OTL: Another Full Mock Draft & Pitta Discusses His Hip Injury

For today’s Out to Lunch, all eyes are on next week’s NFL Draft.

9 days until the nfl draft pic.twitter.com/ikv2tHJOpF

— Yuri (@Yuri_Ravens) April 16, 2024

With Round 1 coming next Thursday evening, most of the talk is centered on the first 32 selections, but I want to take you all through how I would handle things with a 7-Round Mock Draft.

Things will always depend on how the picks ahead of Baltimore fall, but I’ve tried to mimic the consensus as much as possible. And don’t worry, the latest news and rumors are informing my selections, as well.

Round 1, Pick 30: Amarius Mims, OT

Baltimore fills a major immediate need at Tackle, but also gets a future stud in Mims. Ryan Mink wrote a piece on Mims’ candidacy for the Ravens on Tuesday:

Why Amarius Mims could make sense at No. 30: https://t.co/1NuWlf16tu

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 16, 2024

There were some very intriguing options available in Round 1, most notably Nate Wiggins, Johnny Newton and Chop Robinson. I thought the Ravens would prioritize Tackle over CB given the options, but they did visit Newton for his Pro Day:

Johnny Newton didn’t do testing today, but that hardly discouraged more NFL teams from attending his Pro Day. Here’s the rest of the list in attendance to see the consensus All-American:

Ravens
Browns
Cardinals
Bears
Broncos
Lions
Packers
Texans
Colts
Chargers
Dolphins… https://t.co/E6atTAcoaX

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) April 16, 2024

Ultimately, the recent signing of Madubuike made Mims the right selection.

Read James Ogden’s scouting report at RSR

Round 2, Pick 62: Chris Braswell, EDGE

This was a matter of best player available. Braswell is a Baltimore native coming off a breakout season, as noted here.

Prospect Profile: Chris Braswell, EDGE, Alabama

Round 3, Pick 93: Khyree Jackson, CB

Jackson has insane size at 6’3,” and his relentless motor makes him feel like a Raven. Baltimore gets a press corner with the potential to stick outside long-term.

Other considerations were RBs Blake Corum and Jaylen Wright in Round 3. While RB is a need, as noted in Tuesday’s episode of “The Final Drive,” I didn’t think it was a bigger need than CB, especially with a player of Jackson’s caliber available.

I’ll go through Day 3 Picks altogether below, with a quicker summary of my thought process after:

Round 4, Pick 113: Sedrick Van Pran, IOL

Round 4, Pick 130: Audric Estime, RB

Round 5, Pick 165: Malik Mustapha, S

Round 6, Pick 218: Joe Milton, QB

Round 7, Pick 228: Khristian Boyd, DL

Round 7, Pick 250: Jha’Quan Jackson, WR

Throughout Day 3, I was able to grab value at positions of need, particularly when it came to Van Pran, Estime, and Mustapha. I felt great about the haul picked up here, and per Mink’s suggestion earlier, the Ravens get their RB and Safety.

Mustapha would be a great Geno Stone replacement and third option, with the ability to play box Safety if Kyle Hamilton (one of the league’s best) is moved around:

Kyle Hamilton: 90.7 Career PFF Grade

2nd among all players in the 2022 draft class pic.twitter.com/PlaiT9895M

— PFF BAL Ravens (@PFF_Ravens) April 16, 2024

You’ll notice there’s no WR taken until Round 7, and that might give some fans pause. But I personally fall into “Bucket B” in the Tweet below; I think Bateman is still poised to break out.

Or side C: Accepted that he has played like a wr3 to this point in his career but hope that he can stay healthy for 17 games and be a more productive wr https://t.co/gKKAndtyof

— Yuri (@Yuri_Ravens) April 16, 2024

Even if Bateman doesn’t work out, it wouldn’t shock me to see Eric DeCosta trade for an established receiver. According to Benjamin Albright, it was in the works before:

Last year when I reported that this staff wasn’t as high on Jeudy and Sutton…and was looking to move them was met with pushback everywhere.

Then they tried to move Sutton to the Ravens before the season and did move Jeudy after the season for peanuts.

Will Sutton be a Bronco…

— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) April 16, 2024

There’s a number of great WR prospects, don’t get me wrong. The board just didn’t fall in Baltimore’s favor:

This receiver class is deep! Get to know them: https://t.co/oKjv4dO3lo

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 16, 2024

Outside the draft, there are a couple quick hit updates you need to know. First, a position I didn’t discuss was LB, which could be viewed as a need given the loss of Patrick Queen.

While many consider Trenton Simpson the next man up, Jeff Zrebiec noted this won’t be a given:

The Ravens “aren’t just going to hand” LB Trenton Simpson the starting job, per @jeffzrebiec.

He writes that he will have to hold off other candidates such as Chris Board, Josh Ross, and Malik Harrison. pic.twitter.com/Ri5RI6pVSQ

— ð—¥ð—®ð˜ƒð—²ð—»ð˜€ ð—¡ð—®ð˜ð—¶ð—¼ð—» ð™‡ð™„ð™‘𙀠(@LIVERavenNation) April 16, 2024

And if you’re looking for an interesting story, Dennis Pitta discussed his career ending hip injury on “Untold Stories.” It’s not the most fun trip down memory lane, but it’s worth a watch:

The “hip specialist” @dennispitta tells the story of the end of his career in this edition of Untold Stories: pic.twitter.com/b8AsUMY4mM

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 16, 2024

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