The Baltimore Ravens were prepared to draft UCLA safety, Rahim Moore, in the second round of last month's 2011 NFL Draft before he was selected by the Denver Broncos twelve picks ahead of the Ravens, who ended up taking Maryland wide receiver Torrey Smith with the 58th overall pick. According to a story at ProFootballTalk.com, Smith was the Ravens preferred pick, but if he was not there, and Moore was, they would have taken him. Moore was working out with the Ravens All-Pro free safety, Ed Reed, prior to the draft which might have opened the team's eyes to his future potential in a purple uniform.
Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome confirmed this but said while Moore was looked at being the best safety in this draft class,they still have two pretty good alternatives depending on the future status of last year's starter, Dawan Landry. Newsome refers to both Tom Zbikowski and Haruki Nakamura as "the boxer" and "the (judo) black belt." Not a bad pair of backgrounds for a football GM to have to choose from!
While Moore would have been a solid pickup and added depth to the position, the first choice of getting Torrey Smith will immediately address a much more dire need and pay off with immediate dividends.