C.J. Mosley: Ravens were interested in him and Zack Martin for 17th pick

Seventeenth overall selection C.J. Mosley had a feeling the Ravens were going to take him in the first round.

Based on the information his agent was receiving, he knew the Ravens' front office and coaching staff were high on his abilities as an inside linebacker. A leader at Alabama under Nick Saban's coaching, Mosley tallied 108 tackles in 2013, and recorded six sacks in his college career.

As the middle of the first-round approached, Mosley realized the Ravens' pick would likely come down to either him or another player the Ravens had expressed interest in.

"I was talking to my agent, and he was pretty much saying that it was between me and one of the O-linemen, and the O-lineman went right before the pick, so I was pretty much just waiting for the phone to ring, and it did," Mosley told reporters in a conference call.

That lineman was Notre Dame's Zack Martin, who was taken by the Cowboys at the 16th overall pick. The Cowboys and Ravens tied in every category at 16 and 17, with Dallas winning a coin flip for the spot.

It does make you wonder that if the Ravens would have taken Martin instead if he was available. It's certainly possible, though it didn't happen. Mosley was there and that's who the Ravens took. That's the way the draft shakes out sometime, and the Ravens appear to have landed a player they considered in their top two or three for the 17th spot.

Mosley should be able to step in and contribute quickly, whether it's as a rotational player or as someone that wins a starting spot. After getting the call midway through the draft, Mosley will certainly want to live up to the billing.

"I wasn't really going in expecting a certain pick," Mosley said. "I talked to the Ravens multiple times. I talked to Mr. Ozzie Newsome, and he told me if I was still there I'd have a high chance of going there. I was pretty much just waiting it out, and once I realized I was a good chance of being that pick, [I] was just living in the moment. So, I was just happy."