Ravens 2011 Draft Review
Two James Smiths. Two linemen dominant in their collegiate careers but on different sides of the ball. And three solid back-ups to learn from the Ravens veterans.
In the 1st Round, the Ravens added Jimmy Smith, a “shut-down” corner who’s turning his life around. The more I think about Jimmy being a Raven, the more I like imagining him in the purple and black on Sundays. In the 2nd Round, they got a speedy local prospect in Torrey Smith who was drafted to help take the top off the defense. T. Smith already showed his outstanding character by sticking up for the other Smith during a media presser. These now-teammates roomed together while visiting the Ravens and cannot wait to lineup against the others during Training Camp. The two show outstanding promise of being great players and even better teammates.
In the 3rd Round, the Ravens buffeted their O-line with Jah Reid out of UCF. He should make a run of being the starting right tackle for the Ravens next year by using his long arms to battle and sustain pass rushers. In the 4th Round, Joe Flacco got a talent he liked a lot in the offseason in Indiana wideout Tandon Doss. Doss showed outstanding hands and can destroy any cushion a corner gives him. 5th round Ozzie Newsome and Eric DeCosta added another young talent in the depleted and aged secondary in Chykie Brown. While he may take a year or so to marinate all the wisdom and tweaking that the vetern secondary players will teach him, he will more than likely come on the scene as another shut-down corner to join Jimmy Smith as an elite Ravens corner. Another talent the Ravens drafted in the 5th round was a team-leader out of Mississippi State, Pernell McPhee. He has a great motor and is intent on being a winner, and will add much needed depth at the defensive line position.
In the 6th round, Tyrod Taylor slipped to the Ravens. This former-Hokie playmaker will give the Ravens depth and a different tempo at QB with Marc Bulger likely out the door. He got more offensive responsibility and more wins at Virgina Tech than Mike Vick. If you watched the Orange Bowl, you saywhis amazing arm and playmaking abilities with an amazing touchdown to David Wilson. Also with Troy Smith’s special packages still fresh in the minds of Cam Cameron and John Harbaugh, you better believe they’ll incorporate many of those and others to the playbook. During the 7th round, the Ravens added a bruiser running back in Anthony Allen. He’s not a big-chunk back or elusive runner, but he’s great at moving the chains and churning his feet untill he gets a first down.
I’m sure Coach Harbaugh really hates that the lock-out is back on because he’d kill for a chance to work with and coach these amazing talents on both sides of the ball. All the while, I noticed that this year, with the exception of Blaine Gabbert, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Chicago Bears seemed to have the same draft board as mine. The Jags drafting William Rackley and Cecil Shorts and the Bears drafting Gabe Carimi and Stephen Paea. Nevertheless, I cannot wait for the offseason to start to see all the abilities and skill-sets these new Ravens posses. Thank you for making Ebony Bird your number one website for everything that went down at Radio City Music Hall.