The 2019 NFL Draft is almost here. Trading back has been talked about as a main option for the Ravens but what if teams trade in front of the Ravens instead:
One of the NFL Draft prospects that has been most commonly linked to the Baltimore Ravens is Garrett Bradbury. There are teams behind the Ravens that could use a center. In fact on NFL.com Charlie Casserly, Charles Davis and Charles Ruetter have all mocked Bradbury to the Chiefs. With the Ravens history of taking the best player available a team like the Chiefs could trade up in front of the Ravens to get the center of their choosing.
The Chiefs are a team that make a lot of sense to jump the Ravens because they lost Mitch Morse in free agency and have a need at the center position that is the one weakness on an otherwise stellar offense. The Rams are another team that could be motivated to trade up for Bradbury as they have to replace John Sullivan.
Sticking with NFL.com’s Mock Draft Central as a guide for this train of thought, two of the featured analysts have Cody Ford going after the Ravens. However, the Ravens could easily take Ford who is possibly the most versatile offensive lineman in this draft class. Daniel Jeremiah and Charles Davis both have Ford going to the Houston Texans.
If the Texans wanted to get on the clock before the Ravens, they would need the least ammunition to get there. The Texans have the 23rd overall pick and would just have to jump two spots up to get their guy. This is the team to watch because the trade would be the easiest.
A player that has also been linked to the purple and black is Clelin Ferrell. Ferrell is Daniel Jeremiah’s pick in his latest mock draft. Teams past the Ravens may go into the draft thinking that they can’t reach Ferrell. If he is there when the Draft gets into the 20’s, all the sudden it’s a reasonable trade for last year’s playoff teams.
The good news for the Ravens is twofold. They have been historically a hard team to make draft predictions for and with three major needs there is a lot that could be in play. Secondly, the Ravens are a team that doesn’t typically have a problem with leaks and info coming out of “The Castle.” The lack of certainty of the Ravens plans may prevent teams from making a trade that they may not even have to make.
This knowledge of the teams drafting behind the Ravens could be useful when the Ravens are on the clock. DeCosta could use other teams’ needs as leverage to trade out of the 22nd overall pick. It wouldn’t be shocking though, if the Ravens got jumped over in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.