Ben Cleveland said his NFL Draft watch party was not big by most standards. Just family, his fiancé and a few friends were all who were on hand when the Baltimore Ravens called Friday to tell him they were selecting him with the 94th pick in the third round.
Nevertheless, there was plenty of excitement to go around.
During a Zoom call with Baltimore reporters, Cleveland called the Ravens a “perfect fit,” and says he cannot wait to get his pro career underway.
“It’s a dream come true. This is everybody’s dream as a kid growing up, playing football. There’s no place I’d rather be,” Cleveland said. “I fell in love with the coaching staff, the program that the Ravens have. I think it’s going to be a great fit for me, and a dream come true.”
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was ecstatic when Cleveland was still around for his team to make its third-round pick.
"He'll definitely have a chance to compete at left guard. He gives a chance possibly to move Bradley (Bozeman) to center. We'll see how that goes,” Harbaugh told Ravens.com. “He's a big, strong, powerful guy that likes to rough people up. Ben was a guy that we really wanted. I was kind of being a little bit of a nervous Nellie. I kind of wanted us to trade up."
“I definitely felt I was I high on their radar in our meetings, and things like that,” he said. “But still, it was unexpected. Emotions were definitely running high.”
Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta concurred.
"At the start of the day, if you had told us, we could've gotten Ben Cleveland, we would have turned it right in,” DeCosta told the website. “It was a relief to see him available."
Baltimore front-office personnel were equally as excited. Officials were seen on TV giving each other high-fives and patting one another on the back when Cleveland’s name was called.
“I talked to three or four different guys on the phone and think they could tell I was just as excited as they were. It was awesome for me to kind of see that reciprocated,” Cleveland said. “It’s great to see them feel that was the right decision for them to make.”
When Cleveland lines up for the Ravens this fall, it will not be his first time competing at M&T Bank Stadium.
As a 15-year-old prospect, Cleveland took part in the 2014 Rivals Five-Star Challenge. Other players attending included quarterback Jacob Eason, along with future Auburn star and current Carolina Panther defensive lineman Derrick Brown.
This time, however, Cleveland will be getting paid for his work in the stadium facing the nation's best.
Cleveland said he should fit in just fine with the Ravens, who favor a bruising style of play.
“That’s what we prided ourselves on at Georgia, being able to run the ball downhill and just force our way any way we wanted to go,” Cleveland said. “That’s something I’ve taken great pride in over the last five years, so it’s going to fit in just as well with the NFL as it did in college.”
Cleveland made one promise to Baltimore fans: The Ravens are getting a player who's going to do everything in his power to make the organization a success.
“I’m just somebody who's overly physical and never quits. I’m always going to compete to the highest level and do everything that’s asked of me,” he said. “I’ve always taken it as a huge point of pride to be very coachable. I’ll show up for work every day and just give it all I’ve got.”
