Grading the Ravens second round draft pick: Tyus Bowser

After selecting Marlon Humphrey with the team’s first round pick, the team has added a player to a position that is arguably a bigger a much bigger need, and that player is outside linebacker Tyus Bowser.

I gave the Marlon Humphrey pick a C-, but the Ravens second round selection will get a much higher grade. I give the Ravens pick of Tyus Bowser an A.

Why is it an A? It’s because the Ravens took the best player on the board given their positions of need.

Similar to Haason Reddick, Bowser was one of the biggest stars of the offseason. His rise up draft boards started at the Senior Bowl (yes, the Ravens picked another Senior Bowl player), as Bowser stood out in every single practice, as well as the game. After the Senior Bowl, Bowser shot up boards to a ceiling of a third round pick. Bowser then proceeded to dominate the Combine, and then rose to a ceiling of a late first round pick. The Ravens were able to land him in the second round. Surprisingly, no pass rushers went ahead of the Ravens in the second round.

Bowser is an absolute athletic freak, and he fills an immediate need. After losing Elvis Dumevil, adding to the pass rush was one of the Ravens needs. Even with Dumervil, the Ravens really struggled to get to the quarterback down the stretch of the 2016 season.

Bowser’s Combine stats jump off the charts. He ran the 40 yard dash in 4.65 seconds, jumped 37.5 inches on the vertical leap, leaped 127.0 inches on the broad jump, had 21 reps on the bench press, and dashed through the three cone drill in 6.75 seconds. All of these stats were amongst the best at his position.

Not only does Bowser have great athleticism, but he also has really good size. Bowser stands at 6’3”, and weighs 247 pounds. Bowser also has really long arms. Pair that with the exception vertical leap, and Bowser could be a player that knocks down a lot of passes at the line of scrimmage.

Bowser’s feet are also very good. At Houston, Bowser not only played football, but he also played basketball. From his basketball career, Bowser has really sweet feet. As a result, he excels at changing direction, making it hard for offensive tackles to mirror him.

Ok, so we’ve looked at the skill set that Bowser possess, now let’s look at his production. To start off, Bowser had 8.5 sacks in 2016, while missing five games with an injury. In addition, This was among 12 tackles for loss in his final season at Houston. That is really impressive. The previous year, Bowser had 5.5 sacks on top of 50 tackles.

The biggest knock on Bowser is that he needs to develop is technique. That criticism does hold some water. However, Bowser has been put in a situation where he will be mentored by Terrell Suggs, and some of the best defensive coaches in the business.

What’s great about Bowser is he is only just tapping into his potential. This is a great pick by the Ravens as they have gotten a great player who will only get better. I love this pick, in my mind, this makes up for a pick I didn’t love last night in Marlon Humphrey. It is for all of these reason that I give the selection of Tyus Bowser a grade of an A.