Ravens have to “take some chances” on drafting wide receivers

[Poe the Raven]

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The Ravens have drafted 11 wide receivers over the last 10 years, including the selections of fourth-rounder Jaleel Scott and fifth-rounder Jordan Lasley last year.

Neither Scott nor Lasley caught a pass during their rookie seasons, which means that the Ravens have failed to complete a pass to four of the 11 players they’ve drafted at the position. Breshad Perriman is the only receiver they’ve taken in the first round and the 2015 selection failed to reach exepectations before being released last year.

2011 second-rounder Torrey Smith is the only other wideout selected before the fourth round over that span and General Manager Eric DeCosta was asked about the lack of success in finding wideouts in the draft during a Tuesday press conference in Baltimore. He indicated that the team needs to take more chances in order to improve their odds of finding a winner.

“I think one of the biggest things we have to do is just get some at-bats and swing,” DeCosta said. “It’s hard to be a .400 hitter if you’re only going to bat twice. We’ve got to take some chances, we’ve got to find some guys that we like. We’ve got to appreciate the really good football players, the guys that make plays.”

DeCosta stressed patience when he discussed the team’s thin receiving corps at the league meetings last week, but, as he points out, you need to swing the bat if you want to make contact. We’ll find out in a couple of weeks if DeCosta will be up there hacking or