Baltimore Ravens Rumors: Moving Up in First Round of NFL Draft for Lane Johnson?


Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

While Luke Joeckel and Eric Fisher are stealing more headlines in their crash course with the top of the draft, many are also singing the praises of fellow left tackle prospect Lane Johnson, who respected experts peg as having the highest ceiling of this lauded offensive tackle class. Perhaps the world champion Baltimore Ravens are on this bandwagon as well, as rumor has it they are seeking a trade up from pick No. 32 in the 2013 NFL Draft.

“Veteran Bryant McKinnie is still an option for the Ravens, but they prefer to have a player with more stability at left tackle,” according to the Baltimore Sun, “Which is the most glaring weakness on offense.”

In the Rant Sports collaborative mock draft, I did my best Ozzie Newsome impression and decided to go with the best linebacker option available at pick No. 32 after losing Dannell Ellerbe and Ray Lewis, taking Manti Te’o to close out the first round. I also didn’t have the option of trading up in that mock, so I relished the opportunity to jump into the MockDraftable.com trade calculator and see what it might take to land Johnson.

As it turns out the Ravens’ first and second round (61st overall) picks only equate to the No. 19 selection, so it seems a 2014 No. 1 selection could be necessary along with Baltimore’s top two picks in 2013 to move up for Johnson.

I know one person who wouldn’t mind a trade up for the right price to get him.

“I think it’s the freakiest combine than I’ve ever seen in my 10 years of doing the combine,” said NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock, who has also been quoted as saying that Johnson has “the most upside maybe I’ve ever seen in a tackle.”

No better time than the day of the draft to have fun with draft-pick trade calculators! Click here for similar articles and the latest in my Rant Sports NFL archive.

Thomas Emerick is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasEmerick, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google

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