Bengals
- Now that the period to sign qualifying free agents is over, Over The Cap’s Nick Korte projects the Bengals to receive a fourth-round compensatory pick for the loss of DE Carl Lawson.
- Korte adds that pick could turn into a third-rounder if either Lawson or CB William Jackson beat their four-year snap average, 43.2 percent and 79.1 percent respectively.
- However, the Bengals could lose the pick entirely if Giants WR John Ross doesn’t play enough snaps to qualify as a free agent lost, which is far from a sure thing given all of New York’s additions this offseason.
Browns
Browns’ second-round LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah said on The Jim Rome Show he never dealt with any heart issues during his college career at Notre Dame after his medical information was discovered late in the draft process.
“You get news,” said Owusu-Koramoah via Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. “You get a lot of news within the draft and the process you’re going through. There was something that came up in terms of what guys were saying, but in terms of me, in terms of the personal aspect there were no really heart issues at all. There was nothing that was too ticked off and we went back to Notre Dame and looked at the medical records and everything.”
Cabot cites an NFL source who said there is “nothing wrong” with Owusu-Koramoah’s heart, while another source close to the linebacker has never heard of his condition.
Another NFL talent evaluator told Cabot that they had a “first-round grade” on Owusu-Koramoah and weren’t flagged on any heart issues.
“We had him very high on our board,” said the NFL evaluator. “We had a first-round grade on him. This kid is a tremendous player, especially where they got him.”
Cabot’s source believes Owusu-Koramoah’s decision to not run a 40-yard dash at his pro day may have impacted his draft stock.
“That was bad advice because he can run fast. When he got into the position stuff, he excelled. The Browns have to be able to run down one of the most elite athletes in the NFL in Lamar Jackson, and this kid can do it,” the person said.
Ravens
Wide receiver has been a sore spot for the Ravens the past few seasons and Baltimore drafted two more last week. But Ravens OC Greg Roman praised the team’s current wide receivers, including Marquise Brown, Devin Duvernay and Miles Boykin, and believes they all should be better this year.
“I don’t want to call it an embarrassment of riches, but when you talk about Hollywood and Devin and Miles, I really feel good about the guys we have,” Roman said, via Ravens.com. “This offense is really one that runs through Lamar. We’re always going to do what gives us the best chance to win. When you add talent like that, it’s really going to expand our profile quite a bit, actually. To play with the kind of balance that we really want to play with.”
“I really think it will probably take some pressure off guys that have been here like Marquise, free him up a little bit as well. The field’s about 53 yards wide, and I think people are going to have to defend all 53 yards of it.”
Roman also said adding Minnesota WR Rashod Bateman should help the team grow it’s passing game.
“There’s more passing plays per year than running plays,” Roman said. “We want to be great at both. There’s times when people from a numerical standpoint are just going to dare you to throw it and just commit more to defend the run than you can possibly hope to have sustained success against. That’s where we really want to take a big step this year. I think that’s really going to be key to us taking a big step offensively.”
“The thing that hits my brain is ‘Right place, right time’ when I think about Rashod Bateman here with the Ravens. Because I think he brings a style that is really going to compliment the guys who are here right now.”
- Now that the period to sign qualifying free agents is over, Over The Cap’s Nick Korte projects the Ravens to receive two fourth-round compensatory picks for the loss of OLBs Yannick Ngakoue and Matt Judon.
- Korte adds those picks could turn into third-rounders if either or both Ngakoue and Judon beat their four-year snap averages of 71.4 percent and 67.8 percent.
- However, the Ravens could lose one of those picks if DL Jihad Ward doesn’t play enough snaps for the Jaguars to count as a free agent lost, as the signing of WR Sammy Watkins would then cancel out either Ngakoue or Judon.
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