26. Baltimore Ravens - Torrey Smith, Maryland Terrapins
Wouldn't it be swell if the Ravens could get someone like Julio Jones here when the 2011 NFL Draft rolls along? I bet they feel the same way, but a great combine, a great season, and just overall hype has taken Jones from being a top twenty pick that could fall to a top fifteen pick that probably won't fall in any circumstance. Such is the life of a perennial playoff team like Baltimore. They have needs at wide receiver, cornerback, defensive end and more, but they're in good shape overall.
They would have pulled the trigger on Jimmy Smith, the athletic cornerback out of Colorado, but the Seattle Seahawks just took him at pick twenty-five, so now they're left with a couple decisions. Do you go with a defensive end, or do you go after a lesser prospect at corner or wide receiver? With four cornerbacks already off the board, the Ravens first-round board is depleted, and I think they go for a wide receiver instead of a defensive end. Torrey Smith isn't some consolation pick, and he's not necessarily a reach, either. Most people have Smith going at some point in the late first round, so right around twenty-six is where teams should consider taking him.
In lieu of some can't-miss prospect, Baltimore pulls the trigger. Smith is good-sized, at 6'1'' and 205 pounds, and is faster than many projected him at, running a 4.41 at the combine. He's not going to go screaming by the elite cornerbacks in the league, but if he can jockey for position and catch a ball, he can make somebody look bad after that. He's got the ability to be a number one receiver and for the Ravens, he doesn't have to right away, which will help him in the end.