When the Baltimore Ravens took Mike Inexperienced within the second spherical out of Marshall, it turned heads across the NFL.
On the sphere, Inexperienced was a licensed first-round caliber participant, one who doubtless would have lengthy been taken earlier than the Ravens made their choice of Malaki Starks at choose 27 if he had a clear analysis. However Inexperienced’s analysis wasn’t clear, with all 32 groups passing on him as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct throughout his time on the College of Virginia.
Requested after spherical two what occurred and why he was keen to convey Inexperienced into the Ravens flock regardless of the optics and considerations, Baltimore GM Eric DeCosta broke the choice down, noting that he took nice care earlier than pulling the set off.
“I’d say that we investigated this case very totally. I feel we’ve got the very best scouts within the NFL. We have got nice scouts that go into Virginia. They go into Marshall. We have got folks that work for investigating completely different incidents with gamers on a regular basis, and we felt comfy taking,” DeCosta advised Ravens reporters.
Associated Baltimore Ravens InformationArticle continues under
“We predict he is a proficient participant. We perceive the severity of what these allegations had been, in fact, however doing our due diligence, we’re comfy with Mike. I personally spent an hour and a half with him in my workplace, and I feel the very best is but to come back with him, and I am glad we received him.”
Requested to extrapolate on the state of affairs additional, DeCosta broke down the choice much more, noting that whereas each participant’s state of affairs is completely different, Inexperienced’s off-the-field points did influence his analysis, particularly in opposition to gamers who’re equally proficient.
“I feel each choice we make with the draft is hard, as a result of we’ve got a finite quantity of picks, and each choose may be very invaluable, and so that you contemplate every thing. You scrutinize every thing. It actually does develop into our lives, particularly after the season ends. It is a race to the end, and so it’s a tough choice. It is a tough choice when a man runs a sluggish 40,” DeCosta mentioned.
“It is a tough choice when a man has allegations. It is a tough choice when a man has an harm that you simply assume he cannot overcome, however possibly you’ll be able to overcome. That every one sort of will get factored in, as a result of ultimately, there is a component of danger mitigation with every thing we do, and we would like these guys to come back and be productive immediately, and so they must be proficient. They have to be sturdy, and we’ve got to have a number of belief in them, so it’s a tough choice.”
After dominating at Marshall and on the Senior Bowl, Inexperienced has elite expertise and appears like he generally is a licensed participant on the Ravens’ protection. Whether or not or not he is ready to have an extended and affluent profession in Baltimore, nevertheless, stays to be seen, as many basic managers did not belief his state of affairs sufficient to make use of their draft property on his companies.