Every fan has their one pick in the draft each and every year they are excited about and can’t wait to see how that player will contribute on their favorite team.
Even front office personnel share that same quality when it comes to that one player, as Ravens assistant general manager Eric DeCosta pointed out on Tuesday evening at a Q&A session at Mother’s Federal Hill Grille, put on by PressBoxOnline.com.
Just who exactly was DeCosta’s favorite pick of the Ravens in 2014?
Defensive end Brent Urban. The fourth round selection out of Virginia caught DeCosta’s eye and is a player he thinks is going to contribute for years to come.
“I would say my favorite draft pick this year might be Brent Urban,” DeCosta exclaimed.
“I went to Virginia in early September and looking at three or four games, I thought the guy was a first or second round talent. He was absolutely dominant in those games. I think that he is going to be of really great value to us. It’s really hard to find guys like that.”
At Virginia, Urban played in 36 games (20) starts at strong-side defensive end where he registered 75 tackles (20 solo) with three sacks for minus 15 yards.
The stout defensive end also also recorded an impressive 16.5 stops for losses totaling 48 yards. Hoping to impress NFL teams, Urban looked forward to playing in the 2014 Senior Bowl, but leading up to the game he suffered a badly sprained ankle resulting in surgery and wasn’t able to play.
His draft stock plummeted.
The Ravens weren’t phased by any means and took the chance on Urban much like they did in 2013 when they selected Kapron Lewis-Moore out of Notre Dame in the sixth round. Urban and Lewis-Moore are clearly the future of the Ravens defensive front on paper and share a lot of the same qualities as players.
“Kapron Lewis-Moore we selected and he was coming off an ACL injury. He’s a five technique three-four defensive end,” recalled DeCosta.
“Those guys are rare to find, body type and ability wise and I think he’s going to be another guy that impresses a lot of people and a year from now Brent Urban is going to be one of those type of guys too.”
While Urban watched most of his fellow rookies practice over the week at the Ravens rookie minicamp, he will likely be ready when the team heads to training camp this summer.
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