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In other words, the Patriots, Bengals and Browns all added one of those University of Alabama players the Ravens supposedly wanted, but the Ravens didn't get one.
In fact, the Ravens didn't get anyone Thursday night when they elected to trade out of the first round at the last minute, sending their pick, the 29th-overall selection, to Minnesota for the 35th- and 98th-overall selections.
This is the second time in three years that they have traded out of the first round, and they ended up getting Sergio Kindle with their highest pick the last time, which is going to make some fans nervous. That hasn't work out so far.
But it's far too soon to judge how things will work out this time.
What happened Thursday night was just the first step of a process, and in some ways, it was almost inevitable. The Ravens found themselves near the bottom of the first round in the wake of their strong 2011 season – a draft position Newsome said he hopes to find himself in every year – and they elected not to pay the price to move up.
"It can get expensive," Newsome said, sounding like the careful shopper he is known to be.
Then, seeing the players they had to choose from at 29 – a group that included Wisconsin center Peter Konz, Alabama linebacker Courtney Upshaw, Georgia offensive lineman Cordy Glenn and Georgia Tech receiver Stephen Hill – they elected to move back six spots because they obviously believe they can still land one of those players at 35 … perhaps the one in that group they really seem to want.
"We have some guys that, if we were stuck at 29, we could have picked and one of those guys is still available for us and could still be available at (35)," Newsome said.
He obviously wouldn't divulge who that one player is, but the Ravens are going to be busy when the draft resumes Friday night. They're currently scheduled to make four of the next 65 selections, starting with the third pick in the second round. They could make that selection and then package two or more of those other picks for another high second-round pick – a scenario Newsome said was possible.
In other words, as frustrating as it was for Baltimore fans to see the teams around the Ravens get better Thursday night while their team didn't, let's see how the rest of the draft unfolds before we start making judgments. Things could get a lot more interesting in a hurry.
