The Ravens have played host and will continue to play host to several 2016 NFL prospects leading up to draft later this month.
Team officials start at the NFL combine, meeting with candidates who they believe can fill holes on their football teams.
Is that process truly beneficial?
Is 15 Minutes Enough Time?
“Well, we only get 15 minutes at the [Combine], and it’s a grind,” GM Ozzie Newsome stated about the interview process. “We start at six o’clock, you get four interviews within an hour and sometimes we go all the way to 11 o’clock at night.”
Not much can be determined in those 15 minutes. There are questions about schemes, on-field scenarios and even off the field scenarios.
With so many questions, can you decide in that brief time frame whether or not a player is worthy of drafting?
Front office members responsible for the draft selections take those answers, couple them with hours of watching tape and decide whether to meet at their respective facilities for further interviews and workouts.
“It’s really a grind on all of us for three- or four-straight days, but when we get them here, we get the opportunity to spend more than, of course, 15 minutes with each individual,” Newsome continued. “I can take 20, he can take 20 or 30, Eric can take [more than 15]. So, it goes … It’s a little bit more intense when we get them here, and normally, in this surrounding, they’re a little bit more at ease, also.”
Head coach John Harbaugh offered up his opinion on the pre-draft meetings from the combine to the Castle in Owings Mills.
“Yes, I think that sums it up. It’s kind of an introductory thing [at the Combine]. When they come back – and it’s usually for a reason – either they’re right in our crosshairs as far as potentially falling to us [in the draft], either first, second, third round, whatever, even later, or there’s a medical issue. Or there’s something that we really need to talk to them about and find out about.”
Weeding Out the Character Concerns
Meeting with prospects after the combine is a crucial part of the process. The Ravens have always taken it very seriously.
Team officials have went on record saying they will be highly selective regarding players with off-the-field issues.
” You’ve already met them once,” Harbaugh added. “They give you a big hug, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ It’s like you’re acquaintances; you kind of already know each other. So, I think that Combine interview sort of breaks the ice for the more in-depth type of stuff.
“Most of the guys there don’t have issues. You kind of just get to know then and confirm, ‘Hey, that guy is a good guy, and he’ll fit.'”
From their body language to the way they conduct themselves during the entire interview process, draft prospects are under constant scrutiny.
It’s almost as if one is undergoing a background investigation for a highly classified government position.
Eric DeCosta, the Ravens assistant GM said his staff have gotten better at discerning character concerns.
“You try, but it’s human nature and you make mistakes,” remarked DeCosta. “You think you know somebody, and you don’t. It’s like with your own children. You expect them to act a certain way, and then you come home and find out they haven’t done their homework.
“So, you’re betting on people, and there’s a lot of different things that go along with that. We try our best; we look these guys in the eye, we shake their hands, we look at their body language, how they conduct themselves,” he continued to explain. “We have all of this information that we get from various sources at the school, people that we talk to. I think our area scouts do an amazing job of getting information on players.
“We use our coaches that have a network of different sources as well, and then we spend time with these guys and we just do the best we can. But it’s challenging. I think the whole aspect of social media has created some opportunity, but also some other things that make it even more difficult for us. You just do the best you can.”
The process isn’t always 100% as we Ravens fans have found out over recent years. This year, there are several draft prospects with character concerns. The group includes two potential first-round picks, Ole Miss defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche and Eastern Kentucky defensive end, Noah Spence.
NFL teams will need to determine how much a player with a supposed character concerns like Nkemdiche or Spence can have on your roster. If the player can make an immediate impact on the field, chances are he will be selected. If their on-field impact is less certain, a team will not risk a high pick.
Each player and case is different as DeCosta noted with Spence. “In Noah’s case, we’ve interviewed him at length, we’ve studied him and we’ll continue to do that up until the draft and make the best decisions we can for the team.”
Will the Ravens use any of their nine draft picks on a questionable character guy in 2016?
My money is on NO!
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