With their final pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, in the sixth round, the Ravens took OT Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu from Oregon.
RSR staff react to the pick here.
Brennan Stewart
Well, we made it through the draft with no trades and only five picks. I can’t say this is what I expected, but I don’t have issues with any of the picks—as long as we see strong moves at defensive end in free agency or via trade.
If the last pick was going towards the offensive line, I would have liked to see a left guard to fill in behind Ben Cleveland instead of a tackle. Either way, Aumavae-Laulu has the size to fit in anywhere on this offensive line at 6 ‘6 and 330lbs, so hopefully he serves as a flexible depth piece should any injuries arise.
Darin McCann
Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu is yet another athletic freak in this class, clocking an RAS of 9.53, ranking him 63 out of 1,312 guards rated from 1987 to 2023, according to Kent Lee Platte.
The athletic profile is there, as is a nasty on-field temperament. He just needs work and probably a little patience. This feels like the type of player who Joe D’Alessandris is going to enjoy working with, and turning into his best version. Interesting pick for sure!
Jared Pinder
Laulu is another athletic freak of nature, scoring an 8.87 RAS score. He is nimble and mobile for his height and can really get on the move easily. He also has a mean streak, as he loves to come up and block defenders and turn into a human bulldozer clearing the way for the Offense. This is another example of what you do late in the draft, take shots at the athletes and hope they work out. It is a good end to another successful Ravens Draft.
2 Responses
I’m with Darin on this one. Nice pick for depth and with Faalele in year 2 and Mekari there if we need it, we look pretty sound along the offensive line. We should be able to move folks off the ball. I saw we snagged Voorhees too. That’s another earth mover. We shouldn’t call it football season for these guys, it should be happy mauling season because we got some maulers.
TBH I had never heard of him before we drafted him. Now as said we need to coach him up just like with Cleveland and Faalele so we have depth and someone to step in at G. It appears to be a good move if someone can step up and fill the hole at G.