Mock Draft Breakdown - Version 1.0

With the combine starting this week, draft talk will be picking up even more than usual. With the extra talk, sites will do more mock drafts. We will look at a few of them here and see if the picks chosen actually make sense.

#MockingIsMocking Draft
Marcus Peters, CB, Washington

Marcus Peters is Mike Mayock's second best corner in the draft, saying good things about the pick right out of the gate. Prototypical size for a corner, Peters has character concerns that will likely dock him further down the draft boards than his talent should let him. However, with a similar player currently on the Ravens' roster in Jimmy Smith, the Ravens have shown that they have no issues taking a well researched guy with character flaws as long as they feel they can manage him both on and off the field. This pick, barring some type of diva attitude that the Ravens can handle, would immediately give the Ravens a top secondary yet again and could possibly give them some room in the near future to deal with the departure of Lardarius Webb or Jimmy Smith. For his rookie season, Peters would undoubtedly start as a nickle corner that would find more time on the field with injuries to current starters.

Draft Breakdown
Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin

Gordon is the best rusher entering the draft and he is arguably the best talent at rusher to enter the draft in some time. Right with him is Todd Gurley, but with Gurley coming off a nasty ACL injury, Gordon is the top running back taken in this draft. The pick immediately cements the Ravens backfield with Gordon, a veteran rusher and Lorenzo Taliaferro all being on the 53 man roster. Gordon would likely be a part of a one-two punch at running back for the Ravens. If he could improve pass protection and get more confidence in his ability to catch out of the backfield, he could see his playing time increase until he eventually took over the starting role completely.

CBS/NFLDraftScout
Marcus Peters, CB, Washington

Peters sees his name come up again with the Ravens at their 26th overall pick. CBS' analysis on this pick was that the maturity issues surrounding Peters could be handled by a veteran locker room and coaching staff that won't put up with it, a perfect fit for the Ravens.

NFL.com - Charles Davis & Bucky Brooks
Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin

Two of the four analysts say the Ravens will be selecting Gordon with their first round pick. Just as with Peters, the selection is clearly a favorite option for a team that could use a young rusher in the backfield to grow and uses the best player mentality to snag guys just like Gordon.

NFL.com - Lance Zierlein
Carl Davis, DT, Iowa

A rather unusual pick given that the Ravens have more than enough depth on the defensive line, even if veteran Haloti Ngata is wearing another team's colors next season. It makes even less sense when you consider that NFL.com ranks Davis as the 44th best prospect in the entire draft, while still having guys like Melvin Gordon and Marcus Peters still available. This pick reeks of an analyst with only a basic knowledge of the team he is picking for and thinking "Ngata is making too much, so they need to replace him", despite the team rarely picking players based on need and there not being a need at all for a player in that position that early in the draft. A reach if I've ever seen one, I can't seem to find a mock draft that has Davis in the first round.

NFL.com - Daniel Jeremiah
Devin Funchess, TE/WR, Michigan

Devin Funchess is a player that we will likely see selected by multiple analysts until the draft. A massive player with all the physical tools a team could ask for. He is in a position of need for the Ravens as he can play both wide receiver and tight end, two areas on offense that the Ravens could use some help with. However, his hands have been a major concern entering into the draft. Unfortunately for Funchess, you can be as massive and fast as anyone, but if you can't catch the ball, you probably won't see any playing time. While I wouldn't expect the Ravens to be wooed by Funchess' measurables to forget his playing tape, some team is going to do it.