Ravens meet with top tight ends Maxx Williams, Clive Walford at scouting combine

NFLU2009
The Ravens are dealing with some uncertainty at the tight end position because starter Owen Daniels is a free agent and Dennis Pitta's career is in doubt because of a recurring hip problem.

So, the team is exploring its options at the position in the NFL draft. The Ravens have met with Minnesota tight end Maxx Williams and Miami tight end Clive Walford at the NFL scouting combine.

Williams, a projected late first-round draft pick who declared early for the draft, has athletic bloodlines as the son of former New York Giants center Brian Williams, a 1989 first-round draft pick. His mother played volleyball at Minnesota.

Williams has drawn comparisons to Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten.

"He's a complete tight end, in my opinion," Williams said about Witten. "He blocks. He runs routes. He makes plays for his team. That's what I want to be. I want to go to the NFL and be a complete tight end and make plays with my hands but also in the run game by making complete blocks."

Williams, 20, caught 36 passes for 569 yards and eight touchdowns last season and was named All-Big Ten Conference.

"As I'm going to the next level and will work on my craft, I can take my game to the next level that much better," Williams said. "Being only 20 years old, knowing that my body's not fully developed into what it could develop into, is a strength."

Walford dominated Senior Bowl practices, especially in red-zone drills.

“I have a great ability to jump,” Walford said. “In the red zone, I use my body and my jumping ability to go up over the top of defenders and grab the ball. I am the best tight end in this draft because I can block, I can catch, I can run after the catch, do everything that a tight end is expected to do.”

Walford, who caught 121 career passes and scored 14 touchdowns, also had combine meetings with the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions.

There are some questions about his consistency, though.

Walford also showed he was healthy at the Senior Bowl after undergoing an arthroscopic procedure on his right meniscus.

"It was very important because I was told that people thought I tore my medial collateral ligament, which I didn't," Walford said. "I just had a scope on my right meniscus. I just wanted to go out and show everybody that I was healthy."


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(baltimoresun.com)
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