The Baltimore Ravens selected Devin Duvernay in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Here are three big things to think about:
1. The attributes and production he brings to the table:
Devin Duvernay was solid pick for the Baltimore Ravens. One interesting thing about Duvernay is that his production shot up in his senior season. In his first three years for the Texas Longhorns he wasn’t an overly productive player. He was basically just a role player. In his senior season he and Colin Johnson became the main two targets for the offense. In 2019, Duvernay had 106 receptions for 1,386 yards and nine touchdowns. The good thing about a player with this kind of trajectory is that the light started to turn on the year he was getting ready to go pro. It shows that if you put Duvernay in the right situation he will continue to get better.
Athletically there is a lot to like about Duvernay. He had a 4.39 second 40 yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. He’s 5’10 and he weighs in at just 200 pounds. Duvernay operated mostly out of the slot at Texas. He’s a decent route runner who can make something happen after the catch. A lot of times at Texas they would just have the quarterback throw the ball right out to Duvernay and let him pick up some yards. It supplemented the run game of the Longhorns. Duvernay averaged 14 yards per reception. While he’s not overly elusive he’s a play-maker.
Translating production from the college level is hard. It’s why we saw that Miles Boykin was a bit of a project last season. Duvernay comes into the league as a more developed route runner than Boykin. His athleticism in the slot is going to be very difficult for opponents to deal with. While he probably won’t be a superstar right out of the gate, he should be able to add 30-40 receptions as a rookie. The Ravens need him to be a solid number three option in the passing game to help out Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown. That should be able to happen.