The Ravens must have something about the cornerback position in their minds, as it appears that they certainly don't seem to like anyone that has been left on the board when their turn comes up. So far in round three thy've selected a ILB (Tavares Gooden - Miami) and a safety (Tom Zbikowski - Notre Dame). Meanwhile, the remaining CB's on the board that are rated as decent by ESPN's Scouts, Inc. (Penn State's Justin King is the top rated player available as of the 96th overall pick) remain and seem to be off the radar of the Ravens.
Perhaps they know something that we all don't, such as Samari Rolle is going to return to top form, or that Chris McAlister is going to remain healthy all year. No matter what, the reserves we currently have in the secondary were horrible last year, which is probably a little too complimentary of a word to use that describes their performances in 2007.
The Ravens just mad etheir final pick in the third round and of course, it just couldn't be a CB, could it? No, they selected Oniel Cousins, OG from UTEP. I'm not too happy about the draft this year at all. Sure, Joe Flacco might be the leader of this team as early as this season, but there are still so many holes left to fill that he may not want to be under center right away. Let Boller take the abuse and physical punishment for the first year and then perhaps we'll surround flacco with better talent on both sides of the ball to give him the year to watch and learn and then hopefully be ready. Troy Smith is either settled in a a career backup, or will be let go at some point. However, as I said Friday in my post, I would have been a happy camper if the Ravens dropped back in the first round and taken a solid corner, and then either Flacco, Henne or Brohm in the early second round. this was absolutely possible, if Ozzie and his War Room had not paniced and chosen Flacco too early. That scenerio easily beats out what they accomplished on Day One. In addition, Day Two has been a total mess in my opinion as needed reserve positions have been repeatedly ignored. Only because of Flacco and the possible help that Rutger's RB Ray Rice will provide to McGahee, do I even give this draft a grade of a "C."
Note: See Notre Dame Safety (and boxer) Tom Zbikowski's YouTube video here.