I love Teddye Buchanan and not just because I announced his pick…
I am a lifelong NFL Draft fan. I’ve been watching the Draft for nearly twenty years. I’ve been evaluating prospects and writing reports, not very well in the early days, for 15 years.
I could say it was a dream come true to announce an NFL Draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens this Saturday 26th April, in London at the Raven Pub in Tower Bridge, with my friends watching from behind and my family watching on at home. But, to be honest, it never entered my wildest dreams that it could even happen. But it did. Thanks to the kindness of the Ravens organization and my fellow members of the UK Flock.
If you’ll forgive me a quick departure from the point of this post…
(Skip the next three paragraphs if you’re only here for my Teddye Buchanan evaluation)
The UK Ravens community is a beautiful one, where I’ve made lifelong friends and bonded with people from all corners of the country and all walks of life, over a sport that we all love. Being an American Football fan, in the UK in past years, you can feel mocked, or dismissed, or just isolated. You live in a country where most people are cynical about the sport, and for years left you unlikely to run into another real fan of any team, let alone the one you support.
That situation has changed in recent years, as the sport has grown in popularity. The community of UK Ravens was started by Dave Cressey, decades ago – a Baltimore sports fan for as long as many in Maryland reading this post will be able to remember – and has been continued by Ben Mortimer, Gordon McGuinness, Ian Demain, Shane Richmond, Gaz Poole, Darren Foster and I know countless others who I will have forgotten to mention. This community has created a space for us to meet, form bonds and share a love of the sport that many of us felt we would only get to enjoy in the early hours of the morning, alone on our couches.
It is being a part of this community that gave me this incredible opportunity.
UK Ravens Community at the Raven on Saturday 26th April
When I first realised that I would be announcing the pick for the Ravens, I was filled with excitement and apprehension, as well as gratitude. However, those thoughts were quickly replaced by the thoughts of an NFL Draft enthusiast – will I like the prospect the Ravens pick?
For years I have formed hardened opinions on thousands of prospects entering the NFL. I have loved, liked and severely disliked some of the picks the Ravens have made. What were the chances that a player I loved would be the pick I would get to announce?
I wondered if I would have the chance to read the name of a player I actually thought could make a contribution to the Ravens and would turn into a good player for my favorite team.
Enter Teddye Buchanan.
Anybody rushing to my Draft Guide to pick out my evaluation of Teddye will be disappointed. I did not evaluate him before I released my Guide, so he wasn’t written up. But, after I release my Guide, I often do more evaluation in the lead-up to the Draft and check in on other players who might fit the Ravens at positions of need and make notes about them that are unpublished.
I watched the Linebacker from Cal on the Tuesday before the Draft and instantly felt he would be an excellent fit in Baltimore, and that I had missed out an evaluation that really should have been in my Guide, he would have easily been a top 100 player on my Draft Board.
This evaluation is not written with the sentimental hue that comes with him being the player I got to announce on Draft day, but is built from the notes I made pre-draft, with some additional work based on extra film study. I’ve now watched 5 of his games with All-22 film and another 4 games on the broadcast copy, and these are my thoughts on the player, mainly formed before he was the 129th pick in the Draft.
There are some initial things that have to be mentioned when evaluating Buchanan’s fit with the Ravens.
1. He is a three-time captain, including his first year on campus when transferring to Cal from UC Davis. That is rare air. 3 time-captains do not grow on trees. Ravens fans are often cynical about the Ravens perceived obsession with “choir boys”. With Buchanan, I don’t think he was over-drafted based on talent alone, so the leadership qualities that he clearly possesses are all upside.
2. He is an outstanding athlete at the position – you can see it on film but he also tested in excess of the 90th percentile for explosion among LBs at the combine, based on his jumps. He ran a 4.60 40 time, putting him close to the 90th percentile among LB testing history. And he had 26 reps on the bench, again exceeding the 90th percentile.
3. The only thing more impressive than his speed and explosion is his play speed. He plays even faster than he tests, because he processes the game at a very high level.
4. His toughness jumps off the tape, his film is littered with examples of it.
5. He’s a ball-hawk; he is constantly trying to get the ball out when making tackles.
To the detailed evaluation…
Playing the run: He’s an outstanding and instinctive run defender who processes different types of runs at an exceptionally high level and flies to the football, playing with urgency, determination and grit.
It’s necessary to separate his ability to play the outside run and the inside run for his evaluation. He has ridiculous click and close on anything outside, be it a Running Back taking the bounce read on an Outside Zone run, be it a bubble screen to a Wide Receiver, be it a pitch to the Running Back to take it outside, or even a scrambling Quarterback. He reads the game at such a high level that he will beat most blockers in this situation with his smarts, his explosion once he sees it, and his closing speed. He takes excellent angles through traffic to the outside and makes plays on all types of ball carrier.
The inside run, is a slightly different story. There are times when he’s able to make plays inside, especially against Gap plays which he reads at a high level, and he finds it easy to use his lateral explosion and his brain to set up Offensive Linemen pulling to the second level, or shoot gaps to make plays behind the line of scrimmage when Offensive Linemen can only get a paw on him. He has enough play strength to avoid Offensive Linemen when they can’t get a clear shot on him.
However, against Zone runs or Duo, where the design of the play calls for the Running Back to make a read and be more creative off-script, Buchanan won’t diagnose it as quickly as he does when it’s Gap and the Running Back’s path is pre-determined. He still processes the run quickly, and if his Defensive Line have prevented vertical movement from the Offensive Line to the second level, then he can make a play on the ball-carrier – he reads Running Backs at a high level. But, in that split second more hesitation, if an athletic and savvy O-Lineman has climbed to the second level with an angle on him, they can get on him and take him out of the play entirely.
He doesn’t maximize his play strength when he has to take on Offensive Linemen in close quarters, and when he can’t use his play speed to get around them. You can see some jolt and power in his hands when he rushes the passer, but he doesn’t get them out quickly enough to engage with advancing Offensive Linemen when defending the run. When he does, he’s too light in the pants to hold up with any kind of leverage.
He’ll need to add at least a little sand in his pants, and try to still maximize his athleticism to be a true three-down Linebacker at the next level. While the deficiency is a little glaring on his college film, you can also see him use the tools he has to mitigate it on many occasions. I therefore don’t think it will stop him earning snaps on early downs, even in his rookie year, albeit probably later in the season.
Pass defense: He is an excellent coverage Linebacker. In Man coverage, he has fluid hips, his transitions are excellent for a Linebacker – while he isn’t the biggest guy at the position, he has plenty of size and moves better than some Safeties in this class. He can mirror any type of Back out of the backfield and stays in phase on different types of breaks. He can run with Tight Ends up the seam and won’t be overwhelmed at the top of routes by any receiver with good play strength.
In Zone he hits his landmarks and can flip his hips to cover downfield, as well as having good transitions to cover anything crossing his face. He has excellent drive mechanics and can hunt anything thrown underneath.
Where the Ravens likely fell in love, is with his Cal tape when he was asked to handle so much responsibility in their multiple defense that utilizes a lot of simulated pressure. He excelled in this scheme and showcased his versatility on passing downs. As already stated, he can cover, but he can also blitz like a bat out of hell.
He managed five sacks in 2024, and it’s no wonder when you study his film. He can mug the A gap and drop quickly with explosion into the hook/curl, taking away targets for the Quarterback. He can spy and run down even the most athletic QBs, thanks to his speed of thought, his explosive drive mechanics and his excellent angles. He has an outstanding feel for protection schemes and knows how to target the weak-point in the protection when blitzing. He also shows some ability to convert speed to power on his way to the Quarterback.
He moves all over the formation and has to make big moves both pre-snap and immediately post-snap, taking it all in his stride – his level of play does not drop in line with the complexity of his assignment.
Tackling: A separate note on his tackling, which is exceptional. All of his processing, his explosion and his speed, that have already been mentioned, help put him in position to make a play on the ball carrier. When he gets there, he comes under control, breaks down effectively and positions himself to make tackles on even explosive ball-carriers with good change of direction. He makes physical, form tackles and as already mentioned, gets his fair share of balls out in the tackle – he has excellent accuracy with his hands when attempting this, but never compromises the integrity of his tackling technique to do it.
Conclusion: I’ve touched on it already but Buchanan is an outstanding fit with the Ravens and it’s no wonder they used an early 4th round pick on him, which was earlier than some of the projections on him, but not earlier than how I measured his likely value to the Ravens, pre-Draft. He played both ways in High School, at Quarterback and Linebacker, as well as being a track athlete. He’s a competitive, tough guy, an uber-athlete at the position, an outstanding processor, a sure-fire tackler who likes to get the ball out, and a leader. He ticks so many boxes.
While his traits stick out for the Ravens, it’s his scheme fit and how the need for his type of player matches up with the value, that likely synched it for Baltimore on Draft day. The way he played all over the formation at Cal, and how he excelled as part of simulated pressure packages, both bailing out into coverage and blitzing the Quarterback, will help him get on the field for the Ravens regularly on defense and play an important, substantial role at some point in his rookie contract.
The deficiency I’ve mentioned in taking on blocks is one to work on, but if there is some modest development there, the weakness won’t be enough to keep him from competing hard for the majority of snaps next to Roquan Smith long-term. The Ravens, while keen to give Trenton Simpson another chance, were clearly not impressed enough last season to give Simpson an extended run down the stretch. A 4th round draft pick this year shouldn’t immediately threaten him but Buchanan has the pedigree and the play on the field to meaningfully challenge him towards the end of his rookie year and in earnest into his second year in the league.
In the meantime, he’ll do what John Harbaugh and many of us purist Ravens fans love best, excel on Special Teams. Look out for him making splash plays on kick coverage units before he finds his way onto the field on defense.