Money

My bad. I thought draft experts and their evil mock drafts had something to do with this thread.

Here's a 2014 mock draft done in December, 2013. How were Brent Hundley, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Cameron Erving and Cedric Ogbuehi able to make the decision to stay in school another year? These were elite prospects who had 1st round grades. Were there no "shady agents" after them? http://thebiglead.com/2013/12/20/2014-nfl-mock-draft-pre-bowl-game-edition/ BTW...you know who didn't have 1st round grades? Richardson and Purifoy. Guess who had self inflicted red flags though...

I know. That conversation really can't go any further. I'm morphing it into Florio's continued attack on McShay/Kiper and everything they do.

He summed it up better than I did.

I agree for sure, but why rant about it? Who the hell cares if others enjoy reading them? Obviously there are many who do.

Let's face facts here. The ones that are making a huge deal out of this and screaming the loudest against it are the ones that have underlying issues (such as doubts about themselves).

Mike Florio is on a rant. Here's another article where he's ripping draft grades and specifically mentioning McShay and Kiper. He's actually urging people to not care about draft grades. Really? Who gives a shit? I'm beginning to think he must have caught McShay and Kiper tag-teaming his wife or something. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/15/the-pft-insert-year-draft-grades/

He looks like he can't wait for his opportunity:

These poor, poor little angels. Corrupted by the big, bad draft "experts". They just wanted to be the best possible student-athletes they could possibly be and that dream was snatched away from them. They were McKiperized. RiGodDamnDiculous if you ask me.

Again dude...these kids haven't been going to class for well over a year now (if at all). Poor kid. Who's fault is this? McShay's??? "According to a Gainesville Police Department report, Purifoy was a passenger in a car that was stopped for a violation of the right of way at 12:05 a.m. ET Sunday. The officer's report noted that one passenger threw a marijuana cigarette out of the window and that he observed marijuana residue in the car. The officer also saw a bag containing 2.5 grams of marijuana by the car's emergency brake.

You are missing the point. What good would it be if these kids could indeed go back. They wouldn't be able to play football because they stopped going to class over a year ago. Purifoy might have been ranked #19 overall by McShay (whose sole job is to simply speculate) over a year ago, but he was certainly not ranked that in January and could have backed out then if he had given himself an option. Purifoy also didn't help himself off the field either. I guess his troubles were also McShay's fault. Because intercollegiate athletics is part of the fabric of the university, student-athletes must be committed to academic achievement and the pursuit of a degree. Student-athletes must meet academic standards throughout their careers on campus to remain eligible to participate in intercollegiate athletics. Member institutions in each division create academic standards specific to that division’s goals. In Division I, student-athletes must complete 40 percent of the coursework required for a degree by the end of their second year. They must complete 60 percent by the end of their third year and 80 percent by the end of their fourth year. Student-athletes are allowed five years to graduate while receiving athletically related financial aid. All Division I student-athletes must earn at least six credit hours each term to be eligible for the following term and must meet minimum grade-point average requirements that are related to an institution’s own GPA standards for graduation. http://www.ncaa.org/remaining-eligible-academics

They didn't lose their eligibility when they declared for the draft. They lost their eligibility when they stopped attending class. Declaring for the draft was a forgone conclusion since it was the only option they left themselves.

These kids were never told to simply stop going to class this year based off of a projection from an NFL draft "expert". They had to come out because they would have been academically ineligible to play next year. If they hadn't eliminated all options for themselves, they could have simply gone back to school when it was clear they wouldn't be drafted where someone said they would a year ago. Exactly when did it become popular and acceptable to take zero accountability for one's actions???

All the Pryor picks are simply lazy picks to fill out a mock. Pryor is a horrible fit for us. I think the one with Ward to us at #17 is spot on. I'm not saying we will take him, but I'm saying that is where we will need to take him.

Imagine our secondary if Gilbert fell to us and we took Ward in the 2nd. Webb, Smith, Gilbert, Elam and Ward??? Sick!

I don't want to take a safety in the 1st. Clinton-Dix is the best fit, but I'm not sold on him. Prior is not a good fit in my opinion. I think we would be getting an Elam clone. I would love Jimmie Ward in the 2nd. Lewan/Martin in the 1st and Ward in the 2nd would be ideal for me. This is assuming Evans, Gilbert or Donald don't fall.

I'm hoping for both CBs and WRs have flown off the board in this mock. If I had taken one with any of the Ravens' picks, it would have been a reach.

So I'm in charge of the Ravens in a mock draft on SportsHoopla. My picks thus far: Round 1 - Zack Martin Round 2 - Jimmie Ward Round 3 - C.J. Fiedorowicz Round 3 - Demarcus Lawrence I love the Martin and Ward picks. Not thrilled about my selection of Fiedorowicz, but Niklas was taken right before my pick and I panicked a little. On the plus side, Fiedorowicz is by far the best blocking TE in the draft and would be of great use to Kubiak. Lawrence was simply a BPA pick and was an outstanding value. It's ridiculous he was available. My targets for the 4th round (about 10 picks away right now) are Archer and West.

It's very manageable if they cut him with the post 6/1 designation next year. People are only considering the cap ramifications (and as fans, that's all we really should be concerned with), but when predicting what the Ravens will do with Rice, people also need to consider that keeping him means Bisciotti has to give him $4mil this year and another $3mil next year in base salary. That's cold hard cash above what he's already received in bonuses and his base salaries in 2012 and 2013. I'm not sure Bisciotti wants to pay that kind of cash just to avoid the cap ramifications of cutting him. There's other things that can be done to give the Ravens some relief from Rice's cap hit. The above is assuming that Rice does not rebound.

Good lord! Rice is seriously a train wreck of embarrassment.

Not upset about this. I'm not sure why all the talk was about Blount and nothing has been about Andre Brown (who happens to be from Bmore). Brown is much better in the passing game (both as a receiver and in protection). I don't think the Ravens sign Brown either, but he would be the better choice in my mind.

Every time I look at Ray Rice's cap hits over the next couple of years, I want to throw up. $8.75mil this year...$7.75mil in 2015.

That's funny...because the Steelers' stats are only as good as they are because of their last "500 at bats". Let's play along with your analogy...what was the Steelers' batting average their first 100 at bats???

We are going to get an outstanding player at #17. There is no doubt about it. Evans, Ebron, Clinton-Dix, Gilbert or Dennard, Lewan or Martin...at least one of those guys will there.

Steelers: 52% winning percentage and a championship every 13.5 years Not bad. Ravens: 55% winning percentage and a championship every 9 years Better.