50 Words or Less: Final Thoughts As We Enter Draft Week
Ryan Mink, BaltimoreRavens.com
There’s plenty of chatter about the Ravens trading down. But what about a trade up? If one of the top offensive tackles gets to within striking range, the Ravens could look to leapfrog some tackle-hungry teams (Cowboys and Packers at 24 and 25) to get their guy.
Baltimore has nine selections as it stands now. DeCosta already said this year’s draft isn’t as deep overall as previous years because of the lack of underclassmen. He said the Ravens could look to trade 2024 picks for upgraded 2025 selections. Or EDC could use them to move up.
The Ravens are not going to reach for an offensive tackle at No. 30. They signed Josh Jones, who has 24 career starts. Everyone is drooling over the massive tackle prospects with some developing to do. Meanwhile, the Ravens have been developing 6-foot-8, 380-pound monster Daniel Faalele for two years.
We’ve been saying for a while that it’s unlikely that DeCosta would pick a wide receiver in the first round for the fourth time in six years. I’m starting to think that’s not the case. If Adonai Mitchell is sitting there, it could be mighty tempting – history be damned.
If the Ravens are going to make a surprise pick during the first two days at a position other than offensive line, wide receiver, cornerback, or EDGE, I expect it would be safety. The Ravens have used a lot of three-safety looks the past couple years and lost Geno Stone.
AFC North Whiparound: Describing the offseason, filling roster holes, draft predictions
Jeff Zrebiec, The Athletic
By now, the needs of each team have been well documented heading into this draft. What will be the hardest hole for your team to fill next week, and what will be the easiest?
With this year’s offensive line class being billed as one of the best and deepest in recent memory, the Ravens shouldn’t have much trouble getting two plug-and-play offensive linemen in this draft. That likely means taking an offensive tackle with either their first or second pick and then finding a guard late on Day 2 or early on Day 3. The downside of going offensive line-heavy early, though, is that it pushes other needs to later in the draft. The Ravens will have opportunities to add running back and wide receiver help. The biggest challenge for general manager Eric DeCosta might be finding a starting-caliber cornerback in this draft. It’s not a particularly deep cornerback class, and if the Ravens don’t get one early, it’s going to be hard to find a good one later. They have taken quite a few corners on Day 3 of the draft in recent years and haven’t gotten a whole lot of production out of most of them.
The case for the Ravens drafting Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry in the 1st round
Jonas Shaffer, The Baltimore Banner
The fit
Of all the players linked to the Ravens in the first round, McKinstry might be the safest bet to contribute early and often.
Unlike Oklahoma’s Guyton, he’s not a project. McKinstry started 33 games over three seasons for former Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, a defensive guru, including all 17 games over the past two years. He graded out well in both man and zone schemes and lined up regularly in press coverage, showing a patience that rarely left him out of position.
As a prospect, McKinstry is eerily similar to Humphrey, the last cornerback the Ravens took in the first round. Both were five-star recruits from Alabama. Both became full-time starters in their sophomore year. Both earned All-America honors. Both left after their junior season. At the combine, Humphrey measured in at 6 feet and 197 pounds, with 32 1/4-inch arms; McKinstry measured in at 5-11 1/2 and 199 pounds, with 32-inch arms.
Humphrey started five games as a rookie in Baltimore. McKinstry, with his schematic versatility and smooth footwork, should challenge for a starting job wherever he lands. At Alabama, lining up primarily as the right outside cornerback, he wasn’t flagged for a single penalty last season. And, despite concerns about his deep speed, he helped shut down LSU standout Brian Thomas Jr., one of the draft’s most athletic wide receivers, in a win last November.
McKinstry’s football IQ also stood out on tape. His ability to recognize routes and concepts helped him break on passes and organize his teammates as plays unfolded.
Baltimore Ravens 7-round mock draft: Ravens replenish along offensive and defensive lines
Trevor Sikkema, PFF
ROUND 2, PICK 62: EDGE JONAH ELLISS, UTAH
Elliss comes from an NFL family, and it shows. He’s smart and disciplined with his fundamentals, which helps him overcome some strength and length deficiencies. His hands are fast and consistently in the right place inside and at the chest of offensive tackles, which allows him to dictate contact and remain in control, even against stronger players. He has a variety of pass-rush moves, and in 2023, he expanded his repertoire even more with a variety of different swipes and rip combinations. He has an adequate first step for the NFL and can corner better than most in this class.
ROUND 3, PICK 93: G MASON MCCORMICK, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
McCormick will enter the NFL with 57 consecutive starts and three years of team captainship under his belt. He was a true mauler at South Dakota State. He will fight defenders in a phone booth and has a leg drive that goes through the whistle, though not overly so. He is a 98th-percentile athlete for the position in the broad and vertical jumps, and you can see that in how he gets out of his stance. He has a narrow base, likely due to some stiffness in his hips/groin. This causes him to struggle with adjusting once moving. It also forces his pad level to be higher at the snap, as he cannot sink his butt as low in his stance.
The Six Traps Every NFL GM Must Avoid
Sheil Kapadia, The Ringer
The Best Player Available Trap
Picking players based on who has the highest grade and ignoring the importance of positional value.
The draft process can feel unnecessarily complicated. Oftentimes, general managers will justify a pick with a very simple explanation: “We took the best player available.”
The problem is that it’s not that simple. The nerds (you didn’t think I forgot about you all, did you?) are right: Positional value matters. My friend Bill Barnwell of ESPN recently wrote a column that included veteran average annual salaries for the top 10 players at every position. For quarterbacks, the average is more than $46 million per year. For centers, the average salary is nearly $10 million per year. That’s a big difference!
Teams have to factor in positional value and upside in a big, big way. Getting top-10 quarterback play (or even top-20 quarterback play) from a player on a rookie contract is just so much more valuable than getting the same level of play at a different position. In other words, if your confidence level that a running back will be good is a 7 (on a scale from 1 to 10), and it’s a 3 that a quarterback will be good, you should still take the quarterback. The likelihood that the quarterback pick will hit is lower, but the upside is so much more meaningful if he does.