Mastermind: Ravens' Newsome bookends his draft career with brilliant moves

Ozzie Newsome began his NFL draft career for the Baltimore Ravens with a bang, and he's going out in the exact same fashion.

The Ravens stole the show in the opening round Thursday, making three trades, picking two players, and bringing in the potential next face of the franchise.

In his first draft with the Ravens in 1996, Newsome was part of a front office that selected a pair of future first-ballot Hall of Famers: left tackle Jonathan Ogden and linebacker Ray Lewis. The two became household names around the league, cemented themselves as franchise icons, and delivered the Ravens their first Super Bowl in 2001. Both spent their entire careers in Baltimore, and Lewis remained a force through the team's second Super Bowl run in 2013.

In his final draft as Ravens general manager - Newsome will hand over the reigns to assistant Eric DeCosta next year - the 62-year-old gave Baltimore a polished tight end in South Carolina's Hayden Hurst and a dynamic quarterback to groom in Louisville's Lamar Jackson.

"It was masterful, the way it happened in that draft room tonight," a satisfied Newsome said after the first round, according to John Eisenberg from the team's official website.

Head coach John Harbaugh concurred: "What happened tonight in that draft room was a masterpiece," he said.

Hurst may not be the next Newsome - a Hall of Fame tight end, himself - but his reliability as both a receiver and blocker should pay immediate dividends for a team in need of an offensive boost. Joe Flacco has always utilized his tight ends in the passing game, and now he has a go-to one in Hurst - for however long he remains the starting quarterback.

Hurst was Newsome's first pick of the night, but the bigger splash came seven spots later. After trading up for the 32nd overall selection, Newsome gave Jackson's phone a buzz - and the Ravens a way to move on from the struggling, overpaid Flacco in the future without hanging themselves out to dry.

"He's a playmaker," Harbaugh said of his new pivot, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN. "We do some analytics, and when the ball is in his hands, there hasn't been a better playmaker really in the last few years coming out."

At worst, Jackson will serve as an inexpensive backup for Flacco over the next handful of seasons. At best, the Ravens will let Jackson develop at his own pace behind Flacco - who has no guaranteed money left on his contract after 2018 - and make the change when they're confident Jackson is ready to take over.

Time will tell if Newsome's final crop of first-rounders is as successful as his inaugural one. Regardless, his brilliance in the most important round was on display Thursday night, just as it was 22 years ago when he set the Ravens up for an extended run of success.