As ESPN’s lead NFL draft analyst, Mel Kiper is always tinkering with his projections. He studies prospects, team preferences and hubbub across the league and adjusts his guesses accordingly.

But this year, the Baltimore-area native hasn’t budged when it comes to his thinking on the Ravens’ first-round pick.

In all four of his mock drafts this year, including the most recent one ESPN published Tuesday, Kiper has sent the same player to Charm City at No. 28 overall: LSU inside linebacker Patrick Queen.

“In terms of Queen, that’s what they need,” Kiper said Wednesday on a conference call with reporters. “He can fly to the football; he’s perfect for the way the game is played now with that 4.5 [40-yard dash] speed. He had a great year at LSU.”

Baltimore’s roster does lack certainty and stability at inside linebacker. The team used a three-man rotation at the position in 2019, but two members of the platoon — Josh Bynes and Patrick Onwuasor — signed elsewhere in free agency last month, leaving the Ravens facing questions in the middle of their defense.

Kiper said Queen’s speed and coverage ability would allow him to shine in the modern NFL, where offenses routinely spread the field and whip pass after pass.

“You don’t have the 245-pound [linebackers] to play first and second down anymore; you’ve gotta have guys who can play every down,” Kiper said. “[Queen] can. He can cover.”

Last season, the Ravens piecemealed together a solution at inside linebacker, signing Bynes and L.J. Fort midway through the year to complement Onwuasor. Some experts believe Baltimore won’t press to take an inside linebacker with an early-round draft selection, because the team can find creative ways to fill a hole at the position.

That line of thinking differs from Kiper’s. He seems to believe Baltimore would be willing to invest in a promising three-down prospect like Queen.

Kiper pointed out that he predicted another versatile inside linebacker, Oklahoma’s Kenneth Murray, would come off the board before the No. 28 pick in his most recent mock draft. And in Kiper’s projection, Michigan interior offensive lineman Cesar Ruiz was also unavailable to the Ravens.

That left Kiper to consider whether Baltimore would prefer a receiver such as Clemson’s Tee Higgins or a linebacker like Queen. He said the Ravens’ dearth of talent at linebacker and Queen’s potential fit made him the solid choice — for the fourth mock draft in a row.

Said Kiper: “You need Queen more than you need Higgins.”

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Aaron Kasinitz covers the Baltimore Ravens for PennLive and can be reached at akasinitz@pennlive.com or on Twitter @AaronKazreports. Follow PennLive’s Ravens coverage on Facebook and Youtube.