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Welcome to our new digs here at MASNsports.com and my new Ravens landing page.
It all looks pretty sharp, huh?
I've got a couple quick number changes to pass along, for those of you keeping tabs at home.
Now that Anquan Boldin is in town and is set to wear No. 81, third-year wide receiver Marcus Smith will be moving to No. 11, according to the Ravens' website. No word on if there was any arrangement worked out between the two receivers, but I'll try to remember to look into that once OTAs get underway.
In other number news, new defensive end Cory Redding will take No. 93, which used to belong to Dwan Edwards. Ironically, Redding won't just be taking Edwards' number; he'll also be taking the former Raven's place in the defensive rotation.
Three practice squad players also made number changes: outside linebacker Willie VanDeSteeg (who I still think has the best name on the team) will move from No. 68 to No. 94, wide receiver Maurice Price went from No. 16 to No. 17, and wide receiver Chris Hannon made a move from No. 80 to No. 15.
Adjust your roster printouts accordingly.
Meanwhile, we're nearly two weeks away from the start of the NFL Draft, and while we've all seen how the process traditionally works at Radio City Music Hall, things will be a little different this year.
Instead of a two-day long event that runs Saturday and Sunday, the draft has been expanded to three days this year, will start on Thursday, and will run in primetime.
The first round will take place Thurs., April 22 at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by the second and third rounds on Fri., April 23 at 6 p.m. ET.
Rounds 4-7 will be held Sat., April 24 starting at 10 a.m. ET.
Roger Goodell is no dummy; with all the hype and attention that the draft has built up since it was first aired on TV in its entirety in 1980, the commissioner is wise to stretch it out and position it at peak advertising times.
While the league, ESPN, and the NFL Network are probably thrilled with the new format, however, it won't be embraced by everyone. Some will surely feel that having the draft over a three-day span will slow things down and create too much down time and periods of inactivity for their favorite team.
With that said, I'm curious to hear your take on the draft layout.
Do you like how things are set up for this year, or did you enjoy the previous, two-day format, where you could just camp out on the couch and catch all the action over the weekend?
