 If I told you to describe this NFL draft to me in one word, what would you choose? My word would be unpredictable. No one knows who's going to rise, no one knows who's going to fall, no one knows which player is going to go where. It's just so much possibilities that could happen. And this is especially a very unpredictable draft for the Baltimore Ravens because they are in unfamiliar territory with picking at the top half of the draft at pick 14 for now at least because the Ravens, they're going to have a lot of options. They could stay at pick 14, they have the ammo to move up if they want to. They also have the ability to trade back down if they choose. So the Ravens will have so many different options at their disposal. But to talk about some of those options, we had to bring in somebody who is one of the best at their job, especially when it comes to covering these Baltimore Ravens. And that is the Athletics' very own Jeff Zribick. And with Jeff coming on the show, we are going to go through a plethora of different options that the Ravens have at so many different positions. But team can be clean. You also have plenty of options yourself. And you have plenty of options and varieties and flavors to choose from when it comes to your cobbler. Now, I know initially when you think cobbler, you think peach cobbler, right? Of course, we all do. But with Kentucky cobblers, they take it to a whole other level. Let me tell you some of the draft picks that you could use when it comes to your cobbler. You could choose amazing apple, bustin' blueberry, classic cherry, perfect peach, sweet strawberry, cookies and cream, strawberry cheesecake, cherry cheesecake, banana cheesecake, blueberry cheesecake, white chocolate cobbler. And there's plenty more. So when you go to KentuckyCobblers.com or you follow them on Instagram at KentuckyCobblers, you will have so many options to choose from. But like I said before, if you ain't believe me, buy them all. Just get all of them because there's too many to choose from. Matt Elam ain't the only one that says eat greedy. Team Keep It Clean, a very special guest that we have on the show today. It is your favorite notification that we all get. If you follow them on Twitter, which I'm sure that you already do, it's Jeff Zriby. So I appreciate you. We appreciate you coming on this morning to just go over everything that's happening with the Ravens and what they plan on doing for the draft. And just to talk about some different holes that they have, but just to really cover the Ravens period. But first, I wanted to ask you, how did you get started? How did you end up getting into this position to cover the Ravens? What made you want to do it? How did you do it? Just how did that come about? Yeah, you know, when I was in high school, I always wanted to be a sports announcer, but you kind of realize that most of those jobs are going to former players and it just didn't feel very attainable. You know what I mean? So I got heavily involved in my high school newspaper and one of the years where I was at school, my high school won the state championship. And at the time, and this shows how old I am, the final, the state finals was at the Meadowlands, old, giant stadium. And I was covering it, but covering it. I'm working for a high school newspaper. But still I was allowed to go up in the press box at Giant Stadium. And you know, we're still talking about a high school game. So it's not like it was packed with reporters, but there are still some reporters up there from different papers. And it was just a thrill for me to see how they were working and just to be in an NFL press box, you know, of the team. You know, I'm from New Jersey. You know, I grew up as a giant fan. So it was that was just a thrill for me. And that kind of just kind of added to the thirst. And then, you know, at every level or, you know, in college, I worked in the school newspaper and was the editor of my paper at Loyola and got an internship at the Baltimore Sun. And it kind of just went from there. You know, I, you know, one of the things I love so much about the time at the Sun is I got a chance to cover pretty much everything. You know, I did everything from, you know, local college basketball, the University of Maryland basketball, the high schools to college lacrosse, which we know how big is in this area. Then I went on the Orioles beat for a while. And then I went on the Ravens beat. And, you know, my first year was the ill-fated Billy Cundiff year, you know, in 2011, but I kind of joined mid-season. Jameson had gone to ESPN and they needed a beat writer. And I'd been on the Orioles for a long time. And I was kind of looking to do something different. So, you know, the Ravens is the biggest show in town. And so I told my editor I'd be interested if they're looking for somebody. And that just sort of how it came about in the middle of the 2011 season. So I like to tell people that my first full year was a Super Bowl year in 2012, which is true and was incredibly enjoyable considering I covered some really bad Orioles teams during my time on that beat. That's what's up, man. I remember, I don't remember what year it was, but I remember when you sort of made this big announcement that you were leaving the Baltimore Sun. And I know a lot of us who followed you, we started freaking out a bit like, oh, man, Jeff, he's not going to cover the Ravens anymore. But then you were like, oh, but I'm going to the athletic. I was like, OK, cool, man. Because that had us a worried a little bit. Yeah, yeah. I regret how I handled that. And Anthony Levine still gives me crap about that. Oh, really? Yeah, he always kind of acted like I was grandstanding a little bit. And all in good fun. And Anthony will be like tweak a lot of people. But yeah, you know, we couldn't announce it to the athletic. Yeah, you know, we had a set date where we had to wait. And I was kind of going off the grid. And I was worried that people were going to be like, well, first of all, you know, I got Twitter questions. I was, you know, I felt disingenuous answering them. Not saying, well, I'm actually not on the beat right now. The Baltimore Sun and, you know, like I was worried that people were going to see other people at the Sun rating Raven stuff. I mean, like where's Jeff and question was going to be out there. But yeah, I probably should have just not said anything or said I will be covering the Ravens just at a different outlet. But I thought that was pretty much I didn't know how my athletic bosses would think about that because, you know, I think it would have been pretty obvious at the time because athletic was hiring a lot of people. Yeah, it's all good. It worked out for me. Now, with with being a reporter covering the Ravens, how does that process work? Like, when it's breaking news, what does Jeff Zribick have to go through? Yeah, I mean, you know, I know you can't say everything. Yeah, you know, I got you. If you're the one breaking it, you know, that's always good. But we know it's very competitive. And, you know, the national national reporters on NFL are kind of break a lot of the news, which is kind of frustrating. But, you know, I tip my cap to them. They work really hard too. So it's nothing against them. But yeah, it's, you know, immediately, if you hear something or if you hear there's news or news coming on, I usually alert my editor directly. And then I try to get enough confirmation to go with the news. And I'm not talking about confirmation from, you know, second or third parties. You know, like when it's news, you need to get it directly from somebody involved in the decision or the move or it's hard to trust. You know, I hear a lot of stuff. Like people always ask me, what are you hearing? All reporters hear a lot of stuff. The challenge of this job is getting it from good enough sources where you trust enough to go with it. And then that's trying to confirm it with people involved in the decision. And whether that's agents or GM or. No, thank you. You know, players, a lot of players directly are willing to talk, you know, at times behind kind of back channels. So it's just it's just trying to figure out the information, confirm the information with appropriate people. There's plenty of times where I hear something and I think it's happening, but I can't get it from a good enough source to say, look, here's my editor. My editor's name is Ken Bradley here, Ken. I'm hearing this from so and so and so and so that this is happening. Can we go with this? And I don't take him, you know, I can't go. I can't say to him, you know, I'm hearing this from a friend of a player or a guy who says he ran into somebody at a club or you know how it is. So that's the biggest challenge. The Ravens are a very buttoned up organization. They don't play the media game very often. I mean, they treat us respectfully. I don't want that to be misconstrued here. But they're not big on leaking stuff, unless it's probably going to benefit the Ravens, you know, especially during the draft time, it's a highly competitive time for them. And, you know, they're pretty tight-lipped. It comes a lot of stuff. And as a reporter, you know, I hate doing this, but sometimes you just got to admit, I don't know. I think saying I don't know and I haven't been able to confirm something is a whole heck of a lot better than saying something and reporting something wrong that you're hearing based on hearsay or from sources not directly involved. That's true. Something that you brought up just now. You talked about trust, having trust in your sources and even being willing to admit if there's something that you don't know, because there's a certain level of trust that a lot of people have for you. But that reminds me of big trust and that is Lamar Jackson. And recently, there's been a whole lot of conversation about Lamar Jackson, but apparently there's not a whole lot of conversation with Lamar Jackson as of right now. What's going on with the contract talk? So really the lack thereof with Lamar and how do you see this this playing out in the long run? Yeah, and that's a perfect segue because, you know, that's the perfect example. I'm hearing a ton about the Lamar Jackson situation. I'm just not hearing a ton from people who were heavily involved in it. You know what I mean? So I could speculate to my heart's content and it's just not the right way to play it. He has such a small inner circle of people that know stuff and obviously the constant company are keeping this so quiet because, you know, it's, you know, first of all, they're negotiating directly with him. Second of all, I mean, this is they do not want to jeopardize the relationship with their franchise quarterback. So they're going to be very careful in what they say and what's out there. You know, it's not just negotiating. You know, they're, you know, they have a relationship to worry about with the quarterback. So, you know, everything that's out, you know, like that the Ravens have said, you know, they're ready to go. They've been wanting to engage. And Lamar Jackson just has not shown a whole lot of interest in the process now and not disrespectfully. It's just he's not he's not been ready to, you know, kind of engage in back and forth conversation. I don't believe he was in the building last week for the start of the season workout program, which, you know, that's fine. It's voluntary and he's, you know, there's plenty of video evidence of him working on his game. The Ravens, you know, some teams worry a whole lot about attendance at these voluntary. The Ravens worry about the players that are there. It's not to say they didn't wish everybody was there. I think every every coach would, but that's just not reality. And they sort of have a culture where, look, a lot of the vets stay away until they have to be there. That's been the case for a while. And they don't spend a whole lot of time getting worried about it. So, you know, here we are Monday. It's a little bit early in the morning. I haven't heard anything. I know they start another offseason week of workouts this week. So who knows? But I don't, you know, I don't get this. I don't get the sense that things are not on good terms. I just think this is how Lamar is choosing to approach it. It's interesting. It's a really interesting path. What we don't know and what I don't circulate it on is how much is his, I mean, the Eric D'Costa said at one point they talked, I think it was four or five times about his contract within the year. So I think we'd all be naive. I don't want to connect too many dots, but I think we could safely connect the dots that money, you're talking to somebody so much about his contract. Money had to be discussed during this. You just don't talk to someone that much and not exchange ideas and figures. The question is, is his stance of not wanting to talk because he didn't like the initial stuff he was hearing and he just says, you know what, I'm just going to I'm just going to play this out. Or is it just the way he wants, as, you know, Claes Campbell said on a radio show and Steve, because Vishadi said recently, you know, they they want to win a Super Bowl and then engage or he wants to have a little more success and then engage. I don't know if that's the case and I also don't know. I mean, but there had to be talk about numbers at some point. And if the Ravens and him were in the same kind of area code on on the talks, would they hammer out a deal? Would he be interested in those circumstances? And and that I cannot answer. And I wish I could just because we're not hearing anything from his side about how these negotiations have gone down. I mean, it's interesting. He's going to be the quarterback this year and he's still in line to be the quarterback the following year because there's franchise tags. So there's time, but you certainly thought that it would be done by now. Right. And it is a really, really tricky situation. And I know just hearing a lot of the media talk about it, they they bring up that this is something that's just it's unlike anything that's ever happened before because you have plenty of players that don't have contracts. You have players that negotiate big deals. I mean, not that don't have contract, but don't that don't have agents. And you have players that negotiate big deals that don't have agents, but to have a quarterback that could really just destroy the market in a good way for his sake and he doesn't have an agent. That's big. That's that's really big. So shout out to shout out to them all for just doing it his way. Yeah, I mean, go ahead. Yeah, the guy is such a unique personality. And I say that in a good way. I don't think he's worried a whole heck of a lot about what other people are telling him. He's done it his way the whole time coming up. And his way got him a Heisman Trophy at Louisville, made him a first round draft pick in the NFL and made him just a second unanimous MVP in NFL history. Now, OK, you can question it all you want. And, you know, obviously he's had plenty of help along the way. His mom's done a terrific job with him. He's a polite, you know, guy and, you know, everyone loves to be around him. There's so many good things you could say there. So who am I to criticize his approach? You know what I mean? Like, yeah, you know, it is unique. It is, in a sense, making things difficult for the Ravens in terms of these negotiations. But that's his choice. This is his career we're talking about. And if that's the way he wants to approach things, I think you have to respect it. Yeah, I feel you. And somebody else that Lamont has a lot of respect for and a lot of love for is Hollywood Brown. Yeah. Now, Hollywood Brown, of course, he's going into his fourth year with the Ravens 2019 first round draft pick and probably obviously the biggest impact from that 2019 draft class. But now, Eric Acosta, about a month in change ago, he said, hey, we are going to pick up Hollywood Brown's fifth year option. We expect to pick it up. But I told people like, all right, words are one thing, but actions are another. And we haven't heard anything official yet with the fifth year option. Now, I know a lot of times Ravens with things like this, they can announce they wait to announce them like at the last minute. They usually do it with the when when this roster time, when they were doing the 53 man roster, all that stuff usually gets announced, like 359. Fifty nine seconds left. Absolutely. They always wait to the last second. So what do you know, the status of Hollywood right now with the fifth year optional? Yeah, I haven't heard anything's changed there. I, you know, my understanding is that's still the plan. And you said it great. They are a deadline team. They work right up to the deadline. They view it as if they view it as a formality and I could be wrong. I would have to go back and Google this, but I forgot when the official announcement came on exercising Lamar Jackson came, even though that was the worst kept seek. I mean, there was there's no hiding that they were going to that. So that's the thing. I just think it's kind of a formality and we get close to the deadline. And I think it's coming up here. I think it's the next week early May. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's next week. I would expect to hear that they they did it, that they exercise it. I mean, and you look at the contracts of what wide receivers are getting. Does does Marquis Brown at 13 million next year sound that bad to you? I mean, I think there's like 21 receivers making more than that right now. Just in terms of APY. So and Eric to Costa predicted exactly that. He said, we don't think that's a, you know, a number that is out of the realm. You know, like we think that that's fine. So I expect them to pick it up, you know, and it just been interesting. And we talk a little about it earlier. I'm real careful not to speculate on stuff that you see or don't see on social media, right? I think that gets you in trouble. I mean, how many times is a player said something and people jump the conclusions? What do you mean? And it means nothing or some, you know, somebody reports something and it just, you know, it's not true. And it kind of takes you down a trail that that is just gets so far from the truth. But it's been interesting. You know, we've all seen the workout videos with Lamar Jackson, James Rochette and Richard Bateman, you know, Marquise Brown and Lamar Jackson are best friends. You kind of wonder, well, why is Marquise Brown there or whatever? And he sort of had a multi media shutdown, I guess. I'm not on Instagram and I know it should be, but I'm just not. But he hasn't really said much about Twitter until last week. He had some workout photos up there and he also was not at the facility last week for the voluntary, which is fine. That guy's one of their hardest working guys on the team. You work, you don't work about him at all, but it'll be interesting to have him back in the building. I can't possibly think that he expects to have his contract addressed before the quarterbacks. You know what I mean? So I think all systems are go there with Marquise Brown. And unless I hear otherwise, you know, we'll see him later this summer. And I think he's going to have a big year at, you know, I know he's pretty polarizing player among the fan base. And I think, I think, I think a lot of us are guilty and me included at times of contradicting so much on what a player doesn't do maybe rather than focusing on what the player does do well. And Marquise Brown does an awful lot. Well, for this team is important piece of the offense. Oh, yeah, for sure. And another very, very important piece for the offense. And he would literally change so much about this offense. If he's healthy, that would be Ronnie Stanley. Ronnie Stanley is he's big for this team moving forward. And he reminds me sort of like an offensive version of Jimmy Smith because when they're on the. So you got to take a call? No, I said that's a good call. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because with Jimmy Smith, when he was on the field for the Ravens throughout the years, he did his thing. Phenomenal player made a huge difference. But when he went out every time without fail, the Ravens, they would end up going out. But then recently over these past couple of years, they loaded up with more cornerbacks, especially around the time when they got Brandon Carr. But with Ronnie Stanley, it's been the same thing. But Ronnie Stanley is in the offense moves a lot better. Of course, the protection is a lot better. But Ronnie Stanley goes out. It is such a huge blow. So with Ronnie Stanley, I know a lot of questions will really be answered come draft time because that'll depending on how early or late they take attack on offensive linemen that are really that may tell us where they how they feel about Ronnie Stanley moving forward, how they feel about the status of him, his return. But what's the status of Ronnie Stanley right now? Is it still just a kind of a wait and see type of thing? Yeah, yeah. And I think and DeCosta has already admitted that they were much too optimistic last off season about his status and probably painted too much of a rosy picture. So the last thing I expected was them to come out and say, oh, yeah, he'll be ready for week one again. I think they're going to be cautious in everything that they say about him. You know, it wasn't just him last year. I think they're, you know, a lot of people, Nick Boyle and there's other people that, you know, they spoke very positively about. And then when fans didn't see them on the fans in the media, didn't see him on the field for training camp. And then week one, it was just like, well, where were they lying? So I think they're going to be very cautious about any of the injury updates on all those guys, Dobbins, Gus included. But they've got good reports on Ronnie Stanley. You know what I mean? And I think they're optimistic. I thought it was interesting that Steve Bishadi, you know, when he spoke to a small group of us in Florida, I guess it was about a month ago. He didn't even mention left tackle as a need. And, you know, you may say, well, you know, he's probably just playing that game and they don't want them, you know, they don't want other teams to think they're in on a left tackle or in the draft. But Bishadi is not a big game player through the media. He's going to give it to you, shoot straight or at least he has that reputation. So I've never, in the years I've spent and the times I've talked to him, I've never, you know, encountered him really using the media to play certain games. So their plan is that Ronnie Stanley on the field. However, I think we all saw last year, you need a better contingency plan. And they're not going to be caught in that same position. The Ravens are a smart organization. It's kind of fooling me once. They're not going to be caught, again, not having a better contingency plan. Look, if they go step up to the podium at pick 14 and the pick is either Charles Cross or Trevor Penning, then I think everyone's going to say, wow, that's really telling to Ronnie Stanley's status, right? They wouldn't be taking, excuse me, they wouldn't be picking a tackle after signing Moses and bringing back Joanne James unless they knew Ronnie Stanley's status wasn't great. Outlook wasn't great. But I don't know that I'm going to be ready to say that. I think, yeah, sure, it will reflect the uncertainty about Ronnie Stanley's situation. But I think if they pick a tackle, it goes to show you, A, they do not want to get caught in the situation than it was last year, where they got caught without a suitable replacement for them. And that helps sink their season. And B, young bookend tackles don't grow on trees. And they don't want to be drafting at 14 too often. So if they grab one, it also would have something to do with it. Look, it's a rare opportunity to get a guy they really like at a premium position. But yeah, so far so good on Stanley, but it's a ways to go. I think I don't I wouldn't expect them to be on the field early in training camp. But at last I heard that there hasn't been any negative so far throughout the process. Things are going in the right direction, I should say. And speaking of going in the right direction, we are a couple of days away from the draft and the Ravens have so many right directions that they could go in when it comes to pick the overall 14 and really so on and so forth throughout the draft. They're gonna have a lot of options because this is a unfamiliar territory for them just really being able to pick this high. It's just something that doesn't happen too often. So at pick 14, what do you feel like right now the Ravens biggest need is for the team? Yeah, I mean, I think you could make a case for two different things. And I know some will make a case for tackle. I'm not there yet as that being their biggest need even if there is concern about Stanley. I mean, I think you have some guys there. I mean, I know Joanne James hasn't played much tackle and it's sort of an injury or much left tackle and it's an injury risk. But if he's the left tackle and he's healthy and you start him there the first day of training camp, I think he'd be absolutely fine. But obviously that's an if, I get it. I'm just saying, I look at the edge rush and I look at the cornerback picture and to me those kind of dwarf the other potential needs. There's a lot of optimism about Tyus Bowser. I can't tell you what a good athlete that guy is. I hope people appreciate it. Like he's a freak that guy, athletically. And I hear confidence he's gonna be, but talking about a tourniquet he's in mid-January didn't have the surgery either to late January or early February. And that's a lot to ask to think he's gonna be the Tyus Bowers or they know and love by week one. And O-Way I think he'll be fine, but from shoulder surgery, I think O-Way is gonna have a big year, but that's kind of one guy. Like Jalen Ferguson, okay. I think they like him as an edge setter, but it's really, the pass rush hasn't really come. And Dale and Hayes, what have you played five snaps last year? So I just think they really need an edge rusher. And I think every NFL team, especially one with Super Bowl aspirations needs to go into it thinking they need four or five starting caliber corners just because of the attrition at the position. And right now I think the Ravens have two. I don't wanna dismiss Brandon Stevens from playing in the nickel. I think that's something I have done. And Marcus Williams edition frees him up a little. So him and Ardarius Washington even probably are now in the cornerback mix. And that's good, that gives them some depth. And Kavon Seymour is a guy they like a little bit, but still, I think they need two more corners that are capable of stepping in and starting if so. And I almost think it's imperative that they come out a day one or day two with a corner. And then there's still some veterans in the free agent market I would look at. But all in all, I would double dip at both spots. I just think they're two important edge rusher in corner. You have 10 picks, who knows how many picks you finish with. But those are two spots where, especially in this draft filled with edge rush, I'd like to come out of this draft with two of them. How do you feel? Because somebody that I've had my eye on, especially for the Ravens, because the Ravens upfront, you talked about the edge rushes, which is a neat as well, but upfront on defense, interior pass rush has been an issue for a long time. Now the scheme, of course, is going to be changing going from Wink to Mike McDonald. And I'm sure Mike McDonald, he's going to have some things that Wink does that he implements, but he's going to do a lot of his own thing as well. But Jordan Davis, that's a guy who I really like for the Ravens, because I feel like he would bring more pressure on the interior than a Brandon Williams. And maybe a little less than Lody Nada, but I feel like he would be such a significant problem upfront and he could make everybody else's job around him that much easier just from his presence alone. He would help the edge guys from bringing interior pressure. He would help the corners, because they wouldn't have to be on an island as long. And obviously that helps the safeties as well. So how do you feel about Jordan Davis from Georgia? I think he's the most fascinating player in the draft. I really do because if you believe in him and you believe in that three down potential, I think you run up that card. And I've tried to get differing opinions. I've tried to talk to some people outside the organization. And yeah, on him, just because I think he will absolutely be part of the conversation. Sorry, I'm not saying they will draft him, but I think if he's there, a lot of time while they're on the clock that 10 minutes in the first round will be spent discussing Jordan Davis. And they'll already have those discussions. But yeah, here's the thing. I think every great Ravens defense has had that big stud in the middle of it. That guy that demands attention and can absorb double teams and is explosive. I mean, all their great defenses, they need that guy. You know, is it, you know, because you didn't see a ton of tackle for losses or sacks, I think it's fair to question, you know, you kind of have to project a little bit on Jordan Davis, but you got to project on a lot of these guys. You know what I mean? That's the name of the game. So he's, you know, I say fascinating player. I also meant fascinating decision on him. You know, Daniel Jeremiah, who knows more about how the Ravens do business than any of these draft pundits out there, you know, basically said the other day that he thinks he's the pick. If he's there, he doesn't think the Ravens will be able to resist him, you know, knowing how much they value big guys in the middle of the interior, knowing their current needs, knowing the fact that they love SEC players, you know. So I think if you're a Raven fan and he's the pick Friday night, you can go to bed sleeping well. I think that would be a big piece they could get in the, you know, in their whole defensive transformation. But a lot of it's gonna be, you know, up to Jordan, how they develop them. Like, you know, I talked to somebody who was a little concerned about, you know, obviously there's some questions about his playing weight, you know, there are times last year where he was probably a little too big and wasn't as explosive and quick and had to come out a lot. There are times he'd go hard for a couple snaps and go on sideline for a couple. I think those are, that's where you trust your people. You know, you trust your coaches, you do the due diligence. Look, Mike McDonald was at Georgia for a while. Like he's got sources at University of Georgia. You know, Mike McDonald started there, knows a lot of people there. Obviously, you know, he was in the college landscape last year, so they'll have good information on Jordan Davis and if they pick him, I trust they fully believe in his ability to be a three down guy and just to be able to move around and do different things. But I don't think Jordan Davis is for everybody, but I think he is definitely a guy that the Ravens would consider a good fit. And something that is speaking of good fits. The Ravens, a couple years ago, first round pick, Patrick Queen. And he's sort of been up and down and they brought back Josh Bynes again. But before they brought back Josh Bynes, they tried to sign a Bobby Wagner. And the report was that they even offered him 18 mil fully guaranteed. So he could have got more guaranteed money from the Ravens than he got from the Rams because the Rams was with all the incentives and whatnot. So that let me know that they are not 100% sold on Patrick Queen, especially with them bringing back Josh Bynes too. So do you feel like a sneaky pick? Not even necessarily in the first round, but a sneaky pick for the Ravens. Of course, Chris Board, he went to the Lions, LJ Ford's a free agent. I believe Christian Welch is still on the roster. You still have Malik Harrison too. They said that they may try him at inside and outside linebacker. So we'll see what happens with that. But I feel like a sneaky pick for the Ravens could be at linebacker. How do you feel about that? Yeah, I agree. And I'm not a mock draft guy. I have to do a couple and my second one will come out later this week. But I found in both times doing a mock, the hardest thing I could do was project an inside linebacker to him. I mean, there was like every round, there was a guy I considered. I just had a hard time finding a great fit. I think they need to come out of this draft with a P. I mean, look, they don't even have enough depth right now at that position to go into a season. I mean, especially if Malik Harrison's cross-training at outside linebacker and they seem serious about it, because when, and I know it's a different defensive coordinator all might Michael have his own ideas. But last year, after he came back from the unfortunate gun shot incident in his cab, he was almost practicing exclusively at outside linebacker. You know, and so that told me a lot, you know. And so right now, you have Bynes, you have Patrick Queen, and Christian Welch gave them some OK snaps. But I think, you know, if he's playing a lot, there would have been an issue in front of him. I think he's there for, you know, core special teamer first and foremost. So I think they need to find a guy in one of those rounds. Now, I don't necessarily, I would be surprised if Lloyd's the guy at 14. You know, maybe if they trade back, Lloyd could be the guy. Just haven't heard that buzz on him relate to Ravens as I have on some other first round picks, potential first round picks, excuse me. But I think they need to find a guy. I just had a hard time finding a great fit. And I also will say this, not dismissing the need. I think I was, you know, I said pretty clearly there's a need there. But Marcus Williams opens up the ability to do a lot of things with that inside linebacker. Like, I'm just thinking about it. We'll see what Mike McDonald has to say. But how many times did they figure to have two inside linebackers on the field, right? I mean, you have Tony Jefferson, who could become play close to the line of scrimmage. I think you have other guys you could use. Gino Stone, you know, Gino Stone's a guy that came on last year. You drop him and Marcus Williams back and bring Chuck Clark close to the line of scrimmage. So I think they have options there. I don't think they're gonna have two linebackers on the field a ton. So I think there is some flexibility there where they don't feel like they have to chase the need. But you know, the Ravens have always have had good inside linebackers. They need another guy. There's no doubt about it. Yeah, yeah, that's a really good point. But like you mentioned earlier, as far as a secondary, they lost a lot in the secondary this off season. Jimmy Smith, he's still out there. I really thought that he was gonna retire. I was, I have been surprised that we haven't heard like an announcement with that, anything like that. Of course, Anthony Averyd, he went to the Raiders. They released Tavon Young, he signed with the Bears. So a lot of the depth that they had is gone. So at 14, and of course, throughout the remainder of the draft, they definitely, they have to come away with some depth in the secondary. Somebody that I really like, if it's gonna be at 14, is McDuffie, it's Trent McDuffie. To me, he reminds me like of a, he reminds me of Marcus Peters, especially when he has the ball in his hand cause he sort of carries it out just like Marcus Peters in his run style. It just reminds me so much of Marcus Peters. So if they were to get him, I wouldn't be mad at that. But what cornerbacks have you been looking at? Throughout the process, as you hear more and watch guys closer, I don't think anyone has made as gradual impression on me than McDuffie in the beginning. I was, I guess unfairly, I sort of dismissed him just because he's not the pro. I mean, we know how many times have you heard it? The Ravens love long corners. And that's not McDuffie, but, and I, you know, give him, you know, I don't wanna say dismissed it too early, but just was kind of like, you know, I think they'd be okay with him, but I can't see them taking a guy like that 14. Now I would absolutely not be surprised if he's the pick at 14. In fact, and we talked about, you know, both these positions already, I think who knows how this draft's gonna play out first of all, but I think it's very realistic to be on the clock at 14, and the three guys they're gonna have to make a legitimate choice on are gonna be Jordan Davis, Trent McDuffie, and Penning, the tackle from Northern Iowa. And we'll see, like, again, a lot, there could be other guys in there, but those three guys, I think if they're there will factor in their decision-making. Not saying they're gonna pick them, but they'll factor. But I've really grown to like Duffie. I just think, I know you don't wanna go about this as, okay, well, who's the safe pick? But I think when you talk about floor, McDuffie's floor is high. You know, I think at worst, you're gonna have a very good corner for, you know, with the rookie option for his five years. And that's an important piece. You know, I think he's ready to play right away and that's another important piece. And I think there's so much to like about him where maybe you don't overlook the fact he's not ideal size, but he checks every other box. And, I mean, off the charts on intangibles. I mean, we know a Ravens Red Star guy is a guy that checks all the scouts stand up on the table for. I'd be surprised if he's not on their list of Red Star guys. And that means a lot. He's scheme versatile. He can do different things. He's both a willing and an enthusiastic run stopper. Like, holy is no problem sticking his nose in there. I really grown on me. Again, I think who knows what happens in front of them but if you're asking me who's the guy and I've been asked that plenty of times, I guess it depends on who's available but I am my list to get them out. I just think, they need cornerback help and you get a guy like that, you feel great about your top three corners again and then at depth and other rounds. But yeah, I really like him. And I suspect they do too, even though that he doesn't necessarily match their prototype for a first round corner. Yeah, you spoke about feeling good about your top three corners and yeah, that would be something that will completely change just the landscape of the Ravens because I know right now they can't feel that way. They can't be comfortable with their top three corners because those top three corners, they have to go against top three receivers on other teams. You have the Bengals, Jamar Chase, Tyler Boyd, T Higgins, you had the Steelers with Chase Claypool, the Ante Thompson and Aiden at Miles Boykin. And we'll see with the Browns, Amari Cooper. It's still Resarn Landry. They could, the other one is slipping my mind. I can't think of his name right now at the top of my head but, and I still think they're not done at receiver either. And yeah, you mentioned they could bring back Jarvis Landry, but that pause is ready. Oh, go ahead. Yeah, Peoples Jones too. That's the one. Peoples Jones had good, some good games for them and I agree with you and I think the Browns and Steelers are both going to pick a receiver early and that Bengals group is scary. You just can't match up if you don't have three or four corners that you like. And speaking of matchups, but switching gears to Ravens offense now, there's been a lot of talk especially on here about receiver, about the receivers. Of course, you got Rashad Bateman going into his second year and hopefully he'll be fully healthy this year. He got Hollywood going into his fourth year and hopefully he can continue on the trend that he was continuing on. Like he started off even with the drops and whatnot, he was on a really good trend to have a good season. Then of course Lamar went out and Hollywood's numbers dipped. But that was sort of expected because the chemistry with Tyler Huntley wasn't there and with Josh Johnson it wasn't there. Not nearly as much as it is with Lamar. But then you have Devin Duvenay, you have James Prochet, you have Tyler Wallace going into his second year. How are you feeling about these Ravens wide receivers? Cause the way that I feel, I think that they should take a wide receiver early again. But even if it's not the first round, if it's the second round at the latest, I think that they should take a receiver again. I know they have other needs on the team and whatnot but I just feel like this Ravens team could really use another receiver to really take them over the top. To really just maximize Lamar Jackson, maximize, and it would help make everybody else's job that much easier. But how do you feel about the Ravens receiver room right now? I like the receiver room but there's a lot of questions there. And unfortunately it's just, it seems like there's just no consistency on how the guys get used and how we see them. I mean, we saw a couple of games last year where you'd think James Prochet is the answer as that number three receiver and then he's a healthy scratch. You know, and Tyler Wallace was mostly used as a gunner. He had a couple of catches late in the year. Wakey think, oh, okay. And I mean, it was interesting to see Steve Vashati brought up Tyler Wallace twice without prodding as a guy he expects to kind of break out. Duvernay I think is a guy all of us think they should use him more. You know, so my concern is this, and I'm not anti-received because there's so many good ones, but let's face it, there's gonna be so many good, with how college football's going, there's gonna be so many good receivers in every draft. I mean, when's the last time there hasn't been a good receiver draft? It's been a while. They're just, those guys are just everywhere. And I think, you know, I just think when you have that many draft picks and you know, that good receiver class, okay, I could just see Eric wanting to take a shot at another one. But the, I just, I mean, I don't know. First of all, every receiver they have is in their rookie contract, right? Is that a problem? I don't know. I mean, I think it would be nice to get a, kind of a big-bodied veteran to come in and come in as a number three or four. Just as a guy who's not gonna set the world on fire, but you can rely on and just diversifies the receiver group a little, gives a little size and experience. But I sense there's probably gonna be a time where they're gonna have a draft pick, they're gonna be on the clock, and there's gonna be a receiver that's gonna be so high on their board that they just can't resist them and said, you know, we're gonna take them. I just, he's just too good of it. Like last year with Tylon Wallace, they clearly did not want to still be in the receiver market. But they're sitting there. It was late fourth, right? And they had him off the board in the middle of, their board, he was a day three guy, comfortably day three, not even end of day three. And they're sitting there like, how do we, you know, we preach best player available and this guy's still here late in the fourth. So they took him. I sense it could be one of those situations again. I mean, I'm not anti receiver. And I know I said that already. It's just like, okay, are they just gonna add another middle round guy and just bury, you know, does that mean Tylon Wallace is gonna get buried or whoever they draft is gonna get buried or crochet is gonna be buried. And two more years down the line, we don't know if any of these guys are any good because they don't get a chance, you know, like that would be my thing. I think I love Brown and Bateman. I'd like to see DuBernay and crochet get more of a chance. I really think they need another move tight end. I don't think you can argue that point. And it just comes off like, how many of these guys are gonna be able to use? How many of these guys are you gonna be able to get on the field? You know, so again, I could see them drafting one. No doubt. If that guy is available, that really diversifies the group. I think, you know, you can take a shot at that. I mean, I worry a little bit though that the lack of veterans on that group and just the lack of diversity in general, they really need a bigger body kind of guy. I mean, maybe you get that in your number two tight end or your number three tight end or whatever. But I think they just could use to diversify the targets a little bit. Yeah, yeah. And when we watch the videos, one thing that's very encouraging to see is that it's Rashad Bateman out there, is that it's James Proshay out there, and it's that it's Benjamin Victor out there too. And what that said to me, is that with Lamar Jackson, something that could take the offense to another level is just him spreading the ball out a lot more. Cause we know, of course, Hollywood, he's gonna get his targets. Every, he is going to get his targets. We know Mark Andrews, he's gonna get his targets for sure without a doubt. But now with the other guys, with a Rashad Bateman, with Proshay, to spread it out more just to make the offense less predictable. Some of that's on Lamar, some of that's on Greg Roman as well, when it comes to play calling it. And like you mentioned earlier, the usage of the wide receivers. Cause that's been a big topic that we've talked about on here a lot. That with the Ravens, that if a receiver is drafted in the third round or lower, then they're not gonna get used. And it's very hard for them to make it out alive. Cause we saw like first round Hollywood, he gets used all the time. Rashad Bateman, he got, I mean, he was injured a lot. And him and Lamar, they were kind of injured at different times and whatnot. So that kind of messed it up, but he got used too. But other than that, Miles Boykin, they so-so gave him a shot, but Frosier Duvenay, Tyler Wallace, he ended up getting hurt on that special team play on that fake punt, but he wasn't really used much either. So that's one of my big reasons for wanting them to take a receiver early. If they're gonna take one at all, I'd say either early or don't do it at all. I think that makes perfect sense. Yeah, I agree. If, you know, if you find a legit guy, a difference maker guy that's different than what you have, that's where I think you could make a strong case for it. But if you're just gonna throw out another third day three flyer, and look, it's not like lately it's the cost of being a GM, you can accuse them of going after day three flyers. That's kind of what they used to do with the Jaleel Scots and, you know, Jordan Lassley's of the world. I mean, nobody's invested more assets in the draft and receiver than the last three years in the region. So again, I'm not accusing them of doing that, but yeah, like a day three flyer to me, you know, I guess there's Justin Ross out there now. Could you say we can give him a red shirt year the kid from Clemson who's coming off a major injury and then see what we have. When you have that many fourth round picks, I think you could probably afford to do that. But in terms of any guy drafted on day three as a receiver, unless there's injuries, we're gonna question, well, how the heck are they gonna use that guy? You know what I mean? Like you said, so if they're, you know, the go big or go home strategy, hey, why not? You know, if you find a guy that you really like that you don't have, that's where it makes sense. But I'd much rather see him, you know, use those day three picks on, you know, adding guys like, you know, an extra middle linebacker. I think we'll see them get another running back with one of those day three picks. I think we'll see him get a tight end with some of those day three pick, one of those day three picks. That's sort of the happy zone there where I think they could add quality depth at tight end, receiver, not at receiver, excuse me, tight end, or was I just talking, at tight end running back and then maybe you can probably get a developmental offensive lineman with one of those fourth round picks too that you feel pretty good about. Oh yeah, so they'll have a lot of options. And I think really the theme for this year, and Eric Dacosta, he's been getting better year after year, but a theme for this year is just really trying to get the most impactful players you possibly can come away with in this draft. I know they have 10 picks right now, I don't expect them to use all 10 picks. I think they'll move around a bit, but I think that should be the theme for this year. So just get an impact guys. Yeah, and you know what I, you said move around a little bit, I totally agree. And I've said this before, I think they'll try to get a 2023 pick at some point during this year's draft, you know, they go in, I don't know if they have their sevenths next year, but I'm not gonna spend a whole lot of time assessing which seventh round picks, but we know they're not getting any comps as of now. And I can't remember the last time the Ravens haven't had an extra pick or two in those middle rounds. Now who knows, you know, like they got a fourth for Ben Bredesen, so there's still opportunities to get draft picks for 2023, but at some point, you know, you get a lot of injured guys back. I think we do see their needs, but like I think you ask yourself, how many, how much room is there honestly? Like how many, you know, we know there's probably gonna be an undrafted guy that makes this team, there is just about every year. So you draft 12 guys or whatever, 10, 12 guys and then thrown an undrafted guy. Is there really room on this roster for 13, 14 rookies or whatever it is? So yeah, I think that has to govern your decision making, get impact players, if you don't feel like there's that great options with that sixth rounder or that, excuse me, one of the fourth rounders and you could get another mid round pick next year or return, I think you gotta look at it. I know we're kind of, you know, we all wanna be satisfied immediately. And I know if they make that trade and get a future pick, we're gonna hear, well, this is a huge year for us, the windows closing. We can't afford to, you know, push stuff off the next year, but I think it's the right play if you could get a good pick next year in your process of moving around the drafts. But obviously that's not the number one goal but I would think that will be in their back of their mind at some point, probably heading into day three of the draft. Yeah, so let's see how it goes. Anyway, Jeff, appreciate you coming through. Appreciate you spending your time with us here on the channel, thank you for that. Let everybody know where to find you at as far as Twitter, the athletic, everything. Yeah, I'm at Jeff's Rebeck on Twitter and at the athletic, we're still, I think we still have a dollar per month deal and man, we got a lot of draft stuff planned. I put up kind of a big board today, not with rankings, just looking at particular players in all three rounds. I have a story planned for pretty much, you know, every day this week, obviously I'll have multiple stories when the draft starts coming out and they start adding players to the organization. It's an exciting time. We have a mock draft here going on now that'll be up on Wednesday. Honestly, I'm trying to pay a little attention so I don't get lapped here. I was honestly looking to trade up for Tippadow but he went really early, a lot earlier than I thought he was. I just wanted to kind of do something different so that'll be out. But yeah, thanks for having me. Thanks for being patient. I know we talked about this last week but I appreciate you hanging with me here and again, it'll be fun. Let's do this soon after the draft when we start seeing some of these players come in. Oh yeah, for sure, appreciate it. So everybody make sure you follow, I know most of y'all are already following Jeff on Twitter anyway but if you're not, follow him and go subscribe to the Athletic Year as well and I'll leave the link to all of that stuff down below in the description. So appreciate it, thanks for watching. Oh yeah. Bye.