Ravens Draft Alabama CB Marlon Humphrey

With the 16th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens selected Alabama cornerback Marlon Humphrey. RSR staff react to the pick here.

Tony Lombardi

Marlon Humphrey seems like a fine player but drafted a little early, particularly with Jonathan Allen and O.J. Howard still on the board. I’m sure Ozzie has great Alabama intel but the Ravens needed to get a starter with their first pick. Instead they just added depth.

Kyle Casey

The Ravens had a dream scenario fall their way with three quarterbacks going in the top 12. That allowed them to have their pick of several top-tier prospects, and landing Humphrey was the perfect selection. Humphrey is the best, most complete cornerback in this year’s draft, and will settle in well opposite Jimmy Smith. He mirrors Smith’s physicality with the instincts and closing speed needed to thrive in the NFL. Great first pick for the Ravens to kick off the 2017 draft.

Brian Bower

With all the talent still out there, Marlon Humphrey is the Alabama player no one expected the Ravens to take at 16. After the run on wide receiver, the Ravens shore up their secondary and look to focus on offense later. Not a real fan of the move but it does make the secondary younger.

Joe Polek

The Ravens defense, especially their secondary, has really been a downfall for this team the last couple of years. Not any longer. This offseason they have worked hard on building the secondary and Humphrey continues that trend.

Adam Bonaccorsi

So 4 Bama players on the board, and nearly everybody was sure the Ravens would take LB Reuben Foster, as he both fills a need, and was likely a top-10 pick for most teams. Instead, the Ravens opt to pass on Foster, DE Jonathan Allen and TE OJ Howard to select the least likely candidate in CB Marlon Humphrey.

Meh… feels safe to me. Good, not great. Not mad, just not happy about the pick. Perhaps the Ravens saw Allen’s shoulder issues as a concern, Foster’s off-field incidents as a concern, and didn’t value Howard. Honestly? They could’ve traded down a handful of spots, picked up an extra pick or two and still landed Humphrey with no problem.

Hooray for depth, but still plenty of holes to fill that could’ve been addressed by a consensus slew of better players on the board…

Ryan Jones

I don’t think there was a single mock draft that had the Ravens taking Humphrey and frankly it’s a little bit of a head scratcher. There were several options like Reuben Foster and Jonathan Allen that would have matched need with Ozzie’s best player available strategy but they went in a different direction. This may be the deepest secondary in Ravens history but with the addition of Brandon Carr is Humphrey even considered a day one starter?

Carey Stevenson

In a draft loaded with talented corners, the Ravens take one surprisingly early. Humphrey fits the team’s “type” as a long, athletic, physical boundary corner. The upside is evident, and he’s only 20 years old but again, the offense or the pass rush doesn’t get addressed. Still PLENTY of work to do.

We’ll have more knee-jerk reactions as they roll in…

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