2022 General Draft Thoughts

[rossihunter2]

Speaking of not wanting to pigeonhole ourselves, a TE is an underrated need. No, I don't want us to use a high draft pick on a TE, but I want someone who can fill in the role of Hurst: above-average blocker and sneaky receiving option. Any candidates in this draft?

i mean this is my personal bias speaking but i hate drafting TEs lol - and im not sure that there is much value in a "hurst" in our offence anymore - we rarely see any 3 TE sets and when we do it's normally Pat Ricard as that 3rd TE/FB anyway - we do still operate a fair amount of 2 TE sets but idk what a hurst-type offers in those sets that we dont get out of putting boyle in or an actual WR

 

[Dom McRaven]

i mean this is my personal bias speaking but i hate drafting TEs lol - and im not sure that there is much value in a "hurst" in our offence anymore - we rarely see any 3 TE sets and when we do it's normally Pat Ricard as that 3rd TE/FB anyway - we do still operate a fair amount of 2 TE sets but idk what a hurst-type offers in those sets that we dont get out of putting boyle in or an actual WR

Maybe it's just me, but I don't really see a sneaky receiving option in Boyle. Also, I'm looking at a contingency plan if Andrews had to miss at least a game.

 

[RavensMania]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't really see a sneaky receiving option in Boyle. Also, I'm looking at a contingency plan if Andrews had to miss at least a game.

This year he definitely hasn't been a sneaky option, but he had some decent opportunities last year before his injury. That being said, I'd rather we use 3 WR sets more often.

 

[rossihunter2]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't really see a sneaky receiving option in Boyle. Also, I'm looking at a contingency plan if Andrews had to miss at least a game.

i guess my point is i dont really see the need for another TE - they're not going to be andrews or boyle who are elite at their specific thing - so any guy we draft will play at best tomlinson level snaps and i dont think that has a ton of value

partly though that's because i want us to spread the defence out more and that's harder to do with multiple in-line TEs on the field - andrews is fine in 2 TE sets because he can flex out to the slot or the boundary

 

[Argentina Raven]

With the 18th place, how interesting the draft gets, it is a good place to go in many directions, in a simulation I had ojabo, lindenbaum, gardner, lloyd, penning, ekwuonu, london.
surely decosta would go down places
P.d. i pick ojabo

 

[RaineV1]

With the 18th place, how interesting the draft gets, it is a good place to go in many directions, in a simulation I had ojabo, lindenbaum, gardner, lloyd, penning, ekwuonu, london.
surely decosta would go down places
P.d. i pick ojabo

To me, if Ojabo is on the board then he has to be the pick. With some half way decent coaching he could be something special. I pretty much see Ojabo as a slightly more refined version of Oweh; just an incredible combination of tenacious play style, drive to be great, and insane athletic ability for a man his size.

 

[ChainedBird]

To me, if Ojabo is on the board then he has to be the pick. With some half way decent coaching he could be something special. I pretty much see Ojabo as a slightly more refined version of Oweh; just an incredible combination of tenacious play style, drive to be great, and insane athletic ability for a man his size.

Maybe not quite as traitsy as Oweh, (that's a high bar), but not far off and as you say more refined.

I agree that Ojabo is awesome, but we already have a strong pair of cheap solid starting OLB for at least the next three years, I think we have more pressing needs elsewhere for the 1st rounder.

 

[Argentina Raven]

yes, we have olb and young rushers, but we assume mcphee and houston will leave, that leaves oweh, bowser, ferguson and hayes.
There are two rushers that I like in this draft, one is ojabo, the other Cameron Thomas, it would be difficult to pass them.
This draft is going to be interesting, several needs, many picks, few elite players, a lot of depth

 

[RaineV1]

Maybe not quite as traitsy as Oweh, (that's a high bar), but not far off and as you say more refined.

I agree that Ojabo is awesome, but we already have a strong pair of cheap solid starting OLB for at least the next three years, I think we have more pressing needs elsewhere for the 1st rounder.

In the first round you need a very loose definition of need, and I think edge rusher fits that. Next year we might just have Oweh and Bowser, without any proper rotation. Also just consistent pass rush in general is an issue with this defense, and Ojabo will have a huge impact with that.

Mind you, this is a moot point because if teams aren't crazy he'll go in the mid teens at the latest. Even if the Ravens stay at pick 18 it'll be a long shot for him to still be on the board.

 

[ChainedBird]

In the first round you need a very loose definition of need, and I think edge rusher fits that. Next year we might just have Oweh and Bowser, without any proper rotation. Also just consistent pass rush in general is an issue with this defense, and Ojabo will have a huge impact with that.

Mind you, this is a moot point because if teams aren't crazy he'll go in the mid teens at the latest. Even if the Ravens stay at pick 18 it'll be a long shot for him to still be on the board.

I agree broadly with the ravens BPA strat, just not in areas that are (and are projected to be) our main strengths down the line. As far as I can tell Bowers and Oweh are going to be great starters for the next three years, so it doesn't make sense to me to draft OLB (or WR/QB) in the 1st round this year.

Now a 3rd round pick and higher to build depth/rotation behind them I can get behind.

 

[RavensMania]

yes, we have olb and young rushers, but we assume mcphee and houston will leave, that leaves oweh, bowser, ferguson and hayes.
There are two rushers that I like in this draft, one is ojabo, the other Cameron Thomas, it would be difficult to pass them.
This draft is going to be interesting, several needs, many picks, few elite players, a lot of depth

I'm actually hoping to get Houston back, but only if we can get him back cheap again. BWill, Campbell and McPhee will be gone.

 

[rossihunter2]

I agree broadly with the ravens BPA strat, just not in areas that are (and are projected to be) our main strengths down the line. As far as I can tell Bowers and Oweh are going to be great starters for the next three years, so it doesn't make sense to me to draft OLB (or WR/QB) in the 1st round this year.

Now a 3rd round pick and higher to build depth/rotation behind them I can get behind.

i mean i like both of those guys but bowser has never been a reliable or even inconsistently dominant edge rusher and oweh's a rookie who's show glimpses of future stardom but also has disappeared too (which is obviously very understandable)

bowser's playing more snaps right now than any EDGE i can remember but houston and oweh are only playing around 60%...

you need at least 3 guys and there's no reason why that shouldnt be a 1st round pick if someone we like a lot is available

i think it comes down to this - OLB isnt a strength right now... it could be but it's not - so there's absolutely no reason to eschew that position for others if BPA is an EDGE

with WR or QB you've got a case especially given the recent investments

 

[ChainedBird]

i mean i like both of those guys but bowser has never been a reliable or even inconsistently dominant edge rusher and oweh's a rookie who's show glimpses of future stardom but also has disappeared too (which is obviously very understandable)

bowser's playing more snaps right now than any EDGE i can remember but houston and oweh are only playing around 60%...

you need at least 3 guys and there's no reason why that shouldnt be a 1st round pick if someone we like a lot is available

i think it comes down to this - OLB isnt a strength right now... it could be but it's not - so there's absolutely no reason to eschew that position for others if BPA is an EDGE

with WR or QB you've got a case especially given the recent investments

Hmm interesting, well I guess I hadn't considered that Houston and Oweh have only been playing ~60% of snaps, in that case a blue chip starter would improve the room.

 

[rossihunter2]

Hmm interesting, well I guess I hadn't considered that Houston and Oweh have only been playing ~60% of snaps, in that case a blue chip starter would improve the room.

even before wink it was extremely rare for a non-suggs EDGE to play even close to 100% of the snaps in any game and suggs frequently played less than 80% himself

but bowser's playing the most snaps of any edge i can remember as a raven and he's still only touching 90%

and the ravens also often have more than 2 EDGE guys on the field at once - we frequently have 3 (or even 4 if we've got good ones) on the field at the same time... if i look at 2020 judon, bowser and ngakoue were all frequently playing more than 50% of the snaps minimum and then mcphee was playing around 40% himself even after ngakoue turned up - and ferguson and jihad ward were playing another 20-30% each depending on which one of them was activated

there's a lot of snaps available - obviously the more dominant you are the more snaps you'll play but even if bowser and oweh played 100% of the snaps next year at edge - there would still be significant snaps to hand out to at least 1 additional edge and realistically there's enough snaps in this defence to accommodate 4 guys at the position with consequential playing time

so it's definitely feasible that oweh, bowser and a hypothetical 1st rounder would all play a ton of snaps (and hopefully daelin hayes can turn into something too)

 

[rossihunter2]

worth acknowledging that a fair amount of the guys who opted out have adapted significantly quicker to the nfl

shows you how important coaching and training is - the kinds of pro coaching and training that you don’t necessarily get at college level because they’re more worried about winning than development so stuff can get missed

and also just re-emphasises good coaching...

look at all the guys who trained with duke this year who’ve hit the ground running:
Slater
Humphrey
Trey Smith
Dan Moore Jr
Quinn Meinerz
Josh Myers

and others who i can’t think of off the top of my head... but note that all of the above guys are rookie starters regardless of draft position

also demonstrates again that there’s absolutely no reason anyone should be upset with a player who opts out of their bowl game

 

[rossihunter2]

Basically:

time spent working on individual tools and improving your craft is more important than college live game action

Chase clearly spent the year off working on the biggest flaw in his game which was his release as well as developing route running more generally

slater and parsons etc have both also developed into successful pros rather than exciting flashy rookies

 

[Davesta]

Is Jordan Davis a top 10 pick? My god. I would love him in the black and purple.

 

[rossihunter2]

Is Jordan Davis a top 10 pick? My god. I would love him in the black and purple.

he's so freaky and so dominant but i have 2 big questions for when i get into the proper study...

1) can he play more snaps than he does
2) can he become a pass rusher that you dont take off on obvious passing downs

he reminds me of derrick brown from a couple of years ago but even bigger and more athletic and brown was taken high

i guess partly it depends on how valuable you see run defence - he will single-handedly make teams one dimensional

so i guess his valuation is going to largely depend on how teams value nose tackles

but i'll put it this way - if he was a pass rusher and had value playing 3tech he'd be already the consensus number 1 overall pick

 

[Davesta]

he's so freaky and so dominant but i have 2 big questions for when i get into the proper study...

1) can he play more snaps than he does
2) can he become a pass rusher that you dont take off on obvious passing downs

he reminds me of derrick brown from a couple of years ago but even bigger and more athletic and brown was taken high

i guess partly it depends on how valuable you see run defence - he will single-handedly make teams one dimensional

so i guess his valuation is going to largely depend on how teams value nose tackles

but i'll put it this way - if he was a pass rusher and had value playing 3tech he'd be already the consensus number 1 overall pick

Thats 2 good points. They mentioned that as well during this semis game. His low snap count. I guess selecting a iDL that high, you’d hope he’s a every down starter. Guess my 1st round draft crush remains Daxton Hill and Sauce Gardner. Lol

 

[rossihunter2]

Thats 2 good points. They mentioned that as well during this semis game. His low snap count. I guess selecting a iDL that high, you’d hope he’s a every down starter. Guess my 1st round draft crush remains Daxton Hill and Sauce Gardner. Lol

sauce gardner didnt give up a TD his entire career in college - which is insane

i think it is definitely worth pointing out that it's possible that part of the reason for the low snap count for davis is that he doesnt play on 3rd and long or obvious passing downs and because he's so good on 1st and 2nd down he's reducing his own snap counts lol by forcing himself off the field through sheer dominance

i think my only worry with davis that high in the draft is that it feels hard to justify drafting a guy in the top 10 who might only play 50% of the snaps - obviously you hope that he develops a pass rush and plays closer to 70% but that's the risk - it's not a play-level risk it's more of a usage risk