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Way-Too-Early Prospect Watch: 2019

I wouldn’t put my hopes / future up in a safety we drafted in the 6th round who only played preseason so far. If someone like deionte thompson falls to us in the first, we have to bite.

Damien Harris does look nice, it’s a toss up between him and David Montgomery for me. Both are bottom of the first - second round talent. Aka we won’t take any of them because BPA and we don’t have a 2nd.
Harris curbstomps Montgomery as far as I am concerned and I am a fan myself. Harris is a far more complete prospect who really has a lot going for him and nothing truly going against him tape wise. I haven't seen a back this complete in awhile to be honest. He's nothing special, but he's damn good.

I like Thompson too but if we are going all in on a ring next year then I'd much rather address the safety position in another draft. I am not banking on Elliot, I think the team drafted him thinking he could be something more. He had all the instincts and the football IQ and not the athleticism, it looked like he had the athleticism in this past preseason and I have little doubt in my mind that he'd be getting playing time right now if not for his injury. It's also a position I'd much rather address in FA, as safeties tend to be way cheaper then corners, and they frankly last longer too.

Thanks for your detailed answer. The way I see it, Suggs isn't here for another 2-3 seasons. He might retire after this season. I don't want to pay Za'Darius the money he'll get this upcoming FA and it looks for now Bowser's not what we all wanted him to be and he's more of a hybrid LB. Judon's ok but not consitent enough to let him play full-time.
Let's say we're picking in the early 20's if Deonte Thompson, J.Allen and Harris are there I'd pick both over Harris. Deonte Thompson in my eyes is an elite player. I'll agree with on your take regarding that interior olinemen can be found in the later rounds, maybe Gaillard is a mid round C. But Skura, Lewis are still question marks and Yanda who's playing at a very high level isn't here forever. Good RB's can be found in every round aswell, Swift or the Kentucky or Utah RB are those type of RBs.
Bowser should have never been considered as an edge rusher. We really should be using him as a SAM linebacker. I like this Josh Allen, but I have little doubt in my mind that CJ is going to join the Raven for life club, and Kenny Young honestly looks like a future 10 year starter at worst(stop rotating him with Peanut))t I see Suggs returning for another year and with Judon entering a contract year, anything is possible. I can agree that if Thompson is there, you take him, but Weddle has another year here, looks good enough. BPA will win out, but if Eric believes that we are a piece away from being a bonafide super bowl team, we will trade back to get Harris. Which I would not mind.
 
Harris curbstomps Montgomery as far as I am concerned and I am a fan myself. Harris is a far more complete prospect who really has a lot going for him and nothing truly going against him tape wise. I haven't seen a back this complete in awhile to be honest. He's nothing special, but he's damn good.

I like Thompson too but if we are going all in on a ring next year then I'd much rather address the safety position in another draft. I am not banking on Elliot, I think the team drafted him thinking he could be something more. He had all the instincts and the football IQ and not the athleticism, it looked like he had the athleticism in this past preseason and I have little doubt in my mind that he'd be getting playing time right now if not for his injury. It's also a position I'd much rather address in FA, as safeties tend to be way cheaper then corners, and they frankly last longer too.


Bowser should have never been considered as an edge rusher. We really should be using him as a SAM linebacker. I like this Josh Allen, but I have little doubt in my mind that CJ is going to join the Raven for life club, and Kenny Young honestly looks like a future 10 year starter at worst(stop rotating him with Peanut))t I see Suggs returning for another year and with Judon entering a contract year, anything is possible. I can agree that if Thompson is there, you take him, but Weddle has another year here, looks good enough. BPA will win out, but if Eric believes that we are a piece away from being a bonafide super bowl team, we will trade back to get Harris. Which I would not mind.
I watched a lot of josh Allen, and I really wanted to like him, I tried really hard, but I couldn’t. His highlight reel is incredible but his tape is far from it. I see a lot of poor decisions and misreads by him, and he plays really fast but gets man handled when you need him to play strong. He does a lot of favoring to the outside and gives up plays because of it, that’s what stood out the most to me, he’s in space, and all he needs to do is take on the blocker, shed, and tackle, but so often he would zoom past the outside shoulder way early and the back would just cut inside with ease, he does it a ridiculous amount. And he’s a guy you need to drop in coverage often(quite a bit like bowser) but he doesn’t have the same gift of dropping and feeling the routes behind him that bowser has.

I think if Allen can’t bulk up and become a full time edge rusher, he’s basically a bud Dupree clone. Speed rusher who is too weak so he can’t play in a 43 but has no skills outside of a speed rush so he’s a liability in a 34 as well.
 
If we end up picking in the tail end of the 1st and there aren't many options at o-line, then Montez Sweat could be a good pick up. Seems like he could be a natural fit to replace Suggs in the long run, plus ZDS is at the end of his rookie deal and I just know he's going to get over payed somewhere else.
 
So my current players who top their position and are relevant to the Ravens are as follows:

RB: Bennie Snell, Kentucky; Harris, Alabama is #2
WR: Parris Campbell, Ohio State; Marquise Brown, Oklahoma is #2
C: Tyler Biadasz, Wisconsin; Elgton Jenkins, Mississippi State is #2
G: Chris Lindstrom, Boston; nobody really stood out to me here so this was the toughest one to rank. I do like Micheal Jordan from Ohio State though as my #2
Pass Rusher: Montez Sweat is #1; Josh Allen is #2; don’t see how we can get Nick Bosa but I tried to keep unrealistic guys off this listing because even if we sold the farm I don’t think we can get Bosa unlike...
LB: Devin White, LSU; nothing short of amazing to me and may be one of the most elite players in this draft
S: Deionte Thompson, Alabama; pretty amazing and remarkable talent. Lukas Denis, Boston College is #2
CB: this looks like a very good CB class again but it also depends on whether guys declare early and if some guys get a redshirt year. I can’t put a guy at the top here yet but I really like Greedy Williams for many reasons especially name value and ball/cover skills.

Since the middle of the defense has been our issue defending passes to TE, I would seriously try to get Devin White because this guy is going to be a monster at the level of Luke Kuechly. I think he’s the best I’ve seen since Luke, honestly, and I would seriously consider letting Mosley go if we could guarantee getting this guy. I know we need interior OL, but I don’t see a first round worthy OL nor RB. There’s a glut of first round pass rushers, one elite first round ILB that I would love here, another potentially elite safety, some very impressive CB, and a bunch of potentially elite WR. For this reason, I would go defense in the first by looking at the potential right now
 
A lot of Damien Harris love, but seems like josh Jacobs is taking his starter spot at Alabama. Wonder what that says more about.. d Harris or josh Jacobs
 
I like Chase Winovich a lot. It’s a shame he’s been a pure hand in the dirt DE because I see elite potential as an OLB, his game vs Notre Dame wasn’t perfect, but he had a lot of moments that made you wish you could see him in space more often, at one point the qb rolled away from his side, he had a free rush to his blind side, but he saw the FB slip out through the clutter away from the side the play was rolling, he picked up on it right away, took a great angle and was there to make the tackle at the LOS after the qb threw back across the field to him, unfortunately though the FB made a really good cut and ran past him, but winovich caught him downfield. He shows potential in space that needs to be practiced more.

And his ability to just play at the line looks elite to me, he’s explosive off the ball, he’s really refined with his hands, good pad level, strong at the point of attack, great gap discipline, and he’s extremely good at holding his blocker close and disengaging in perfect time, never slipping past one side of the blocker too early and giving the rb time to react, he waits til the play comes to him and then makes the play.

I’m not ready to advocate us taking an edge defender early, but if we’re picking late first and winovich is there, then I think he becomes the 2nd best pass rusher on the team day one(assuming Suggs retires) and also an elite run defender, and in time becomes a starting OLB when he learns to execute better in space, he’s got the head and the ability for it, he just needs to adapt to the different angles and tackling methods of a standup LB in space.
 
I like Chase Winovich a lot. It’s a shame he’s been a pure hand in the dirt DE because I see elite potential as an OLB, his game vs Notre Dame wasn’t perfect, but he had a lot of moments that made you wish you could see him in space more often, at one point the qb rolled away from his side, he had a free rush to his blind side, but he saw the FB slip out through the clutter away from the side the play was rolling, he picked up on it right away, took a great angle and was there to make the tackle at the LOS after the qb threw back across the field to him, unfortunately though the FB made a really good cut and ran past him, but winovich caught him downfield. He shows potential in space that needs to be practiced more.

And his ability to just play at the line looks elite to me, he’s explosive off the ball, he’s really refined with his hands, good pad level, strong at the point of attack, great gap discipline, and he’s extremely good at holding his blocker close and disengaging in perfect time, never slipping past one side of the blocker too early and giving the rb time to react, he waits til the play comes to him and then makes the play.

I’m not ready to advocate us taking an edge defender early, but if we’re picking late first and winovich is there, then I think he becomes the 2nd best pass rusher on the team day one(assuming Suggs retires) and also an elite run defender, and in time becomes a starting OLB when he learns to execute better in space, he’s got the head and the ability for it, he just needs to adapt to the different angles and tackling methods of a standup LB in space.
I do agree on that Winovich has a lot of potential as a high upside kind of guy. I like what I see from him but he’ll take quite a bit of coaching to unlock his potential. He’s really fast off the ball, at least based on what I’ve seen so far
 
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