Baltimore Ravens roll the dice on Penn State LB Jayson Oweh at no.31
By Pablo Rosero
The Baltimore Ravens have selected Penn State linebacker Jayson Oweh with the 31st overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
After taking wide receiver Rashod Bateman with the 27th overall pick in the draft, the Ravens turned around and solved their second biggest need by selecting Oweh with their second pick in the first.
Oweh has seen his stock rise after an extremely impressive pro day. Coming in at 6-foot5, 257-pounds, the former Penn State Nittany Lion ran a 4.36 40-yard dash, 39.5-inch vertical, and a 34-inch wingspan. However, he had 0 sacks last season at Penn State, which is a worrisome stat since he is likely to line up at the EDGE position for the Ravens.
With Yannick Ngakoue and Matthew Judon leaving the Ravens in free agency, the team needed to answer the need at the EDGE position, and Oweh offers quite possibly the most upside of any EDGE player left at this point in the draft.
Even with 0 sacks last season, Oweh’s physical profile is freakish and explosive and he should break that sack cold streak early in his NFL career, especially since he will likely be expected to start immediately.
Oweh will line up opposite of Calais Campbell and will benefit from having a Patrick Queen, Marlon Humphrey, and Marcus Peters on defense.
The Baltimore Ravens have continued to make solid moves to improve their roster over the offseason filling holes and building around Lamar Jackson, and now they answered the biggest question mark surrounding their defense.
The Baltimore Ravens have filled their two biggest holes heading into the draft and thanks to the Orlando Brown Jr deal, the team does not have a second-round pick. The Ravens will need to wait until the third round to continue to add new rookies.
Next up for the Ravens is addressing the weakness surrounding the interior offensive line, having failed to replace Marshal Yanda after his retirement in 2019.