The Ravens’ process of methodical, minute preparation belies the frenetic appearance of draft day. The groundwork is laid years in advance, with a pipeline of scouts who start with so little experience they are not allowed to evaluate players. And it continues with a period of self-evaluation — something Newsome credits Belichick with teaching him — during which the Ravens figure out what they are looking for and how players will fit into their system.
That avoids what Detroit Lions Coach Jim Schwartz, who was also a young member of Belichick’s scouting department, calls the phenomenon of the “square peg into a round hole,” when a front office drafts a player who might be highly regarded, but who does not fit how the team plays.
