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.
2. The plan the Ravens have at wide receiver:
What do Lamar Jackson, Marquise Brown, Devin Duvernay, and J.K. Dobbins all have in common? They all have good speed. It will be important for Boykin to take the next step because he’s really the only receiver the Ravens have with size. Baltimore has built a track team around Jackson. It’s going to put defenses into a bad spot. If you play man to man coverage against the Ravens it presents two problems. First, you turn your back to the fastest quarterback alive. Secondly, you have to keep up with speedy receivers with a quarterback that can keep a play alive if he’s got nothing.
The Ravens will see a lot more zone coverage. That should help Jackson be able to find windows in the passing game. Finding the open window in a zone happens to be a strength of Duvernay’s. This may or may not be the type of combination the Ravens wanted. They certainly will have one of the smallest receiving corps in football. They will also have an abundance of quickness, speed and sure hands. Brown and Duvernay both play bigger than their size and can go up and make tough catches. James Proche fits into a very similar mold as Duvernay with less speed.
Duvernay gives the Ravens another weapon that can stretch the field, so it’s not just Brown that teams need to worry about. The biggest threat the Ravens pass catchers will offer a defense (especially when you put Mark Ingram and Dobbins into the mix) is yards after the catch. That’s why it is so crucial that Jackson hits his weapons in stride. These play-makers will use the open field to rack up big numbers in this offense. The Ravens have weapons that can take a slant route or a shallow crossing route and get huge gains out of them. The plan the Ravens have is one that really works well with Jackson. If the defense is chasing receivers down the field, and they have to worry about Jackson, the entire width and length of the field is of their concern on every single play.
3. Great value pick:
Between the pick where the Ravens drafted Duvernay and the Ravens next pick no wide receiver was taken. The next wide receiver to be selected was grabbed with the 22nd pick in the next round. If the Ravens didn’t get Duvernay, there would have been a big drop off in wide receivers. Duvernay is a player who probably can make a nice impact on the offense right away. If the Ravens didn’t draft Duvernay they may have missed out on a player you could say that about.
They were in an NFL Draft island for wide receiver and they got their guy. Duvernay was the last wide receiver taken in the third round and there were only two receivers taken in the fourth round. The second round was where you saw a huge run on wide receivers. There were seven receivers taken in the second round.
The position was getting gutted in the draft and it was starting to seem that the Ravens weren’t going to get a receiver that they desperately needed to round out the offense. The selection of Duvernay saved this draft class. If the Ravens walked away with just James Proche at the wide receiver position, it probably wouldn’t have been enough.