With only a few weeks to go before the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, mock drafts by numerous NFL draft analysts will be made to have early projections on where each college prospect will land come draft day. NFL.com's and former Baltimore Ravens college scout Daniel Jeremiah is one of the best out there, and already, he has two early mock drafts out, each having a different draft picks for his former team.
In his first mock draft, Jeremiah had the Ravens taking Florida Gators cornerback Quincy Wilson. Now, in his second mock draft, Jeremiah has his former team heading to the Big-Ten to select one of John Harbaugh's brother Jim's finest players coming into this draft. Defensive end, Vidauntae "Taco" Charlton.
Jeremiah briefly stated:
“In this scenario, Charlton would continue to make plays for a Harbaugh brother."
Standing at 6'6" tall and weighing in at 272 pounds, Charlton became a big factor for Jim Harbaugh's defense at Michigan and improved in every season for the Wolverines. In his senior year in 2016, Charlton compiled 9.5 sacks and garnered first team All Big-Ten honors. Charlton has received comparisons to Arizona Cardinals defensive end Chandler Jones on NFL.com.
While his size, strength and athleticism is a big plus for the man known as "Taco", there is some concerns about inconsistency and the fact that he didn't turn into a full-time starter until his senior season. An AFC executive spoke to NFL.com's draft analysts and expressed his thoughts about Charlton:
"Really, really talented player. You won't always see it on every play so that is going to be a coach's job to get that out of him. Rushers with his size and athleticism are hard to find and they usually go very early in the draft."
The Ravens are in need of a pass rusher and Charlton's pass rushing ability may be too tempting to pass up if he's available when the Ravens are on the clock, especially considering the fact that Terrell Suggs is closer to the end of his career. Charlton, along with Za'Darius Smith and Matthew Judon could possibly be the young pass rushing combination of the future for the Ravens and help make the defense better even sans-Suggs. The question of course is Charlton's inconsistency, and would the Ravens take a chance on Charlton at the 16th pick with the team’s recent history of picking players who have issues of not always playing to the level of their talents.
With the NFL Scouting Combine beginning soon, more evaluations will be made on players. Whether its fair or unfair to judge a college prospect at an event that Hall of Fame coach Mike Ditka once called a "ridiculous meat market", players like Taco Charlton will have to do their best to make sure their draft status goes up in the eyes of all the 32 NFL teams. More mock drafts are sure to follow after that, and will surely continue as we get closer and closer to the NFL Draft in Philadelphia.
As we all know, Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome will take the best player on his board and always has an eye on the future. The future could be Charlton.