The Baltimore Ravens enter the 2020 NFL Draft with inside linebacker being one of their top needs. With no clearcut starters on the roster and a lack of overall depth at the position, Baltimore is surely going to look to the draft as the remedy. But in a draft that is sneaky deep and at a position that isn’t as valuable as a decade ago, the Ravens could find quality starters all over the place.
In the modern NFL, there are some positions that seem to have been devalued. Think about running back on offense and how what used to be one of the most valuable positions has turned into a weight around the salary cap for several teams. On defense, the same could be said for the linebacker.
Once the captain of the defense, the transition to a more pass-happy league has seen the value of the position take quite a knock. But that doesn’t mean the position is unimportant. Linebacker has long been proudly associated with the Ravens, after the deeds of Ray Lewis and C.J. Mosley. The Ravens recently added Jake Ryan to their linebacking corps but his signing is not likely to affect the team’s draft plans.
If Baltimore chooses to make linebacker a top priority, here are the seven top prospects they could be looking at.
Isaiah Simmons, Clemson
It’s probably something of a misnomer to class Simmons as solely a linebacker. The former Clemson Tiger is one of the more versatile defensive players in the entire draft class after a career in a hybrid safety-linebacker-cornerback role.
Simmons was incredible in 2019, with 107 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, and eight sacks. This was in addition to 13 passes defended and three interceptions. Frankly, the guy was an absolute menace and made offensive coordinators’ lives miserable.
There is a slight issue that his versatility may affect his draft stock, with teams not sure where exactly he should be used in the NFL. But a creative defensive coordinator, and one who values versatility, will hope to get their hands on Simmons and turn him into a dominant playmaker. If that team is the Ravens, they’ll probably have to make a move up in the draft to get him as he’s unlikely to be there at No. 28.