This year’s class of eight players consists of five offensive and three defensive players.
Over 24 years, the franchise has taken 201 players from 97 different schools–109 on offense and 89 on defense, along with two punters and long snapper.
The two wideouts taken this year brings the total number of Ravens-drafted receivers to 29, more than any other position. Cornerback and edge rusher are tied for second (18).
This time, the Ravens drafted two players from Oklahoma. Over the franchise history, OU has have had 11 players taken by Baltimore, tied with Alabama for the most.
Here’s the 2019 Draft class.
MARQUISE BROWN
(First round, 25th overall selection, from Philadelphia)
Height/Weight: 5-foot-10, 170 pounds
School: Oklahoma
Position: Wide receiver
Courtesy: NBC Sports
Strengths: He is a speedy and confident receiver, the cousin of Oakland’s Antonio Brown. Can be used on jet sweeps and other plays to get the ball in his hands often. He is the kind of playmaker that the Ravens sorely need. He compares to DeSean Jackson.
Weaknesses: He is still recovering from Lisfranc foot injury and may not be ready until training camp. There are questions about his size. The QB needs to get the ball out quickly to be accurate, considering his size.
Quotable: “His acceleration and explosive skills are the biggest strengths for this undersized wideout who can be used as more than just a deep threat, especially if his slight build won’t allow him to beat press coverage on the outside in the NFL routinely.” – First Level Media draft preview
JAYLON FERGUSON
(Third round, 85th overall selection)
Height/Weight: 6-foot-5, 271 pounds
School: Louisiana Tech
Position: Defensive end
Strengths: He’s long, lean and fast, and tremendously powerful and athletic (a former basketball player). He can beat tackles consistently with upper- and lower-body moves. He broke Terrell Suggs’ NCAA sacks record
Weaknesses: Ferguson has an inconsistent motor and doesn’t have a strong secondary move. He did not distinguish himself at the Senior Bowl workouts. A battery conviction kept him from a combine invite
Quotable: “Extremely productive edge defender with an NFL-caliber frame that continues to take shape. Ferguson played with good toughness at the point of attack and became a much more disruptive run defender as the season progressed.” – NFL.com draft profile
MILES BOYKIN
(Third round, 93rd overall selection, from New Orleans via New York Jets and Minnesota)
Height/Weight: 6-foot-4, 220 pounds
School: Notre Dame
Position: Wide receiver
Courtesy: Ravens Wire – USA Today
Strengths: Boykin had a strong combine performance. He has good size, was productive, and has a good catch technique. He can find holes in the defense and also blocks well.
Weaknesses: Had only one strong season (due partially to poor quarterback play). He doesn’t run tight routes and isn’t elusive when running after the catch
Quotable: “Speed, size, agility … physically, there shouldn’t be anything he can’t do at wideout.” – First Level Media draft preview
JUSTICE HILL
(Fourth round, 113th overall selection, from Denver)
Height/Weight: 5-foot-10, 198 pounds
School: Oklahoma State
Position: Running back
Strengths: He has a relentless attitude with a good burst and agility. Hill is hard to bring down and can easily embarrass tacklers with his low center of gravity. He cuts well, too.
Weaknesses: Hill isn’t very powerful or controlled. He sometimes tries to do too much and doesn’t have an extra accelerative gear. He’s not an accomplished pass-protector and, with that, likely won’t be on the field in third-down passing situations
Quotable: “Hill might not have the skills needed to handle third-down duties so that he could be pigeon-holed as a try-hard backup with average upside.” – NFL.com draft preview
BEN POWERS
(Fourth round, 123rd overall selection)
Height/Weight: 6-foot-4, 313 pounds
School: Oklahoma
Position: Guard
Courtesy: Bleacher Report
Strengths: Powers is consistent, has a powerful technique, and tenacious attitude. He started 38 straight games–all but two of them at left guard.
Weaknesses: He doesn’t have much leg drive in run-blocking situations. With a top-heavy physique, Powers plays too upright, which allows D-linemen to get under him easily.
Quotable: “Powerful interior lineman who shows good core strength, balance, and competitiveness to win in a phone booth.” – First Level Media draft profile
IMAN MARSHALL
(Fourth round, 127th overall selection, from Philadelphia)
Height/Weight: 6-foot-1, 205 pounds
School: Southern California
Position: Cornerback
Strengths: Marshall has good size, matches up well with big receivers, and can knock receivers off routes without drawing penalties. He read a receiver’s eyes, too.
Weaknesses: Marshall relies too much on his athleticism and has been accused of complacency. With a slow backpedal, he has average speed.
Quotable: “Marshall’s size and play strength made life challenging on Pac-12 receivers, but he lacks the foot quickness and technique to stay connected to more refined NFL targets.” – NFL.com draft profile
DAYLON MACK
(Fifth round, 160th overall selection)
Height/Weight: 6-foot-1, 320 pounds
School: Texas A&M
Position: Defensive tackle
Courtesy: Tyler Morning Telegraph
Strengths: Mack, a small target for blockers, has good leverage, great leg drive out of a four-point stance, and can knock his man off the ball. He is much quicker than he looks.
Weaknesses: His hand technique is average at best, and he doesn’t disengage quickly enough from blockers. Mack’s initial quickness isn’t sustained consistently.
Quotable: “Looks and plays like a cannonball, firing off the snap low and hard to reset the line of scrimmage.” – First Level Media draft profile
TRACE MCSORLEY
(Sixth round, 197th overall selection, from Philadelphia)
Height/Weight: 6-foot, 201 pounds
School: Penn State
Position: Quarterback
Strengths: McSorley is fast and athletic with enough touch to throw the short pass and an arm to throw the long one. He’s good at looking safeties off his targets.
Weaknesses: Size. He’s not very big and his arm isn’t the strongest. Accuracy disappears at times. At Penn State, he didn’t work with the kind of complicated playbook that he’ll have in the NFL.
Quotable: “I never saw him as a starter, but I had a backup grade on him after the summer. Now I have to decide how to weigh what I saw this year against last year because it was night and day.”– Anonymous scout with AFC team
