BALTIMORE — The NFL Draft is such a special time for fans, the organization and the players walking across that stage hearing their name called realizing their dream.
ESPN's Booger McFarland joined me in an interview to talk about the draft process.
McFarland: "If recruiting is the lifeblood of college football, then the draft is the lifeblood of the NFL because it's the talent acquisition phase, right? So, how do you change your team? Either through free agency or the draft."
"Now that you're on the other side of it and you're covering the game that you grew up playing, and that you love, and you're able to mentor some of these younger guys that are coming through the ranks, how much change have you seen when it comes to the whole draft process since you were drafted in '99?"
VIDEO: One-on-one with ESPN football analyst Booger McFarland
McFarland: "It's covered year-round. Number two, guys are preparing for the draft year-round. You had kids opting out of seasons a couple of years ago, and even now, man, like there's so many draft pundits and so many people who are experts in mock drafts and all these different things. The draft has kind of become an entity of its own from the standpoint of it's not just the draft, it's the combine, it's the offseason. So, the draft takes on, really, from the time the Super Bowl ends through, like, it's a three to four month deal."
"Where do you sit on the overall scope of this draft?"
McFarland: "I think this is a draft where if you have picks in the top four rounds, you're gonna be able to get quality football players that can come in and be starters for your team for a long time, and they may develop into Hall of Fame and All-Pro players, you don't know, but I think at the very, at the floor, I think that the floor of a lot of these players in this draft is gonna be solid NFL starter that's gonna play seven to ten years."
"Where do you feel like the Ravens should go and what should they look to do in this draft?"
McFarland: "If there's a safety that can play center field, Malaki Starks comes to mind. I've seen a lot of mock drafts where Malaki is kind of there. You often hear 'Play like a Raven', and what does that mean? It just means mentality, how we play football, how we show up to work. Malaki Starks is that guy. I don't worry about the testing numbers, I don't worry about what he ran in the 40. I've seen some of the plays that he made. He comes from a football program in Georgia where I know football is important down there."
"Offensively, do you feel like they need to bolster anything on that side of the ball?"
McFarland: "You can always talk about the offensive line and maybe adding another wide receiver, depending on what's gonna happen with Mark Andrews. I saw they were non-committal with him, so, we'll see. Could Mason Taylor could be a possibility there? I doubt it because you got Likely, Likely's got to take a step forward, depending on whether or not you bring Andrews back. Do you need another wideout? Do you need a bigger wideout? You got Zay, you got Bateman, I think you they could be ok there. Defensively though, I think because, here's what happens, when you pay the quarterback as much as you're paying him, he's gotta make sure the other guys rise up. Now, you gotta go help this defense out, man, to make sure you can stop somebody."
