Ravens Will Try To Get Stronger in Trenches With Upcoming NFL Draft
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens will look to boost their presence in the trenches, looking to take an offensive lineman or defensive tackle with the 14th overall pick in the NFL draft, according to NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah
Both are areas of need for Baltimore this offseason and they can find a player who can make an immediate impact as a rookie.
"The one player, if he's there, I just would write it in as Trevor Penning from Northern Iowa, because when you watch him, this guy is just a Raven," Jeremiah said on a conference call with reporters. "The way he plays, the physicality, he's huge. He's 330 pounds. He's almost 6'7". One of my favorite nuggets on him was the guy literally watches horror movies the night before the game to get into character. I can think back to my back to my time in Baltimore when we had Orlando Brown, Zeus, the original Orlando Brown, and I thought, oh, my gosh, this would be Zeus reincarnate here with Trevor Penning. That would be kind of a great fit for them.
"And then outside of that, when you look at the defensive tackles that would be kind of in the mix there where they're picking, they go big. If you want to go big, you could definitely do that with Jordan Davis. They've always had big guys like that, so I could see that making some sense there, while a guy like Devonte Wyatt would maybe give you a little bit more interior pass rush. But the Ravens have a long history of enjoying the company of large human beings, and Jordan Davis and Trevor Penning would fit that bill."
Trevor Penning from Northern Iowa.
The Ravens hired Mike Macdonald as the new defensive coordinator after he held the same position at Michigan this year. Baltimore could also look at several Wolverines, such as defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, edge rusher David Ojabo and safety Daxton Hill, that thrived under Macdonald's tutelage.
"Yeah, the good thing is the Ravens, once they get healthy you're going to have a bunch of corners," Jeremiah said. "You can never have enough, but they're going to be called upon there. I think about what made that defense go and we can look at the edge rushers obviously with Hutchinson and Ojabo, stand-up guys, stand-up on the edge and kind of have the versatility, run-pass, be able to hold up there, I think that if you're looking at that defense and the Ravens trying to find one of those unique players like a Daxton Hill, whose ability to play in multiple locations, in the nickel, to play high, that's why like I wouldn't be shocked at all if that was their pick.
"You have the Harbaugh connection, you have the defensive coordinator there, and this guy's ability to do so many different things and allow you to be versatile and be able to change the picture if you want to after the snap. He gives you the luxury of being able to do all those things. I don't know if the Ravens have that particular type of player on campus right now."
