Quentin Johnston continues to be a major connection
With the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, the 2022-2023 NFL season comes to a close. Two explosive offenses took the stage and put on a show in the second highest scoring Super Bowl since 2000. With the season over with, the focus will shift towards free agency and the NFL Draft.
We will track mocks in this weekly “Mock Draft Monday” series, keeping a tally below in terms of how often certain players are linked to the Ravens by major media mock drafts. As the next set of mock drafts pour in, let’s take a look.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein continued the connection of TCU wide receiver Quentin Johnston to Baltimore with a caveat.
“If I were in the Ravens’ draft room, I would be pushing to take Bijan Robinson in this spot. But Baltimore will likely be on a quest to find a legitimate pass-catching weapon, and Johnston has those traits.”
Zierlein had Johnston as the second wide receiver off the board following Tennesee’s Jalin Hyatt.
The Johnston connection didn’t stop there. NFL Network’s Analytics Expert Cynthia Frelund had a simple thought process connecting the 6-foot-3 deep threat to Baltimore.
“Take a second and call up some highlights of Johnson running deep crossers — they’re awesome. His speed on deeper routes is consistent and would create space for guys like tight end Mark Andrews to operate.”
Frelund had Johnston as the second receiver off the board behind USC’s Jordan Addison.
Another familiar receiver was mocked to Baltimore in The Athletic’s Diante Lee’s first of the season
Baltimore Ravens: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State
Ideally, the Ravens could get a player like Addison to attack downfield off of play-action. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, though, would give them someone who can thrive in the intermediate areas of the field alongside tight end Mark Andrews. Smith-Njigba has good hands, is comfortable in the slot and adept at finding soft spaces in coverage. Where he’s at medically will make all the difference in his stock.
Lee had Smith-Njigba as the third receiver off the board behind Johnston and Addison.
PFF’s Mike Renner posted a ‘Post Super Bowl Mock’ which had the Ravens taking a dynamic offensive skill player at another position:
BALTIMORE RAVENS: RB BIJAN ROBINSON, TEXAS
“Bijan and Lamar Jackson in the same backfield is just too much dynamism to pass up. Do you want to take your run game to unstoppable levels? Because adding the PFF College single-season broken tackle leader will do that.”
Ravens mocked prospect counter
QB Anthony Richardson: 2
RB Bijan Robinson: 1
WR Jaxson Smith-Njigba: 2
WR Quentin Johnston: 5
CB Kelee Ringo: 1
CB Deonte Banks: 1