General Manager Eric DeCosta felt the Ravens wanted to strike early on this yr’s draft to discover a cornerback they coveted.
That mission was achieved in the first spherical, when Baltimore chosen Nate Wiggins of Clemson with their decide at No. 30. Wiggins might play a key function for the Ravens as a rookie, and DeCosta felt he could not wait to land a high quality cornerback on this yr’s class.
“That’s one thing that truthfully saved me up at evening,” DeCosta stated. “There are quite a lot of offensive linemen on this draft. They are a reasonably deep pool of receivers. But as I might undergo working all these completely different simulations, it grew to become obvious that if we did not get a nook in the first spherical, it was going to be difficult to get a extremely good nook in the second, third, fourth spherical that might assist us instantly.”
An NFL-record six quarterbacks have been chosen amongst the first 12 picks, and the first 13 picks have been all offensive gamers, pushing defensive gamers down the board. The first cornerback chosen was Quinyon Mitchell of Toledo, who went twenty second to Philadelphia. Followed by Terrion Arnold of Alabama was taken at No. 24 by the Lions, who traded as much as get him.
DeCosta stated the Ravens would have thought of buying and selling out of the first spherical if one other group had taken Wiggins earlier than he reached No. 30. DeCosta stated he had eight commerce gives on the desk. But the Ravens waited patiently and have been thrilled when Wiggins was nonetheless accessible.
“Honestly, I did not assume that Nate can be there for us,” DeCosta stated. “We thought there may be an opportunity, and you then begin to see the run on corners in the 20’s. You begin to get antsy.
“The telephone was ringing, we had quite a lot of completely different potential commerce prospects. But for us, it was all the time, ‘If Nate is there, we’re going to decide.'”
