Touted pass rusher headed to Ravens
Ojabo, still highly ranked after tearing Achilles while working out, says, ‘It’s like a dream’ after being taken by Baltimore
The Ravens drafted Michigan’s David Ojabo with the No. 45 overall pick Friday night, reuniting first-year defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald with one of the NFL draft’s most talented pass rushers.
The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Ojabo was expected to be a mid-first-round pick before he tore his Achilles tendon at Michigan’s pro day in mid-March, an injury that’s expected to delay his NFL debut. Instead, the All-American fell to Baltimore in the
middle of the second round. When his name was called Friday, he reared back at his draft party and screamed in delight.
“It means a lot,” Ojabo said in a conference call Friday night. “That’s what I was working toward before the unfortunate injury. And to have my family and friends right beside me, man, it’s all part of the story. It’s like a dream.”
In Baltimore, he will have a familiar support system. At Michigan, he played for coach Jim Harbaugh, the brother of Ravens coach John Harbaugh. His coordinator last season was Macdonald, whose one-year turnaround of the Wolverines’ defense led him back to Baltimore after just a year. His “guru” was Ryan Osborn, an analyst with the Wolverines whom Harbaugh hired as a
2021 regular season, it’s unlikely that will happen now.
Ahh, poor Lamar.
The NFL is a business and is all about winning, even though after Thursday night you didn’t walk away from The Castle believing that the Ravens were a better team. Not after Round 1, at least.
The reluctance to select Johnson was interesting because many of the draft experts had rated him among the top 10 players, but there had to be some red flags. Maybe it was the loud yellow and black sports jacket he wore, or something was hidden in his medical report. But he was worth the gamble, which the Ravens are no stranger to. They did it with players like outside linebacker Terrell Suggs and cornerbacks Jimmy Smith and Chris McAlister. They turned out all right.
Once Hamilton was secure and the Ravens got back in the first round via trades, they should have selected Johnson. The NFL is a quarterback-driven league, and the top players at those positions take over in the postseason. If you can’t contain them, you can’t win.
The AFC is loaded with talented quarterbacks like Denver’s Russell Wilson, Indianapolis’ Matt Ryan, Buffalo’s Josh Allen, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, Cleveland’s Deshaun Watson, Las Vegas’ Derek Carr and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert. That’s eight — not including Jackson — battling for seven playoff spots.
And the Ravens don’t have anyone who can consistently put pressure on those guys. There are no Aaron Donalds or T.J. Watts in Baltimore. In fact, they haven’t had one for four years, which is why they’ve been one-and-done in the playoffs. Last season, Johnson had 70 tackles, including 17 ½ for loss and 11 ½ sacks. The 6-foot-5, 254-pound edge rusher ran the 40-yard dash in 4.58 seconds.
Maybe he is a gamble, but the NFL isn’t full of altar boys. The New York Jets took him at No. 26, one pick after the Ravens’ second selection.
Whenever you look at great defenses, you have to focus on the front four. If they can get pressure on the quarterback, they win. Actually, they dominate.
The Ravens, though, claim they stay true to their board, but that really is situational. When they selected cornerback Duane Starks in 1998, he was considered a stretch. They actually tried to trade the No. 24 pick in 2002 but there were no takers. Instead, they ended up with eventual Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed.
Sometimes, you have to take risks, especially when filling a major weakness.
Both Hamilton and Linderbaum are good players. But the Ravens already have three safeties on the roster in Chuck Clark, Brandon Stephens and Marcus Williams, who signed a five-year, $70 million contract this offseason. How many safeties do you need? Is new coordinator Mike Macdonald going run some new four-safety configuration?
The 6-4, 220-pound Hamilton will have a presence in the middle, but is he going to consistently blitz off the corner? Linderbaum is a good selection, and the Ravens have a need at center. His coach at Iowa, Kirk Ferentz, was one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL, and his addition will give Baltimore an opportunity to move Patrick Mekari to one of the tackle positions if left tackle Ronnie Stanley hasn’t fully recovered from his ankle injury by the start of the season.
The trade of Brown was needed. He was a No. 2 receiver at best who was eventually going to ask to be paid like a No. 1. He had trouble with hand placement and wasn’t consistent in catching the ball. To be honest, he was soft, and he’ll go play with a soft team in Arizona. The Jacksonto-Brown combination probably had to be broken up because both need to grow up, and it would’ve been hard for that to happen in Baltimore.
This is a major draft for DeCosta. It’s unfair to criticize his last two because there hasn’t been much time for development, but that 2019 crew featured Brown in the first round and outside linebacker Jaylon Ferguson and receiver Miles Boykin in the third. Well, both Brown and Boykin are gone and Ferguson hasn’t been a factor.
And on Thursday night, the Ravens didn’t fill any of their major needs. They said that might happen over the next two days, where they’re loaded with picks, but that’s where you take players who are basically identified as projects.
And the Ravens can’t wait any longer for pass rushers to develop.
They better hope Johnson can’t play.