Why trading Marquise Brown is a good move for the Baltimore Ravens
Thursday’s round one of the NFL Draft revealed a few things about the Baltimore Ravens.
NFL Twitter was buzzing when the Ravens announced the trade of wide receiver Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown and the 100th pick to the Arizona Cardinals for pick number 23. Baltimore would then flip the 23rd pick to Buffalo in exchange for the 25th and 130th picks.
The deal that sent ‘Hollywood’ to the Cardinals displayed the organization’s willingness to address their weaker, albeit, less glamorous positions. Even if that meant moving on from one of their more dynamic offensive weapons.
I know what you’re probably thinking, hasn’t this weakened an already struggling receiving core in Baltimore?
The casual bandwagon Ravens fans exposed themselves in droves in the wake of the trade.
Yes, they gave away one of their best receivers. But Baltimore have now addressed some of the more glaring and arguably more important weaknesses, using the No.25 pick to select Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum.
General managers are okay with trading away star receivers to improve areas elsewhere, and Raven’s Eric DeCosta is no different.
He will be fine with letting go an often-injured receiver with questionable hands and limited production. No doubt Brown is talented, he might make a 50-yard touchdown play once in while. But the bigger issues are obvious when watching aborted snaps and a hapless offensive line struggle.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson may not be in the same boat, sending out a tweet showing his true feelings after the trade announcement: “WTF”.
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Don’t get me wrong, I like Brown. I think in the right situation, he will flourish.
In my opinion, Baltimore was not that situation. The system that the Ravens run right now does not fit the skill set of Hollywood.
As Lamar Jackson continues to evolve as a passer, the Ravens need taller receivers who are able, and more importantly, willing to block when asked upon.
Neither of these abilities correlate with Brown’s traits. Not to mention his inconsistent play during his tenure with Baltimore.
Last season, Brown became the first Ravens receiver to surpass 1,000 yards receiving. At the same time, he had more drops (7) than touchdowns (6). When your quarterback is not an elite passer, dropped balls are unacceptable.
It was not all doom and gloom as Brown is a talented young player who needs the right system to thrive. Arizona is an intriguing landing spot, as he will no longer carry the weight of being WR1, with that being DeAndre Hopkins.
He could also learn a lot from successful veteran receiver A.J. Green, and the aforementioned Hopkins.
This will be a potentially exciting new chapter for Brown, and I wish him well.
Kyle Hamilton, steal of the draft?
Though some Ravens fans are still panicking about losing Brown, I believe they should be ecstatic with the two players selected in the first round.
To begin, the Ravens selected Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton with the 14th pick. This pick may have come as a surprise as Baltimore signed former New Orleans star safety Marcus Williams to a massive 5-year, $70 million contract this offseason.
This was more of a case of the team taking the best available player.
The thing that makes Hamilton special is his unique combination of speed, size, and versatility.
The latter being the most important for a Ravens pass defense that finished last in the NFL in passing yards (4,986) and recorded the fifth-fewest interceptions (nine) last season.
Hamilton can play all over the field. He can play in the middle of the field in coverage. He can play down in the box to stop the run.
What about lining up across a tight end? No problem. Can he play the slot? Wouldn’t surprise me!
When looking at the scouting reports and analysis, I think Skip Bayless said it best: “Kyle Hamilton was born to play safety for the Ravens”.
Who is Tyler Linderbaum?
“Somebody said it on TV: If he was an inch taller and his arms were a half-inch longer, he’d have been a top 5 pick.”
That was Eric DeCosta speaking after his team selected Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum on Thursday evening.
His size, more accurately, his arm size is the only criticism of Linderbaum. Standing only 6-foot-2 and weighing 296 pounds, his arms a 31 and 1/8’s inches long, which is short for a center. It may sound ridiculous, but many teams were put off because of his shorter arms.
In all other categories, Linderbaum is elite. Like the sky is the limit elite. He is a special athlete at the center position, eating up linebackers coming off the blocks.
His quickness, core strength, and vice grip hands have him in line to be a game-changer for the Ravens.
Last season, Lamar Jackson was hit 16 times per game, which was the most of any quarterback in the last 15 years. Linderbaum will be a welcome addition to the Baltimore offensive line giving up only three sacks in his entire career to this point.
“My job is to protect him. I’m excited to get that opportunity. Every snap, every down, I’m going to have to bring it.” Linderbaum on Lamar.
I know Jackson was upset after the Marquise Brown trade but taking drastically fewer hits per game might make him feel a bit better.
One name that Linderbaum is constantly being compared to is Jason Kelce, a guy who helped the Eagles to a Super Bowl title. No big deal.
