Baltimore Ravens: Three Safeties to Ponder in the NFL Draft

Nov 14, 2015; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive back Jalen Ramsey celebrates a turnover against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports

In my opinion in the film I have watched thus far, Jalen Ramsey is far and away the best safety in the 2016 Draft Class. The #3 overall pick may be a little bit early for Ramsey, but it is not too far off. Ramsey played nickle corner in 2014, then shifted to the top cornerback with the departure of Ronald Darby and P.J. Williams to the 2015 NFL Draft. While Ramsey played mainly corner his entire college career, I believe his skill set is best suited at safety. I think he is the only safety worthy of a first round grade. The best things I see from Ramsey’s film are his instincts, his close-out speed, and his ability to flip his hips in coverage.

His instincts are shown all over his film. With the turnovers he creates, paired with his ability to follow and read the quarterback, he creates a very solid safety prospect. In coverage it is very important to be able to stay with your man; and if you happen to get beat, being able to make up ground before the ball gets to the receiver is of utmost importance. The film showed multiple times where the quarterback thought he had a receiver open, but Ramsey would catch up with the receiver and bat down the ball.

The next skill that popped out on tape multiple times was his ability to flip his hips to adjust to the direction of the receiver. He played a lot of Cover 0 and Cover 1 man coverage at Florida State, which a lot of teams will like, because Cover 0 would allow them to blitz players without feeling like Ramsey would be a liability in coverage.

There were a few negatives on his film. One of the first things that you see on his film is his catching ability, or lack thereof. In the seven games I watched, he had at least two to three dropped interceptions that were very catchable. However, it is a good sign that he is often in the right position to create those turnovers. He also isn’t the tallest and biggest guy out there, being listed at 6’0″, 201 pounds, which could cause some problem against match-ups against bigger tight ends.

However Jalen Ramsey is the most talented safety of this class and he would be a great addition to provide a spark and youth into the Ravens defense.