newsome, you guys are by far the favorites to win the AFC north next season….

Mr. MaLor, I don’t think that grade was homerish at all. In fact, it was very consistent with the pundit across the country.

I agreed with the decision to move down. Contrary to what some believe, this team needed to add depth (and talent) on defense, and drafting one really good corner back was not going to cut it.

Some question the Pitta pick due to the fact that we just drafted a TE in the 3rd round, but if you follow the BPA methodology, why draft a CB who may not even make your team, when you can pick up a player whom has more value, either on your team or on another one.

My favorite pick was Art Jones. He was a beast prior to his injuries his senior year and was well worth the gamble.

Ozzie and Co. will addrss the CB position one way or another, but reaching doesn’t work often. Keep in mind to that the Ravens tried to move up in the 2nd to get Chris Cook from Va, but the Rams wouldn’t budge. Sometimes you can’t manuever the way you would like in the draft, especially when you do not have a stock pile of picks.

This is going to be a fun year…

“In addition, his brother, Jon, is a professional mixed martial artist that competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.”

Unbelievable, his brother is none other than Jon “Bones” Jones. For those of you who don’t know who that is, he is a very talented up and coming MMA light heavyweight contender.

for reminding me MaLoR how much I hate “Plays like a Raven.” That phrase is getting tired. I guess you have to like what Harbaugh is doing with this team, but the guy sure is cheesy. Miss you Rex.

On a lighter note, I love how we sort of gambled on Harewood late in the draft. Here is a guy with loads of potential who our scouts saw was raw, from a small school, but coachable. He’s a project, but I guess that’s the best way to use those late-round picks.

We sort of did that last season with Drew. We find guys to fill in on spec teams, or to help our other guys for the moment with depth, and hope they project as starters later on. If not, they have a spot on spec teams.

Love the Harewood pick.

Our corners will likely have less pressure with the improved pass rush, last year there just was not enough pressure and our CB’s got beat

due to his Baltimore roots, rates the Ravens’ draft as the best in the NFL. Amazing, considering we didn’t have a first round pick fo rthe first time in Ravens history!

Great writeup!

At times I was a bit caught off guard with our picks, but all in all it was definitely a killer draft. After a year (or two) Cody and Kindle will be our long term starters, and that’s just beastly having Suggs and Ngata to show them the ropes. And when we went and picked up Dickson and Pitta, I knew that we probably weren’t going to address our holes at CB with 5th and 6th round talent. But I absolutlely love that they took a chance with David Reed. He’s not that big receiver we need, but he’ll still be competing for the slot. So when 3 days were all said and done, I can look back and remember why we all Trust In Oz.

The Oz does it again.. Very nice draft as usual for Baltimore. Can’t wait to see you guys in Week 2.

The Colts signed Javarris James.

… there are some concerns with this draft other than not drafting a CB.

• The fact that Kindle was off so many draft boards because of his knee worries me. If he does need knee surgery or injuries dictate that he can’t play this year, then our pass rush has not been upgraded. If he does need surgery, then there is a high possibility he does not return as the same player he was in college.
• Cody has a rep of playing only 12 or so downs a game. He needs major conditioning and dietary training before he can become the player you graded him to be. Good news is he will have a year or two before being counted on as a starter. Bad news is he has a lot of work to become the player he can be, and I am worried he does not have the discipline to get there.

I know everyone will go off on me for saying this, but just wanted to add a perspective that is not looking through purple colored glasses. There was risk in both picks that allowed both of these players to “slide down” to us.

Putting the glasses back on – if Kindle is healthy and Cody doesn’t eat himself out of the leaugue – this was a seriously great draft.

our bigs, frees up more guys to drop into coverage and blitz as well, giving the oposing QB fits on where to look for the pressuve and coverage.

Glad we are playing the Jets first game, as I expect Flacco to deal w/ NY’s defense a lot better than Sanchez deals with ours.

Being from Utah I love the Reed pick. I have watched this guy a lot and trust me, he will work his way into the starting slot position within the next few years. He has great hands and is a big time play maker. For those of you who don’t know much about him will be in for a treat.

Is that Ozzie understands how to take advantage of a situation where the common value of picks is misleading. Since this draft was deep, a pick in early round 2 was almost equally valuable to a late first rounder. Ozzie used this to add a third and fourth rounder and added depth to TE where we wouldn’t have otherwise been able too. Shrewd move in so many ways.

and every other GM didn’t have a mancrush on Anthony McCoy like I did. We took 2 TE’s who weren’t him, and he was still there in the 5th round. I am very happy with our haul; unfortunately Ozzie cannot take every player I love. I am excited for this year. Hopefully Ozzie will be able to trade for a solid cb, or someone will step up. For all those bashers, you can’t address every single hole you have in 1 draft. We have the best GM in the league, who are you to second guess him??? He has he best pedigree and track record of any GM in the league.

IMO, your analysis is accurate here in all areas with the possible exception of the overall grade which I contend is more like an A-/B+. My concerns still lie with the secondary and although the Ravens did a spectacular job of filling lots of other gaps and needs, the secondary is still in need of some wood putty. Good thing is, Guys will fall off of rosters all over the NFL in the coming months plus the team can scour for some undrafted rookies. The Ravens are now SERIOUS contenders. Let’s rally this team and root them onto Superbowl 45!

They should sell those Life Cereal double-boxes that you get at Sam’s Club with Terrence Cody on them. One box has the left tit on the cover, the other box has the right tit.

That would really motivate children to stay fit.

My analysis and grades:

Sergio Kindle, OLB: How can you argue with the trade down when the Ravens still get the best OLB in the draft. You can say what you want about the injury concerns, but the Ravens have the best medical staff in the nation. I’m not just saying that. Their head physician works at Hopkins and is a leader in research for the NFL. I wouldn’t be surprises at all if the Ravens were actually the ones circulating the narcolepsy and ADD rumors right before the draft. Newsome and DeCosta had a laugh about that in the news conference. Anyway… before the draft, I never would have imagined Kindle being available for the Ravens to pick at 25. There were better pure pass-rushers in the draft (Hughes, Graham, Pierre-Paul), but there wasn’t a player in the draft who was an elite pass-rusher and an elite cover-linebacker. When you take into account that the Ravens traded down, acquired higher third and fourth round picks than their originals and still drafted a talent like Kindle, this trade and pick may have been the best move in the entire draft.
GRADE: A+ …only because there isn’t a higher grade.

Terrence Cody, NT: Anyone who reads the Beatdown knows that I’m the biggest advocate for the Ravens drafting a nose tackle on this site. Before the draft, I honestly believed that Cody was a first round talent and wouldn’t have been upset if they had drafted him at 25. All of the concerns with him are so trivial, and I still cannot believe that other teams didn’t see how rare Cody’s talent is. Guys that are as big as Cody should not be able to move like he does. Sure, he’s not a pass rusher, but guys that are as wide as him never are. Cody possesses ELITE agility for a man of his size. Watch his tape before you object to that. Cody will become a gigantic (pun intended) part of the Ravens defense, and I believe that he will play much, much more than most people are saying… with a little training.
GRADE: A+

Ed Dickson, TE: From what I’ve seen and read of Dickson, he seems like an extremely athletic, seam stretching tight end in the mold of a Vernon Davis. I really love what I see of him on tape. I must admit that I knew very little about him before the draft but still like this pick. The Ravens obviously needed a tight end. The last few seasons, the Ravens have had no one to spell Heap. As a result, Heap has been overworked in the blocking and passing departments. Now, they have a player that can be an elite pass catching tight end when Heap declines and/or retires. I personally would have like to see a dominate run-blocking tight end (mostly because I still believe in Heap as a pass-catcher), but you can see that the Ravens are already starting to think about life after Heap. Of the two tight ends drafted, Dickson may have the biggest immediate impact.
GRADE: C+

Dennis Pitta, TE: This pick left many people scratching their heads and is a prime example of the best player available strategy. The Ravens obviously had Dickson rated higher than Pitta and took him first. However, I think that they must have had Pitta rated very close to Dickson. I bet they were surprised that Pitta was still available at their next pick and wonder if they still would have taken Dickson in the third round if they knew Pitta would be there in the fourth. Anyway, I love Pitta’s talent. He isn’t the freakish receiving threat that Dickson is, but he’s about as clutch of a receiver as you will ever find. He’s a very good route runner and has great body control and eye-hand coordination. I really liked Pitta before the draft and thought he would be a guy that the Ravens would target. He reminds me of Jason Witten, another clutch receiver with excellent size and body control, and in time, may actually prove to be the best tight end that the Ravens drafted in 2010.
GRADE: B+

David Reed, WR: I knew nothing about Reed before the draft. I had to do some research, but that’s how it always is with the Ravens. Reed is a fun receiver to watch on tape. He’s an underrated route runner and reminds me a little of Mason in that regard. He isn’t as quick in his breaks as Mason, but he shifts his weight around extremely well causing defensive backs to take wrong angles in coverage. He’s quicker than fast and is a fearless receiver. He reminds me alot Lance Moore of the Saints. I like this pick. It’s not amazing, but Reed could become a very nice slot option for Flacco. If nothing else, he’ll be a good special teams player.
GRADE: C

Arthur Jones, DT: This is my favorite late round pick. Jones is a steal in the sixth round. He’s the perfect type of player that you want to draft in the late rounds and is an excellent athlete. He’s basically a poor-man’s Haloti Ngata. Much like Ngata, Jones can play every position on the 3-4 defensive line. He’s probably a better penetrator than Ngata and that ability will come in handy at 3-4 DE. This pick with the Cody pick basically makes the losses of Bannan and Edwards a good thing. Cody and Jones are huge upgrades over Bannan and Edwards. Cody is a much better player than Bannan, the previous backup of Gregg, and Jones is a better player than Edwards, who was a third round pick, in my opinion. Jones will probably back-up Ngata, and I think that we’re going to see him in rotation early and often next season.
GRADE: A+

Ramon Harewood, OT: This pick reminds me of Gaither’s selection in the 2007 supplemnetal draft’s fifth round. Like Gaither, Harewood is a physical freak. At 6’7" and 350 pounds, Harewoood looks like an athlete and doesn’t have the gut that you’d expect from a 300+ pound guy. I haven’t seen any tape on Harewood, but 80% of an offensive tackle’s success is based on pure physical ability. That’s why offensive tackle is one of the easiest positions to evalutae in football. That being said, I like this pick from a pure prospect point of view. If Harewood can be taught, he should be very good one day, and I think that he will learn fast since he has a dual degree in physics/engineering (same as myself by the way). The Ravens can afford to take a project player with alot of upside in the sixth round. I like it.
GRADE: B+

OVERALL GRADE: A+
This grade isn’t exactly cumulative because I put more value on the early round picks and also included the Boldin trade in the overall grade. When you consider that the Ravens acquired Boldin with draft picks and still managed to draft the players that they did, it’s nothing short of amazing. This is a year where I really felt like the Ravens had a chance to become a truly special team. With a little help here and there, I believed that the team was right there at the end of last season. This off-season and draft… including the Boldin trade… has exceeded my expectations. I also love that the Ravens have done all of this WITHOUT sacrificing anything in future potential. I’m really looking forward to this next season and think that it’s going to be very, very special.

Kindle- Kyle Wilson is staring you guys right in the face and you trade out of the first round to grab a guy with major character issues… You guys talk about Big Ben? This guy had a DUI in 2007 and a one car accident in which he damaged a building and left the scene. His morals aren’t an issue because he is a Raven right? Let’s see, do you guys actually think Frank Walker is going to be able to cover Hines or Wallace? Um no On to the second round….Cody-The most valuble down in football is 3rd. He is a non factor on this down and won’t be on the field because of his inability to rush the passer. His boobs are so big he needs to wear a manzeer and he recorded a grand total of one tackle against Pouncey. He will eat his way out of this league sooner than later…. 3rd round-Dickson… He is undersized and not much of a blocker. Not too bright… One journal said he had average football intelligence… They were being kind… The playbook will look like Chinese arithmetic to him….Next Hey let’s draft another tight end! Pitta- not elusive at all after the catch which means he is going down right where he catches it…Blocking isn’t his forte either….Reed= a slot reciever at the most….Not fast and does not break tackles….Most of his value will come as a possible kick returner….Arthur Jones-To quote Pro football Weekly “Has marginal football character,does not like to condition or train his body”….Maybe he can eat doughnuts with Cody….Next Harewood-Your best late round pick who could eventually start at right tackle… How is your draft an A? It’s a B- at the most…

if i knew without Cody my team couldnt run the ball on the ravens, i would be pissed that they drafted him.

Who are currently NOT on the steelers:

Brandon Graham
Jerry Hughes
Sergio Kindle
Jason Pierre-Paul
Derrick Morgan
Sean Weatherspoon
Koa Misi

typo

The reason Kindle slipped was durability questions due to his knee. This guy seriously has hardcore problems there too, and he wasn’t even projected 1st round.

Can you say R-E-A-C-H!