The Baltimore Ravens may or may not trade Orlando Brown Jr. but they’ll need a tackle sooner than later. Here are three 2021 NFL Draft prospects to consider:
1. Samuel Cosmi (Texas)
There may not be a player in the 2021 NFL Draft class who has nastier tape than Cosmi, and I very much mean that as a compliment. This is an offensive tackle who has incredible upper body strength and he regularly puts defensive linemen and edge rushers on the ground.
He’s a strong pass protector, but he’s a mean machine setting up the run. Basically, he’s everything the Ravens would look for in an Orlando Brown Jr. replacement. Cosmi looks the part. He’s listed at 6-7 and 309 pounds.
There really isn’t much not to like about Cosmi. The only knocks I wrote down on his game are fixable. He needs to do a better job sinking his hips as a blocker. He’s not the most athletic tackle prospect and sometimes speedy rushers will be able to jam him up inside. Nothing here makes me want to run away from this upside.
If you’re talking offensive tackles in the 2021 NFL Draft, Cosmi isn’t the first name that’s going to come up. Oregon’s Penei Sewell or Virginia Tech’s Christian Darrisaw should go before Cosmi. Rashawn Slater out of Northwestern would be perfect for Baltimore but the catch is he’d be perfect just about anywhere.
Cosmi is a player NFL evaluators are going to love or one they’re not going to get in line for. The thing with this year’s tackle class is that there are a lot of prospects with prototypical traits. Cosmi is one of them, but may not be the smoothest operating athlete available.
Cosmi is the mauler that fits the style of play in Baltimore. If you wanted to find the closest thing to Orlando Brown Jr., this is your guy.
2. Alex Leatherwood (Alabama)
Alex Leatherwood is a very good prospect at offensive tackle. The thing that sticks out to me about Leatherwood’s game is how smooth he is. He’s 6-5 and weighs 312 pounds. He’s coming into the 2021 NFL Draft as a senior out of Alabama. So the short story here is that he looks the part and he comes from the perfect situation at the collegiate level.
Leatherwood’s tape was almost frustrating to break down because it was hard to find negatives. That being said, it’s almost impossible to find Alabama in a game where the offensive line got all that tested. The Crimson Tide were literally miles ahead of their competition in the 2020 season and barely played in close games.
Leatherwood could have a bit more height and length, but it’s not like he’s dramatically undersized. He has very active feet and he doesn’t waste movement. There’s a lot to like, if you’re skeptical of Leatherwood you may be thinking too much about this one.
Some pundits believe that Leatherwood is better suited at guard than he is at tackle. In fact, his NFL Draft Network profile by Jordan Reid has his ideal role listed as
"“Starting right or left guard that first should be experimented with at right or left tackle.”"
What I see in Leatherwood is a solid prospect with very few red flags. It’s a safe pick even if it; s not the most exciting. The Ravens need a future at right tackle and could use some help on the inside at the moment. If the Ravens see Leatherwood as a guard with the potential to be the tackle opposite of Ronnie Stanley, it’s hard to say no to that.
The Ravens getting Leatherwood in the first round is not unlikely. Remember, Leatherwood isn’t the flashiest prospect. Teams debating about his position and his upside could knock his draft stock down. If the Ravens could grab Leatherwood in the second it would be an absolute steal. That being said, they’ll likely have to take him with the 27th overall pick if they want him.
3. Brady Christensen (BYU)
Brady Christensen is a perfect fit for the Ravens and they can get him after the first couple of rounds in the 2021 NFL Draft. Christensen is another prospect where the negatives don’t scare me off. Watching his tape I saw a tackle that stands straight up and needs to work on winning with leverage.
Do you know what else I saw? I saw a run blocker who was practically made for Greg Roman’s offense. Christensen is a very good athlete who can reach all the blocks. He’s perfect for zone blocking schemes and he’s massive at the same time. He’s 6-6 and he weighs 300 pounds. He’s such a smooth athlete he could be mistaken for a tight end.
His traits and his run blocking are the selling points of his draft stock. There are a lot of things he can work on and he’s not very polished. If the Ravens can keep Orlando Brown Jr. for one more season this is the kind of player that could be perfect for them. Christensen would immediately improve the depth on the right side and could be groomed to eventually take Brown Jr.’s spot.
Drafting Christensen would be in line with the idea that the Ravens don’t need to find Brown Jr.’s eventual replacement in the first round of the draft. Brown Jr. was a third-round pick. The Ravens have found starting offensive linemen in the middle of the draft or later.
It’s kind of their thing. In terms of a scheme fit, Baltimore is the perfect landing spot for Christensen. He’s got a ton of upside. If the Ravens don’t draft an offensive tackle early, this could be a real option in the 2021 NFL Draft.