The Ravens drafted Colorado State tight end Crockett Gillmore in the third round with the 99th overall pick.
Gillmore is a large tight end at 6-foot-6, 260 pounds who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.85 seconds at the NFL scouting combine and then improved his time to 4.80 seconds at his campus Pro Day workout. Gillmore has a 33.5-inch vertical leap and a 10-foot broad jump.
"My strength as a player is getting anything [going] with my hands, and getting that first initial step would be my weakness," Gillmore said during a conference call. "But definitely a strength would be getting my hands on somebody, blocking, as well as catching the ball.
Gillmore caught 47 passes for 577 yards and two touchdowns last season and was named first-team All-Mountain West Conference. He finished his career with 111 receptions for 1,308 yards and eight touchdowns.
"Crockett is a good blocker, but he's a good receiver downfield as well," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "You see him run crossing routes downfield, and he's a big old target. He has good hands. He has potential to be a very complete tight end."
Gillmore impressed the Ravens at the East-West Shrine all-star game, a performance that earned him an invitation to the Senior Bowl.
"He has the size and he does have some speed," general manager Ozzie Newsome said. "But the thing we like about him is his ability to play at the point of attack and also to be viable in the passing game."
Gillmore already has some familiarity with the Ravens, including tight ends Dennis Pitta and Owen Daniels and how offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak likes to utilize them in his playbook.
"I've been watching Owen since I was a little kid," Gillmore said. "And Dennis, he played at BYU, and [with me] being a Ram, he torched us a couple times. It's been a great opportunity for me to watch those guys as a young college guy as it is, much less be in the same room with them now. ..
"There's not many teams that do it the way the Ravens do it and continue to be successful. I was intrigued by them and apparently they were intrigued by me. I'm just excited to be a Raven, and get down to work."
As a junior, Gillmore caught 19 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns.
As a sophomore, Gillmore caught 45 passes for 468 yards and four touchdowns.
Gillmore wrestled, played basketball and ran track growing up in Texas, playing defense as a true freshman due to injuries to other players. He had 11 tackles, two for losses and a sack.
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Gillmore said his draft prospects were upgraded through the all-star game circuit.
"Colorado State is not really a hugely-publicized team, and I felt like I did everything I could to put myself out there," Gillmore said. "When we played our bigger games against Alabama and those other teams, I just wasn't utilized as much.
"When they said, 'We're throwing you the ball this week,' at the Senior Bowl, I said, 'Good, because I'm going to catch it.' That seemed to boost my stock a little bit from the outside perspective."
With Pitta and Daniels already in place, Gillmore's plan is to soak up as much knowledge as possible from the two veteran tight ends.
"From the bottom," Gillmore said when asked what he expects to contribute. "You’ve got to work your way in. It’s a league where nothing is given to you. I plan on coming in to learn from Owen Daniels and Dennis Pitta and really being involved in that room to do everything I can to come in and help the team. We want to win games, so that’s our goal.”
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