Baltimore Ravens select Marquise Brown: 1st Round report card
With the 25th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens select Marquise Brown, wide receiver from Oklahoma:
The Baltimore Ravens took a receiver. It wasn’t the receiver Ravens fans were talking about the most; N’Keal Harry fell to the Patriots with the 32nd overall pick. The Ravens landed Marquise Brown who is one of the fastest and most explosive play-makers in the entire draft. He’s a boom or bust player to say the least. Eric DeCosta went for it with his first pick, but what is a fair grade?
Oklahoma. MARQUISE BROWN. B. The Ravens get a solid and square B here. They didn’t grab the best receiver in this draft and they had their pick of the wide receivers. They did manage to trade back before making a pick and that helps a lot. Baltimore still doesn’t have a second round pick but the two fourth rounders from the Philadelphia Eagles gives them some more flexibility. They now have two thirds and three fourth round picks. If the Ravens hit on them, this will be a strong draft class. If they want to get back into the second round, it at least makes it possible. Brown is a good player, even if this was a bit of a reach. Brown’s major concern is his size. The Ravens are clearly building an offense around the premise of speed. If he pans out the Ravens get a play-maker who changes the way defenses have to approach Lamar Jackson and the offense. This is giving Jackson a tool to work with. The Ravens taking a receiver comes with a bit of skepticism but Brown has good hands and unreal speed. This is potentially a big move for the Ravens and because they traded back and acquired the two fourth round picks it’s easier to take the shot.<p class=. WR
I had a second round grade on Brown just because he is a smaller receiver and the Ravens could have gotten a player with an accuracy improving catch radius. Montez Sweat was also on the board and he was an incredible steal at 22 or 25. The Ravens have the rest of the draft to work with and Brown is a decent start. The Ravens took a chance on a play-making receiver. This offense is now built on the idea that speed kills.
Next. Day 2 wide receiver targets for the Ravens. dark
Drafting Brown could have a huge pay off and the Ravens have finally made a legitimate stab at fixing their wide receiver woes. Wide receiver remains in play for the purple and black as Willie Snead, Chris Moore and Seth Roberts make a group that can still be improved upon.