The Kamalei Correa trade brings back bad memories for Ravens

Former second round pick Kamalei Corea was traded this afternoon. And it all left a bit of a sour taste in Ravens’ fans mouths.

Kamalei Correa was a pick we collectively didn’t understand on draft day. Not a very well-known prospect when we all heard his name called on day two of the 2016 NFL Draft. It was a real head scratcher then and it still is two years later. If Ozzie Newsome could get a do over in the past three seasons of draft picks, this one has to be at the top of the list. Not because of how much of a disappointment Kamalei Correa turned out to be as a Raven, but because of who was drafted after him and who the organization could have drafted had they not traded down.

Then Ohio State wide receiver Michael Thomas was coming off a stellar year as a Buckeye. The junior wideout played a pivotal performance in Ohio State bringing home another national championship to the state of Ohio. Bringing in 56 catches for 781 yards and 9 touchdowns. On an offense that really centered around running back Ezekiel Elliott. Thomas showed flashes of being a real talent in the league. He eventually went on to be just that for the New Orleans Saints.

Newsome had three opportunities to draft the wide out but traded out twice and took Correa on the third. Thomas has gone on to accumulate over 23 hundred yards, 196 catches and 14 touchdowns. A real franchise player for the Saints that they can count on offense.

Something the Ravens have virtually never had at that position since coming into the league in 1996.

The Ravens also traded out of a different linebacker that is now one of the key pieces in one of the NFL’s hottest defenses

Coming into the draft that year, Myles Jack was a top ten prospect, expected to go in the top eight. Until reports of a knee injury surprisingly knocked him out of not only the top ten, but the first round all together. When the Ravens were up on the clock in the second round, I remember thinking to myself it was the perfect scenario. One of the top defensive prospects in the country had fallen to the city of Baltimore on day two of the draft. This has Ozzie Newsome written all over it, I thought to myself. Jack has to be the pick, right?

Ozzie traded out and gift-wrapped Jack to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Not a bad first two picks for the Jags that weekend. Jalen Ramsey then Myles Jack. Two picks that would go on to shape their defense. A defense going into 2018 that still might be the be the leagues best. Leaving Baltimore Ravens fans thinking to themselves, what if? What if he was on the Ravens defense, playing alongside C.J. Mosley at M&T Bank Stadium? Like I said, this trade just brings back a lot of old memories that Raven fans would just like to forget ever happened.

Will Correa be the only one from that draft class to go?

Later on that day of the draft, after Ozzie passed on Deion Jones, Michael Thomas and Myles Jack, he drafted BYU’s Bronson Kaufusi. Who right now looks to be in a tough spot in making the 53-man roster with the amount of depth this squad has. He could very well find himself to be a roster cut in the coming week or so. If you remember back to the first day of that draft, there was some noise that the Ravens were going to move up a couple of slots and swap with Dallas. Jerry and Co. wanted a third-round pick and Ozzie would only give up a fourth-round pick. Neither would budge, the swap didn’t happen. That pick went on to be Bronson Kaufasi.

It certainly wasn’t Ozzie’s best day two days of the draft that weekend, looking back now.