Baltimore Beatdown
It’s hard to show up as a late-round draft pick. What can each prospect lean on to make an impact?
It’s hard enough as it is for college football players to make an NFL roster and continue their football careers. Most college football players don’t. But when you are a Day 3 draft pick, it becomes even harder to get on the field and show your stuff. Add in being to an already loaded, championship roster and the Ravens' eight(!!!) Day 3 picks might be struggling just to make the 53-man roster.
The best thing these rookies can do is lean into their superpower. The thing that made them stand out in college. So, what is one trait each pick has that they can try to flash during training camp, preseason, and the regular season to both make the roster and impact the team?
Buchanan profiles as a potential every-down linebacker if he reaches his peak. For now, the Ravens are likely honing in on Buchanan’s play in coverage. The projected starter, Trenton Simpson, struggled in this area last year and the Ravens lost their fix with Chris Board leaving. The Ravens are grabbing some insurance with Buchanan.
Buchanan was one of the better coverage linebackers in this draft. He played 437 coverage snaps with a 76.2 PFF coverage grade, which ranked highly amongst all linebackers. He’s a fluid mover in space, with the ability to cover running backs sideline to sideline in man and smooth in zone with little panic. He’s also highly adept at knowing when to trigger and can drop out of his coverage and chase down a quarterback. If this can cover over early, Buchanan could find early snaps because of it.
Left tackles are difficult to find. 20 of the 30 projected starting tackles for the 2025 season were first-round picks. Most of the elite of the elite left tackles are high first-round picks, typically happening in those first 15/20 picks. The Ravens don’t pick there often; their last two Top-15 first-round picks were Kyle Hamilton in 2022 and Ronnie Stanley in 2016.
The Ravens drafted Vinson in the fourth round knowing that he’d need time to develop. The reason they probably picked him? His size. Vinson is 6-foot-7 with 34.5-inch arms and he moves well with his size. The Ravens are betting on that size to help with his development into the next franchise left tackle.
Kone will have a lot of little technical things to work on to be a full-time starter, but one thing he has that’s hard to teach is ball skills. While the stats don’t show it, his tape does. He spends a lot of time with his eyes on the quarterback, allowing him to attack the catch point.
If Ravens fans had gripes with Brandon Stephens always seeming to struggle to find the ball, they won’t have that issue with Kone....
