Wednesday, January 28, 2009

NFL DRAFT 2009

Baltimore Ravens executive vice president/general manager Ozzie Newsome announced Wednesday that the team has promoted three longtime members of its personnel staff.

Eric DeCosta has been elevated to director of player personnel, Vincent Newsome has been promoted to director of pro personnel, and Joe Hortiz has been named director of college scouting.

“All of these men have been with the Baltimore Ravens for the bulk of our organization’s existence,” Newsome stated. “They have been involved in every facet of the acquisition of our players, and they understand our process. They are all looking forward to their new challenge, and the energy they bring to their positions will continue to make us better.”

DeCosta, 37, has served as Baltimore’s director of college scouting since 2003. He has spent all 13 years of his NFL career with the Ravens, joining the team in an entry-level position in 1996, the Ravens’ first season of existence. From 1998-2002, DeCosta worked as an area scout, evaluating a number of players who eventually became Ravens draft picks. Additionally, during that span, he spent time analyzing draft-day trades and helped evaluate free agent prospects for the pro personnel department.

Newsome, the team’s assistant director of pro personnel since 2003, succeeds former director of pro personnel George Kokinis, who was hired as the Cleveland Browns’ general manager earlier this week. Newsome, 48, started his personnel career in 1993 when he was hired by Cleveland as a special assignment scout to evaluate skill positions nationally. Upon the franchise’s move to Baltimore, he served as the Ravens’ West area scout from 1996-99 and was then promoted to western college supervisor in 2002.

While working closely with Kokinis the past several seasons, Newsome – a standout NFL safety for 10 years – handled advance scouting of the Ravens’ seasonal opponents, as well as conducting free agent workouts and evaluating college talent with DeCosta.

Hortiz, who has spent all 11 of his NFL seasons with the Ravens, began his scouting career as a personnel assistant from 1998-2000. After serving as the team’s collegiate Northeast area scout (2001-02) and Southeast area scout (2003-05), Hortiz, 33, was promoted to national scout in 2006. Though he evaluated players across the country, Hortiz’s primary focus was directed on the nation’s eastern half, where seven of 10 Ravens draft picks were selected in the 2008 NFL Draft.

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