Evaluating the 2019 draft class

[Danand]

The 2019 draft class was very much up and down. We got production and it seems we hit on a few players who will either be key contributors going forward or solid rotational players/backups.

 A strong roster and few injuries is part of the reason we didn’t see more action from a couple of our draft prospects.

 1, Pick 25: WR Marquise Brown

 Hollywood seems like a bulls eye. We needed speed and a player who could produce via slants, crossers, deep routes and comebacks and we got it. Even with minor injuries all year, Brown was our best receiver and we can only hope he can get completely healthy. I don’t mind him going down before contact or out of bounds – he is not that type of receiver.

 Surprisingly he was one of our pass catchers with the best hands.

 3, Pick 85: DE Jaylon Ferguson

 Jaylon was the second most productive player. He certainly has a lot to learn and I think another year being mentored by McPhee will help him develop into an allround edge player. I doubt he will be a 10 sack guy, which means he will most likely serve time going forward as a rotational player.

 3, Pick 93: WR Miles Boykin

 Boykins hands was an issue, which is sad as that should have been a strength of his. We saw glimpses of his potential, but he was most effective blocking on the perimeter. He will have to elevate his game, if he wants to be a starter.

 4, Pick 113: RB Justice Hill

 Was very unproductive and seemed unsure how to read gaps and plays the first 14-15 games. Then he came on against the Browns and the Steelers, and I think we have a player who can do a lot of damage as a pass catching option and change of pace back. There is some upside but he is also buried behind Edwards and Ingram.

 4, Pick 123: OL Ben Powers

 Might just be a victim of numbers as he didn’t see the field until the Steelers game. Being a guard only might be the reason we chose backups on gameday that could play the center position as well. Filmstudy really liked him in his game against the Steelers though, but so a grade is inconclusive.

 4 Pick 127: CB Iman Marshall

 IR’ed and never saw the field.

 5, Pick 160: DT Daylon Mack

 IR’ed after playing in some game I don’t want to recall, and he wasn’t fantastic to say the least. Will have to prove himself this off season.

 6, Pick 197: QB Trace McSorley

 I doubt we get much from him, but is what a 3. QB is supposed to be.

 UDFA – IOL, Patrick Mekari

 Another possible gem found late in the draft. Was overwhelmed in the divisional game, but the front he was up against is really talented. At worst we have a backup for years at OC and OG on a cheap deal.

[M.10.E]

Agree with your takes. I'd be pleasantly surprised if anyone besides Hollywood became a productive starter but it looks to be a decent depth draft.

[Danand]

23 minutes ago, M.10.E said:

Agree with your takes. I'd be pleasantly surprised if anyone besides Hollywood became a productive starter but it looks to be a decent depth draft.

I doubt this is a boom class, but it also doesn't seem like a bust class. Just another one of those, where we hit on one guy, and then we have 2 players who become average to above average starters/rotational players who play special teams and then 2 guys who plays out their contract and the rest we part ways with.

Brown could/should be a star, Ferguson plays out his contract and nets a comp pick, Boykin a guy who becomes rotational/ST player, Hill we part ways with after his contract is over, Powers an average starter, Marshall a special teams player and backup, Mack and Sorley we part ways with and Mekari is our new Skura who is an average starter to rotational player.

It is still early and players can make huge leaps from their first to their second year. But it was not an impressive start compared to other teams. Titans really hit the draft. They had 5 guys play in the playoffs and 3 of those players are already impact players and the two others played a lot of special teams and regularly defense snaps

[RavensfanRD]

Solid analysis, but I think we're all falling asleep on Boykin. I think next year he's gonna ramp it up and be who we all thought he could be. This definitely won't become a bust class. It has the potential to be a boom class but at worst, a solid class.

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

1, Pick 25: WR Marquise Brown

A fantastic pick, and once his ankle fully heals this offseason I think next year is his true "breakout" year.

3, Pick 85: DE Jaylon Ferguson

Lots of hype in the preseason from coaches, but ultimately I was not impressed at all with Ferguson this year. Didn't offer much rushing the passer, and couldn't set the edge if his life depended on it. Hopefully with another year of development he'll continue to improve, but right now looks like nothing more than a depth OLB.

3, Pick 93: WR Miles Boykin

Despite being a man-amongst-boys in the Preseason, he never looked comfortable this season. Again, maybe with another offseason he'll improve but as of now looks to be another depth WR.

4, Pick 113: RB Justice Hill

This is the player I'm most excited about, outside of Hollywood. Justice Hill has ELITE speed at RB, and we should be utilizing that to it's fullest. He's quicker/faster than anyone guarding him and he showed it repeatedly when he found playing time. He's a gadget player that we just need to get on the field and get him in space next year.

4, Pick 123: OL Ben Powers

Not much to say with Powers.

4 Pick 127: CB Iman Marshall

Project DB.

5, Pick 160: DT Daylon Mack

Project DT.

6, Pick 197: QB Trace McSorley

I think this was a wasted pick, tbh. If we're not going to turn him into a Taysom Hill-type player, idk what we're doing with him.

[baltimoreRebel]

Love to see it. 

[SalvadorsDeli]

4 hours ago, RavensfanRD said:

Solid analysis, but I think we're all falling asleep on Boykin. I think next year he's gonna ramp it up and be who we all thought he could be. This definitely won't become a bust class. It has the potential to be a boom class but at worst, a solid class.

Yeah I think a lot of us are understandably hesitant to buy much stock in Boykin till we see it on the field - we've just been let down too many times before when it comes to WR development to go wishcasting too much about him making a big jump in his development, even if a year 1 to year 2 leap is fairly common.

Which is pretty much the opposite of how I feel about Jaylon Ferguson where he really didn't pop off the tape much either in his rookie year but I feel reasonably confident just based on our track record that he's gonna be molded into a dependable rotational guy at the very least. i could see him following a trajectory similar to Zardarius Smith with us minus the whole DPOY-leap he eventually made after leaving us.  

Edited January 21, 2020 by BaltimoreTerp

[wackywabbit]

I'm actually in for the year 2 leap with Brown and Boykin. 

[diamondbull424]

I’m in for a year two leap with Powers. Played on the OL awarded as the best in college football last year. He’s looked solid with time.

I also like Mekari as a HUGE improvement. Like Yanda he was a converted college OT. Dude came in as a rookie and showed minimal decline from Skura. Given an offseason to improve and reshape his body to play the interior... I see Pro Bowl/ All Pro potential with him. I mean he was one of the best graded LTs in college football, biggest issue with him in college was durability. I don’t see average with him. He’s already above average, no way is he not at least good. Especially once he gets more comfortable with snaps. I think we have a stud on our hands. Which is why I’m comfortable skipping on Tyler Biadasz.

[M.10.E]

29 minutes ago, diamondbull424 said:

I’m in for a year two leap with Powers. Played on the OL awarded as the best in college football last year. He’s looked solid with time.

I also like Mekari as a HUGE improvement. Like Yanda he was a converted college OT. Dude came in as a rookie and showed minimal decline from Skura. Given an offseason to improve and reshape his body to play the interior... I see Pro Bowl/ All Pro potential with him. I mean he was one of the best graded LTs in college football, biggest issue with him in college was durability. I don’t see average with him. He’s already above average, no way is he not at least good. Especially once he gets more comfortable with snaps. I think we have a stud on our hands. Which is why I’m comfortable skipping on Tyler Biadasz.

Ehhh idk if I’d go that far with Mekari. Best case scenarios imo is Skura 2.0

[diamondbull424]

42 minutes ago, M.10.E said:

Ehhh idk if I’d go that far with Mekari. Best case scenarios imo is Skura 2.0

Skura was a level above turnstile in his first season after having played the center position all throughout college. He was well below average as a rookie. Patrick Mekari overall has looked better in my estimation than Skura looked this season (outside of the Bills game where his snaps were slightly off, which was in 20 mph winds). Mekari seems to struggle less in pass blocking with speed/quickness, his anchor handles strength negligibly better, and the run blocking is quite similar without Mekari having an NFL offseason to transform his body. 

PFF actually concurs with my anecdotal evidence whereby Skura graded out at 68.7 compared with Mekari with a 70.5 grade. IIRC rookie Skura was rated somewhere in the 50s. All Pro Jason Kelce scored an 81.0 this season. Within a year or two can Mekari (if he remains healthy) improve an additional 10 points like most of the lineman did from their rookie seasons until now on our squad? I think he can for sure. Even if he doesn’t, he’s at pro bowl level, just not at an All Pro level. But as Kelce ages out, as Mekari improves, and with Mekari playing with a superstar QB; he’s got a good shot at the exposure to make an All Pro team.

[SalvadorsDeli]

3 hours ago, wackywabbit said:

I'm actually in for the year 2 leap with Brown and Boykin. 

I see Brown as just being in a different category entirely. He's already done enough to be looked at as a legitimate NFL starter and the goal for him really is staying healthy in order to make a real star turn in Year 2. Whereas with Boykin 'the leap' is a lot more basic in that he just needs to translate his talent into being a legitimate NFL player. 

[DreamKid]

5 hours ago, BaltimoreTerp said:

Which is pretty much the opposite of how I feel about Jaylon Ferguson where he really didn't pop off the tape much either in his rookie year but I feel reasonably confident just based on our track record that he's gonna be molded into a dependable rotational guy at the very least.

In relation to playing time, Ferg has flashed less than any other EDGE player we've drafted during the Harbaugh era IIRC. I really want to believe he can turn into something. Take that incredible CFB production and translate it over to the pros- on some level. It's not looking great though. Historically bad testing numbers, older prospect to begin with, and it's not like he has some displayed specialized skill set to build off of. He's pretty much struggled in every category across the board. I try to not be too hard on Rookies, but it's really hard to see him having much of a future with the team.

I think Boykin might end up getting phased out too. Like EDGE, we'll add some new and talented bodies to the WR room and Boykin will struggle to see the field imo. 

[diamondbull424]

4 hours ago, DreamKid said:

In relation to playing time, Ferg has flashed less than any other EDGE player we've drafted during the Harbaugh era IIRC. I really want to believe he can turn into something. Take that incredible CFB production and translate it over to the pros- on some level. It's not looking great though. Historically bad testing numbers, older prospect to begin with, and it's not like he has some displayed specialized skill set to build off of. He's pretty much struggled in every category across the board. I try to not be too hard on Rookies, but it's really hard to see him having much of a future with the team.

I think Boykin might end up getting phased out too. Like EDGE, we'll add some new and talented bodies to the WR room and Boykin will struggle to see the field imo. 

Agreed. This is exactly how I see it. Gone are the days where we continue to hope that Tandon Doss improves enough for us to rely on... or Campanaro or Marlon Brown... etc. Miles Boykin could pan out, but we can’t rely on that possibility so we’ll need to continue adding talented bodies to that WR room... and it’s very possible those options could surpass him as they develop their skill set more and more. Either way, worst case scenario would be Boykin either being what he is now or pushing past sneed as our #3 WR as Snead gets pushed to 4th WR. Best case scenario we end up with Boykin tearing it up and said rookie also tears it up and with Hollywood playing at a superstar level we have en absolute dynamite passing team that takes the league by storm.

[RavensTillIDie]

Personally, I think the biggest hindrance to Boykin's development is his chemistry with Lamar - it's not existent, especially compared to the bond Lamar has with Hollywood. You'll often see shots of Lamar joking with his wide receivers on the side line and Boykin is just standing beside them, contemplating a way to fit in/get in on the conversation. I don't know if that's just his personality or he just has very little in common with the other guys, but we've clearly seen Lamar prefers to target "his guys" in Hollywood and Andrews because he trusts them and knows he can rely on them. Hard to get more looks/become one of "his guys" if Boykin can't mesh with Lamar off the field and build that trust, imo.