2010 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft: Pick No. 25

Rd. # Player Pos. College 1 25 Everson Griffen DE USC General Manager: TonyDC

With the 25th pick of the 2010 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, the Baltimore Ravens select USC defensive end Everson Griffen.

Here is TonyDC's reasoning for the pick:

From what I have determined, the Ravens are in a position where they do not have any specific glaring need on offense and only really have depth needs on defense so it is hard to determine what they are going to do with this pick. With some help from the SB Nation blog Baltimore Beatdown, I was able to determine the following areas that should be addressed in this draft: DE, CB, and overall depth on defense and TE, OL depth, and K on offense. I am stuck between two philosophies here: either solidify positional depth on defense (DE and CB) or take who I believe is the best player still available (TE Jermaine Gresham). Also, I am juggling who I would want the Ravens to take (Gresham) with who I think the Ravens would actually take with this pick (McCourty or Griffen).

That said, it was not as easy to make this pick as I thought it would be, especially with a talent like Jermaine Gresham still on the board. But with the additions of Anquan Boldin and Donte' Stallworth, the TE position is not a need and I believe that Todd Heap will have a good year. Also, the draft is stacked with TE's who will be available later on day two or three.

Continued after the jump...

I was tempted to take a corner here as well, but according to Bruce at Baltimore Beatdown, "Unless Joe Haden or Kyle Wilson are there, which I seriously doubt, the Ravens probably don't see any other CB worthy of the 1st pick." I agree and think they can find a good CB in the later rounds to help with depth needs.

After deciding on my draft strategy (solidifying defensive depth), I went with Griffen for 3 reasons: 1) positional need - he gives the Ravens a young 3 down pass rusher to take the reins from Trevor Pryce who is serviceable but aging; 2) he is simply a safer pick than McCourty, who I am not sold on as a first round talent and felt like a reach at #25; and 3) after the 2nd round the Ravens don't pick again until round 5 (where they hold 2 picks - 156 and 157). I believe choosing that late in round 2 they will be able to better address CB or TE in the 2nd round than DE.

Griffen is a true pass rush specialist. He is fast, strong, and powerful. He has a great burst at the point of attack, can get to the QB quickly, and is a powerful hitter in confined spaces. He will benefit from having a great LB corps behind him because he is inconsistent against the run and is not great in the open field. I also think he will benefit from not being pressured into starting right away, as he will be able to learn from a solid veteran, Trevor Pryce.

Check out the 2010 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft tracker for a look at all of the picks.