The Baltimore Ravens turned some heads when they drafted Trace McSorley in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Here are three big things to think about:
1. He’s a gadget player more than a quarterback:
The first thing to remember here is that this has nothing to do with Lamar Jackson. Jackson and Robert Griffin III are the number one and number two quarterbacks. McSorley is a great athlete who can do a lot of different things, but it’s hard to see him developing into the job of a starting quarterback any time soon. When the Ravens drafted McSorley, they had already crushed it in the draft. This afforded Eric DeCosta and John Harbaugh with some creativity in the sixth round.
Trace McSorley wasn’t brought in to be a traditional quarterback. He’s the Ravens Taysom Hill. He’s a running quarterback that can be inserted into the offense. The Ravens got used to the idea of a running quarterback coming in and out of the game when Joe Flacco was the starter in the 2018 season. The defense had to pay attention to Jackson in that role. Now that Jackson is the starting quarterback, the Ravens had to find somebody else to fill the x-factor job.
This is Greg Roman’s new toy to work with. It’s a sign that the Ravens are not done experimenting. They got on that 6-1 stretch in 2018 because of their creativity with Jackson and an unconventional offense. It’s also important to remember that when Jackson took the quarterback job over, they still tinkered with Robert Griffin III a little bit as the second quarterback on the field. Last season validated the idea of having a gadget player of a quarterback. The Ravens still have interest in this idea.