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Baltimore Ravens Not Likely Players In 2015 NFL Supplemental Draft

By Joe Serpico

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The 2015 NFL supplemental draft will take place today at 1 p.m. ET and seven players are eligible for teams to consider adding to their roster. The players are eligible for the supplemental draft because they were not qualified to enter the traditional NFL player draft due to off-the-field issues such as arrests, grades and financial struggles.

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What makes the supplemental draft different than the regular draft is the format for how the process works. The supplemental draft follows a lottery to determine the order much like the NBA and NHL uses. The weakest club will have its name in the drawing 32 times, with the next weakest 31 times, etc., with the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots will have its name in once. The NFL breaks the lottery down to three drawings.

The first grouping will feature the 10 teams that won six or fewer games last season: Buccaneers, Titans, Jaguars, Raiders, Redskins, Jets, Bears, Falcons, Giants and Rams. The teams are guaranteed to have a top-10 pick, but the lottery determines the order.

The next drawing takes place with the 10 teams that won seven games or more, but did not make the playoffs. Those teams include Saints, Vikings, Browns, 49ers, Dolphins, Chargers, Chiefs, Bills, Texans and Eagles. These teams will get picks 11-20.

The final grouping features the 12 playoff teams: Panthers, Seahawks, Packers, Cardinals, Lions, Broncos, Ravens, Cowboys, Colts, Bengals, Steelers and Patriots.

Once the order has been decided, it follows the traditional draft process with teams going in order, round by round. Teams submit a choice of whether they want to use a draft pick in a particular round, and the team that submits the highest bid is awarded the player. It is important to note that any draft pick used in the supplemental draft will be accounted for in the 2016 NFL Draft, meaning if a team uses a third-round pick, they would lose their third-round selection in next year’s draft.

No player has been picked in the supplemental draft since 2012, when the Cleveland Browns used a second-round pick on wide receiver Josh Gordon. When he has been on the field, Gordon has been terrific. The problem is he has not been on the field often with off-the-field issues that often come with players entering the supplemental draft.

This year is no different. Clemson offensive tackle Isaiah Battle is the best prospect in this year’s draft, but was reported cited for speeding and possession of marijuana in June which led to his dismissal from Clemson’s football program. He was also suspended for a game in 2013 for punching a North Carolina State defensive back. Despite those issues, there were 26 NFL teams represented at his Pro Day and it is believed that the athletic tackle could be selected in the first four rounds of the draft.

Another intriguing scenario is the case of two West Georgia defensive lineman both being eligible for this year’s draft. Darius Caldwell and Dalvon Stuckey recently held workouts that NFL.com’s Gil Brandt was in attendance for, but tweeted that “neither player expected to be drafted.”

Here is the group of prospect who will be available for NFL teams:

[table id=16 /]

ProFootballTalk.com wrote a piece yesterday detailing how most supplemental draft choices have been misses than hits. Bernie Kosar was a supplemental draft choice. Cris Carter had a Hall of Fame career as a fourth-round supplemental pick. The Seahawks used a first-round pick in the supplemental draft on Brian Bosworth, and football fans know how his career turned out. You never know if these guys are going to get it together and play well. Since 1992, only 23 players have been selected, with Gordon being the most recent. He will be serving a year-long suspension for violating the substance abuse policy.

The Baltimore Ravens did take a chance on Jared Gaither with a fifth-round supplemental draft choice in 2007, and Gaither played surprisingly well stepping in for Jonathan Ogden after his retirement. Gaither was declared ineligible to play football at University of Maryland because of academic problems.

It is looking likely that some team will take a chance on Isaiah Battle. Will the Ravens be a part of the mix? Probably not. While they always could use more depth on the offensive line, Ozzie Newsome will not take the risk on players with character concerns after the season the past few seasons they endured.

However, the Ravens would be stupid not to put in some kind of bid. If for some reason Battle manages to slip to say a sixth or seventh-round pick, why not give it a shot? As previously mentioned, more offensive line depth never hurts. If some scouts think he is worthy of a mid-round draft pick, but slips because of character concerns, give him a shot and hope he matures. If it does not pan out, you cut a late-round pick. That happens every day in the NFL.

This is all for not as some team will take him anywhere between rounds three through six. With the Ravens falling in the third tier of the lottery drawing, there is little chance Battle is still around for a late round choice. It is unlikely that the Ravens will have any interest in the remaining prospects as well.

Tomorrow will likely be another quiet day of Ravens news for fans, and at this time of the offseason that is not necessarily a bad thing. We do not want any news of players blowing their hands up in firework accidents. Ravens fans can only continue to countdown until training camp starts.

Next: Ranking the Top-5 Running Backs in the AFC North

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