OTL: One Last Mock Draft Friday

We are less than one week away from the start of the 2024 NFL Draft. The film study, the tweeting about our favorite players and fits, the listening to our favorite podcasts and analysts: it’s all led up to this coming Thursday, April 25th.

For me, the NFL Draft and the scouting process hold a special place. The Ravens, in particular, have a knack for excellent Drafts, and witnessing the lives of these young men transform is a truly magical experience.

So today, for our final Mock Draft Friday, we are breaking down every pick in depth and trying to build a Draft that can hold a candle to the remarkably high standards of the Baltimore Ravens.

Before we do that, however, we have a little housekeeping to do:

Per the NFL: “Following a review, the NFL concluded there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that Zay Flowers engaged in any activity that violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy. There will be no action taken by the league.”

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) April 18, 2024

This is the big story of the day: the NFL will not suspend Zay Flowers after its own investigation into his incident. Flowers was thought to be involved with a domestic violence case in January. However, the Baltimore County Police suspended the investigation into in February without bringing charges. This is why you have seen Zay show up early for the off-season workout program that started this week.

At this point, we don’t know if the Ravens will discipline Flowers at all, but considering that two separate investigations found nothing and he has been showing up to the offseason program early, that doesn’t seem likely at this juncture.

The Ravens take situations like this seriously, so the fact that he is on the team makes it seem like they also believe he is innocent. The last thing I will say is that I hope this is a wake-up call for Zay. I don’t know his life or what happened that January night. All I know is what the investigations tell us, but for Zay personally, I hope he uses this situation to improve himself and get away from people he shouldn’t be around.

Ray Lewis did the same thing after his infamous brush with the law, and now he has a statue outside the Bank. He got away from the wrong people and used his lowest moment to improve himself. We can hope that Zay will do the same because he has a bright future ahead of him, but it won’t matter if something like this incident happens again.

With that out of the way, let’s dive right into this Mock Draft:

The first problem with this mock was that I had a lot of talent on the board. Just at pick 30, there were seven different players I consdidered. Usually, when that happens, I like to trade down, but the offers were terrible.

So, I did what was best for the organization going forward. The offensive tackle position remains as big of a concern to me as it has been since Morgan Moses was traded. We need a plus starter, but plus starters don’t fall to thirty unless they have something teams don’t like. Mims is an intriguing case for the Draft community and the Ravens brass. He is a young player with no tread on his tires but has injury concerns and hurt himself on his Pro Day. We already deal with Ronnie Stanley and his countless injuries, so how confident do you feel with another potentially injury-prone tackle on the roster? Well, sometimes you have to risk it for the biscuit and Mims, is worth it. He is strong and athletically gifted. No one that big should move this fast and fluidly when coming out of his stance. This is a scenario where the Ravens feel like his injuries aren’t serious, and the upside is too much to trade down and get some future picks when a potential all-pro Tackle has landed in their lap.

Than we got a good offer to trade down into the Third round. The Cardinals took a tackle at our second round pick and one thing is clear: it will take a lot to convince the Ravens to trade down.

It’s going to take a “premium” trade offer for the Ravens to move down in this years draft, per @ryamink/@CliftonGBrown. pic.twitter.com/8Ef2Jc9WNW

— ð—¥ð—®ð˜ƒð—²ð—»ð˜€ ð—¡ð—®ð˜ð—¶ð—¼ð—» ð™‡ð™„ð™‘𙀠(@LIVERavenNation) April 17, 2024

I consider two early thirds to be a premium so I took the offer. Cooper Beebe is a fan favorite of mine.

Prospect Profile: Cooper Beebe, iOL, Kansas State

He can run block his butt off while offering solid pass protection. We have now officially built a wall behind Lamar Jackson and have gotten younger on the O-Line which is exactly what the Ravens wanted to do. Kneeland is another pick that has been a consistent target of mind. He adds more pocket pushing ability than someone like David Ojabo, and he could be a great routinely piece with KVN and Tavius Robinson. He has a Matt Judon energy to him and I saw more finesse moves from him than his profile usually produces. Kneeland and Beebe are additions to the team that will help the depth and could fight for starting spots early on, especially Beebe.

Andru Phillips rounds out a crowded third round for the Ravens.

Prospect Profile: Andru Phillips, CB, Kentucky

He has press ability and can play on the outside. The more we go on, the more I think getting an outside corner either through the Draft, or free agency later, is a necessity. We need Marlo insurance and Brandon Stephens is only locked up for another season.

This mock draft has ignored wide receiver, until now. I am crowning Malik Washington with a nickname, “Baby Zay.” Everything we love about Flowers, Washington has:

Malik Washington is a WR prospect in the 2024 draft class. He scored a 8.63 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 467 out of 3402 WR from 1987 to 2024. https://t.co/sTDub8xYAO pic.twitter.com/EsjwwvVLHS

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 17, 2024

The after-catch ability and his breakaway speed are his main tools, but I like his route running more than I thought going in. He just has the extra gear and while his hands and size aren’t the best, neither are Zay’s. While it may seem redundant with Zay on the roster, these are the type of receivers Todd Monken seems to like.

Leonard Taylor is big strong athletic and a good run stopper. He is coming out of school a bit early, which usually means the NFL likes him more than analyst consensus does and I would be shocked if he is available here in the fourth.

Elijah Jones is a classic dart throw at athleticism late in the Draft. It is one of my favorite draft strategies because it works. These guys have something the coaches can’t teach and when we are this late, just take the athletes and hope for the best. This practice also applies to Hampton as well. A 6-3 Free safety with 4.4 speed? Yes please, this late in the Draft. Cornelius Johnson is another shot at athleticism with a big 6-3 frame and 4.4 speed. He would also get out of a scheme that seems to hate receivers and go to a more pass-happy offense. It would also continue the Michigan-Ravens connection. Isaiah Davis is a strong powerful runner that might outright win the backup job to Derrick Henry in camp.

With this done, I understand this mock wasn’t perfect. I know a lot of people are going to criticize the lack of weapons, but truthfully, I did try to get more weapons early. The board didn’t match up, and the need for other positions lined up with the talent available to me.

It was a lot of fun doing these every Friday and discussing these prospects. So thank you for keeping up with them and we will see you next week to talk about the newest Baltimore Raven.

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