Has Manti Te'o been taken off the Ravens' board?

[NCRAVEN]

Arthur Brown is rising fast on the boards. Personally, I'd be happy if the Ravens traded back out of the 1st to nab Brown in the 2nd.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-sh...4050--nfl.html

Based of what information? A Yahoo article? If these guys knew what they were talking about, they'd be sitting in a draft room come the end of April.

[Rxdoxx]

If these guys knew what they were talking about, they'd be sitting in a draft room come the end of April.

Oh they will be ;) only the draft room will have Coors and Bud

, not expertise :D

[Paintballguy]

Based of what information? A Yahoo article? If these guys knew what they were talking about, they'd be sitting in a draft room come the end of April.

If you read the article, it's the shutdown corner blog with Doug Farrar who does frequent podcasts with Greg Cosell.

Also, this is from Tony Pauline who is a respected draft analyst.

As we reported on twitter last week, teams around the league have first round grades on approximately 15 players (give or take a few) and have stamped as many as 60 players second round grades. This further proves the weakness at the top of the draft and the terrific depth at a few positions. Conversations with people have lead us to believe there’s a real chance the back half of round one could offer a number of surprise picks considering the drop off in talent. After talking with several league insiders since the middle of last week here are eight names who could squeeze into the second half of round one, starting with the obvious:

1) Arthur Brown/LB/Kansas State: Brown has been on a straight shot north since his outstanding pro-day performance. Factor in the sliding draft stock of Kevin Minter/LSU and Manti Te’o/Notre Dame and Brown is looking more and more like a top 32 pick.

[NCRAVEN]

If you read the article, it's the shutdown corner blog with Doug Farrar who does frequent podcasts with Greg Cosell.

Also, this is from Tony Pauline who is a respected draft analyst.

I read it. I know of him, but he is a writer.

Writing about a subject for a living doesn't mean your an expert on that subject, it means your an expert on writing about that subject.

[Paintballguy]

I read it. I know of him, but he is a writer.

Writing about a subject for a living doesn't mean your an expert on that subject, it means your an expert on writing about that subject.

After watching one final tape on Kansas State's Arthur Brown, former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah considers the LB a top of the second-round talent.
"Sideline-to-sideline range, instinctive, productive," Jeremiah tweeted. "Inconsistent take-on player." Brown isn't of ideal size for an inside linebacker, but we think his aggression and strength to shed makes up for his "undersized" frame. He is an immediate starter. Apr 2 - 9:31 AM
Source: Daniel Jeremiah on Twitter

Jeremiah is a former Ravens scout.

Also...

National Football Post's Russ Lande writes that Kansas State LB Arthur Brown is a "favorite" among coaches and scouts.
"No doubt shorter than ideal at 6’0, his ability to read and react to the play so quickly, elite speed and explosive closing burst to give him sideline range has teams confident he will be a three down linebacker in the NFL," Lande writes. "Not only an outstanding player on the field, but regarded as a team leader with all the intangibles, Brown is a favorite amongst scouts and coaches. Although Brown may not make it into the first round of the Draft, we hear it is 50/50, he is viewed by many teams as the most complete inside linebacker in the Draft who has no character issues."

[NCRAVEN]

Jeremiah is a former Ravens scout.

Also...

Great. We'll see if the Ravens agree.

Thing is though it's the offseason, even Daniel Jeremiah is not immune to putting things out to get guys talking, he is now employed by the NFL network. I remember him saying pretty much the same kind of stuff about Minter not too long ago.

[Raven Werewolf]

We've also only had one John Harbaugh draft with a 1st pick higher than #20. Typically, the BIG HEADLINE type players are in the top 10 anyway. Would Michael Oher possibly count? He wasn't getting MAJOR headlines, but he was certainly a known figure in the media for The Blind Side book (ahead of the eventual movie). In any case, I can't think of any NFL prospect in the last 5 drafts that we even had a SHOT at that had these type of headlines"

I was thinking Oher too. But even that is sort of different from Teo in that Mike's attention was overwhelmingly positive.

I can't imagine us completely taking anyone's name off the board as that's not what competent organizations do --they leave all options open. I do hope we stay far away from him come draft day but I really think some other team is going to spare us that decision. Someone is going to buy into the early hype and snap him up a few spots before us.

[srobert96]

No one is "replacing" Ray Lewis, but if you're asking who's going to play the MIKE LB spot, they already have several "thumper" type LBs who make their hay getting physical against the run and taking on blockers up the middle in McClellan and Bynes. Why get another "North/South" player when we really need an "East/West player"?

The real problem on this defense isn't the MIKE spot, it's the WILL spot that Ellerbe played. We need someone who can play in space. Guys like Alec Ogletree, Arthur Brown, Khaseem Greene, Sio Moore, etc. are all candidates to be drafted in the top 100 and all are better replacements at WILL than big, lumbering guys like Minter and Te'o.

By replace I mean play the Mike spot. Obviously no one replaces Ray Lewis. When Lewis went out injured they moved Ellerbe into his spot. If the Ravens feel as though they have a Mike on the roster than they may very well be looking at an Ogletree or Brown. Obviously Teo can play in space as shown by his 7 Ints. That is more than double what brown had in two years as a starter at KSU. This difference in ability to play in space is demonstrated by what? At ND Teo was responsible for playing the Mike role in the 3-4. He was good in coverage and against the run. If Ogletree is such a better athlete and better in space why did he run a slower 20yd shuttle and slower 3 cone drill? Wouldn't those exercises be more of an indication of ability to play in space rather than running 40 yards? Don't know what Ogletree and Brown's 10 yard split was but I seem to remember Teo having one of the fastest of the ILB. Again another indication of quickness which is more important than a 40 yard dash. Brown and Teo's 10 yard split and 20 yard split were identical. Teo was a little faster in the 20 yard shuttle and Brown was a little faster in the 3-cone drill. The only thing that says more athletic is that Brown was faster on the final 20 yards of the 40 yard dash. Teo had a better Vertical and did 1 more rep on the bench. Ogletrees numbers are similar to Teo's and Browns. The measurements of those three are pretty darn identical.

If you look at the total body of work Teo has been superior on the field. Most people harp on the Alabama game and have not looked at the total body of work. Ogletree was non-existent against Alabama as was Jarvis Jones. It is what Alabama does to just about everyone.

[Stealthbirds80]

I would think that it would be the Ravens as we seem to just have under gone a removal of internal distractions. Couple that with the fact that we won the Superbowl and I would not think that distraction is something we want instead of just us being the champs from last year. Like someone said, Harbs shaking his head may have been the final blow. Harbs is all about business and not answering to a circus, which is sure to come, but it could be blowing smoke.

[Stealthbirds80]

Jimmy kept his nose clean for three years and graduated. T'eo couldn't even put all of the pieces together with the inadequacies of the story. Yet, this is going to be your first pick, a guy you aren't even sure you can trust with this story? At least with Jimmy, you had evidence that he stayed out of trouble for three years.

That's another great point. Even though this has ended up as a catfish story, the lost portion of that is that he is a liar. Not just a liar, but possibly hiding something bigger (not saying just saying). He admitted to lying to his dad and also admitted that he didn't come forward right away (just plain fishy). I think he will be an ok player, but not 1st rd type and just not a Raven type player.

I remember the McKinnie "falling down" story and just seemingly like Harbs had it in for him ever since. As a guy with integrity that invokes spiritual and is openly religous, I just can see Harbs saying no way for more reasons than one.

[Ravens44]

I don't think Te'o is off our board, but I think what the Ravens might be looking at is more than just stats by a player at ILB. The one thing Ozzie has learned from drafting a Ray Lewis, is that there is more to an ILB than just the numbers.
That is why I actually think if Brown is there when the Ravens pick and he is a ILB they covet, they will go with him due to his other intangibles...instincts moving to the ball before the snap, sideline to sideline player, a leader.
These are things the Ravens need right now. It would be a matter of need and best linebacker available coming together.

[The Excellector]

Kids, just say no to T'eo.