Impressive Draft Now Has Ravens Favored To Win AFC North
Are you impressed enough with the Ravens’ 2015 draft class that you’re willing to put money on it?
After what is widely considered a strong draft for the Ravens, sportsbook Bovada.lv now has Baltimore favored to win the AFC North and its Super Bowls odds have improved, too.
While the rest of the division seemed to have positive selections, no team’s picks had as big of an impact on their odds as General Manager Ozzie Newsome’s.
Odds to win the 2015-16 AFC North:
- Baltimore Ravens: 8/5
- Cincinnati Bengals: 11/5
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 11/5
- Cleveland Browns: 9/1
Last year, the Ravens finished third in the division race, with the Steelers and Bengals coming in first and second, respectively. But Baltimore still advanced furthest in the postseason after beating Pittsburgh in the wild-card round and Cincinnati got knocked out in Round 1 by the Indianapolis Colts.
In terms of winning the Super Bowl, the Ravens have the ninth-best odds, tied with the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers at 25-to-1. The Seattle Seahawks (11/2), Green Bay Packers (7/1), New England Patriots (15/2), Indianapolis Colts (8/1) and Dallas Cowboys (10/1) have the five best odds to grab the Lombardi Trophy.
Meanwhile, not one, but two Ravens rookies were among favorites to win the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Second-round tight end 
Odds to win 2015 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year:
- RB Melvin Gordon (Chargers): 13/2
- QB Jameis Winston (Buccaneers): 7/1
- QB Marcus Mariota (Titans): 7/1
- WR Amari Cooper (Raiders): 15/2
- RB Todd Gurley (Rams): 8/1
- WR Kevin White (Bears): 10/1
- RB TJ Yeldon (Jaguars): 12/1
- WR Nelson Agholor (Eagles): 14/1
- RB Phillip Dorsett (Colts): 14/1
- TE Maxx Williams (Ravens): 14/1
- WR DeVante Parker (Dolphins): 16/1
- WR Dorial Green-Beckham (Titans): 18/1
- WR/TE Devin Funchess (Panthers): 22/1
- WR Devin Smith (Jets): 22/1
- WR Breshad Perriman (Ravens): 22/1
“That’s another indication of the impact Williams is expected have in the Ravens’ offense,” wrote CSNBatlimore.com’s Clifton Brown.
“Looks like Las Vegas liked the Ravens draft.”
Power Rankings, ESPN Writers Argue Which Team Had Best Draft
Things aren’t as cut and dry in analyst power rankings as they were with the oddsmakers at Bovada.
While Baltimore moved up four spots to No. 7 to become the best rated AFC North team in ESPN’s power rankings, it kept the same ranking at NFL.com and actually moved down a spot at CBSSports.com.
At the NFL.com and CBS Sports, only one person is in charge of creating the list, while a group of about 80 writers, editors and TV personalities all contribute at ESPN.
Checkout the rankings below:
| Power Rankings |  |  |  |  | Comment | |||||||
| ESPN | 28 | 9 | 10 | 7 | "The priority in the draft? Find | |||||||
| CBS Sports | 28 | 10 | 7 | 8 | "Players leave and they always seem to do a good job replacing them. That's the Ravens way. Their draft was another example of that." -- Pete Prisco | |||||||
| NFL Network | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | "Questions abound regarding Breshad Perriman. Either the Ravens know something everyone else doesn't, or they aren't too concerned about drops." -- Elliot Harrison | |||||||
Maybe Baltimore is ranked above the rest of the division at ESPN, but the outlet’s AFC North writers took a poll to determine which team had the best draft overall and the Steelers won. This came as a big surprise to Ravens reporter Jamison Hensley.
“How did the Ravens not get selected for the best draft this year? It feels like my AFC North colleagues are conspiring against Baltimore here,” Hensley wrote. “If nothing else, the Ravens should have been No. 1 based on trading up in the second round to steal the draft's best tight end away from the Steelers. The fact that the Ravens teamed up with Bruce Arians, who was forced out of Pittsburgh, to get Maxx Williams should give them extra bonus points.
“The Steelers didn't get a coveted cornerback in the first round and took Dupree, who could follow Jarvis Jones and Jason Worilds as underachieving pass rushers. The Browns were still the Browns, failing to come out of the draft with a quarterback or a top-tier wide receiver. And the Bengals are still the Bengals, taking risks with players who have character issues (Paul Dawson and Josh Shaw).”
Don’t expect any sympathy from Hensley’s colleagues.
“Waah, waah, waah. Cry me a Chesapeake from the guy in Baltimore who would probably defend Art Modell in Cleveland,” wrote ESPN Browns reporter Pat McManamon. “Go have some more crabby cakes, Mr. Hensley.”
Results Of Ravens 2015 Compensatory Picks
There was plenty of buzz about the Ravens’ compensatory picks heading into the 2015 draft, so let’s see what came of them.
The early results have CSNBaltimore.com’s Bo Smolka feeling impressed.
“No one plays the compensatory-pick game better than Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens, and they proved it again in this year's draft,” wrote Smolka.
This year, Newsome got three extra picks (one fourth-rounder and two fifth-rounders) after allowing key free agents – Arthur Jones, Michael Oher and Corey Graham – walk away from Baltimore two years ago. Those compensatory picks resulted in the drafting of cornerback
It’s still too early to say how mid-round picks will pan out. The Ravens have a lot of developing to do.
But, one move that could fly under the radar as far as the compensatory picks are concerned is the trade up the board in order to select Williams. Without the extra firepower, the Ravens may not have had enough ammunition to make Newsome comfortable enough to sacrifice a fifth-rounder to move up three spots in the second.
“[H]aving those three picks in his pocket essentially gave Newsome the flexibility to make what might have been the most critical move of the draft – jumping up three spots to select tight end Maxx Williams in the second round,” wrote Smolka.
“Williams fills a major need for the Ravens, and if he was indeed snatched away from the Steelers' grasp, as many reports have suggested, well, all the better for the Ravens if Williams proves to be as good as advertised.”
Perriman’s Iconic Catch Saved A Life
When Ravens fans hear the words “Hail Mary,” they think of the “Mile High Miracle” when Jacoby Jones caught the game-tying touchdown pass from Joe Flacco in the divisional round in Denver. It ultimately led to the Ravens winning Super Bowl XLVII.
But when Knights fans at Central Florida hear “Hail Mary,” they think of one person: Perriman.
Perriman caught the game-winning, championship-clinching touchdown in the regular-season finale between UCF and East Carolina. Per the school’s website, the play was viewed by more than 1 million people on UCF's social media within 96 hours, and it was picked as one of SportsCenter's Images of the Year.
But the effects of Perriman’s reception went beyond sports. Weeks later Perriman received a letter from a fan who wrote to say the iconic catch is responsible for saving his life.
Watch the UCF video feature below that explains everything:
Quick Hits
Can't wait to get to Baltimore. New beginnings. I think ima look good in that black n purple. Snooodaaaat
— Trenchwork71 (@Carldavis71) May 5, 2015 Cleveland Browns Most Expensive Ticket in 2015 Comes When They Host The Ravens http://t.co/UFuG0Z20xM pic.twitter.com/lFu0xvVMEy
— Craig Lyndall (@WFNYCraig) May 5, 2015 Today we're hosting our #LIFT2015 conference for female @BaltCitySchools athletes with the help of @SportChallenge! pic.twitter.com/Tgk7QyHzO4
— Ravens Community (@RavensCommunity) May 5, 2015 The @Colts grabbed the most 2015 @seniorbowl players. Here's a look @ where all of our players landed after #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/qY6JKTzRlA
— Patrick Woo (@P_Woo) May 5, 2015 #Ravens took the 2nd-most players from the @seniorbowl. https://t.co/ghMGbBUMjn
— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) May 5, 2015 It's no surprise that the #Ravens gave Pernell McPhee's No. 90 to fourth-rounder Za'Darius Smith , who is taking McPhee's role #FashionTweets
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) May 5, 2015 New #Ravens TE @nickboyle86 is listed at 6-4, 270. That's almost the same exact size as 4th round OLB Za'Darius Smith and bigger than Suggs.
— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) May 5, 2015 Giving away 2 pre game field passes for http://t.co/MnSpkAlXrT tag a person you would like to go with. I will pick someone Friday morning.
— Lardarius Webb (@LWebb21) May 5, 2015 Coming to #Baltimore ! Prince will perform concert following unrest over the death of man injured in police custody http://t.co/1KQwlxlwK5”
— Sports With Coleman (@sportswcoleman) May 6, 2015 
