{"id":35996,"date":"2025-03-26T02:20:21","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T02:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=35996"},"modified":"2025-03-26T02:20:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T02:20:21","slug":"breaking-ravens-can-help-zay-flowers-with-draft-speedster-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=35996","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Ravens Can Help Zay Flowers With Draft \u2018Speedster\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2190998419-e1742853689496.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2190998419-e1742853689496.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2190998419-e1742853689496.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2190998419-e1742853689496.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Zay Flowers\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"18904\" data-dom-ready-time=\"42453\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Zay Flowers can get some help by the Baltimore Ravens selecting a &#8220;speedster&#8221; in Round 1 of the 2025 NFL draft.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Selecting\u00a0Zay Flowers\u00a0in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft rated as a rare success at wide receiver for the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens, but now\u2019s the time to repeat the trick.<\/p>\n<p>Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta can do Flowers a favor by selecting Luther Burden III in the first round of this year\u2019s draft. The Missouri \u201cspeedster is dangerous in open space. His explosiveness and short area quickness should help the Ravens ease the return of Zay Flowers, who will be coming back from a serious injury in 2025,\u201d according to\u00a0The Miami Herald\u2019s Omar Kelly.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s significant Kelly listed the Ravens\u2019 primary needs as \u201cOG, Edge, CB, D-line.\u201d All of those positions could use an infusion of talent, but taking Burden with the 27th-overall pick would be a classic case of choosing the best player available.<\/p>\n<p>The strategy has served the Ravens well in the past, but there are questions about whether it makes sense this time. Especially after DeCosta\u00a0signed proven go-to\u00a0target\u00a0DeAndre Hopkins\u00a0in 2025 NFL free agency.<\/p>\n<p>His addition gives the Ravens flexibility to draft for need if a BPA would happen to address one of their primary weaknesses.<\/p>\n<h2>Luther Burden III a Good Complement for Zay Flowers<\/h2>\n<p>Burden possesses similar after-catch skills to Flowers, but the prolific member of this draft class offers greater size. He\u2019s 6-foot and 208 pounds, compared to\u00a05-foot-9, 175-pound\u00a0Flowers.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s intriguing about Burden\u2019s playing style is how he was used by the Tigers. As NFL.com\u00a0draft analyst Lance Zierlein\u00a0described, \u201cMissouri exploited Burden\u2019s yards-after-catch talent with a barrage of short throws, but NFL teams are much more likely to diversify his usage, activating his complete skill set and big-play potential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even though Zierlein envisages an expanded role in the pros, the Ravens wouldn\u2019t need to ask Burden to do too much. He could simply work underneath and between the numbers in tandem with Flowers.<\/p>\n<p>Their partnership would ease the Ravens\u2019 reliance on Flowers. He was missed after\u00a0a knee injury\u00a0denied him the chance to compete in last season\u2019s playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Throwing less to Flowers will be easier when Hopkins is\u00a0raring to go\u00a0for his new team. The 32-year-old five-time Pro Bowler can still be a menace on the perimeter, while Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken has\u00a0Rashod Bateman\u00a0and\u00a0Devontez Walker to stretch the field vertically.<\/p>\n<p>This many options means the Ravens don\u2019t need Burden. Yes, he\u2019s a dynamic playmaker, but his dynamism should be weighed against the help the Ravens need at other spots.<\/p>\n<h2>Ravens Need First-Round Help Elsewhere<\/h2>\n<p>There\u2019s room for the Ravens to draft help at left guard. It\u2019s a position that could still be\u00a0addressed in free agency, but DeCosta and head coach John Harbaugh may not feel that way about edge-rusher.<\/p>\n<p>A young understudy to learn from 33-year-old team leader\u00a0Kyle Van Noy\u00a0would be welcome. Particularly if the Ravens decide one of last season\u2019s breakout players is\u00a0worthy of being traded before he enters the veteran market next year.<\/p>\n<p>Edge-rusher makes the most sense for first-round attention, but there are also gaps on the cornerback depth chart. All-Pro\u00a0Marlon Humphrey\u00a0and second-year cover man\u00a0Nate Wiggins, last season\u2019s first-rounder, should have a lock on the starting spots, but the Ravens need a quality third corner.<\/p>\n<p>DeCosta will only be able to overlook this many positions of need if he\u2019s convinced one particular prospect is too good to miss in the opening round. Burden could fit the bill, but Hopkins\u2019 arrival makes it more likely the Ravens go trenches first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Zay Flowers can get some help by the Baltimore Ravens selecting a &#8220;speedster&#8221; in Round 1 of the 2025 NFL draft. Selecting\u00a0Zay Flowers\u00a0in the first round&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Ravens Can Help Zay Flowers With Draft \u2018Speedster\u2019 - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=35996\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Ravens Can Help Zay Flowers With Draft \u2018Speedster\u2019 - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Zay Flowers can get some help by the Baltimore Ravens selecting a &#8220;speedster&#8221; in Round 1 of the 2025 NFL draft. 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