Inside The War Room

Ravens Senior Vice President Kevin Byrne has witnessed firsthand many NFL drafts - this is his 29th. Here are his observations from early on the first day of the 2007 draft.

P.M. Update

There were cheers from the Ravens' scouts when the Jets took Miami LB John Beason with the 25th pick in the first round. They then knew that Ozzie Newsome would be able to take one of the "targeted" players the team coveted at the 29th slot. There were four players left on a list one scout called "the players we hoped would be at the 29th spot when we pick." You do the math: four players on the list and the Ravens would be picking four in that span. As it turned out, one of those four was selected before Ozzie called Auburn guard Ben Grubbs to let him know that he was about to become a Raven.

The call to the first-round selection is always fun and exciting, and today was no exception. As soon as the Ravens were on the 15-minute clock for their 29th spot, two calls came into the draft room immediately. Ozzie answered each with the same phrase: "No, we have our player, and we're going to pick." (Those calls were from general managers from other teams looking to trade into the 29th slot.) He then called Grubbs.

With a big smile, the first thing Ozzie said: "You recognized the area code? What? Okay, Okay?" Ozzie then explained to the others in the room that the noise was so loud at Grubbs home that Ben was going to go to a different room and call right back. "Ben, we're about to make you a Baltimore Raven. You're our type of player. We have one goal this season. That's to get to Arizona (Super Bowl site), and you're going to help us get there," Newsome said.

Steve Bisciotti then got on the phone and welcomed Ben to the Ravens. Steve handed the phone to Brian Billick and the head coach did the same and told Ben that other members of the staff would soon be calling to set some things up, including information about next weekend's rookie minicamp.

The first scout in the room to congratulate Ozzie and Eric on the pick was the Ravens' national scout, Joe Hortiz, a graduate of Auburn, the same school Grubbs attended. Newsome, of course, is a Hall of Fame player for Alabama, the hated rival of Auburn. Hortiz entered the room wearing an Auburn baseball cap. Hortiz, extending his hand to Ozzie, said: "It's about a time you took a guy from Auburn." I asked Ozzie if he would take the Auburn hat to the press conference to announce the selection of Grubbs. The reply was quick: "No way." I said: "How about we put the hat on the table you sit at for the press conference?" "No, no" said Newsome with a smile.

A.M. Update

Clearly there is an air of excitement and confidence at the Ravens' facility in Owings Mills today. Under Ozzie Newsome's direction, the team has enjoyed tremendous success in the draft, starting with the first two picks in team history - Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis in 1996. Even with late first-round picks, the Ravens have enjoyed success. Ray was taken at 26, Todd Heap at 31, Ed Reed at 24 and Mark Clayton at 22. Maybe that's why it seems so calm here today as we sit on the 29th selection in the first round.

I know this: Ozzie, Eric DeCosta and company have targeted 3 players they could take at 29. Based on our history, they believe one of those will be there. I can remember when a couple of teams in the 10th to 15th slots didn't take Todd Heap in 2001, when the Ravens picked 31, Ozzie said to the people in the draft room: "We're going to get one of those tight ends at 31." He was referring to Heap and Alge Crumpler, who was taken by the Falcons a few picks after Heap.

In my opinion, the Ravens' draft weekend really starts at Brian Billick's home on Friday night. Brian and his wife, Kim, host all the scouts and coaches, plus other Ravens officials, for a reception. It's a fun, relaxed event, as it was again last night. Stories were told of past draft weekend activities and last-minute lobbying was done by various coaches to Ozzie and his staff. Brian has hosted this event since his first year (1999) as the Baltimore head coach. He does it as a team builder, especially between the coaches and scouts.

DeCosta was the firstof the personnel department to arrive at the office this morning. This was after Eric had already run a few miles in his Cockeysville neighborhood after waking up before 5:00 a.m. Eric followed his first workout of the day with one of his draft-day traditions - a run with Pat Moriarty, the Ravens' vice president of football administration, who is the team's salary cap specialist. The pair ran hard for 45 minutes, so hard that, according to DeCosta, Pat couldn't finish his sentences at the end of the run. Moriarty said he was still sweating 45 minutes later.

Newsome followed his draft-day tradition with a long workout on the treadmill. The Wizard spent an hour and 20 minutes on the treadmill and followed that with his usual core workout that lasted another 20 minutes. When Oz went back to his office a little after 10:00 a.m., he began calling close friends around the league, looking for more insights and wishing luck to the likes of former Ravens Phil Savage (Cleveland), James Harris (Jacksonville), Mike Nolan (San Francisco) and Marvin Lewis (Cincinnati). Does he really get information from these guys? "I'm looking. They're looking. We all know that. I think I've talked with ?Shack' (Harris) 10, 12 times the last week, and I'm not sure what he is going to do, and we were both looking for clues from each other."

Pro personnel director George Kokinis, who is an important contributor to the Ravens' draft process, started his day with an "executive workout." He took a sauna, whirlpool and steam, but he'll be on the racquetball court Sunday morning with DeCosta. "I'm planning to beat up Eric a little. Get him angry so he takes tough, nasty, Ravens-type guys on the second day of the draft. Guys who will stick their nose in there without fear on every play."

Owner Steve Bisciotti and team president Dick Cass started their days at the Ravens' Spring Football Festival at M&T Bank Stadium. Over 20 players joined 11,582 fans to celebrate the draft and football. Steve said: "Looked like the fans and our players were having a good time. Willis McGahee came over to me and introduced himself. I hadn't met him yet."

The War Room

So what does the Ravens' draft room look like? After you enter the room, the "board" is on the left. It's a full magnetic wall with place cards for each player the Ravens believe is draft worthy. That's a listing of approximately 140 names. On the full magnetic wall that faces you as you enter the room are the cards for players eligible for the draft, but not graded "draftable" by the Ravens. (Through the years, the earliest I've seen a player taken by an NFL team from this board is the third round.) The hope for the Ravens is that there will be players left on their "draftable" board that they will then try to sign as rookie free agents. Guys like Priest Holmes, Will Demps and Bart Scott were left in previous years.

There are three larger TVs in the room - one tuned to ESPN, another to the NFL Network and the third to ESPN News. Ozzie flips the audio depending on what each is doing at the time. "Always looking for more information," Newsome said.

A large rectangular table sits in the middle of the room. Entering the room, Ozzie is at the head of the table to the left. To Ozzie's right is Decosta, followed by Moriarty, assistant pro personnel director Vincent Newsome and personnel assistant Mark Azevedo, who places the player cards under the team logos of the teams that selects them - this board is on the wall that includes the entrance to the room.

To Ozzie's left are Cass, Kokinis and area scout Daniel Jeremiah, who is on a headset phone to New York, where the NFL runs the draft. In Radio City Music Hall for the Ravens - on the other end of the phone to Jeremiah ? is area scout Chad Alexander and personnel assistant Roy Anderson. Bisciotti sits to Ozzie's left, but back against the wall.