The Baltimore Ravens have the sixth overall draft pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. It is a rare opportunity to get a great player early in the draft. But will the Ravens trade back for more picks?
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Ozzie Newsome and company have never been afraid of trading back. The thought process is that the more picks you have the more you can add to the roster. The caveat to that is that in the top-10 you can likely get the superstar you most covet. Trading down from the number six pick could be profitable for the Ravens but they better get a lot from it, if they go down this path.
Look at the Bills trade with the Browns, which gave Buffalo the chance to draft Sammy Watkins. A desperate Bills team swapped number one picks, gave the Browns next year’s first round pick and a fourth round pick. There is precedent for trading down in the top 10 picks. If you don’t end up with three first round selections in two years, you’re wasting your time. The plan would be to get two first round picks, and a little gravy or stay at the sixth pick.
If any team knows the value of two first round picks it is the Ravens. In 1996 the Ravens drafted Jonathan Ogden with the fourth overall pick and Ray Lewis with the 26th overall pick. That turned out pretty well. As a side note you just have to wonder how 25 teams passed on Lewis as he became the arguably the greatest linebacker of all time.
It’s not like the Ravens have the number one pick in the draft. They can’t just back up a truck and demand the team trying to move up in the draft order fills it blindly. That being said the Ravens can get an awful lot for the sixth overall pick.
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Personally I would rather the Ravens use the pick. Obviously if a team is willing to give you the entire truck-full you have to take it. The thing is that this is a chance the Ravens haven’t had since Terrell Suggs was picked 10th overall in 2003. The Ravens may have plenty of needs but they shouldn’t pass up on a chance to draft a superstar that could change everything for the better.