Jan 9, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Courtney Upshaw (41) reacts during the second half of the 2012 BCS National Championship game against the LSU Tigers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-US PRESSWIRE

To me, the day after the the NFL draft is similar to what the day after Christmas is like when you’re a kid. There’s so much anticipation the night before Christmas, you lie in bed, impatiently waiting for the time when you finally open your gifts. Christmas day comes, you get your new presents, it ends and the next day is just another day. That’s what the draft is for me. The draft is my favorite sporting event that doesn’t take place on a field or a court. In 2010, the draft became a three-day event, with the first, second and third rounds in prime time and the remaining four rounds Saturday afternoon. After Chandler Harnish, this year’s Mr. Irrelevant, was chosen yesterday, draft weekend ended and Sunday became another day.

Today also became a day to reflect on what the Ravens did over the past three days to strengthen their already powerful team. In one word, the Ravens draft was boring. They took two offensive lineman, a defensive lineman, two defensive backs from small schools, a running back, a wide receiver and two-time national champion outside linebacker, Courtney Upshaw. Upshaw is clearly the most well-known Baltimore draftee, but even the Ravens found a way to make their first pick of the 2012 draft monotonous.

The three players the Ravens were reportedly targeting in the first round, Dont’a Hightower, Whitney Mercilus and Kevin Zeitler, all were taken before the Baltimore was on the clock for the first time. With Upshaw available, the Ravens traded six spots back with the Vikings and picked up an extra fourth rounder in the process. Instead of taking Upshaw in the first round — which every NFL fan watches, or most of them at least — the Ravens took a chance and moved back. Classic Baltimore move. For whatever reason, taking a first-round talent in the second takes away some of the flare. I’m not really sure why. I was thrilled to get Upshaw where the Ravens did. Getting him in the second round A) saved the team some money and B) provided them with another pick. It’s a win-win.

The next five picks elicited a tepid response from most Ravens fans. At least those who were expressing their thoughts on Twitter. It wasn’t until the sixth round selection of Miami wide receiver Tommy Streeter that I noticed Ravens faithful were excited. Receiver was an area of need for Baltimore and nabbing a 6’5″ guy who ran a 4.40 40-yard dash at the Combine was great. A lot of fans, me included, wanted Georgia Tech wide out Stephen Hill, who has some of the same physical traits of Streeter. The Jets took Hill in the second round and immediately dwarfed his development. (Side note: Anytime I can take a shot at the Jets, I will. I’ll never forget the Hard Knocks episode in 2010 when a sloven, elephantine Rex Ryan was talking to Mark Sanchez about how Ray Lewis and Ed Reed were scared to call the plays during a Ravens preseason game when Ryan was still on the staff. We’ve seen how middling Ryan’s defense in New York has become without Lewis or Reed and I’m now ranting. Moving on …)

Based on Twitter reactions, Upshaw and Streeter seemed like the most popular picks among the fans. The other picks, with the exception of running back Bernard Pierce in the third round, seemed to leave most fans scratching their heads. It’s obviously a lot more entertaining for onlookers when their team to grabs a player at the skill position or someone who is well known. Aside from the aforementioned picks, the Ravens got neither.

Kelechi Osemele, an offensive tackle in college who will likely move inside to guard, was the Ravens’ second pick of the draft. Unless you’re an Iowa State fan or just happened to watch the Cyclones’ upset over Oklahoma State this past season or their bowl game against Rutgers, you’ve probably never heard of him. The Ravens had an obvious need on the interior part of the line and addressed it nicely with 6’5″, 333 pound mammoth.

The Ravens do have last year’s seventh round selection Anthony Allen and undrafted free agent Damien Berry on the running back depth chart. And with the offseason retirement of Ricky Williams, the Ravens made a good call by drafting Pierce from Temple in the third round. I still have night terrors about how Pierce eviscerated Maryland’s defense (32 carries, 149 yards, five TDs, to be exact) last season in the Owls’ 38-7 beat down of the Terps. He’s a bigger back of the Williams, Willis McGahee mold. At 6’0″, 218 pounds, Pierce possesses good speed, running a 4.49 40 at the Combine. He should compliment Ray Rice nicely. Another need filled.

Baltimore selected Gino Gradkowski from Joe Flacco’s alma mater in the fourth round, who’s a combo guard/center, bolstering the Ravens’ interior again. With the compensatory fourth round pick, the Ravens selected the fastest safety in the draft, Christian Thompson, from South Carolina State. A puzzling pick for some, but after I learned Thompson was mentored by Reed prior to the draft, the pick made plenty sense. Safety depth was a concern and Thompson could vie for some playing time this season with his mentor.

In the fifth round, with Streeter still available, the Ravens went defensive back again, selecting Asa Jackson. This pick made me go “huh?” until I read he had return ability. The return game has been an issue for the Ravens recently, so hopefully Jackson can provide a spark in that regard.

After the Streeter pick in the sixth round, which still blows my mind because I couldn’t believe he fell that far, the Ravens took Georgia defensive tackle DeAngelo Tyson in the seventh round to cap off their 2012 draft class.

It was a fairly boring draft weekend in terms of who the Ravens selected, but they filled all their needs. When a team is consistently drafting well and performing well in season, it makes it tough to have a draft class with panache year in and year out. Most of the Ravens’ needs were filled with in-house replacements and really only needed to add depth. And now the Ravens have a welcomed problem: position battles.

Jah Reid, Osemele and Gradkowski will all battle for the starting left guard spot. Pierce, Berry and Allen will be in competition to be Rice’s backup. Upshaw is going to contend with incumbents Paul Kruger and Sergio Kindle — all second round selections — for the SAM backer position to fill the void left by Jarrett Johnson. Streeter, Tandon Doss and LaQuan Williams are going to be in contention for the no. 3 and 4 receiver spots.

Overall, I think the Ravens ensconced a solid draft class and there’s no reason for this team not to be in the hunt for a Super Bowl again this season. And, hey, if draft weekend is Christmas, there’s no reason we can’t make Cinco de Mayo our New Year. Arriba!

Asante Samuel was dealt to the Atlanta Falcons for a fifth-round pick Wednesday.

Does a trade between the NFC East’s Philadelphia Eagles and the NFC South’s Atlanta Falcons involving cornerback Asante Samuel mean anything for the AFC North’s Baltimore Ravens? In short, not really. The Ravens do play the Eagles this season, but Philly getting rid of Samuel will actually help Baltimore’s chances. The Ravens also play the Falcons in the preseason, so they will see Samuel this year, but only in an exhibition capacity. So where the actual trade doesn’t affect Baltimore on the field, really, it does affect the already-impressive perception of how the Ravens draft year in and year out. For me, at least.

It’s fitting that the Falcons and Eagles were both involved in this trade given the recent history of both franchises free agent signings. In 2010, then Houston Texans cornerback Dunta Robinson became a free agent and garnered plenty of attention from teams searching for a cornerback because he was fairly productive in Houston. Atlanta came to terms with Robinson on a six-year, $57 million deal with $25.5 million guaranteed.

Fast-forward to the dreaded, lockout-stricken 2011 offseason where Nnamdi Asomugha was the league’s prized free agent. He and New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis were both regarded as the two best cornerbacks in the game and, if you remember, Rex Ryan, his stomach and the Jets were all yearning for Asomugha’s services to sport possibly the greatest cornerback tandem in recent memory. Ryan and the Jets lost out on the Asomugha sweepstakes to the Eagles, who eventually signed the former Oakland Raider to a five-year, $50 million deal with $25 million guaranteed. Quite similar to Robinson’s deal the year previous.

After landing Asomugha — the free agent signee of the failed 2011 Philadelphia “Dream Team” — the Eagles made several more moves to acquire talent. Most came through free agent signings, but a notable move made by Philadelphia was when it dealt the 36th overall pick in the 2007 draft, Kevin Kolb, to the Cardinals for a second round pick and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. So when the 2011 season started, the Eagles’ corners were Asomugha, Samuel and Rodgers-Cromartie (who’s going to be known as “Ro-Cro” for the remainder of this blog because he’s not a Raven and I refuse to type his hyphenated last name over and over). Keep in mind the Eagles had obtained Samuel’s services prior to the 2008 season after his contract in New England expired. Philly had three of the best individually talented corners in football in 2011 that they each acquired through free agency but, as a unit, they failed to meet expectations.

So what does all this have to do with Baltimore? How well Ozzie and Co. draft, duh!

The Eagles tried New York Yankee-ing their way to sporting one of the best secondaries in the NFL and whiffed. The Ravens have simply drafted well and have found talent scattered throughout the league to bolster their secondary. Lardarius Webb was third round pick in 2009, has since blossomed into a stud corner and a few weeks ago signed an extension with Baltimore worth around $50 million. In November of the ’09 season, the Ravens plucked little-known Cary Williams from the Tennessee Titans practice squad and he too has turned into a solid cornerback. Last year, Baltimore selected Jimmy Smith with the 27th overall pick and, after suffering an early injury, Smith showed remarkable promise as the year progressed.

Last week, former Colts General Manager Bill Polian posted a column on ESPN.com in which he praised the Ravens and deemed them the best drafting team since 2009. Well, since 2009 every player the Ravens have drafted is still playing in the league. Maybe not in Baltimore, but in the NFL.

When I heard about the Samuel trade earlier today, I couldn’t help but think about all of this. You rarely hear about the Ravens making big free agency moves. Instead, Baltimore bides its time, waits to the free agency smoke has cleared then makes it moves. But the real Ravens magic doesn’t happen until draft day weekend. This trade affirms the Ravens dominance in scouting and drafting players. Analysts, insiders, pundits and fans will go back and forth this summer talking about which team has the best cornerbacks. There’s no doubt that both Atlanta and Philadelphia will be in that mix after all the money they’ve spent over the past few seasons. I personally believe the Ravens should be thrown on that list too. If Webb excels this season, Smith takes forward strides and Williams remains consistent, there won’t be many cornerback trios better than Baltimore’s.

And the beauty of it is Baltimore’s trifecta is home grown. The Ravens gave Williams his very first NFL start against the Steelers last season. Before he got to Charm City, he was on the scout team. Baltimore’s front office saw something in him that no one else did. That’s not uncommon for Baltimore though. The front office has a keen eye for talent and it’s shown each season when the Ravens lose players to free agency and they just plug the young guys in without missing a beat.

The Wizard, Ozzie Newsome.

This weekend when the Wizard of Oz and his congregation carefully sift through their draft boards to find the right talent, feel at ease and trust the pick. There’s a reason why Baltimore hasn’t made a splash in free agency like the Eagles, Falcons and countless other teams have done over the years. There’s a reason why Baltimore traded out of the first round in 2010 to acquire more picks because they value their picks like nothing else.

The Samuel trade (indirectly) reinforces the notion that Baltimore shines come draft day. For reassurance, tune into the NFL draft this weekend and watch the Wizard work his magic.

If drafting is an art, then Ozzie is Picasso. Enjoy the draft.

Joe Flacco is on record saying, and I’m paraphrasing, that he thinks he’s the best quarterback in the NFL. Those comments made national news headlines and became a popular talking point of just about every sports show. Flacco was trending for much of that morning on Twitter. A hashtag, “#OtherThingsFlaccoThinksAreTheBest,” also started trending on the site. Some comments were funny, others weren’t. But in the end, his “I think I’m the best” comments created far more attention then they actually should have, mainly because that little snippet was all the media focused on. Not the part where he said “I would assume everyone thinks they’re a top-five quarterback … I don’t think I’d be very successful at my job if I didn’t feel that way.”

At the kernel of the Flacco hoopla, the Ravens quietly signed Lardarius Webb to a six-yeal deal worth $50 million and, in the process, shored up the cornerback position in Baltimore for the foreseeable future. The Webb signing didn’t affect the Ravens’ cap status all that much, but it did affect Baltimore’s return game. Cornerbacks that possess the skill set Webb has aren’t easy to come by. He didn’t allow a touchdown all season, recorded five interceptions (and an additional three in the playoffs) and ran a punt back for a touchdown. For someone who can produce as well as Webb can in the secondary, there should be no reason for him to return punts this year given his new contract.

Since John Harbaugh took over in 2008, special teams have been marginal at best. Finding a returner hasn’t been one of Baltimore’s strengths. The Ravens have been through Yamon Figures, Tom Zbikowski, David Reed, Chris Carr and Webb at the return position. Webb has proven to be the best bet but, as I said, he shouldn’t partake in the precarious special teams role simply because the Ravens can’t afford to lose him.

ESPN AFC North blogger Jamison Hensley posted last week about how Ed Reed feels disrespected by the Ravens for some unknown reason. Reed’s always been an enigmatic figure, but his disrespected cry almost feels like a slap in the face. He’ll be 33 this season, and entering the final year of his contract. It seems as if he’s using the recent Peyton Manning deal as leverage to land a lucrative deal in his grizzled years. It will be interesting to see how this plays out throughout the season and whether or not Reed becomes more willing to give Baltimore a home-town discount.

On SportsCenter‘s ‘rundown’ last week, a graphic titled “Unhappy Raven” flashed at the top and caught my eye for obvious reasons. After sitting through other NFL topics ESPN covers such as Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning, the new uniforms, Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning, the Ravens finally became the topic. The “Unhappy Raven” ESPN was referring to was Ray Rice. Obviously, no player likes to get franchised, but Rice did for unmissable reasons and voiced some of his displeasure about it. He even went on to say that if the Ravens wouldn’t have franchised him, he would be playing for a different team right now.

(…)

Sorry, I had to throw up.

If history suggests anything, it’s that Rice will be a Raven for a long time. So will Flacco. And I’d venture to say Reed will finish his career in Baltimore. One thing I’ve learned is contracts don’t happen overnight, unless your the Redskins who inexplicably paid Albert Haynesworth $100 million, while successfully ignoring more important glaring needs and solidifying themselves in the NFC East’s basement. Flacco and Rice and no. 1 and no. 1A priorities right now, with Reed coming in a close second. Regardless, I feel as if all the deals will get done — hopefully by the start of the season. And if I’m wrong, at least I’m trying to be exceptionally optimistic about the whole situation.