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Trying to score points After McCalister, Ravens hope new picks bolster offense
Posted: Sunday April 18, 1999 07:58 PM
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) -- On Day Two of the NFL draft, the Baltimore Ravens finally addressed their inadequate offense. After taking cornerback Chris McAlister in the first round and trading away their second-round choice Saturday, the Ravens on Sunday selected both wide receiver Brandon Stokley and offensive lineman Edwin Mulitalo in the fourth round. The Ravens also picked up veteran offensive lineman Everett Lindsay from the Minnesota Vikings in a trade for the sixth pick (acquired Saturday for Eric Zeier) and took a chance on injured strong safety Anthony Poindexter of Virginia in the seventh round. Stokley, Mulitalo and Lindsay all have a chance to break into the starting lineup on an offense that last year ranked last in the AFC in total yardage and failed to score 15 points in nine of 16 games. "I'm happier today than I was yesterday at this time," owner Art Modell said. "We filled in well." Stokley is a 5-foot-11, 193-pounder who had 65 receptions for 1,173 yards and eight touchdowns last year with Southwestern Louisiana. "He's a chain mover," said Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens vice president of player personnel. "He does a very good job of being able to make the catch." Mulitalo (6-3, 328 pounds) started in all 12 games for the University of Arizona last season. Newsome said Mulitalo could break into the starting five on the Ravens' offensive line or be the first lineman off the bench. The addition of Stokley, Mulitalo and Lindsay -- as well as the trade that landed quarterback Tony Banks on Saturday -- gave new coach Brian Billick a bit more to work with. "We have addressed some very definite needs," Billick said. "This has been a solid step toward solidifying what we're going to do this year and next year." McAlister is clearly the jewel of the Ravens' draft. The University of Arizona cornerback, who was formally introduced to the Baltimore media Sunday, will get his first taste of the NFL at the Ravens' minicamp late this week. Soon after that he will serve 10 days in jail for failing to pay the fine and serve community service on a petty theft charge, stemming from an August 1996 shoplifting incident in which he was arrested for stealing a T-shirt. "As a kid growing up you try different things. I convinced myself to do something that was uncharacteristic of me," he said. "It kind of turned my life around." McAlister went to court and then to Arizona, figuring the matter was resolved. But he found out three weeks ago that he still had to serve time in jail. "It's something that should have been squared away a long time ago. I'll just serve the time," he said. "If 10 days is what I have to do, then that's the consequence I have to pay." McAlister will have served his sentence long before the Ravens begin training camp in August, but his agent is Eugene Parker, the same man who brought about the lengthy holdout of Baltimore linebacker Peter Boulware in 1997. That may prove troublesome for the Ravens, but McAlister declared he would be in camp at the outset. "You'll come early and you'll be a wealthy man," Modell told McAlister. "Most definitely," McAlister replied with a wide grin. Lindsay played all three positions on the Vikings' line last year and appeared in all 16 games. He started three games in 1998 and has played in 60 games, starting 18, since being selected in the fifth round of the 1993 draft. Poindexter was an All-America first-team pick by The Associated Press, but his stock dropped after he sustained major ligament damage in his left knee late in the 1998 season in a game against North Carolina State. He is working his way back from reconstructive surgery. "If this guy is able to come back and play, we got a Top 20 talent in the seventh round," scouting director Phil Savage said.
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