Tag: Baltimore Ravens draft order

Ravens earn 2 compensatory picks in 2020 NFL Draft

The Baltimore Ravens lost a wealth of talent last offseason and only get a third- and fourth-round compensatory picks in the 2020 NFL Draft

We now have the full 2020 NFL Draft order after the league announced the list of compensatory picks handed out. The Baltimore Ravens continued their tradition of gaming the system to get extra draft picks, earning third- and fourth-round selections in this year’s draft.

Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Ravens will gain the No. 106 (No. 42 in the third round) and the No. 143 (No. 37 in the fourth round) overall picks in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Though the Ravens earned two additional selections in the 2020 NFL Draft, it’s hard to see Baltimore as winners here.

The Ravens lost a lot of upper-end talent last offseason, seeing C.J. Mosley, Za’Darius Smith, Terrell Suggs and John Brown all leave in free agency. Both Mosley and Smith signed massive deals Baltimore simply couldn’t come close to matching, leaving huge holes on their defense that had to ultimately be filled with mid-season free-agent additions. Even though the Ravens finished with a 14-2 record, the lack of consistency at inside linebacker and any pass rush plagued the defense all season long.

Signing safety Earl Thomas and running back Mark Ingram canceled out two of their four losses on the compensatory pick formula. But there was hope Baltimore would still be in the running for at least one third-round selection to recoup from the massive losses of Smith and Mosley. However, Mosley missed all but two games last season with a groin injury, sending him to injured reserve in December.

It will be interesting to see if Baltimore changes its philosophy on compensatory picks after such a rough offseason. General manager Eric DeCosta has a tough decision with outside linebacker Matthew Judon, much like he had last offseason. After getting burned on comp picks, it could push DeCosta and the Ravens to trade Judon for a guaranteed pick if they feel they won’t be able to re-sign him instead of trying to match his value on the free-agent market. Of course, the franchise tag is also in play this offseason for Judon, which might give Baltimore enough leverage to re-sign him instead of letting it play out on the open market or through a trade.

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Todd McShay mock draft 3.0: Post-combine mock has Ravens still taking ILB

After the 2020 NFL Combine, ESPN’s Todd McShay has the Baltimore Ravens taking LSU linebacker Patrick Queen to replace C.J. Mosley.

The 2020 NFL Combine has finished, which means a new wave of mock drafts are incoming. ESPN’s Todd McShay has one of those — his third of this offseason. In his last mock draft, McShay handed the Baltimore Ravens an inside linebacker to replace C.J. Mosley, who left in free agency last offseason. This time around, McShay is still mocking Baltimore an inside linebacker but a different name.

In his third mock draft, McShay has the Ravens taking LSU linebacker Patrick Queen at No. 28.

Either Queen or Oklahoma’s Kenneth Murray make sense for the Ravens here, but I give the slight edge to Queen at the moment. He has 4.50 speed and posted 85 tackles, including 12.5 for loss, last season with the national champion Tigers. A playmaking linebacker in the middle of the defense could take the unit to a whole other level in 2020 — Baltimore never really replaced C.J. Mosley in that role. Josh Bynes and Patrick Onwuasor are both free agents, so landing Queen at No. 28 would be a perfect marriage of talent, value and need for a Baltimore team that will again be contending for the Super Bowl.

Inside linebacker is one of Baltimore’s biggest glaring needs. There was hope Patrick Onwuasor was going to be able to step up into the role but it only took a few weeks before he lost his communication helmet and his starting job to midseason free-agent acquisitions.

The Ravens also need to find help at pass rusher, even if they’re able to retain outside linebacker Matthew Judon. However, names we’ve seen mocked to Baltimore in the past were already gone. Penn State’s Yetur Gross-Matos, Iowa’s A.J. Epenesa and LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson had already been selected, leaving Alabama’s Terrell Lewis, Boise State’s Curtis Weaver and Notre Dame’s Julian Okwara as potential second-round options.

Wide receiver is another position many fans are excited about. But in McShay’s mock draft, six wide receivers were taken before Baltimore got on the clock, including some pretty big reaches. It would make more sense in that case for the Ravens to sit tight and grab someone in the second or third round rather than waste a first-round pick by taking a second-round player.

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