With three top-60 picks in this week’s NFL draft, including the No. 28 overall selection, the Ravens have the chance to add instant-impact rookies to one of the league’s most complete rosters.
With nine picks and general manager Eric DeCosta’s stated desire for even more, the Ravens also have the chance to get creative.
Sure, the front office will be looking to add to a string of first-round success stories Thursday night, when a year’s worth of scouting (and over a month of self-quarantine) will be tested. But after that, as Day 2 fades into Day 3, and then as teams start to reach out to undrafted prospects, the Ravens’ direction might change. As it showed last season, the team doesn’t need to be conventional to be successful.
The offense needs playmaking targets — but would a dependable slot receiver do just as well? Patrick Queen or Kenneth Murray are first-round talents — but what if the Ravens couldn’t land an every-down presence at inside linebacker? The secondary already asks so much of its safeties — but what if it added yet another versatile defensive back?
These are the questions that could shape the Ravens’ decision-making in the draft’s middle and later rounds. Stars drive success, but role players help, too. Here’s where they could find some value.
Bargain-bin Lamar Jackson: Arizona’s Khalil Tate
Two seasons ago, Tate was one of college football’s most out-of-nowhere sensations. After an injury to the Wildcats’ starting quarterback early in an October 2017 game against Colorado, he took over under center for coach Rich Rodriguez. In a 45-42 win, Tate’s 92.3% passing accuracy wasn’t the big story; it was his 14 carries for 327 yards, the most ever by a Football Bowl Subdivision quarterback. Tate finished the season with seven carries of 50-plus yards and a nation’s-best 10.2 yards per carry.
The Heisman Trophy buzz quickly faded. After Arizona hired Kevin Sumlin and traded its spread offense for a pro-style scheme in 2018, Tate never made the leap that Lamar Jackson did at Louisville. Tate’s yards per attempt fell each of the next two seasons. His running production plummeted. Injuries limited him. In Baltimore, the run-heavy Ravens already have a reliable backup in Robert Griffin III and potential challenger in Trace McSorley. But neither can move like the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Tate, and DeCosta might not even have to spend a draft pick to get him. He’d at least make preseason games more interesting.
Other possibilities: Virginia’s Bryce Perkins
Slot machine: Minnesota’s Tyler Johnson
The Ravens don’t need a full-time slot receiver. Mark Andrews was the NFL’s best pass-catching tight end when he lined up in a reduced split last season (51 catches on 72 targets, according to Pro Football Focus). Marquise “Hollywood” Brown caught six of his seven touchdowns on plays that started in the slot. Willie Snead IV is a veteran, reliable intermediate target.
But there’s value in having Andrews as an in-line tight end and Brown as an outside threat, and Snead’s a free agent after 2020. The 6-2, 200-pound Johnson is a high-floor, midround prospect with a strong track record inside. He had the fifth-most slot yards in the nation last year (1,086), according to PFF, which gave him a near-perfect grade on slant routes. There are athletic limitations and concerns about Johnson’s hands, but he knows how to get open over the middle — where Jackson’s most comfortable throwing.
Other possibilities: Florida’s Van Jefferson, Texas’ Devin Duvernay, Southern Methodist’s James Proche, Tennessee’s Jauan Jennings, Ohio State’s K.J. Hill
Wild-card weapon: Kentucky’s Lynn Bowden Jr.
Bowden has become seemingly every draft hipster’s favorite sleeper prospect. For the Wildcats’ first five games last year, he was a dependable slot receiver, catching seven passes for a season-high 129 yards in a Sept. 21 loss to Mississippi State. Then Kentucky’s first- and second-string quarterbacks got hurt, and Bowden, who’d played the position in high school, took over as a quarterback who rarely passed.
Didn’t matter. The 5-11, 204-pound Bowden rushed for 1,468 yards and 7.9 per carry, more than Georgia running back D’Andre Swift, and won the Paul Hornung Award as the nation’s top all-purpose player. He projects as a midround wide receiver, but he’s most valuable when the ball’s in his hands. Bowden returned two punts for touchdowns in 2018 and broke 48 tackles on 166 designed runs last season, according to PFF. Even if he’s not an NFL-level route runner yet, the Ravens and coordinator Greg Roman are flexible enough to make his talent fit.
Other possibilities: Colorado wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr., Memphis wide receiver-running back Antonio Gibson
Nose tackle of the future: Ohio State’s DaVon Hamilton
Michael Pierce is out of the picture, Justin Ellis was only a part-time reserve last season, and Brandon Williams won’t be around forever. The value of run-stuffing defensive tackles has fallen across the NFL, but the Ravens know the importance of high-quality, low-cost depth there. The 6-4, 320-pound Hamilton can do the dirty work they’d need.
While he played a majority of his snaps last season in the B gap (between a guard and tackle), Hamilton has the strength to hold up against double teams as a nose tackle. His 33 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press were the most of any defensive lineman at the NFL scouting combine. In his first year as a full-time Buckeyes starter, Hamilton was disruptive, posting 28 tackles (10½ for loss) and six sacks in 14 starts. He’s limited as a pass-rush threat — good luck finding Hamilton in anyone’s top-50 rankings — but he’s quick enough to give defensive coordinators some options.
Other possibilities: Utah’s Leki Fotu and John Penisini, Baylor’s Bravvion Roy
Two-down, no-fuss linebacker: California’s Evan Weaver
If the Ravens don’t come out of the draft with the next Ray Lewis or C.J. Mosley, a three-down linebacker with playmaking potential, how much will it really matter? They managed well enough for most of last season with L.J. Fort, Josh Bynes and Patrick Onwausor. As director of player personnel Joe Hortiz said during the team’s predraft news conference two weeks ago, “there are guys in the midrounds that can come in and cover, maybe play the run.”
The 6-2, 237-pound Weaver can definitely do one of those. A first-team All-American in 2019, he led the country with 182 tackles in 13 games, almost 30 stops more than the runner-up. Weaver didn’t do it with great speed (4.76-second 40-yard dash), explosiveness or length. He’s not someone you’d want shadowing a running back in man-to-man coverage or blitzing a mobile quarterback. But he’s capable in zone coverage and an instinctive run defender — a potential two-down linebacker who won’t be taken before Day 3.
Other possibilities: Wyoming’s Logan Wilson, Michigan State’s Joe Bachie, Miami’s Shaquille Quarterman
Third-wheeling safety: Utah’s Terrell Burgess
The Ravens haven’t shied away from creative defensive back alignments in recent years. In 2018, it was Anthony Levine Sr. and Clark who helped out safeties Tony Jefferson and Eric Weddle. Last season, the Ravens tasked newcomer Earl Thomas III, the incumbent Jefferson and the ascendant Clark, as well as Levine, DeShon Elliott and Brandon Carr, with safety duties ranging from deep-zone coverage to third-down blitzes.
In coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale’s schemes, playing three safeties isn’t a problem; it can be a solution. The 5-11, 202-pound Burgess could step in as a rookie next to Clark and Thomas and have the Ravens’ most scheme-diverse skill set. The converted cornerback and likely Day 2 prospect allowed under 5 yards per target in his first year as a starter, according to PFF, and proved a sound tackler (81 stops in 14 games). He also lined up everywhere for the Utes, from slot cornerback to along the defensive line to free safety.
Other possibilities: Southern Illinois’ Jeremy Chinn, Lenoir-Rhyne’s Kyle Dugger, Clemson’s K’Von Wallace, Maryland’s Antoine Brooks Jr.