Ravens Have a Solid Track Record When Drafting Defenders in the First Round

The NFL Draft is 14 days away. And for the most part, we know just as much about who will go where as we did in February after the Combine. Of course, if we just stuck to what we knew everybody on "Around the Horn" would be out of a job and blogs wouldn't exist.

Anyway, in today's Baltimore Sun, Mike Preston speculates on who the Ravens are eyeballing with their No. 8 pick: Leodis McKelvin.

The Official FanHouse Mock Draft has Baltimore selecting Matt Ryan, and I'm guessing if he's still on the board general manager Ozzie Newsome will give serious consideration to taking the team's first franchise quarterback since, well ... ever.

Ryan's unlikely to slip eight spots, though, so Baltimore will probably have the opportunity to take a defender, something they've had a lot of first-round success doing. Since moving from Cleveland in 1996, the Ravens have taken Ray Lewis ('96), Peter Boulware ('97), Duane Starks ('98), Chris McAlister ('99), Ed Reed ('02), Terrell Suggs ('03) and Haloti Ngata ('06) in Round 1. I'd say 6 for 7 is pretty good.

Assuming McKelvin's the guy, he would likely begin the season as the nickel back, if not work his way into the starting job. Two years ago, Baltimore used a third-rounder on cornerback David Pittman, but he's spent most Sundays during the season in civvies.

Also, Preston notes that McKelvin is a dangerous returner, though I don't know how much that matters since the team used a 2007 third-rounder on Yamon Figurs who handled both kick and punt-returner duties as a rookie.