en it was the Ravens turn to pick with the 17th overall selection in the first round, Alabama inside linebacker C.J. Mosley was the highest-rated player on the board. Given the amount of time invested by the Ravens to do their due diligence on their future players and their consistent success, it's hard to ever question their pick.
However, I don't know if Mosley was the perfect fit for the Ravens' need at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to see Mosley line up next to Daryl Smith, but I thought some of the talent at safety remaining on the board was too good to pass up.
Mock drafts are nothing more than conversation pieces, but I don't know if many would have had both Calvin Pryor and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix still on the board by the 17th pick. Conventional wisdom was thought to be that whichever player was still on the board, that's who the Ravens would pick.
The rest is history as the Ravens took Mosley and the New York Jets took Pryor with the very next pick. Surprisingly, Clinton-Dix slid to the Green Bay Packers at 21.
Personally, I would have been happy with either Pryor or Clinton-Dix. Jets head coach Rex Ryan may be a media spectacle, but he's one heck of an evaluator of defensive talent. When the Jets swooped up Pryor immediately after the Ravens pick, I had a gut feeling that the Ravens may have missed an opportunity at a major upgrade to their defense.
