If you heard cheers around the Owings Mills area this morning, it may have been the Ravens’ draft brain trust.
The Tennessee Titans announced this morning that they traded the No. 1-overall pick to the Los Angeles Rams for a bounty of picks.
What it virtually guarantees is that the Rams will be drafting one of the top two quarterbacks in this year’s class: North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz or Cal’s Jared Goff.
And that means good things for the Ravens.
The more quarterbacks that are drafted before the Ravens are on the clock at No. 6, the better. It pushes players at other positions down to Baltimore.
In this case, it means that the Ravens should be able to draft one of the following players: Ole Miss left tackle Laremy Tunsil, cornerback Jalen Ramsey, defensive end Joey Bosa, defensive end DeForest Buckner or inside linebacker Myles Jack.
If a second quarterback is drafted in the top 5 five – likely by Cleveland at No. 2 – that would mean the Ravens would likely be choosing between two of those players.
The Rams are “definitely” drafting a quarterback and are leaning toward Wentz over Goff, according to the L.A. Times. Goff could still go to the Browns.
That would suddenly leave Tunsil – a player many draftniks considered the top prospect in the draft – as a possibility for the Chargers at No. 3. San Diego reportedly had him in for a visit.
San Diego has had many injuries along the offensive line in recent years and trouble protecting quarterback Philip Rivers. San Diego did give current left tackle King Dunlap a four-year, $28 million contract in 2015, however.
The Cowboys could go in any direction with the No. 4 pick, including trading back, and the Jaguars are in need of a defensive upgrade at No. 5. Either could go with Bosa, Ramsey, Jack or Buckner.
Whoever is left at No. 6 will be a top-notch defensive talent, meaning the chances of the Ravens trading back seem less likely now, that is unless Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch comes into play with the other two quarterbacks off the board.
