The Ravens Are Set To Pick 26th In The First Round Of Tonight's Draft

Biggest weekend of the year for the Oz man. This is where he makes his mark. This is where he earns his paycheck. His ability to draft top-notch talent is the number one reason the Ravens have enjoyed success matched by very few in the past 15 years. The most impressive part is that he consistently does it selecting in the back half of the first round. Ray Lewis and Ed Reed were both picked in the 20’s, and are unquestionably top-5 all-time at the positions they played. And while he’s had his misses like every GM (Travis Taylor, Kyle Boller), I’d still bet on Ozzie picking a pro-bowler in the 1st round every time.

Here’s biggest caveat. Ozzie takes the best player available. Team “needs” mean little to nothing to him in the early rounds. And he’s just as likely to trade back (and occasionally up when he’s in love with a guy) as he is to actually use a pick. He loves to wheel and deal on draft day for more picks. So for those reasons, I have a better chance of using the expired condom in my wallet this weekend than I do trying to correctly predict what Ozzie will do. But in both circumstances, I gotta try anyway. So here’s a few guys that have been linked to #26 for Baltimore:

Marcus Peters (CB, Washington)

Peters is the player most national pundits are predicting to go to Baltimore based on a “need” at CB. Despite what many think, they’re not in desperate need of a top-flight cornerback. When healthy, Jimmy Smith and Lardarius Webb are a very good pairing. Having said that, Ozzie is still picking best player available, and Peters would be a great pick from a talent standpoint. He’s regarded as a fringe top 10 talent in this class. Fantastic athlete, great ball skills, solid speed/size… he just has a lot of maturity issues. He missed team meetings, failed drug tests, threw sideline tantrums, and ultimately was kicked off the team at UW in November. Ozzie wasn’t afraid to take Jimmy Smith after he had some similar maturity issues, and I don’t think he’ll be afraid to take Peters if the chips fall that way either. Even with the player discipline issues in Baltimore. High risk, but very high reward.

Jaelen Strong (WR, Arizona State)

Jaelen has been my crush in this draft ever since Torrey Smith bolted. He’s got size. He’s got strength. He’s got 4.44 speed. HE HAS A 42 INCH VERTICAL. He’s the big play, physical receiver that Flacco would flourish with. Very similar type of player as Anquan Boldin, but with breakaway speed. The front office (and Flacco) keeps saying that they’re happy with the receivers they have now, but I’m skeptical. Steve Smith can only do so much at 5’9″ and 36 years old. Marlon Brown showed promise his rookie year, but struggled with the new offense and didn’t catch a single TD last year. Kamar Aiken will play a solid factor in this offense, but won’t be the top notch guy Flacco has been missing. Jaelen can be that guy. Jaelen will be that guy if the Ravens take him. I’m sure of it. But, there are quite a few other first-round WR options that could also be that guy though….

Dorial Green-Beckham (WR, Missouri/Oklahoma)

DGB is even higher risk, higher reward as a WR than Peters is as a CB. 6’5, 237 lbs, incredible catch radius. He has even drawn a few comparisons to Calvin Johnson (a bit ridiculous but still). But he’s had some domestic violence allegations that have scared away plenty of teams, and I think that’ll hit a little too close to home for Ozzie and Bisciotti. Kid probably won’t even be picked until Friday.

Breshad Perriman WR (UCF)

Breshad Perriman is an absolute burner. His 4.24 40 time had him soaring up draft boards. He has good size at 6’2″ and 212 lbs, and has a pro pedigree. His father Brett played receiver for 10 years in the league. He can have a case of the drops from time to time, but competes for contested balls well. I’d probably prefer Perriman to Strong if it weren’t for Strong’s resemblance to Boldin.

Devin Smith (WR, Ohio State)

Devin Smith is basically a better, more refined Torrey Smith. Both have incredible acceleration off the line, but Devin is a more polished route runner who can be more than just a vertical threat. Devin can make better adjustments on the deep ball too. And I’m not comparing him to Torrey when he was a draft prospect, I’m talking about right now. He’s pro-ready. With all the QB hubbub during the Buckeyes’ title run, Smith probably didn’t get the shine he deserved. He’s a stud.

Shane Ray

Ozzie loves pass-rushers. I think he’s already got the ones he needs for the time being, but he’s always thinking 2 years ahead. Shane Ray is an Ozzie kinda guy. Plays hard, and it showed with 14 sacks in the SEC. Nothing to shake a stick at. A week ago people were wondering why the Ravens had expressed so much interest in a player expected to be off the board well before they picked. Well now circumstances have obviously changed with his weed possession arrest. So yeah, Shane took a few puffs of the green stuff. So what? He failed the intelligence test on that decision, but he passes the 3-4 defense test. Don’t be shocked if he’s a Raven tonight (or if Ozzie senses Ray will tumble well past #26 and trades back to grab him while scooping some picks in the process)

Melvin Gordon

I don’t get why some “experts” think this will happen. It won’t. I think Gordon is a fine football player. He’ll have a good career with someone in the NFL. But “experts” say that the Ravens need a young back to tandem with Forsett and eventually be the feature back. Helloooooooooooo. Lorenzo Taliaferro. Ever heard of him? He’s built like a brick house and can catch the football too. Great complement to Forsett. All due respect Melvin, the Ravens have better ways to use our first round pick.

These are just a handful of names that have been linked to the Ravens in the 1st round. Ozzie often snatches up guys who freefall from the top of draft boards. Nobody expected CJ Mosley to be on the board at #17 last year, but that’s the way the cookie crumbled. And it’s been a delicious cookie. I’m talking Famous Amos good. So what I’m saying is regardless of how tonight plays out, I’m sure it’ll be for the best. Trust in Ozzie. The cookie-man.

PS: Last time the Ravens picked #26?