The Ravens have traditionally done very well in finding undrafted free agents who go on to have productive and sometimes lucrative NFL careers.  A few such UDFA’s that come to mind are Maake Kemoeatu, Priest Holmes, Mike Flynn, Will Demps and B.J. Sams.  However, the Ravens have yet to find one of these diamonds in the rough who can play quarterback.  Here is a potential free agent steal who could go undrafted but shouldn’t according to our QB analyst Chris Johnston. ~ TL

FREE AGENT STEAL

Ryan Hart – Rutgers

Ht:         6’1”

Wt:        206

Complete QB PPI Rating:        80.53

What Complete QB Likes About Him: Fluid Footwork is consistently solid – meaning Hart rarely throws across his body/  Consistent arm slot as ball is delivered/  Completed 60% of passes for his career, despite playing on teams with limited rushing attack through junior season/  Uses eyes effectively to look off hash/deep defenders during pass drop/  Anticipates break of intended receiver well – does not often leave receivers waiting for ball/  Decision-making improved dramatically from 2004 to 2005, reflected by 18TD-8 INT campaign in ten games/  Showed considerable character in enduring three seasons of bad team football, finally leading Rutgers to its first bowl game in 30 years/  Hart turns 22 on April 6^th – making him the youngest Quarterback likely to be drafted or signed via FA. His youth can be seen as a positive, in that he is still maturing, but has a wealth of experience (39 career collegiate games started).

What Complete QB Does Not Like: The fact that Hart was not invited to the Scouting Combine, despite finishing 18th in NCAA passer ratings (ahead of Quarterbacks named Croyle, Gradkowski, Leak, Vick, and Basanez, among others) was surprising/  Hart will need to prove to NFL teams that he can be accurate and deliver balls with the proper trajectory on deep routes.

What Might Happen: Draft day will likely come and go without Hart being selected, but that will not be the end of his story/  A Free Agent contract that gets him into the right NFL training camp will afford Hart the opportunity to show teams what they passed on/  In order for Hart to be successful, he needs to sign with a team that will have an open competition for a #3 job. In an environment where he is not asked to do too much in Year 1, he can flourish.

MORE FREE AGENT BARGAINS

Brett Basanez – Northwestern

Quinton Porter – Boston College

Marcus Vick – Virginia Tech

Josh Betts – Miami (OH)

Darrell Hackney – UAB