Back in January, head coach John Harbaugh said the Ravens would be looking to draft a potential successor for Joe Flacco. Enter, Kyle Lauletta.
Come draft time, there will most likely be four quarterbacks taken in the first ten picks. Even if one of those QB prospects slips to 16, the Ravens would be crazy to not try and cash in for more draft picks. Taking a quarterback in the first two rounds would be outrageous for them to do.
But, it begs to question: what round should they pull the trigger on a young QB? And better yet, what prospects should the front office consider grooming behind Joe Flacco?
Kyle Lauletta should be the leading candidate.
As a three-year starter at Richmond, Lauletta passed for over ten thousand yards and 73 touchdowns. He also put up these numbers while completing over 60 percent of his passes for the Spiders. The one thing critics may point to attention is the competition Lauletta faced in his college career, which is I get, it’s totally understandable. Richmond plays in the Colonial Athletic Association, which is a subdivision of Division One football. Lauletta hasn’t seen all that much NFL talent over the last four years.
But a tall, slender built QB with a good arm who played at a small school? Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
The buzz around the Richmond quarterback started after the 2018 Senior Bowl game, where Lauletta threw for 198 yards and three touchdowns and was named MVP. Playing against the top talent college football has to offer, Lauletta shined big, to say the least, and put every quarterback-needy team on notice.
Like it or not, the Joe Flacco era in Baltimore is ticking
After missing out on a third-round compensation pick for Ricky Wagner, the Ravens will only have three picks on the first two days going into the 2018 Draft. Is taking a quarterback that ideal with the holes this team has to fill, especially at the skilled positions? Well, yea it is.
Joe Flacco will be a Raven for at least three more years under his current contract with the multiple restructures the front office has given him to create more cap space. Quite frankly, they would be crazy not to take the Richmond quarterback if he so happens to be there in the third round, when pick No. 83 rolls around.
Taking Lauletta in the mid-way point of the draft would mean the organization is preparing for the future. Selecting Lauletta in that spot would the Ravens could groom him behind Flacco for at least two years, giving him time to adjust to the pro level. Lauletta has even said he would be eager to learn from a quarterback like Flacco. I’m sure there might be a team that could pull the trigger on Lauletta a lot earlier than 83, especially after his Senior Bowl performance. But, if he somehow happens to slip to the midway point of the third round, where a lot of mock drafts have him going, Ozzie Newsome would be nuts not to prepare for the future by taking him.
The bottom line
Years from now, Kyle Lauletta could turn out to be that small school quarterback that goes on to kill it in the NFL, much like Tony Romo, Joe Flacco and Jimmy Garoppolo have. Passing on a kid this talented should be out of the question if Lauletta falls into the laps of the Ravens’ front office come round three of the 2018 NFL draft.