Edge Rusher Becoming Popular First-Round Choice for Ravens in Mock Drafts
With draft season right around the corner, this is the time where mock drafts start popping up everywhere. It's still too early to tell what will happen (the draft order isn't even set), but pundits do their best to predict where college football's top players will land.
The Athletic's Dane Brugler released his latest mock draft and has the Ravens selecting Texas edge rusher Joseph Ossai with the 28th pick.
"An outside linebacker/edge rusher might not be the Ravens' biggest offseason need, but it's probably the position with the most uncertainty for Baltimore," The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec wrote. "Of the Ravens' top six current edge rushers, only one of them, 2019 third-round pick Jaylon Ferguson, is under contract beyond this season. And the Ravens still don't know what they have in Ferguson, who has 4.5 sacks over his first two seasons and has recently been a healthy scratch on game days."
Ossai has been a popular name linked to the Ravens at the end of the first round. He was named a consensus All-American during his junior season, registering 55 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, and five sacks.
"Whoever gets Ossai in this draft is going to fall in love with him quickly," The Athletic's Max Olson wrote. "He's a freaky talent as a pass rusher and a versatile defender who's always making plays because he's got one heck of a motor.
"What made him so good? His coaches rave about his high-motor play and how he constantly went full-speed in practice with no off switch. Former Texas coach Tom Herman would say Ossai 'plays his ever-loving you-know-what off' in a way that reminded him of coaching Ed Oliver, another first-rounder. He played through a shoulder injury during that Oklahoma State game and you wouldn't know it based on his effort level."
Zrebiec acknowledged that the Ravens should have the flexibility to bring back at least one of Matthew Judon, Yannick Ngakoue, or Tyus Bowser, who are impending free agents this offseason. That still presents the need for another pass rusher in the rotation.
"The Ravens have only drafted two first-round edge rushers in franchise history: Peter Boulware in 1997 and Terrell Suggs in 2003," Zrebiec added. "Both were home run picks. … The time feels right, though, for them to take a shot at a Day 1 edge rusher who could come in and make an immediate impact. Ossai would fill a need both in the present and future."
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January 13, 2021 at 09:46PM
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