Report: Eric Ebron was at the top of Ravens' draft board

One of the worst kept secrets with Baltimore's draft was how much the organization coveted Eric Ebron.

Just in case anyone needed the confirmation on it, here's Ravens assistant general manager Eric DeCosta's take on it, while speaking at Mother’s Federal Hill Grille earlier this week.

"I think that this year maybe the one guy that I was excited about getting that we didn't get was Eric Ebron from North Carolina the tight end," DeCosta said, via Russell Street Report's Tony Lombardi, who was in attendance. "I thought he was a premier talent.

"I really thought if he had gotten out of the top ten he would have fallen to us. Looking at the other teams and this time there was a really good chance we were going to get him, and didn't really think Detroit would take him."

As for the safety position, Lombardi writes that DeCosta said the Ravens wanted Jimmie Ward in the second round. They wouldn't be close, as the 49ers would take him with their first-round pick. The Ravens did address those two positions later, taking free safety Terrence Brooks and tight end Crockett Gillmore in the third round.

All that said, the Ravens feel really good about first-round pick C.J. Mosley. Press Box's Joe Platania, at the same event, noted that DeCosta said Mosley was the highest-graded player the team had selected since Chris McAlister in 1999.

Picking at 17th overall, this could only mean that Mosley was rated somewhere in the top five, if not near the top of the list.

Each draft will feature players an organization is unable to get. But it's tough to judge if those misses were major until enough games are played.