Ravens preparing for virtual NFL Draft

Ravens preparing for virtual NFL Draft

THE NFL IS STILL PLANNING ONHOLDING ITS DRAFT LATER THISMONTH.

BECAUSE OF THECORONAVIRUS IT WILL BE ANEVENT LIKE NO OTHER IN THELEAGUEANNOUNCING TODAY THE DRAFTWILL BE ENTIRELY VIRTUAL.

ALLTEAM PERSONNEL WILL BEDRAFTING FROM THEIR HOMES...INSEPARATE LOCATIONS.

HOW ARETHE RAVENS ARE PREPARING?WMA━2 NEWS SHAWN STEPNERTELLS US.Ravens General Manager EricDeCosta and his staff areusually inside the teamfacility in Owings Mills thistime of year.

Putting togethertheir draft rankings andanalyzing hours of tape.

Notnow.

This is how most of hiswork is getting done no━━days.

At home.

On videoconference.

Eric DeCosta,Ravens General Manager: Ithink Imore than I have been.Normally people just walk intomy office.

Here they just callme.

Ihere watching tape.

DeCosta,Head Coach John Harbaugh andDirector of Player PersonnelJoe Hortiz holding a virtualpr━ draft press conference onMonday.

Part of the new normalbecause of the coronavirusoutbreak.

John Harbaugh,Ravens Head Coach: In someways, you doninto the office every day toget the job done and theredifferent pace, a differentstyle, a different format youcan use.

DeCosta: It brings meback to what it was like in1996 and 1997, really beforethe internet, before we hadall this information, how wewent about our jobs.

I thinksome of our best drafts weever had were during that timeframe.

The 2020 draft is setto get underway on April 23rd.The Ravens currently have ninepicks, including 28th overall.DeCosta calling it a quote“deep draf”.

The Ravens needsinclude inside linebacker,interior offensive line andwide receiver.

DeCosta: Thereceiver class is prolific bymany peopleclub hasnlong to pick their firstplayer since selecting 32nd in2013 after winning the SuperBowl.

Trading up is always apossibility.

DeCosta: We lovto make trades.

We have theopportunity to go up and get aguy.

In no━draft news, whatabout the picture causingquite a stir in NFL circles,muc━ maligned veteran AntonioBrown working out with hiscousin, Ravens receiverMarquise Brown and LamarJackson last week.

Stepner:Your thoughts on them gettingtogether and working out andyour interest level in AntonioBrown?

DeCosta: Those arei━house things.

Those are mypersonal feelings about thatsituation.

DeCosta adding itwould not be beneficial tocomment on any free agent.

InBaltimore, Shawn Stepner,WMA━2 NewIF BABE RUTH WASN'T BO