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McSorley headlines 4 Penn State players drafted Saturday

All Trace McSorley wanted was a chance, and the Baltimore Ravens gave him one Saturday by selecting him in the sixth round of the NFL draft.

“Incredibly blessed to be a Raven! Can’t wait to get to work,” McSorley tweeted.

McSorley was one of four Penn State players drafted Saturday. The others were:

• DE Shareef Miller (fourth round to Philadelphia Eagles)

• CB Amani Oruwariye (who fell all the way to the fifth round with the Detroit Lions)

• Safety Nick Scott (seventh round to L.A. Rams)

Offensive lineman Ryan Bates was projected as high as a fifth-round pick but was not drafted. Defensive tackle Kevin Givens also went undrafted. Both of them left Penn State a year early to declare for the draft.

McSorley is the winningest starting quarterback in PSU history, but that didn’t provide any guarantees that he would be drafted. Most mock drafts, in fact, had him going undrafted because of concerns about his size and arm strength.

But McSorley has overcome obstacles throughout his football career, including being a lightly recruited quarterback out of high school despite winning three straight state titles, to taking over the job at PSU and setting just about every major passing record in Nittany Lion history.

The Ravens selected McSorley with the 24th pick of the sixth round (197th overall).

“This was kind of a sleeper pick for us,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta told the team’s website. “We brought him in for the local pro day. We worked him out and fell in love with the kid.”

McSorley going to the Ravens makes sense in many ways.

The team transitioned last year from longtime prototypical pocket quarterback Joe Flacco to mobile threat and former Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson. Baltimore’s backup is Robert Griffin III, another mobile threat and former Heisman winner.

So, given the kind of offense the team now wants to run, McSorley should be able to step in and utilize his skill set in a comfortable spot while learning the ways of the NFL. Many of McSorley’s biggest plays at Penn State came when he either scrambled around and made a pass downfield or took off and ran himself.

While no one wants to see anyone get injured, as much as Jackson runs, it could be difficult for him to stay healthy for 16 games each season. And Griffin already has had several injuries in his career. McSorley, therefore, could always be in the mix for potential playing time if something happens to those two.

The Ravens also plan to try and find ways to use McSorley on special teams.

“It’s just going to be really fun to create different opportunities for these guys to get on the field in different ways,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh told the team’s website. “We see him fitting in as a quarterback, first of all. That’s what we told him. We told him six weeks ago that you’re going to be a quarterback and that’s where it begins.

“But it shouldn’t be limited to that. I think he can go out there and line up and do some other things, just like (Griffin) will be able to do. … You’ve seen what the Saints have done down there with their third quarterback (Taysom Hill), and that’s something that we’ll have a chance to do, too.”

Penn State coach James Franklin said McSorley “will go down as one of the best, if not the best, quarterbacks in Penn State history.”

Draft roundup

Miller is from Philadelphia and a lifelong Eagles fan, and now he gets to live the dream of playing for them. He was asked at PSU’s pro day what it would be like if the Eagles were to draft him.

“My pop pop might have a heart attack because he loves the Eagles,” he said then. “It would be a real blessing. It would be a great story, coming from Philly, playing at Penn State then going to the Eagles.”

Miller was the 36th and final pick of the fourth round (138th overall).

Oruwariye was considered by some as a possible second-round pick, but he slipped to the eighth pick of fifth round (146th overall) to the Lions. There were concerns about his speed, which may have caused his stock to drop.

Scott was the 29th pick of the seventh round (243rd overall) to the Rams. He can play safety and could be a factor on special teams, as well.

Bates reportedly signed a free-agent deal with the Eagles shortly after the end of the draft.

Givens will sign a free-agent deal with the San Francisco 49ers, according to his agent.

Long snapper Kyle Vasey tweeted he signed a free-agent deal with the Atlanta Falcons.

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