Devin Duvernay Has Baltimore Ravens Excited
Coach John Harbaugh almost jumped out of his seat before pumping his first when the Baltimore Ravens landed Devin Duvernay in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta took the speedy Texas receiver with the 92nd overall pick.
However, Harbaugh and DeCosta were worried the New England Patriots had traded up to grab Duvernay, Instead, New England took another Devin — UCLA tight end Devin Asiasi with the 91st pick.
"I was excited because I think New England – they traded in there right in front of us, right?” Harbaugh said “So, I was just kind of excited, because you never know who they're coming to get and what they were going to do. We were just hoping that we would get Devin, so once they took [Devin] Asiasi and our guy was there, I was pretty fired up about it.”
Duvernay, 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, provides Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson with another sure-handed weapon that can play outside, inside, in motion, with runs, twitch routes, or out of the backfield.
Last season, Duvernay started all 13 games for the Longhorns, earning first-team All-Big 12 honors for the first time in his career and was honorable mention as Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. He was also a semifinalist for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award ... was named the Biletnikoff Award’s midseason watch list.
Duvernay caught 106 passes for 1,341 yards — the second-most in school history — with nine touchdowns.
The Ravens were relieved when he was available in the third round.
“If I could just say one thing: What made that really funny was New England traded up in front of us, and we were kind of sweating it because for me Duvernay was one of my favorite guys this year in the draft," DeCosta said. "So, I was sweating it anyways thinking they were going to come up and take him.
"So, when they announced the pick, the guy they took, Asiasi, his first name is Devin. We were all stunned that they were taking our Devin, but they took their Devin. So, it all worked out for us.”
Harbaugh had to hold his breath when the Patriots were picking at No. 91 even when he was calling to welcome him to Baltimore.
“I have to be honest. I'm going to make the call, and they said, ‘The Patriots took Devin.’ And I'm like, ‘Did we get Devin or not? Who am I calling? What's his first name?’”
