April 20, 1998|By Gary Lambrecht | Gary Lambrecht,SUN STAFF
They were expected to trade down on the NFL's opening draft day to recover an early-round pick, but the Ravens saved their deal-making for yesterday, when they made two trades and concluded their third draft by addressing depth at five positions.
On a day that started with a flurry of activity before the first selection of the fourth round was announced, the Ravens swung a trade with the Indianapolis Colts, then dealt again later with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That enabled the Ravens, who originally had three remaining picks, to draft two more players.
The Ravens went on to select Oklahoma defensive tackle Martin Chase and Colorado safety Ryan Sutter in fifth round and Georgia Tech linebacker Ron Rogers and Oklahoma offensive tackle Sammy Williams in the sixth, before adding Weber State tight end Cam Quayle with the 241st and final pick of the draft.
However, they weren't able to make a deal for veteran cornerback Jimmy Hitchcock.
"We answered some needs [Saturday]," said Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens' vice president of player personnel, referring to their first two picks, cornerback Duane Starks and receiver Pat Johnson. "We created more competition [for jobs] by adding some quality depth today."
The Ravens also created a chance to gain a veteran cornerback to complement Starks. That player will not be Hitchcock, who was reluctant to leave New England for Baltimore due to concerns over playing time here. Hitchcock, a fourth-year player and a restricted free agent who had yet to sign a $378,000 qualifying offer from the Patriots before yesterday, was traded to Minnesota.
That means the Ravens could renew their pursuit of Carolina cornerback Tyrone Poole. Newsome sounded confident that he has enough -- in the form of 1999 draft picks -- to entice the Panthers into making a deal.
"Poole enters the picture again. I'll probably call Carolina next week," Newsome said. "I know exactly what they want. As we move forward and he becomes a good fit, I can do it. I can make that move."
Newsome said the Panthers would want either a second- or a third-round pick from next year's draft. The Ravens, after going into this year's draft with just five picks, have twice as many choices heading into 1999.
Three of those picks will be granted by the NFL as compensation for the free-agent losses of wide receiver Derrick Alexander, cornerback Antonio Langham and center Quentin Neujahr. The Ravens figure to get additional fourth-round choices for Alexander and Langham, and possibly another fifth-rounder for Neujahr.
Yesterday, they also recovered next year's third-round pick, which they had lost in February's trade involving former Tampa Bay running back Errict Rhett.
The day began with the Ravens trading down with Indianapolis from the first slot in the fourth round. That deal netted the Ravens the 12th selection of the fourth round and the first picks of rounds 5 and 6.
Then, while the Ravens were on the clock waiting to make their fourth-round selection, they decided to deal again, this time with Tampa Bay. In exchange for that fourth-round pick, the Ravens recovered the third-round choice for next year. In effect, the Ravens obtained Rhett for the 103rd player chosen -- center Todd Washington.
The Miami Dolphins, picking two slots ahead of Baltimore in the fourth round at No. 10, also pushed the Ravens to move down again by taking Clemson defensive tackle Lorenzo Bromell, a player the Ravens wanted.
"Miami took a guy who we were considering. That was part of it," said Phil Savage, the Ravens' director of college scouting. "And we thought there were enough safeties and defensive linemen left that we liked."
The Ravens wasted no time addressing those needs. With the first pick of the fifth round, they took Chase, who blossomed as a pass rusher last year by recording 14 sacks, tying a single-season school record. They followed nine picks later by upgrading their special teams with Sutter, who was one of the top special teams coverage aces in the Big 12 Conference.
"Chase was almost an obvious pick at that point. We needed depth there," Savage said. "With our situation at safety, we felt that Ryan [Sutter] is a guy who won't need a lot of reps. He picks things up fast, and he has a lot of pride in special teams. We have Ralph Staten and Kim Herring, and both Stevon Moore and Rondell Jones are coming off injuries."
The Ravens' need for a linebacker isn't as dire, but they couldn't pass up a chance to push backups Tyrus McCloud and Cornell Brown with Rogers. He wound up with 435 tackles at inside linebacker, the third-highest total ever at Georgia Tech. The Ravens also figure Williams gives them additional depth at offensive tackle.
"We want [defensive linemen] Larry Webster and Goose [Tony Siragusa] to look over their shoulders a little bit. Same with Tyrus and Cornell," Newsome said.
When asked if star offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden could be threatened by Williams, Newsome smiled. "I don't know if we could bring anybody in who would make Jonathan look over his shoulder," he said.
Pub Date: 4/20/98
