Eric DeCosta interview

[Shas]

Listening to interview on 105.7 with Eric Decosta. Here are a few highlights.

They liked Elam and Cyprian in the first round. They like Elam a bit more because they wanted to get faster, he faced better competition, and they have some connections with his family. They worried Dallas was going to take Elam at 31. They also liked Swearinger as a back-up plan.

In the second round they liked Brown from K State, Moore from UCONN, and Bostic from Florida and were banking on one of the ILB's falling to them.

In third round they thought they were going to get a tight end or wide receiver but they all got picks, leaving them with the Brandon Williams pick. FYI, players picked in the third include.

Travis Kelce, TE (63) Chiefs
Terrance Williams (74) Cowboys
Keneen Allen (76) Chargers
Marquise Goodwin (78) Bills
Marcus Wheaton (79) Steelers
Reed Jordan, TE (85) Redskins
Steadman Bailey, (92) Rams

(I liked Allen and Weaton)

They think Simon will contribute right away on special teams and he could be a third down Sam backer. He'll be a work in progress teaching him to drop into coverage. They they he won't have a problem setting the edge.

Kyle Juszczyk. They aren't sure if he can block straight up inside the tackles. Will find out in camp.

Kapron Lewis-Moore. Sounded very excited about him. See him as an eventual starter who had a third round grade. Will PUP him and see how it goes.

He mentioned that Caldwell is finally putting his stamp on the offense and very much influenced the type of players they looked at in the draft.

Went out of his way to say expects big things from Ed Dickson and Deonte Thompson. I got the feeling with Dickson it is a case of living up to potential. With Thompson he sounded like they think he will really show something. He also mentioned Doss but it sounded more like a courtesy.

Said there were 35 draftable players who were not selected so the UDFA class will be better than most years. There are still two guys out there they are trying to bring in that they are very high on. A local WR and a defensive lineman who played in the south west is all he'd say.

[Paintballguy]

Confirmed my hunch that Teo wasn't even on their radar.

[NCRAVEN]

Confirmed my hunch that Teo wasn't even on their radar.

As much as you mention him, I wouldn't be surprised if you were the voice pretending to be his girlfriend. Stalker :p

[Paintballguy]

As much as you mention him, I wouldn't be surprised if you were the voice pretending to be his girlfriend. Stalker :p

lol

I wonder what kind of input Caldwell gave.

[Shas]

Confirmed my hunch that Teo wasn't even on their radar.

That's a logical assumption since he was still on the board as they sat up all night Thursday night plotting their Friday. Te'o went 38th to the Chargers.

You can also conclude they must not have had Minter on their radar, either, a guy so many mocks had going to them at 32. He went 45th to the Cardinals. (It's interesting to note that the Cardinals vacated the 38th pick, sending it to the Chargers so they could take Te'o, and then they used the Chargers pick at 45 to take Minter, who plays the same position. So there is another team who needed an ILB but steered away from Te'o.)

Why no interest in Minter for the Ravens? He's really not a sideline to sideline guy or a turn and run pass defender. They keep saying they wanted to get faster on defense. Think back to the Super Bowl replay shows with all the 49rs saying the Ravens defense was too old and slow and Vernon Davis openly mocking Ray Lewis trying to cover him. It's very, very clear what the Ravens wanted to do at S and ILB to address this issue. Minter is a great go-forward linebacker, but not what the team needed.

Niko Alonso was a dumb pick by the dumb Bills one pick later at 46. Alonso is also mostly a blitzer and run stopper, but without good football instincts.

Then the Bears use the 50th pick on Johnathon Bostic. My guess is the Ravens were actually squatting on Bostic or Brown and when Bostic went they knew they had to go get brown or settle for a consolation prize in Moore, who could still be a good player, but also could be Tavares Gooden Part Two. Moore fell to the third round, pick 66 to the Raiders.

Although, I never saw Bostic as a fit. Whatever Minter lacks in pass coverage, Bostic lacks more of it. Clearly though, the Ravens must have graded him higher than me. We should go with their opinion.

Comparing Brown to Moore, there is no question the Ravens liked Brown a lot better because they gave up three picks to Seattle to go to 56 to take Brown with Moore still sitting there. I also thought Moore was more (ha!) of an OLB to boot.

[Raveninwoodlawn]

Why no interest in Minter for the Ravens? He's really not a sideline to sideline guy or a turn and run pass defender. They keep saying they wanted to get faster on defense. Think back to the Super Bowl replay shows with all the 49rs saying the Ravens defense was too old and slow and Vernon Davis openly mocking Ray Lewis trying to cover him. It's very, very clear what the Ravens wanted to do at S and ILB to address this issue. Minter is a great go-forward linebacker, but not what the team needed.

Yup.

Which is why I never was really a fan of Minter fitting here. I think he is a good ILB, and will be good, but he just didn't have the speed and athleticism that the staff felt we needed (and most of us on the board have been noting since the start of the season).

I also was shocked by Alonso going so early to the Bills....I thought he'd be an option at the end of the 3rd round. The Bills reached with their first 2 picks.

This is a much faster defense IMHO now...we just need to hope the chemistry comes together quickly.

[wickedsolo]

Yup.

Which is why I never was really a fan of Minter fitting here. I think he is a good ILB, and will be good, but he just didn't have the speed and athleticism that the staff felt we needed (and most of us on the board have been noting since the start of the season).

I also was shocked by Alonso going so early to the Bills....I thought he'd be an option at the end of the 3rd round. The Bills reached with their first 2 picks.

This is a much faster defense IMHO now...we just need to hope the chemistry comes together quickly.

Me too. Chemistry is important.

I think having a healthy Suggs, Ngata, and Webb will be really good for everyone though.

I also really like that one of the qualities Arthur Brown brings is leadership.

[bt12483]

I meant to listen in and forgot. Great summary.

They liked Elam and Cyprian in the first round. They like Elam a bit more because they wanted to get faster, he faced better competition, and they have some connections with his family. They worried Dallas was going to take Elam at 31. They also liked Swearinger as a back-up plan.

I personally wanted Cyprien a little more but I can't argue with the competition aspect and the connections already in place with Elam. Swearinger would have been a little bit of a reach in rd. 1.

In the second round they liked Brown from K State, Moore from UCONN, and Bostic from Florida and were banking on one of the ILB's falling to them.

Brown to me is superior to any of those guys. Pumped we got him.

In third round they thought they were going to get a tight end or wide receiver but they all got picks, leaving them with the Brandon Williams pick. FYI, players picked in the third include.

Travis Kelce, TE (63) Chiefs
Terrance Williams (74) Cowboys
Keneen Allen (76) Chargers
Marquise Goodwin (78) Bills
Marcus Wheaton (79) Steelers
Reed Jordan, TE (85) Redskins
Steadman Bailey, (92) Rams

(I liked Allen and Weaton)

I am not overly upset we missed out on any of those players. I would have been OK with any of them except Goodwin and Reed.

He mentioned that Caldwell is finally putting his stamp on the offense and very much influenced the type of players they looked at in the draft.

Went out of his way to say expects big things from Ed Dickson and Deonte Thompson. I got the feeling with Dickson it is a case of living up to potential. With Thompson he sounded like they think he will really show something. He also mentioned Doss but it sounded more like a courtesy.

I would love to see Dickson rise up. And Thompson has ridiculous speed. If he can become a solid option that would be awesome.

All we ever heard about Doss during the draft was his hands and his hands are what have looked the worst (besides injuries). Small sample size I know. Not ready to give up on him but he needs to show me some fortitude.

[JohnBKistler]

Thanks Shas...great review.

Went out of his way to say expects big things from Ed Dickson and Deonte Thompson. I got the feeling with Dickson it is a case of living up to potential. With Thompson he sounded like they think he will really show something. He also mentioned Doss but it sounded more like a courtesy.

I wonder how much of Boldin's production will be replaced by a traditional WR, and how much the Ravens plan on replacing it with more 2 TE patterns, ala the Patriots?

[GOTA]

Sounds like they were going with one of the Safeties in round 1 as long as they were available.

It's great that DeCosta talks after each draft. He gives good insight as to what the thought process was. When he says how Caldwell influenced this draft I see the Juszczyk pick as the prime example.

[bt12483]

Thanks Shas...great review.I wonder how much of Boldin's production will be replaced by a traditional WR, and how much the Ravens plan on replacing it with more 2 TE patterns, ala the Patriots?

If none of our B squad WRs step up I assume we will see a lot of TE action.

Is it just me or does Dickson seem to bobble the ball a lot? Whereas Pitta is very surehanded.

I would like to see Dickson (and his speed) utilized more under Caldwell (until he starts dropping balls....).

[alienrace]

Deonte Thompson really intrigues me. If he shows good route running and hands, our offense will be utterly unstoppable. As it is I think we are looking at a team that will put up 450+ points in 2013.