Jeremy Conn: Stop Criticizing The Draft Until You See Them Play
I may be in the minority, but I really like what the Ravens did this year in the draft. I know a lot of the experts gave rave reviews about the Ravens draft, but it does seem like a lot of fans were upset. There were stories coming out about the Ravens trying to trade up and get Jalen Ramsey, about Dallas wanting a third round pick and the Ravens only wanted to give up a fourth round pick, to the Ravens moving back twice in the second round when names like Myles Jack, Noah Spence and Reggie Ragland still on the board.
But let's be honest, how many fans saw any of these guys play on a consistent basis? Or even better, did you see Correa play at Boise St.? Did you even know who he was before they mentioned his name on draft day?
It's OK to criticize and to have players you like, but when people call this draft class a bust and take shots at the team for the players Ozzie selected when we haven't even seen them play a down is absurd.
Todd McShay called the Ravens 4th round draft picks the greatest round he has ever seen!
They got a ton of value in my opinion and filled a lot of holes. I don't do draft grades, it's silly really! How do you grade these players when you haven't seen them play a down in this league? Let's just see how it plays out.
One of my favorite things to hear is people bashing Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens front office. "Ozzie has lost it," "the game has past him by"... Blah, Blah Blah.
People like to refer to the Ravens 2013 draft. The Ravens had the last pick in the first round after winning the Superbowl the previous year. They have three players from the draft that are expected to be starters or key contributors heading into this season.
Kyle Juszczyk, Ricky Wagner and Brandon Williams were all drafted that year. There were only seven pro-bowlers selected after the Ravens picked that year and a few of those guys were selected after other players backed out of the game. I just read an article today that was talking about how bad historically the 2013 draft was.
So let's pump our brakes a bit until we see these guys get out on the field.
