The Ravens 2008 draft has received mixed reviews. Mel Kiper gave them a solid B while I've seen several other reviews give them a C or even a D. Of course, rating a draft a day afterward is absolutely ridiculous. You need at least 3 years to get a good read on its impact.
For the Ravens the success of this draft will ride predominantly on the success of first-round pick Joe Flacco. And I hate to admit this, but I REALLY like this pick. While I love his arm, three things have stuck out to me - his accuracy, his ability to learn quickly, and his seemingly unflappable demeanor. All three traits are vastly different from what Kyle Boller brings to the table. Add to that the fact that Cam Cameron will be mentoring him and the odds of Flacco succeeding just feel much higher than they did with Boller, who was a reach from the beginning.
As far as the rest of the draft, I don't think we'll see any immediate impacts. They drafted a couple more offensive linemen, which I like, but both will need to further develop before becoming starters. I like the pick of Tavares Gooden, a MLB from Miami, but he will be a backup next year. The pick of Tom Zbikowski, the safety from Notre Dame, was another good one but he will not start next year. The Ravens traded their 4th round pick for CB Fabian Washington, who was a bust in Oakland, so I don't feel that they've adequately addressed their CB situation.
Next year will be a very important year for some recent Ravens picks. It's time for Mark Clayton ('05), Adam Terry ('05), David Pittman ('06), PJ Daniels ('06) and Chris Chester ('06) to step up or step out. It's time for Demetrius Williams ('06), Antwan Barnes ('07), Prescott Burgess ('07), Troy Smith ('07) and Jared Gaither ('07) to make major progress. It will be important for Ben Grubbs ('07), Marshal Yanda ('07), and Yamon Figurs ('07) to continue their solid development. The Ravens are getting old very quickly. For the transition into (hopefully) the Joe Flacco era to be a smooth one, the younger Ravens must perform.
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