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Posted: Saturday April 26, 2003 10:53 PM
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SI.com's Don Banks tackles three questions
raised by Baltimore's draft on Saturday:
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Did the Ravens give up too much to get Cal QB Kyle Boller? |
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Kyle Boller
Otto Greule Jr./Getty Images |
Without a doubt, Baltimore paid a hefty ransom to obtain New England's second first-round pick, the 19th overall selection. The Ravens handed the Patriots their second-round pick, No. 41 overall, and their No. 1 in 2004 for the privilege of taking the most intriguing passer in this year's draft. That's after Baltimore narrowly missed out on landing Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich, who it had rated ahead of Boller.
It's always dangerous to trade future No. 1 picks, but I think it was a calculated move that Baltimore needed to make, given its history at the position. The Ravens in essence gave up the chance to get a possible impact player in next year's draft -- plus another strong contributor in this year's second round -- in order to immediately address the franchise's longstanding quarterback problem. Since the Ravens got to town in 1996, the position has required constant attention.
Ravens head coach Brian Billick has started eight quarterbacks in his four seasons in Baltimore: Scott Mitchell, Stoney Case, Tony Banks, Trent Dilfer, Elvis Grbac, Randall Cunningham, Chris Redman and Jeff Blake. And if Baltimore didn't draft a first-round quarterback this year, it was likely to pursue Denver's Brian Griese once he's released in June.
Baltimore's assessment that next year's draft will be a weak one at quarterback is shared by many. At this point, there's only one prospect -- Mississippi's Eli Manning -- who looks like a certain top-10 pick. The Ravens reasoned that they'll be at least an 8-8 or 9-7 club in 2003, and thus won't have a legitimate shot to land a big-time quarterback at the top of the draft. That's sound thinking, but you never know how many collegiate quarterbacks will emerge this season.
There's no way to know today if the Ravens' gamble was wise or wasteful. If Boller ends the revolving door at the position and develops into a star, the price Baltimore paid might someday look like a bargain. If he doesn't, and fails to live up to the pre-draft buzz that his workouts and interviews created this spring, the Ravens will have stumbled once again at the game's most critical position.
"Kyle Boller has size, intelligence, huge arm strength, great personal charisma and great character," Billick said. "He's very intelligent and yet he's just scratching the surface of how far he can go."
At least the Ravens hope so.
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How will the Ravens use Arizona State DE Terrell Suggs?
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Terrell Suggs
Jeff Gross/Getty Images |
They're thinking that he's a natural fit at outside linebacker in their 3-4 defensive formation. Suggs is slated to start out playing the strong side, opposite of veteran Peter Boulware on the weak side. When Baltimore looks at Suggs, they see a player who can wreak havoc on the passer from a stand-up position.
"Now we think we can really get after the passer," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said. "He and Peter Boulware can be a force, so we're able to put pressure on the quarterback. We've got two guys now who can get after the quarterback, and the way to help your secondary is to rush the passer."
Notice any theme there? I'd say Suggs' marching orders in Baltimore will be to make sure the quarterback goes down, and goes down hard.
The Ravens said they didn't expect Suggs to be available, but that's not entirely true. Upon watching Suggs, last year's collegiate sack leader (24), run just a 4.8 40-yard dash at his personal workout last month in Tempe, Ariz., Ravens director of player personnel Phil Savage told Newsome and Billick that Baltimore might just luck into the slipping Sun Devil star at No. 10.
Because NFL teams wanted to see him get bigger to play defensive end on an every-down basis, Suggs bulked to around 260 pounds this offseason. But he lost some speed in the process, and that hurt his draft status. Suggs figures to get down closer to his collegiate playing weight of 250 pounds now that he's going to play linebacker.
"Since the day after the season was over, all this young man has heard is, 'You're too small, you're too small, you're too small,'" Billick said. "So he works himself to get bigger, and now he's bigger, and it's 'Now you're too slow, you're too slow, you're too slow.' OK, what do you want? Sometimes you can't be right either way."
The Ravens say they believe Suggs can handle dropping into pass coverage, as a 3-4 linebacker must do. But more importantly ....
"He can go forward," Newsome said. "We need to rush the passer better."
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What does the drafting of Kyle Boller mean for Chris Redman? |
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Chris Redman
Ron Hoskins/Getty Images
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It means that the Redman era in Baltimore could end after just six games. Redman, a third-round pick in 2000, was 3-3 last year as a first-time starter before a lingering back injury basically wiped out the rest of his season and eventually prompted surgery.
Billick said Redman is healthy enough to work with the first team in the Ravens' upcoming minicamp. But in the next breath Billick also said that he wouldn't rule out Boller being his starter in the regular-season opener.
The reality of the situation is this: Billick has never been entirely sold on Redman's upside as a starter, and the drafting of Boller calls into question Redman's long-term future with Baltimore.
Billick said the Ravens could still add a veteran quarterback before training camp, which would further complicate Redman's status. That veteran, however, is not likely to be Denver's Griese, who served as the Ravens' fallback plan if the draft did not yield a starting quarterback option.
Between his troublesome back and the arrival of Boller on Saturday, Redman's stock has definitely dropped in Baltimore. Just how far still can't be answered.
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