Ravens: My big ramble on what will happen with the 2010 Draft

Let's break this down very simply for those of you who want the bulletin points and not the long winded explanation...

As usual, the Ravens have many places they could go in the draft, and as usual, it'll probably be the place we talk about the least. And as usual we'll probably scratch our heads, and as usual, Ozzie Newsome will end up being right. Savvy?

So in recounting my experiences with the Ravens and the NFL Draft, the first one I followed enough to know what player(s) I wanted us to get was 2005. I remember very clearly, I wanted us to draft David Baas, an OL out of Michigan. We drafted Mark Clayton instead and Baas went as the first pick in the 2nd round. Now granted, Mark Clayton is a debatable draft miss, but David Baas also never turned into the premier OL I had though he would either.

Looking back, the 2005 one was actually a pretty bad one for Ozzie...Clayton hasn't panned out the way we'd hoped, Dan Cody just had awful luck like the Orioles, Adam Terry sucked, Justin Green never amounted to anything...and Derek Anderson went to Cleveland. But in general, the trend would be that I trust Ozzie's decisions. Like last year, everyone was SO sure we'd go with a WR in Round 1 because our WRs were very lacking. Instead, he moves up and takes an OT? We're sitting here saying "but we HAVE our OTs...Willie Anderson and Jared Gaither". Oh but wait, the OT we drafted was Michael Oher, who played well enough in his first NFL year to make some sports writers' All-Pro ballot at RT. And to top it off, Willie Anderson announced his retirement about a month or so after the draft. Another situation for you...after drafting Joe Flacco (probably the only draft pick I've guessed correctly, though I had him going to Ravens in 2nd round), Ozzie drafts...a RB? But we have Willis McGahee and he's more than a decent RB. And who is this guy..."Ray Rice"? Two years later, Ray Rice has turned into a Pro-Bowl RB.

So, this year is pretty interesting in terms of needs. We have a solid QB, RB, OL, LB...our WR situation is set for this year at least, our DL is good enough to go with for another year or two, considering that Kruger is moving to DE, and after repairing from injuries, we've got a secondary set in Foxworth, Webb, Reed/Zbikowski, Landry/Nakamura. So we don't have any big pressing needs for fans to clamor that we ABSOLUTELY have to draft in Round 1. So instead, everyone is just guessing almost wildly at this point to figure out what we'll do...Draft a future #1 WR? Draft a replacement for Heap?....Draft a stud DL to take over for Pryce or Gregg?...Draft secondary to fill in at CB for now, and maybe play S eventually? As usual, we can almost go anywhere.

My take is that our most likely move is trading down. Because of the rumoured rookie salary changes coming, there are a TON of juniors coming out in this draft to get their money before it becomes unavailable. So this ends up being a VERY deep draft in terms of talent. So since we traded away a 3rd and 4th round pick to get Boldin, I think it's very likely Ozzie wants those picks back. With the number of good players we could get at the bottom of Round 1, I think it makes sense to try to trade back a few spots and get some extra picks to play with. The key to that happening is Jimmy Clausen's slide down the draft. If he falls to our pick, I've got to think we do a deal with a team hungry for a QB.

If no trade, I'd put the biggest odds on Jared Odrick, Demaryius Thomas, Devin McCourty, Terrence Cody, or Jermaine Gresham...in that order. But I also trust that the Ravens have done their homework well and will pick a player with good long term prospects. The last 4 1st rounders (ben grubbs, haloti ngata, joe flacco, and michael oher) have all turned into major pieces for the team.

In other NFL draft predictions, I say Tim Tebow goes mid 2nd round. Someone will get desperate for him, namely I think Jacksonville will start getting hungry if he gets to pick 47. That's the New England Patriots, who smartly built up a TON of picks last year. Jacksonville will want to get in before the Carolina Panthers, who I could see taking Tebow to groom. I think they promise a big ransom to move up from Round 3 to take Tebow and hope he boosts ticket sales.