Ravens pass on needs to stick with BPA

Tim Williams is an explosive edge rusher, but three edge defenders this year and five in the last two years just seems like a bit of overkill.
Individually, it is impossible not to love the Ravens draft. All seven of their picks look like they can be starters or very solid contributors in some sort of way, but as a collective draft, it does not look like the Ravens really got all that much better in the ways they needed to.
Really, it is just a battle of whether a team should value drafting the best available player every single time or if they should make adjustments on some sort of team needs.
First round draft pick Marlon Humphrey is a talented cornerback, and the Ravens did need a cornerback, but they did not need a first round cornerback.
Tyus Bowers, Chris Wormley, and Tim Williams are all talented edge defenders and can rush the passer, but the Ravens did not need three edge defenders from this draft.
The best selections when factoring in need may have been the three picks the team had on the third day of the draft. Nico Siragusa is a very, very good guard and may actually contend for a starting job while Jermaine Eluemunor can provide some much-needed depth on the offensive line. Chuck Clark was a special teams pick, not really a pick at safety and should be a big contributor right away.
But the Ravens are still leaving the draft without providing any weapons for Joe Flacco, who lacked weapons to make for anything close to a dangerous offense last season, and are still without a clear starting or backup inside linebacker to work with CJ Moseley. Unless the Ravens do indeed go out and sign Nick Mangold, the offensive line will also have to bank on a fourth-round draft pick from San Diego State being good enough right away to fight for a starting job.
Obviously, with any draft the only real way to properly grade anything with after employing the wait-and-see approach. Certainly, that is what must happen with this class because individually, each team is great, but all together with what the team really needed, it just does not seem like the Ravens took the best approach this year.
Corey Johns
Latest posts by Corey Johns (see all)
- So long and thank you from So Much Sports - August 7, 2017
- Os stand pat, pressure is now on this offseason - July 31, 2017
- John Urschel retires from NFL - July 27, 2017