Nfl Draft

There's life after Ray, and it's time to start preparing. Everything about the Ravens' offseason maneuvering indicates team officials sought instant fixes that would help the team compete immediately. In this weekend's NFL draft, though, the Ravens need to show foresight that extends beyond the 2006 season. Time for the Ravens to get their affairs in order. Ray Lewis won't be around forever. And the time to start addressing that reality is the first round of this year's draft. The Ravens apparently don't think they can upgrade their offensive line Saturday.

This week's sports media notes from the war room while I'm on the clock making a reach: * How big is NFL draft day coverage? The draft "pre-game" now is almost as long as the Super Bowl's. On Saturday, ESPN starts its five hours of preview programming at 11 a.m. before it carries the actual draft - for the 30th year! - at 4 p.m. from Radio City Music Hall. Coverage runs until 9 on ESPN, then switches to ESPN2 until the second round ends. ESPN has the rest of the draft from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

For reasons both economic and practical, it will be a buyer's market when the NFL draft unfolds April 23. Indeed, it figures to be easier to trade up into the top 10 picks of the first round than to slide out of them. In a draft that is short on impact players, several teams already have expressed a willingness to vacate the high-rent district. The San Francisco 49ers are prepared to begin negotiations with four players but have invited offers for their No. 1 pick. The Miami Dolphins have been shopping No. 2 for weeks.

THE RAVENS HAD the last selection in the first round of the NFL draft yesterday, and they came away with Arizona State's Todd Heap, the consensus pick as the best tight end in college football. Unbelievable. You can call it luck. You can call it fate. Call it whatever you want, but the Ravens are on a roll this off-season. They upgraded their passing game in early March by signing free-agent quarterback Elvis Grbac, and then added perhaps the best right offensive tackle in the game nearly two weeks later in Leon Searcy.

WHEN A TEAM walks away from the first day of the NFL draft with college football's top pass rusher and the No. 3 quarterback, it's a great day. Actually, correct that. It's an incredible day. The Ravens' deal for franchise quarterback Byron Leftwich of Marshall University fell through yesterday, and the team mortgaged part of its future by trading next year's No. 1 draft pick, but it came away with Arizona State defensive end Terrell Suggs and California quarterback Kyle Boller. Say it again, please?

The University of Miami and the 2004 class of wide receivers set records in the NFL draft yesterday. The Hurricanes had six first-round selections, breaking the record of five they had in 2002 and shared with Southern California (1968). There were seven wide receivers taken in the first round, topping the previous high of five set in 1988 and matched in 2001. Altogether there were 19 offensive picks in the first round, most in the past 15 years. 1. CHARGERS* Philip Rivers, QB, North Carolina State The Chargers wanted to trade back all along and take Rivers.

There were 336 stories in the NFL's 57th collegiate draft, which rang to a close yesterday after the 28 teams made 22 trades during the 17 hours, 34 minutes and 12 rounds of sometimes frantic deliberating.Actually, make that at least 337 stories.One of the best stories of the draft may involve quarterback Boomer Esiason of the Cincinnati Bengals, the former University of Maryland star who was a big draft-day story eight years ago when he wasn't selected until the second round.Esiason wasn't happy about the slight, and he got the last laugh on the critics when he led the Bengals to the Super Bowl three years ago.Esiason is noted for being outspoken, and he made it obvious yesterday he wasn't happy about the Bengals' selection of quarterback David Klingler.

When ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. opens his mouth around this time of year, what comes out must be measured in paragraphs, not sentences. Sentences, frankly, are simply too restrictive for Kiper, even if his time, as usual, is limited. He doesn't pause for punctuation - or to draw a breath, for that matter - instead choosing to speak in a series of rapid-fire, high-volume monologues jampacked with as much information as humanly possible. Want to know who Kiper, 45, thinks will be the best player available when it's the Ravens' turn to pick in the 2006 NFL draft?

The Cleveland Browns are on the clock. Six days and counting before the NFL draft begins, they are still weighing the value of the No. 1 pick. Do they invest millions of dollars in defensive end Courtney Brown or pledge their future to linebacker LaVar Arrington? Take the best pass-rushing end to come out in the last 15 years? Or opt for the free-lancing linebacker who conjures up visions of Lawrence Taylor? Tough call. Intriguing decision. Ozzie Newsome wishes he had it to make, though.

In 1998, the lure of speed prompted the Ravens to draft Patrick Johnson in the second round when Hines Ward was still on the board. Two years later, big-game performances persuaded them to use a top 10 pick on Travis Taylor when Laveranues Coles and Darrell Jackson lasted into the third round. These attempts to land an impact receiver represent the major disappointments on what has become a revered drafting resume. For a franchise that has prided itself on selecting a future Pro Bowl performer at nearly every position, the Ravens have dropped the ball when it comes to finding a wide-out with the right speed, instincts and toughness.