From what I hear, the NFL Draft continued tonight.

The above statement is based on what I’ve read on Twitter though. After three rounds and two days of coverage, I’m seen a grand total of 00:00 seconds of the draft.

But fear not, I have been catching up on what I missed while I was in freezing out at Camden Yards and I noticed that Ozzie Newsome and company traded up to snag Temple running back Bernard Pierce.  After hearing for the last 24 hours how much the Ravens value each and every pick, I found it interesting that they would give up their 91st and 164th picks to the Falcons for the 84th to select Pierce.

They must really think he’s a righteous dude.

The Ravens tweeted that Newsome “wanted to ensure they got him” and he called Pierce “a one-cut runner with some size.”

Through some more research, I learned tonight that Pierce was the centerpiece of Temple’s offense and he ran for a total of 3,570 yards and 53 touchdown in his three years in college.  He appears to be a back that, at least for the time being, will help the Ravens in the red zone and in short yardage situations.

But what about as a replacement for Ray Rice?

With just a little over $1 million in cap room, it’s tough to see the Ravens handing out big extensions to both Rice and Joe Flacco.  We know that Rice was unhappy with his franchise tender and have heard the negotiations for his extension haven’t gone well.

Is it unrealistic to think that Newsome and Eric DeCosta see Pierce as Rice’s eventual replacement?

I don’t think it is and I believe the Ravens are smart enough to know that locking Rice up long-term isn’t a good option.  Just think about when they drafted Rice to “backup” Willis McGahee in 2008.  Rice got 107 carries compared to McGahee’s 170 in ’08, then in ’09 Rice took the majority of handoffs (254/109) and that was all she wrote for Willis.

I guess the lesson here kids is “don’t fall in love with running backs.”