Me at the 2011 Draft (Ray Rice Jersey)
Before anything, I must apologize for the delayed analysis of the Ravens draft as I was in Vegas until Saturday night and we all know what goes on out there. Seeing as how I did survive and have now returned to “the land of pleasant living,” I figured I would give my thoughts on the 2012 Ravens draft.
Courtney Upshaw will be a beast:
Once again, I saw teams trade ahead of the Ravens and draft a player I wanted. A couple years ago it was the Cowboys taking Dez Bryant and this year it was the Patriots taking Dont’a Hightower. Then I saw the Ravens trade out of the first round totally. While I was initially frustrated (again), my frustration turned to joy when I realized who was still available with the 3rd pick in round two and then when the Ravens capitalized by taking Upshaw.
Upshaw was projected as a mid- to late-first round pick who, for whatever reason, fell out of the first round. We heard the same thing about Sergio Kindle (and we all know how that has worked so far), but by all accounts Upshaw’s fall was just based on team needs rather than his character or play on the field. Alabama had one of the best defenses ever last season and Upshaw was a major part in that. The guy will be a starter for years in the NFL and Ravens fans should be ecstatic to have him.
Bernard Pierce may be a steal:
Certainly local sports fans should remember Bernard Pierce, as the last time they saw him he scored five touchdowns against Maryland. He then finished the season with a total of 27 touchdowns and more than 1400 yards. In the NFL today you need two backs and Pierce will be a great compliment to Ray Rice. Durability was a question during his college career but Pierce has above average speed and runs with a purpose every time he touches the ball. He will in no way supplant Ray Rice as the starter but he could be a tremendous addition to the Ravens offense.
I don’t like or understand the Osemele pick:
When analysis about an offensive lineman contains the phrase “struggles in pass protection” that generally is not a guy most teams would want anywhere on their O-line. By all accounts, Osemele struggles with speed rushers and often struggled to win hand battles at the line of scrimmage. To make matters worse, the Ravens will be asking him to play guard, which was not his primary position in college, so I don’t understand how they just expect him to come in and be a productive NFL guard. If you wanted a guard, draft one and don’t rely on a guy who struggles in pass protection and was a left tackle. There certainly were better lineman available and honestly I think the Ravens swung and missed with this pick. Barring a free agent acquisition, left guard will still be a major area of concern for the Ravens.
I would have liked to see a receiver drafted:
I am a believer in the adage that “you can never have enough playmakers” and I would have loved to see the Ravens abide by this and take Rueben Randle late in round two. Anquan Boldin is not getting any younger and he will be owed a lot of money next season. Tandon Doss hardly saw the field and LaQuan Williams was an undrafted free agent. These are the receivers outside of Torrey Smith who the Ravens will be relying on – not good. This was a deep receiver class and it boggles my mind that the Ravens did not address the receiver position until round six.
Players like Randle, Sanu and Hilton were all available and the Ravens passed on all of them. The Ravens have showed they can win with the current receivers they have but adding one more playmaker could make the difference between losing prior to the Super Bowl and making it to the Super Bowl. When everyone else can see that a receiver is a need for the Ravens, why can’t the Ravens brass? Sometimes I think the Ravens get a little too cute and try to find late round gems instead of drafting talented productive receivers early in the draft. I am sure we will be hearing what “upside” Tommy Streeter has, meanwhile the receivers they passed on will be making plays for other teams from day one.
Overall I think Ozzie Newsome & Co. did a solid job, but not as good as in years past. Sometimes you have to address needs and I am not sure they addressed all of them. By no means am I an NFL executive but I generally give Newsome the benefit of the doubt, but I feel like people are often afraid to criticize them for some of the misses (there are more than you realize if you look at their draft history) and I believe they missed on some picks they made and some they didn’t make.
I hope years down the road we remember this draft as a good one instead of a bad one, but we will have to wait and see.
Then again this is one of the most successful organizations in sports, so what do I know?
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