Introducing Courtney Upshaw

                First off both Tyler and Matt in their draft prediction mentioned the chance of the Ravens trading back out of the first round. That is exactly what the Ravens did with their 29^th pick in this past weekend’s NFL Draft. The Ravens traded the pick to the Minnesota Vikings in return they received the 35^th pick and the 98^th pick. With the pick from the Ravens the Vikings selected Harrison Smith a Safety from Notre Dame.

                Watching the draft there was a sense that this was going to happen. Don’ta Hightower was taken by the Patriots at 25 a pick that all three of us here thought the Ravens wanted to make. Overall I am a fan of this as the Ravens were able to trade back 6 picks and get the guy who they most likely would have drafted at 29 anyways in Courtney Upshaw. With the other pick they received from the Vikings they took Gino Gradkowski a Center/Guard from Delaware. Gradkowski has the potential to be the Ravens Center of the future or at the very least provides some young and depth to the offensive line which is always a good thing.

Upshaw should fit right into the Ravens defense.

More following the jump.

           

     Looking at Upshaw he has the potential to come in right away and make plays. Watching some interviews of him Harbaugh joked with him that his expectation is to come in and have 10 sacks this season. While that is probably more a joke or lofty goal it shows why they drafted him, to help the pass rush. Upshaw played all four years he was on campus at Alabama and was an elite player for the best defense in college last year. He led Alabama with 8.5 sacks in 2011 and had 16.5 sacks in his career. The biggest question with him is his run stopping ability, if he can become a decent run stopper too he could be a three down type player for the Ravens.

                Season outlook: With Jarrett Johnson leaving in the offseason the linebacker stop opposite Terrell Suggs is open. The Ravens had a pair of second round picks on their roster already, Paul Kruger and Sergio Kindle who were expected to battle it out for the other pass rushing job. I think that this signals an end to the Sergio Kindle experiment. He had a lot of upside but freak injuries derailed his carrer in Baltimore before it even started. Unless he proves he can be a special teams player I don’t expect Kindle to make the Ravens roster for the upcoming season. I expect Kruger to be the starter at least to begin the season but I think they will rotate in Upshaw and use them almost 50-50. Keeping them fresh will help make them both more effective. If they can take some pressure off of Suggs on the opposite side it will help Suggs get more pressure as well. Ultimately this was a smart move by the Ravens as they got the best player available on the board while also addressing a whole that was made in the off season.

Below are highlights of Upshaw while he was at Alabama.