{"id":45074,"date":"2025-04-30T00:24:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T00:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=45074"},"modified":"2025-04-30T00:24:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T00:24:20","slug":"ravens-praised-for-drafting-late-round-play-disruptor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=45074","title":{"rendered":"Ravens Praised for Drafting Late-Round \u2018Play Disruptor\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\/04\/GettyImages-2202575828-e1745934552167.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2202575828-e1745934552167.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2202575828-e1745934552167.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2202575828-e1745934552167.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Robert Longerbeam\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-dom-ready-time=\"1945\" data-img-load-time=\"2337\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">The Baltimore Ravens have been praised for getting a natural &#8220;play disruptor&#8221; on Day 3 of the 2025 NFL draft.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Finding value in the later rounds is what separates the teams that win the NFL draft from those that don\u2019t, and the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0continued their winning streak by unearthing a \u201cplay disruptor\u201d on Day 3 of the 2025 selection meet.<\/p>\n<p>The Ravens were praised by\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Field Yates\u00a0for taking cornerback\u00a0Robert Longerbeam\u00a0off the board with the 212th-overall pick. Specifically, Yates credited the former Rutgers cover man with \u201cexcellent ball skills. He led the Big Ten in pass breakups in 2024 (12) after finishing second the season before for Rutgers (eight). Longerbeam has very good speed and instincts, allowing him to be a play disruptor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Yates also pointed out, \u201cIt is nice to have a specific trait to hang your hat on as a Day 3 pick\u201d The Ravens appeared to have found one at a position of need.<\/p>\n<h2>Ravens Day 3 Steal Robert Longerbeam Can Help at Weak Spot<\/h2>\n<p>Longerbeam faces an uphill battle to stick on the roster after being taken in the penultimate round, but a couple of things strengthen his case. First is the flair for the big play described by Yates.<\/p>\n<p>The 24-year-old knows how to play sticky, man-to-man coverage. He showcased excellent plastering technique on this rep from the offseason process, highlighted by\u00a0Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus.<\/p>\n<p>A key part of this play involved Lonberbeam still getting his hand to the ball. As Yates\u2019 described, it\u2019s a core part of the young defensive back\u2019s game and a strong reason why he could outplay his draft status.<\/p>\n<p>Being a natural playmaker is something that can transfer well from one level of football to another. Having a nose for the ball could also separate Longerbeam from other Ravens corners on the depth chart, but he will need to overcome some core weaknesses in his game.<\/p>\n<p>Those weaknesses include \u201cquestionable top-end speed,\u201d according to\u00a0Bleacher Report\u2019s Cory Giddings. The latter noted Longerbeam \u201clacks the ideal recovery speed when trying to get back in phase with crossers and down the field.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This description shows how important it is for Longerbeam to get his hands onto receivers early and stay attached. If he can do it in the pros, Longerbeam will bring niche skills to a position group also added to with fellow sixth-rounder\u00a0Bilhal Kone.<\/p>\n<h2>Ravens Need Different Options at Cornerback<\/h2>\n<p>All-Pro\u00a0Marlon Humphrey\u00a0remains a demon in the slot, while\u00a0Nate Wiggins\u00a0has pedigree as a first-round draft pick, but the Ravens lack much beyond this pair. The deficiency explains why general manager Eric DeCosta signed\u00a0Chidobe Awuzie\u00a0in free agency.<\/p>\n<p>That deal\u00a0didn\u2019t change DeCosta\u2019s plan\u00a0in the draft. He still went after cornerbacks, specifically press-style corners who fit the profile of DBs the Ravens\u00a0were linked with\u00a0more than once\u00a0before the draft. Kone is also credited with being \u201cpatient and composed from press with a jab to irritate pass catchers,\u201d by NFL.com\u00a0Draft Analyst Lance Zierlein.<\/p>\n<p>The process they followed in the later rounds of the draft showed the Ravens were determined to boost their options in the secondary. DeCosta had already\u00a0overcome one worry\u00a0to add to the team\u2019s riches at safety, but the rotation at cornerback is yet to unfold.<\/p>\n<p>Longerbeam has the key attributes to earn a spot ahead of Kone, 2024 fourth-round pick\u00a0T.J. Tampa\u00a0and\u00a0Jalyn Armour-Davis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty The Baltimore Ravens have been praised for getting a natural &#8220;play disruptor&#8221; on Day 3 of the 2025 NFL draft. Finding value in the later rounds&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45074","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>Ravens Praised for Drafting Late-Round \u2018Play Disruptor\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=45074\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ravens Praised for Drafting Late-Round \u2018Play Disruptor\u2019 - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty The Baltimore Ravens have been praised for getting a natural &#8220;play disruptor&#8221; on Day 3 of the 2025 NFL draft. 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