...so far. Next up are the Pats and I pray they skip Sedric Ellis, don't trade and choose someone else. Then we could trade that pick to move down and garner more picks. Within the next ten minutes, the Ravens will be on the clock. Tune in shortly!

...that the next three picks after Jake Long have been decided. It looks like this for picks #2 thru 4:

2. St. Louis - Chris Long, DE (Virginia)

3. Atlanta - Matt Ryan, QB (Boston College)

4. Oakland - Darren McFadden, RB (Arkansas)

So where does that leave my Ravens? Well, after those picks we still have to see what happens with numbers 5-7. In order, the Chiefs, Jets, and Pats pick ahead of us. The can't miss prospects that I've mentioned all along that will still be on the board are:
Glenn Dorsey
Vernon Gholston
Sedric Ellis

Do we wait until the 38th pick and hope one of the next three QB's are still there (Flacco, Henne, Brohm)? Is it worth the risk to wait? Who do we then take at #8? Do they take a LT (Albert) if he's still there to replace the supposedly retiring Jon Ogden? Is it too early to go for one of the better corners available? Obviously, it appears that the best option would be to trade down into the middle of the first round and pick up additional picks. At that spot in the first round, then they could take a good CB, and either wait until the 38th pick or better yet, trade back up into the end of the first round to get your QB of the future.

Ninety minutes until we start finding out for sure!

Today is like Christmas to so many people, especially the coaches of the 32 NFL teams. Who will be all wrapped up under their trees by late Saturday afternoon? As far as my Ravens, it still looks like a crapshoot out there in their Ownings Mills War Room. They'll just have to sit and watch to see how the first few picks unfold today to determine what direction they go in.

I am convinced that I have absolutely no idea where they'll go with the 8th pick. I can see so many scenerios, although the thought of trading additional valuable picks to move up scares me a lot! There are so many team needs that no matter what they do (other than move up) will result in improving on last seasonb's embarrassment. In today's Baltimore Sunpapers, Jamison Hensley wrote that the Ravens could make a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, sending their 8th pick in return for the Eagles 19th along with disgruntled CB Lito Sheppard. I'd jump all over that deal, as that would not only fill a significant hole with an established player, but still put us in position to take an excellent offensive tackle at #19 and then the QB of the future in the second round.

Of course, that's just more speculation from just another sports writer, and no different from me saying that I'd like us to trade the 8th to Kansas City for their 16th and their #5 of the second round. Then we could draft our cornerback in round one, as well as the QB and another great player early in the second with those two picks.

A lot of so-called experts see us taking Ryan with our first pick; others have us taking one of the top offensive linemen (Albert, Clady). Others have us taking USC's Sedric Ellis and some have us grabbing Troy CB Leodis McKelvin. Of course all these experts are mocking the draft based on ZERO trades affecting the whole damn thing. Even one major trade in the early part of the first round can significantly change the entire draft. Someone will trade up and down, and make an immediate effect on the rest of the day.

If indeed, Ellis falls to us at #8, the Ravens would certainly consider grabbing him, even if he is not filling such a critical need, because he is one of the top seven can't miss prospects, based on his results from the NFL Combine and USC's Pro Day. However, if he does and we pass on him, Cincinnati will snatch him up within ten seconds after we skip him. Therefore, I'd love to trade our 8th to New Orleans, who covet Ellis, and get their 10th as well as either their 2nd or 3rd. This would not affect our pick at all, get us an additional early pick and screw over the Bengals all at once. What a great move that would be!

I'll be blogging later today and tomorrow as the first day plays out and the second day shapes up. Needless to say, I'll either be on the sofa or listening to Sirius NFL radio all afternoon. God bless the NFL Network! Move over ESPN!

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After this "migration" to the new platform, be sure to visit and check it out. Feel free to post your opinions as usual, and tell all your friends about the site and have them visit as well. Any ideas as to how I can make the site better would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for keeping in touch and you will be stoked to see what is in store for SB Nation and Baltimore Beatdown!

I'm pretty much set with my firm opinion on what the Ravens should do with the 8th pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, which begins at 3pm this Saturday, April 26th. The beginning will be sort of anti-climatic, with Michigan offensive tackle Chris Long already under contract to be the #1 pick of the Miami Dolphins.

However, after throwing out a bunch of opinions over the past couple of months on what the Ravens should do, I now am dead set against grabbing Boston College QB Matt Ryan, even if he is still there at #8. Of course, Ryan should end up being a decent or better pro QB, but the reasons go deeper than that. The Ravens have a bunch of positional needs, including QB and CB as their most pressing. However, there are really only seven truly outstanding players in this year's draft class.
They include:
Jake Long
Chris Long
Glenn Dorsey
Vernon Gholston
Darren McFadden
Sedric Ellis
Matt Ryan

Sure, guys like Ryan Clady and Leodis McKelvin, as well as a couple of other DB's are up there as potential NFL stars, but the seven on this above list are "can't miss" prospects. After that, there's a pretty good argument of where to place any of the other guys, who could all go in any order, depending on each drafting team's needs.

That said, there is a bigger need throughout the first round for good cornerbacks than for good quarterbacks. There could easily be up to five or six DB's taken in round one.
They include:
Leodis McKelvin
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
Mike Jenkins
Aqib Talib
Brandon Flowers
Antoine Cason

All of the above could be gone by the time the Ravens get to their second round pick (#38 overall). However, there are a decent bunch of QB's that should be available in round two, as Matt Ryan may be the only QB selected in the first round. Including Ryan, the QB list looks like this:
Matt Ryan
Chad Henne
Joe Flacco
Brian Brohm
John David Booty
Andre' Woodson
Erik Ainge
Josh Johnson

The first four should be gone within the second round and the last ones on the list would be excellent choices in the third. However, if the Ravens end up with either Joe Flacco or Chad Henne with their second round pick, it would be a great choice for their future.

Then what do they do with their first round selection? If one of the top seven fall to them, they should grab him (other than Ryan), regardless of team need. The most likely option here is USC's DT Sedric Ellis, who has been a beast at the Combine and USC's Pro Day. He could back up both Haloti Ngata and Kelly Gregg at the DT's, and ultimately move over and replace the aging and injured Trevor Pryce at DE and be a game breaker and destructive presence in the mold of the stereotypical physical Ravens defense.

In the likely event that those top seven players are gone by number 8, then I'd love to see the Ravens trade down to the middle or early twenties of the first round, picking up an additional pick, be it another second rounder or even a third round pick (Note: The only 3rd round pick the Ravens have is their Compensatory Pick at the end of the 3rd round). Picking up an additional first day selection would be huge, as they could then pick another excellent player (O-lineman?) who could immediately contribute in 2008.

This obviously would be the way to go, even perhaps if Sedric Ellis is still there. The Ravens know that the Bengals would be drooling to grab Ellis if the Ravens pass on him. Therefore, perhaps they could convince another team to trade with them or even threaten the Bengals to give them another pick to trade places and put Ellis in Cincinnati's lap, although I'd never commit to helping our mortal enemies improve.

So there it is. Get a great CB prospect in the first round, a very good QB of the future in the second round, and then fill needs, such as o-line, d-line and the many other reserves this team needs. If we end up with say, Aqib Talib and Joe Flacco after Day One, I'd be a happy camper and believe most true Ravens fans would be so as well!

...for Saturday's draft could be to completely go the other way for a quarterback. The Ravens could sign Daunte Culpepper to be the starter and have Kyle Boller and Troy Smith fight for the backup position, with the loser being released. Instead of drafting a QB in the first two rounds, they could wait until the 3rd round and if necessary, move up and select one of the third tier QB's such as Andre' Woodson or Erik Ainge. The first round pick would then be, according to GM Ozzie Newsome's mantra, the best available player, regardless of position.

This could be USC DT Sedric Ellis or Troy CB Leodis McKelvin. Of course, if Boston COllege QB Matt Ryan is still there at #8, Newsome would have to decide if he wants to skip him or not. If the Ravens are looking to replace Jon Ogden, then a left tackle might be the pick, but the only other o-lineman worthy of this high a pick after Jake Long is long gone, would be Boise State's Ryan Clady, who may not still be there at #8. Besides, if the Ravens are serious, they have Adam Terry already there and the huge Jared Gaither in training for Ogden's spot.

That would leave the best option for the Ravens to trade down a few spots, and grab a top-notch corner, such as Dominic Rodgers-Crommartie, Aqib Talib or Mike Jenkins, and also garner a third round pick in the trade. We could take another lineman, either offensive or defensive with our 2nd round pick and then look at QB in the 3rd round. After that, we could fill a variety of reserve spots (goodness knows we need a ton of reserves), especially more CB's, a WR and a RB.

There are so many holes on this team, that injuries have uncovered as seen all last season. No matter what direction the Ravens go with their first two picks, they will surely be improving over last year's embarrassing season. I can't wait until Saturday afternoon!

...Virginia Tech cornerback Brandon Flowers, with the 38th pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.

Of course, this is only a Mock Draft conducted by the folks over at www.MockingTheDraft.com. See my comments below and click on their link to see their comments as well as the entire first two rounds of their impressive Mock Draft.

  Flowers would arguably have been the #1 CB in the draft, if the scouts based their ratings on what they saw on the field. Brandon ran a 4.4 40 yard dash, and hits like a linebacker. He has great feet and reacts instinctively, leading to 10 career interceptions. The only knock against him that has led him to fall to this point in the draft is his lack of height. At around 5'10", Flowers is considered short by top cornerback standards, with the other CB's that were drafted ahead of him in the 5'11" or taller group. However, based on what he has done in a very competitive conference (ACC), against many good passers, including Boston College's Matt Ryan, he should fit in nicely with the Ravens secondary. At the beginning, he should emerge as the top nickel back, behind both Chris McAlister and Samari Rolle. However, don't be surprised if he takes over Rolle's starting spot long before the 2008 season is over.

The selections of Matt Ryan and Brandon Flowers fill two very important needs on the Ravens roster. If Jon Ogden decides to retire, the offensive line will be a big concern, although they will probably focus their next pick on an O-Lineman. Defensive line and another receiver should be addressed in the later rounds of the draft, as well as additional secondary reserves. However, these two top picks will have an immediate effect on the future of the Baltimore Ravens.

This is a great move for former Ravens head coach Brian Billick. He has a great speaking voice, as well as the personality to be interesting and informative in this position. Sitting alongside the other NFL Network people, he will fit in seemlessly and provide decent insight and knowledge to the broadcasts.

However, my first notice of his entry into this position was watching him yesterday give his opinion on what to look for when drafting a college quarterback to be a future starter in the league. I almost fell off my sofa laughing at the irony of this! Here is the league's premier TV network asking a former coach who NEVER was able to take a first round draft pick and develop him into a legitimate NFL quarterbak and this is the best the NFL Network could do to find someone who has done this? I guess the former NFL coaches who have successfully developed college QB's into NFL star QB's pickings was slim!

Not only could Billick not develop Kyle Boller into a legitimate star, he also couldn't see that former Ravens draft pick Derek Anderson (now of course, a star for the Cleveland Browns) had the tools to be a legitimate NFL QB. However, no one in the entire league proved better at taking washed up former NFL star QB's and proving that they were, indeed, washed up former NFL star QB's than Brian Billick.

Hilarious, NFL Network, just hilarious! You guys slay me!

PS- Did you notice in Steve McNair's retirement speech, that unless I missed it, he thanked owner Steve Bisciotti, GM Ozzie Newsome and a lot of other people, but no mention was made of his former coach who brought him here (Billick)?