Ravens pounce on Suggs, get Boller

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) -- Seemingly ignoring a glaring need at quarterback, the Baltimore Ravens happily snared Arizona State defensive end Terrell Suggs with the 10th pick in the NFL Draft on Saturday.

Then the Ravens worked the phones and got the quarterback they coveted. As the first round further unfolded, Baltimore traded its second-round pick and next year's No. 1 choice to New England and took Kyle Boller of California with the 19th overall selection.

"We got Suggs and Boller. What more could you ask?" said Art Modell, entering his 43rd and final season as an NFL owner.

The Ravens added a standout pass rusher and a quarterback who could challenge the seldom-tested Chris Redman for the starting job in 2003.

"We were able to come away with a guy who's going to make our defense better and a young quarterback who was rated pretty high by all of us," general manger Ozzie Newsome said. "We think it's a banner day."

Suggs, 20, is coming off a junior season in which he had 73 tackles, including an NCAA Division-I record 24 sacks. Awarded the Lombardi Trophy as the nation's top collegiate lineman, Suggs also had an interception and swatted away three passes.

He will used as an outside linebacker in the Ravens' 3-4 defense, Newsome said.

Suggs became available to Baltimore after a sequence of events that began when New Orleans obtained the sixth selection from the Arizona Cardinals and picked defensive tackle Johnathan Sullivan.

At that point, a scout in the Ravens' draft room shouted, "We're going to get Suggs!"

Baltimore never figured Suggs would be available at No. 10. Although he ran a rather mediocre 4.83 40-yard dash at a workout for NFL scouts in Arizona, the 6-foot-3, 260-pounder was projected in several mock drafts as the third overall pick.

The Ravens felt fortunate to get him, but the addition of Boller was the result of Newsome scrambling to make something happen under intense circumstances.

"[Saturday] was his finest hour," Modell said.

"It was hard to anticipate that Suggs would fall to us at 10," Ravens head coach Brian Billick said. "Then, to still be able to change gears quickly and make happen what we felt we needed to make happen, with regards to Kyle Boller ... I'm just glad to be a part of it."

The pieces began to fall in place for Baltimore when the Saints took Sullivan.

"Once the trade was made and Sullivan got picked, our board looked very good," Newsome said.

The Minnesota Vikings then let time expire on the seventh pick while talking to the Ravens about a trade, presumably about quarterback Byron Leftwich. Soon after Jacksonville picked Leftwich at No. 8, Baltimore pounced on Suggs.

Suggs was delighted to end up in Baltimore, which used a record-setting defense built around All-Pro linebacker Ray Lewis to win the 2001 Super Bowl.

"I'm going to a defensive kingdom," Suggs said. "Everybody saw that defense dominate. It was the best defense of all-time, even better than the Steel Curtain. I was like, 'Wow, what would it be like to play on a defense like that?' Now I get the opportunity."

Soon after he took Suggs, Newsome began to work a deal to get Boller.

"We talked to probably six teams. Probably about at the 13th or 14th pick, we made a decision with New England what the trade would be," Newsome said.

Boller had three ordinary seasons at California before blossoming as a senior in 2002, when he completed 225 of 421 passes for 2,815 yards and 28 touchdowns compared to only 10 interceptions.

"I definitely think I've only begun," Boller said. "It's just the tip of the iceberg."

Billick said Boller will have the opportunity to compete against Redman for the starting job in training camp this summer. Anthony Wright is also on the roster, but clearly as a backup.

Suggs, meanwhile, will almost certainly be a starter on a defense that lost standout end Michael McCrary to retirement.

"The great thing about [Saturday] is there are a lot of handshakes from both the offense people and the defensive people," said director of player personnel Phil Savage. "We thought we'd get one, but not two. To come out of the draft with two of our best players, we feel real good about what we were able to accomplish."

 

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