2019 NFL Draft: RB prospects for Ravens in each round
Round 5: Benny Snell
There was a time where Benny Snell was thought of as a day two pick. Now, it seems far more likely that Snell will be a mid-to-late day three player. Whoever winds up with Snell will have themselves a football player, not a prospect. If we’re lucky, maybe that team will be the Baltimore Ravens.
The thing that turns so many people off with Benny Snell is that he doesn’t do any one thing overly well. Speed? Decent. Play strength? Average. Receiving ability? Good enough. It’s exactly that kind of athleticism that turns teams off.
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However, what Snell brings to the table is production at a decent school in an elite football conference. Before 2018, the University of Kentucky Wildcats football program was a joke. But thanks to the work of guys like Snell, the narrative changed and the Wildcats became a successful football team.
Snell was the Wildcats offense throughout his three-year stint in Lexington, Kentucky. Snell had no fewer than 1,100 scrimmage yards and 13 total touchdowns as a Wildcat, making him consistently one of the best running backs the SEC had to offer.
The Ravens are simply in need of bodies at the running back position, as the only viable options currently on the roster are Gus Edwards and Kenneth Dixon. Snell may not be a high-upside type of player, but you know exactly what you’re getting. Adding Snell to the backfield simply gives Baltimore one more option in the run game, and if he hits then suddenly the Ravens run-game is electric again.