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Supplemental Draft: Should the Baltimore Ravens bid on anyone?

By Richard Bradshaw

BERKELEY, CA - OCTOBER 13: Vic Wharton III #17 of the California Golden Bears carries the ball looking to avoid the tackle of Jalen Thompson #34 of the Washington State Cougars during the first quarter of their NCAA football game at California Memorial Stadium on October 13, 2017 in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
BERKELEY, CA - OCTOBER 13: Vic Wharton III #17 of the California Golden Bears carries the ball looking to avoid the tackle of Jalen Thompson #34 of the Washington State Cougars during the first quarter of their NCAA football game at California Memorial Stadium on October 13, 2017 in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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The little known NFL Supplemental Draft is today, with a couple intriguing players available. Should the Baltimore Ravens bid on one of them?

Before we get started here, if you aren’t aware of the NFL Supplemental Draft or how it works, here’s the Reader’s Digest version:

Some college football players will lose their playing eligibility for one reason or another. Sometimes it’s for something as simple as bad grades and others it’s for breaking NCAA rules. So, the NFL hosts a Supplemental Draft every year for these players to go to the pros instead of sitting around and not playing college football for the upcoming season.

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In order to select a player, team’s must place a bid on a player. What this means is in order to select one of the players, a team must forfeit a draft pick for the next upcoming draft. In example, if the Baltimore Ravens expressed interest in Richard Bradshaw this year (2019) and were willing to part ways with a third round pick to select him, the Ravens would surrender their third round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to take him.

The Supplemental Draft is often an extremely overlooked event during the NFL off-season because there are very few times where there are star players available. This isn’t to say the Supplemental Draft never has talent, as Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter was a Supplemental Draft selection. Other noteworthy names include linebacker Ahmad Brooks (2006), quarterback/wide receiver Terrelle Pryor (2011), wide receiver Josh Gordon (2012), and most recently cornerback Sam Beal (2018).

For this year’s Supplemental Draft, two players standout over the rest, Washington State safety Jalen Thompson and West Virginia wide receiver Marcus Simms. Thompson was a three-year starter for the Cougars who picked off six passes and forced five fumbles in his stint with the team. Simms, meanwhile, was buried on a talented wide receiver depth chart for the Mountaineers, but made himself a niche as a special teams return man.

The question now is whether or not the Baltimore Ravens should place a bid on any of the players available, primarily these two. To me, Thompson is worth a serious look with a third round pick, while Simms isn’t worth more than a sixth round pick at best. The problem is that other NFL teams with higher priority picks than Baltimore will likely snatch them up before the Ravens get a chance to bid on them.

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While the NFL Supplemental Draft is definitely not breaking news material, it will be interesting to see where these young men end up, especially when talking about Thompson and Simms. Hopefully, the Baltimore Ravens have a chance to talk it out and perhaps place a bid down on one of these two young men.

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