2021 NFL Mock Draft: Bears trade into top 10, Washington Football Team goes offense
player. 26. . Wide Receiver. Baltimore Ravens. Terrace Marshall. 27
All reports are indicating that with one of their first-round picks, the Ravens are going to take a receiver. That makes sense considering that Marquise Brown and Sammy Watkins are their top-two options, and both are injury-prone, boom-or-bust type pass catchers.
The Ravens have plenty of options at this selection as they look to upgrade the position. Rashod Bateman, Elijah Moore, and Kadarius Toney are all on the board here, but based on what Baltimore has looked for in previous instances of drafting a receiver, Terrace Marshall Jr. will get the nod here.
During John Harbaugh’s tenure in Baltimore, the team has only used a few early picks on receivers. The selections ended up being Brown (first), Breshad Perriman (first), Torrey Smith (second), Devin Duvernay (third), and Miles Boykin (third). All of those players have something in common. They are fast.
Each receiver ran, at most, a 4.42 in the 40-yard dash, and most ran it in the 4.3-range. The only one that didn’t was Boykin, who is 6-foot-3. So, the Ravens are looking for big-time athletes, and Marshall qualifies. He’s 6-foot-3, 200 pounds and ran a 4.38 in the 40-yard dash while jumping 39 inches vertically and over 10 feet broad.
Marshall was a very good weapon for the Tigers and caught 48 passes for 731 yards and 10 TDs last year despite spotty QB play and being the No. 1 receiver after Ja’Marr Chase opted out. Marshall really held his own after playing well and catching 13 touchdowns from Joe Burrow, and the lack of drop-off was impressive for him.
For the Ravens, Marshall’s size complements the 6-foot Watkins and 5-foot-9 Brown very well. He could become a legitimate outside size threat thanks to his combination of size and speed. Effectively, he could be a better version of Boykin for Baltimore.
Maybe the Ravens will deviating from the athletic traits or will go with the smaller-sized but faster Moore here. Or maybe they’ll wait until 31 to grab a receiver. But for now, Marshall seems to check the boxes for them as they look to upgrade their team.