With the number 8 pick, the Ozzie must select a guy that will be the next big franchise name in Baltimore. It is just too high of a pick to come up with a potential bust at QB. Find you next C-Mac, or even better yet, a pass rushing D-End that will dominate on the line year after year. Sedrick Ellis may be around at 8. He will be a great NFL player. All I'm saying is look for longevity over glamor.

Hi,

The list would be long on other teams wanting to hire Ozzie should we ever do something as stupid as fire him.

That proves his worth right there.

What kind of question is that? Aren't all drafts important for GM's? Complacency will lead you to the unemployment line no matter who you are. Who isn't trying to improve the team every year at the draft?

Very simple: anyone who thinks Ozzie is on the hot seat or needs to prove himself is either a media person such as this blogger who needs something provocative to write about in the offseason or some ignorant moron who knows nothing about football. I would take Ozzie over any GM in football currently. Bill Belichek learned under Ozzie in Cleveland, so did Scott Pioli who is the GM in New England, so did James Harris who worked under Ozzie in Baltimore and ditto for Phil Savage. Not only is his track record of underlings extremely impressive but his track record on draft day is impeccable finding guys in the early rounds that are consistent pro-bowlers besides the rare misses that included the likes of travis taylor and kyle boller only. Missing one two first round picks in over ten years is rediculously good for this league. Brian Billick should have sent Ozzie a thank you card for every winning season based on the type of talent Ozzie provided in both free agency and the draft. I hope that people who criticize Ozzie and believe in any way he is on the hot seat would wake up.

Not so fast. The downward trend of the Ravens seems to parallel the rise of the Browns and Jags. Hmmm. Finding good players is one part of the puzzle. Deciding who to keep around is also important. Wouldn't it have been great to have a Pro Bowl caliber QB to lead this team? Oops, Derek Andersen plays for Cleveland now. And add several other names to the list of disappointing draft picks....Dan Cody, Dwan Edwards, Devard Darling, Clarence Moore, Kyle Boller (2 wasted #1 picks). Remember James Harrison, the LB who terrorized us in the Monday night Pittsburgh game? Cut by Ozzie.
Don't misunderstand me, I think the record does speak for itself. But I do think he needs to prove that Phil Savage and James Harris weren't a large part of that success.

It is important because he has a chance to claim his spot as the unquestioned best GM in football if the new coaching staff does not retard the development of all the good young talent with half hearted scheme and bone headed substitutions and situational playcalling.

Billick bashing was almost a national media requirement when talking Ravens.
Lets assume based on this Ozzie Newsome nonsense that they were only half right, that is still a lot so called experts who said Billick was basically an offesive idiot along the lines of the Oakland Raiders Bed and breafast brigade.

But when the Raiders fired Shell and traded Moss for a bag of beans, and the defense went from dominant to suspect, the ffense went from terrible to not that terrible at all. they had 3rd and 4th string qbs and Rbs leading the NFL in fantasy stats and such nonsense the next year after setting the NFL back 50 years in offensive matriculation.

So this cam Cameron, a healthy and hungry line they actually invested draft picks and early playing time in, and 3 potentially high impact draft picks could really turn this offense from worst to first in just one season.

Look at the Clowns last year. There offensive situation and tradition has been far more diarhetic than that of the Ravens. No one in the national medi bothered to mention the skid marks at the bottom of the division because at least the ravens offense was good enough to keep them in the playoff picture until the very end of even the worst seasons until recently.

One halfway decent QB, a few nice options at WR, a dominant TE, and a few mau;ers on O-line, and all of a sudden a unit that could not beat Michigan can put 50 on the board against the Bungles and eek out wins against the Ravens D.

Yep, Newsome abolutely needs to score BIG in this year's draft. The bridge to the next "core" (assuming the Ravens assemble another core to keep them with yearly playoff aspirations) needs to come together now. The abysmal 2004 draft, and the failure to find any immediate impact players in 2005, reared its ugly head in 2007 when the Ravens had NO quality depth to sustain the injury plague.

Out of the Ravens' past THREE drafts, only TWO players are not still with the team in some capacity. One is obviously Derek Anderson, who our buddy Savage stole off waivers. The other is Ryan LaCasse, who we traded to the Dolts. We have starters in Grubbs, Yanda, McClain, possibly Troy Smith, Ngata, Chester, Landry, Clayton, Terry, and Brown. Koch is our P and Figurs is our RS. The remainder are either valuable reserves, special teams contributors, and/or developmental guys. How many other teams can say the same? Here's the list:

Ben Grubbs G Auburn
Yamon Figurs WR Kansas State
Marshall Yanda G Iowa
Antwan Barnes LB Florida International
Le'Ron McClain RB Alabama
Troy Smith QB Ohio State
Prescott Burgess LB Michigan
Haloti Ngata DT Oregon
Chris Chester C Oklahoma
David Pittman DB Northwestern State
Demetrius Williams WR Oregon
P.J. Daniels RB Georgia Tech
Dawan Landry DB Georgia Tech
Quinn Sypniewski TE Colorado
Sam Koch P Nebraska
Derrick Martin DB Wyoming
Ryan LaCasse LB Syracuse
Mark Clayton WR Oklahoma
Dan Cody DE Oklahoma
Adam Terry T Syracuse
Jason Brown C North Carolina
Justin Green RB Montana
Derek Anderson QB Oregon State
Mike Smith LB Texas Tech

Sure the 2004 draft sucked big time, but guess who was still here "helping us" select players then? That's right, Phil Savage.

Mr. steers,

You have a point in that Harris (don't forget Del Rio was here too) and Savage have very obviously done well. But it is always a waste of time to moan about players that got away. I liken it my ex-wife who is now happily married and doing very well. Guess what, she was never going to be that way had she stayed with me.

As for whether this is a big draft for Ozzie, as the man said ALL drafts are a big deal. You don't evaluate drafts for a couple of years so really if Ozzie needs anything he needs the guys from the last couple of drafts (Pittman, Martin, Cody, Lewis, Gaither, Yanda, Grubbs, etc. ) to start really coming good. It particularly wouldn't hurt if Troy Smith had a strong year.

They stay true to their board. Most GMs think they are smarter than their board. Ozzie wisely doesn't.

Remember those players that Bisciotti listened to when considering the job security of Billick, yeah, who drafted them?

Who drafted the majority of the players that have made this defense a decade of destruction upon offenses across the league.

Who drafted a 2,000 yard rusher?

2 Future Hall of Famers in the same draft.

All Pro's up the ying yang.

Name one GM that has a better list of drafted players that actually spent substantial time with the team that drafted them. Not as good as. Not close to. Better than. I dare you.

I usually just read the posts, hardly ever reply, but John Steer's ignorance can't be ignored. Regardless of what you think of Boller - he DID NOT COST THE RAVENS 2 #1 PICKS! We used a 2nd round pick that year and a 1st round pick from the following year to move up to get Kyle Boller. If you can't use FACTS in your arguements, your arguements have no merit.
Now that I am off my soap box - our chances for a good draft with Ozzie are better than most any other team in the league. No one is perfect every year, but his track record is stellar. Like mentioned by others, if we let him go - he would be unemployed for about 2 minutes (considering it takes 90 seconds for the phone to ring once or twice - LOL!)

There is no such thing as an unimportant draft. This draft holds no more weight than any others for Ozzie because every draft represents the future of the franchise.

We don't have the salary cap room for a marquee QB, even one available as the 8th pick. Cap worries suggest the first pick be a position player we can afford: maybe O-Line or cornerback. At QB,I'd be happy to see Troy Smith (he earned a chance with his play at the end of last season) battle McNair (who according to Harbaugh & the media is already working hard on rehab & conditioning). For his sake as well as the team's, I'd like to see Boller traded to somewhere he can start and escape his checkered Ravens past. Meanwhile,we'd pick up spare parts or draft picks, and dump his inflated salary.

Hey "tucker in Sec. 527": there's a separate rookie cap that teams use for paying draft picks. Learn the rules before wasting everyone's time.

Yup especially since the new head coach seems to think this team can make a Super Bowl Run, which I just don't see at all. Ozzie's draft has to be damn near flawless this year if we even expect to be a serious playoff contender. As it stand right now, we look a third place, 8-8 team.

To Bajadad,
Kyle Boller cost us the #1 we obtained, and the #1 we traded from the next year. Even Peyton Manning wasn't that expensive. I guess we define ignorant differently.

To Tucker,
"Somewhere Kyle Boller can start" is not anywhere in this NFL. He sucks. I've been riding that horse since 2003. Anyone who couldn't see that long ago needs to attend that Ravens/women's fan seminar held on the club level.

I didn't say Ozzie doesn't have a great record, I said it has gotten worse lately. Savage is currently kicking out butts. The record speaks for itself. The only Pro Bowl QB we ever drafted plays for the Browns. The list several posts above is full of mediocre players (Pittman, Martin, McClain, Cody, Terry).

Derek Anderson's great season has more to do with Joe Thomas having a great year at left tackle than anything. Derek didn't do anything before they got Joe. It's amazing how much better a qb can play when they don't have to worry about getting hit from behind. Oz has had a lot of great drafts and that is more than most gm's can say in this league. I think the Bengals will trade in front of us with New England and grab Ellis. I think we should trade draft Leodis McKelvin at 8.

What wealwy twoubles me is the unwealistic expectations of the fan base. The Wavens will be alwight once again. Savage, Ozzie, whoevew, we will pwewail as always. West youw wealwy minds.

I do not think so Ozzie's Reputation as a GM speaks for Itself If he left Baltimore he would be a GM eleswhere without question. He does need to get a QB the team needs to TRY to solve that puzzle.

Derek Anderson seems fluky to me. Started out the season great, but ended it on a bad note, after teams started figuring him out. Let's see how he does this season. By the way, Billick wanted to get rid of Derek Anderson, not Newsome.

The draft isn't an exact science. Dan Cody was a good pick. Nobody predicted he would have a million serious knee surgeries. Luck wasn't on his side.

There is a lot of luck in finding a QB. What happens if Colt Brennan turns into a Pro Bowl QB?? If Ryan is there at 8, the Ravens should draft him. If not, the only QB I'd draft with a second or third round pick is Josh Johnson. I think Dennis Dixon would be a nice pick up as a free agent draft pick. Andre Woodson would be a coup in the later rounds.

ever since james harris & phil savage has left we haven't had great drafts. Ozzie a genius, no way. Every great team needs a solid quarterback, good receivers, good offensive line. We haven't had good quarterbacking or receiving for years. Phil savage has developed cleveland quickly. Get my geist: it was savage not Newsome,sooner we realize that fact the better: Bill K. BelAir,Md

Did you people even read the article? It's not saying he's in imminent risk of being fired. It acknowledges that Newsome has had an excellent drafting record. The point was that he needed to get the "QB of the Future" in this draft which is a crapshoot under the best of situations. So for that reason alone, he is under significant pressure this time around.

Hey all you sports fans that think you have a handle on this Ravens team and thier GM. The raven have had some great players and they have had some busts. The Ravens don't suffer from lack of talent, they don't suffer from draft day bust syndrome either. Look at the team and ask yourself are they the worst team in the NFL and most of you would say no. They have playmakers on the team but you would never notice because on offense they were never put in the position to make plays. Mark Clayton one of the fastest players in the NFL but you would never know that when the Ravens throw under coverage 90% of the time. Clarence Moore one of the tallest players on the field and he gets under utilized in the Billick system. You can ask the players on the offensive side of the ball and I have heard this from a couple of them myself that Billick was not the offensive master mind that they make him out to be and they couldn't wait to get rid of him. The Ravens need a leader (offensive coordinator) that can get the most out of what they have. Take a long look at the end of the season for the Ravens with the exception of the New England game, they played the rest of the season for pride but not one of them played for that coach. When they get a better offensive coordinator you will see this team dominate the entire league, not just thier division the entire league. As for Ozzy if you want to be a head coach in the NFL you better hope that you have a GM like him at least you know that he is going to get you the tools to win.