Partner Pulse

By JOE PLATANIA
Press Box Online

OWINGS MILLS -- It's bad enough for the rest of the NFL that the Ravens have one of the best draft brain trusts in the league.

It got even worse for the opposition when they got the chance this year to focus solely on the seven-round selection meeting, which ended early Saturday night.

Because of the NFL lockout, the free-agent signing period and trading procedures have not yet begun, giving all 32 teams a chance to hone in on which college players could best help their teams.

But since the Ravens have done a lot better job drafting players than most other teams, it was a golden opportunity for them to really shine during the three-day pickfest.

"(The lockout) allowed us to focus on (the draft)," general manager Ozzie Newsome said after the Ravens completed their eight-man class -- the first in team history to have that number of players -- by taking Georgia Tech running back Anthony Allen after going without a seventh-rounder three times in the last four years.

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