Working the phones and making shrewd picks that addressed the present and future needs of the Baltimore Ravens Darian Stewart Jersey , Ozzie Newsome conjured one final fascinating draft for a team that has relied on his intuition since its inception.
After making six trades and selecting 12 players, Newsome declared Saturday night: "The Baltimore Ravens are a better football team after the past three days."
Newsome is stepping down as general manager after this season. He has owned the final say in the Ravens' draft room since 1996, when he chose future Hall of Famers Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis in the first round.
The 2018 draft may not turn out to be as successful, but coach John Harbaugh 鈥?who'd heading into his 11th year with Baltimore 鈥?wouldn't bet against it.
"I told Ozzie just as we finished this thing up, I feel like this is his best draft since I've been here," Harbaugh said. "Heck, maybe the best ever."
Denying last month that he was carrying any nostalgic feelings into the draft, Newsome insisted he was focused solely on filling holes on a team that's missed the postseason for three straight years.
He did just that. For trivia buffs out there, his final draft pick was at defensive end: Zach Sieler of Ferris State in the seventh round.
His work done, Newsome was about to hang up the phone when he realized the significance of the moment.
"Yes, it was emotional," he acknowledged. "The kid told me he was going to make me proud."
Newsome will be succeeded by assistant GM Eric DeCosta. This may have been Newsome's final draft, but his work is not done.
"Even though there's a finality with that, there's not finality for what I'm going to continue to do with the Baltimore Ravens," he said.
Newsome was at his finest this week. He moved back twice in the first round before selecting South Carolina tight end Hayden Hurst at No. 25, providing quarterback Joe Flacco with a downfield threat from the slot.
Then, Newsome made a bold move that ultimately will determine the success of this draft. He swapped three picks to choose at No. 32 Aaron Lynch Jersey , where he snapped up Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, the multifaceted 2016 Heisman Trophy winner.
The Ravens insist Flacco will remain the starter this season, but it might be hard to resist for long the temptation of playing an athlete who accounted for 119 touchdowns in three college seasons.
On Day 2, after two more trades, Newsome turned his attention back to the 2018 Ravens by taking right tackle Orlando Brown Jr. 鈥攚hose father played with Baltimore 鈥?and tight end Mark Andrews of Oklahoma.
For his last day as Baltimore's draft guru, Newsome had eight choices. Each was made with intense consideration, as always.
"A lot of work has gone into this, starting back last June," Newsome said. "I really, really feel very good about this class and how it came to be."
Some items of note from the Ravens draft:
HERE'S THE CATCH: The theme of this offseason for Baltimore has been to overhaul the receiving corps, and Newsome continued the process in the draft.
After signing free agent receivers Michael Crabtree, John Brown and Willie Snead in recent weeks, Newsome collared two tight ends in the draft and on Saturday used two straight picks on receivers: Jaleel Scott of New Mexico State in the fourth round and Jordan Lasley of UCLA in the fifth.
Scott and Lasley both topped 1,000 yards receiving last season and each scored nine TDs.
ON THE DEFENSIVE: After using the first two days of the draft to improve the Ravens' offense, Newsome turned his attention Saturday to the other side of the ball.
He selected Alabama cornerback Anthony Averett at 118th overall, UCLA inside linebacker Kenny Young at No. 122 and Texas safety DeShon Elliott at 190 and then, finally Marshall Faulk Jersey , Sieler.
HOLD THAT LINE: Extending his effort to make life easier for Flacco, Newsome attempted to shore up the offensive line in the draft.
After the Ravens lost right tackle Austin Howard and center Ryan Jensen during the offseason, they grabbed a few potential replacements.
In addition to Brown, the Ravens took tackle Greg Senat from Wagner, a 6-foot-6, 305-pounder who also played on the basketball team. In the seventh round, Newsome again tapped his alma mater, selecting Alabama center Bradley Bozeman.
STILL NEED: The Ravens are fine with running back Alex Collins but hoped to find at least one backup in the draft.
DeCosta said that just as Baltimore was ready to pounce, another team stepped in and took the Ravens' choice.
"There will be more opportunities for us," he said.
TORONTO — Mike Babcock was not sure how much difference his line adjustments made, but the Toronto coach did notice the Maple Leafs‘ improved approach Saturday night in their 4-3 over the Boston Bruins in Game 5.
“I don’t know how much the line changes paid off, I just know that the guys were engaged,” Babcock said after the game in Boston. “We got off to a really good start and our penalty kill, obviously, was great. We were short-handed six times, (including) a five-on-three. So that was great. Our goaltender was good. We got the early lead and we were able to hang on.”
Boston takes a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven first-round playoff series into Game 6 on Monday night in Toronto.
The Bruins can be expected to come out with a different attitude at the Air Canada Centre because their coach, Bruce Cassidy Peyton Manning Jersey , was not impressed by his team’s effort Saturday when only one more win was needed to clinch the series.
The Bruins started slowly, leaking on defense and in goal as the Maple Leafs led 2-0 in the first period and 4-1 in the second.
“It clearly wasn’t good enough,” Cassidy said after the game. “And then obviously you want a save mixed in with those, and that didn’t happen either. So the stuff we’ve done well lately — defend, get saves — that didn’t happen early on. The start wasn’t good enough.”
When the Maple Leafs took a 4-1 lead at 11:55 of the second period on their 13th shot of the game, Bruins No. 1 goaltender Tuukka Rask was replaced by Anton Khudobin.
In contrast, Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen had a strong game, stopping 42 shots.
“Freddie was great,” said Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri, who had an assist on his return from a three-game suspension. “He was great when we needed him to be huge for us (Saturday). He made some incredible saves and ultimately gave us a chance.”
Rask will be in goal for the Bruins on Monday.
“Tuukka tomorrow, ready to roll,” Cassidy said Sunday. “I thought in Game 3 he was average, and he came back with a very good game in Game 4 in Toronto. So I guess I’ll take the immediate history and it is clear that we need that going in there.
“(Saturday) he was not at his best, so we made a move accordingly. But I don’t think our team was at its best defending in front of him in terms of killing rushes and we allowed them too much space and that goes hand in hand.”
Bruins left winger Brad Marchand said the loss was not all on Rask.
“He’s a competitor and always is,” Marchand said. “He holds himself accountable for (Saturday) night and it wasn’t just on him. We could have been better in front of him ourselves and collectively as a group we need to be better.”
The Maple Leafs got Kadri back after he was suspended for an illegal hit in Game 1. Another center, Leo Komarov, who suffered a lower-body injury Jeremiah George Jersey , does not appear ready to return.
“When he talked to our guys (training staff) yesterday, he was at 85 percent. Eighty-five percent doesn’t cut it at playoff time,” Babcock said Sunday. “So when you’re ready to play, you’ve got a chance to get in. In my opinion, I haven’t been told at all that he’s available. That’s how it is.”
Babcock said Kadri made an impact in his return.
“I thought Naz made a huge impact,” he said. “He ran over people, he was mean, he made good plays. … I thought Naz was real good in the game.”
The Bruins had center Patrice Bergeron back in the lineup Saturday after he was a late scratch with an upper-body injury for Game 4 on Thursday in Toronto.
Boston defenseman Kevan Miller said the Bruins cannot afford another slow start Monday and must be ready to play for the entire 60 minutes or more.
“Yeah, I think that’s playoff hockey,” Miller said. “That’s kind of the way things go sometimes. (Saturday) night we were pretty close. I think the first period got away from us, but you look at the whole game, after that, we did a pretty good job. It’s just something we’ve got to make sure we’re ready for 60 (Monday).”
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