Will The Ravens Draft a Draft Attendee?
With the draft getting ever nearer(Seriously, can you believe It is already draft week?) I thought I would do the same thing I did last year and see if I can predict whether or not the Ravens will pick a player who is in attendance at the draft. I use process of elimination here.
First we start with the complete list.
1) Ezekiel Ansah, DE, Brigham Young
2) Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia
3) Jonathan Cooper, G, North Carolina
4) Eric Fisher, T, Central Michigan
5) Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida
6) D.J. Fluker, T, Alabama
7) Luke Joeckel, T, Texas A&M
8) Lane Johnson, T, Oklahoma
9) Dion Jordan, DE, Oregon
10) Eddie Lacy, RB, Alabama
11) E.J. Manuel, QB, Florida State
12) Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama
13) Barkevious Mingo, DE, Louisiana State
14) Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Tennessee
15) Eric Reid, S, Louisiana State
16) Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida State
17) Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri
18) Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia
19) Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington
20) Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas
21)Chance Warmack, G, Alabama
22) Menelik Watson, T, Florida State
23) Bjoern Werner, DE, Florida State
Then We remove the obvious, no chance type players. These are guys who are locked to go way out of the ravens range even if they were to slide. Chance Warmac, Xavier Rhodes, Cordarelle Patterson, Dee Miliner, Dion Jordan, Lane Johnson, Luke Joekel, Eric Fisher, Shariff Floyd, Jonathan Cooper, Ezikiel Ansah are the players I eliminated here. Now we Are left with…
1) Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia
2) D.J. Fluker, T, Alabama
3) Eddie Lacy, RB, Alabama
4) E.J. Manuel, QB, Florida State
5) Barkevious Mingo, DE, Louisiana State
6.) Eric Reid, S, Louisiana State
7) Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri
8) Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia
9) Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington
10) Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas
11) Menelik Watson, T, Florida State
12) Bjoern Werner, DE, Florida State
Next I eliminate the Players the Ravens wouldnt have any interest in due to position or scheme fit. The eliminated players are Eddie Lacy, E.J. Manuel, Geno Smith, Bjorn Werner. Now We Have…
1) Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia
2) D.J. Fluker, T, Alabama
3) Barkevious Mingo, DE, Louisiana State
4) Eric Reid, S, Louisiana State
5) Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri
6) Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington
7) Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas
8) Menelik Watson, T, Florida State
Now the list is pretty small, so i need to tighten the parameters. Next I take away the Guys the Ravens would have to make a big trade up for, and hope they slide to have a shot at getting. This includes Tavon Austin, Kenny Vaccaro and Sheldon Richardson. Now we are down to 5 players.
1) D.J. Fluker, T, Alabama
2) Barkevious Mingo, DE, Louisiana State
3) Eric Reid, S, Louisiana State
4) Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington
5) Menelik Watson, T, Florida State
Last but not least, I eliminate the guys that dont make much sense for the Ravens based on depth on the roster. Barkevious Mingo and Desmond Trufant. We are left with my three finalists and the three players most likely to be picked by the Ravens among the draft invitees.
1) DJ Fluker
2)Eric Reid
3)Menelik Watson
Of the three, none of which are great Ravens candidates(for very different reasons), I would guess that Watson has the highest chance of being drafted by the Ravens. The Ravens are in search of a franchise left tackle, which is very hard to find at the end of the first round where the Ravens always pick. Watson is raw(he has only played in 16 football games total, in his entire life) but he has huge upside and could be an elite LT in a year or two. Fluker is probably the least likely to be a Raven of the three. I like Fluker plenty and he has a chance of falling into the Ravens range, but of the three he will almost certainly be drafted highest. Eric Reid is the man in the middle. I view him as a second day pick because of his inconsistency in pass coverage, missed tackles and bad angles on the ball carrier, but if he comes back to Radio City Music Hall for day 2(many players who aren’t first rounders just go home to watch round 2), then he could be a very likely second round candidate if he slips that far.