Few teams draft better than the Ravens.
Since 2000, only the New England Patriots (17) have selected more players than Baltimore (16) who have gone on to be named first-team All-Pro. In the past five years, the Ravens are also the only team to have drafted an eventual NFL Most Valuable Player, which quarterback Lamar Jackson was in 2019.
Other notable players the Ravens have drafted in the past five years include All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews and four-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr., both in the third round in 2018; All-Pro kick returner and wide receiver Devin Duvernay in the third round in 2020; and emerging linebacker Patrick Queen in the first round in 2020.
There have been plenty of other contributors, too. A pair of 2022 first-round picks, safety Kyle Hamilton and center Tyler Linderbaum, were among the league’s best rookies. J.K. Dobbins, drafted in the second round in 2020, rushed for nine touchdowns and led all NFL running backs in yards per carry (6.0) as a rookie before suffering a torn ACL the following year.
Just how good was Baltimore’s haul five years ago? Well, Pro Football Focus ranked the Ravens’ 2018 draft class as the third-best in the league over the past 15 years, behind only the 2010 Seattle Seahawks and 2017 New Orleans Saints.
There have been occasional misses by Baltimore — tight end Hayden Hurst with the 25th overall pick in 2018, seven spots before Jackson, would be among the biggest — but they’ve been rare.
Yet, there have also been few playoff wins of late. Since their 2012 Super Bowl title, the Ravens are just 2-5 in the postseason and have missed the playoffs four times.
Still, Baltimore enters this year’s draft with just five picks — Nos. 22 (first round), 86 (third round), 124 (fourth round), 157 (fifth round) and 199 (sixth round) — and a roster built to win now after finishing 10-7 last season and nearly knocking off the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC wild-card round despite being without Jackson for its final six games.
Since then, the Ravens have added to their wide receiver corps with the free agent signings of two-time All-Pro Odell Beckham Jr. and veteran Nelson Agholor. The Ravens are also returning their three-headed backfield of J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards and Justice Hill.
Jackson’s uncertain future, meanwhile, continues to loom over if not control the Ravens’ offseason. General manager Eric DeCosta and coach John Harbaugh have both said they love Jackson, want him to be their quarterback for the long term and are operating as if he will be under center next season. But they’ve also spoken about a need for contingency plans.
How will all of it shape their approach to this year’s draft? Here are five questions that could determine what the Ravens do.
Do the Ravens trade Lamar Jackson on draft night?
Most indications from draft insiders are that the Carolina Panthers will use the first overall pick on Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. The Houston Texans pick second, and there is not a consensus on what they will do — select a quarterback, trade back and take one, or go with another position altogether. The Arizona Cardinals pick third, and with a quarterback already in place in Kyler Murray and several holes on the roster, they are expected to entertain trade offers to stockpile picks or take a defensive player. Then there are the Indianapolis Colts with the No. 4 pick, which is where things could get interesting for the Ravens.
If the Cardinals trade the No. 3 pick to a quarterback-needy team, that could prevent the Colts from getting the signal-caller they want among the consensus top four of Young, C.J. Stroud of Ohio State, Anthony Richardson of Florida and Will Levis of Kentucky. Could they then turn to the city they once resided in to strike a deal for Jackson?
Indianapolis has the draft capital with nine picks this year, and Colts general manager Chris Ballard didn’t rule out the idea of signing Jackson during last month’s NFL owners meetings, saying, “I’m not gonna get into deep discussions on where it’s at or what we’re doing or what we might do, but what I’ll tell you is he’s a really good player, really special player. But you never know how any of this will work out.” Trading for Jackson as opposed to simply signing him to an offer sheet also avoids the possibility of the Ravens matching it.
The guy who writes the checks, however, seemed less bullish, with owner Jim Irsay saying last month that he does not believe in fully guaranteed contracts, which is something Jackson has reportedly long sought.
The Ravens trading Jackson on draft night would be the story of the draft, and it seems like an unlikely one, but after a two-year-long stalemate on contract negotiations, a trade demand and fatigue on both sides, it can’t be completely discounted. It would also set the organization in a new direction five years after the Ravens drafted Jackson to ultimately replace Joe Flacco.
Do the Ravens draft a cornerback or wide receiver in the first round?
Most mock drafts have the Ravens going after a cornerback or wide receiver with their first-round pick (No. 22 overall). Both are positions of need, and without another pick until the third round (No. 86), it will be critical for them to get this right. The cornerback class is a bit deeper than the receiver class — PFF ranked 28 corners among its top 200 prospects, compared to 24 receivers — but the far more pressing need is at corner after the Ravens added Beckham and Agholor in the offseason and let Marcus Peters hit free agency.
The Ravens have Marlon Humphrey on one side, while Brandon Stephens, Damarion “Pepe” Williams and Jalyn Armour-Davis struggled last season.
“We’re a team that always feels like you can never have enough good corners,” DeCosta said at the team’s season-ending news conference in January. In a division that includes the Cincinnati Bengals’ young duo of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins (both coming off 1,000-yard seasons) and Tyler Boyd, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Diontae Johnson, George Pickens and Allen Robinson, and the Browns’ Amari Cooper, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Elijah Moore, that’s an understatement.
The popular pick among draftniks is Maryland’s Deonte Banks, who grew up in Baltimore and said at the NFL scouting combine that the opportunity to play for the Ravens would be “a dream come true.” It might be for Baltimore, too, given that Banks compares favorably to Humphrey in size, style, and personality, according to ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid.
Taking a corner would then likely mean digging deeper when it comes to a receiver, a position Harbaugh said during the NFL owners meetings (before the Ravens acquired Beckham) the Ravens will add to during the draft. Two possibilities in the middle rounds, according to ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr.: Ole Miss’ Jonathan Mingo, who met with the Ravens recently, and Wake Forest’s A.T. Perry, who would fit well in the team’s run-pass option scheme.
Will the Ravens trade back to acquire more picks?
With their fewest picks since 1999 and tied for the second-fewest of any team in the NFL in the draft, there’s a good chance the Ravens will look to trade their No. 22 pick to move back and acquire an extra pick or two, something DeCosta said he has an interest in doing.
“Our goal would be to add picks if we can at some point,” he said at the team’s predraft news conference earlier this month. “In saying that, I think it’s important to note that we’ve had a lot of picks over the past four [to] five years. You get to a point where maybe having too many picks isn’t necessarily the right thing. You almost have to have a purge at some point because you have all these young players on the team, and they can’t all make the team if you just keep stacking these huge, massive draft classes.”
Still, the Ravens moving back not only wouldn’t be a surprise, it would be familiar territory.
Baltimore has traded back several times in recent drafts, including twice in the first round a year ago and in 2019. Last year, they moved from 23rd to 25th in a deal with the Buffalo Bills that also landed them a fourth-round pick. In 2019, they swapped with the Philadelphia Eagles, moving from No. 22 to No. 25, and got fourth- and sixth-round picks for doing so.
“I think the chances for us to be able to do it are pretty decent,” DeCosta said. “We have to look at the capital that we can get by trading back, and we’ll make the best decision that we can.”
Will they trade linebacker Patrick Queen during the draft?
Another way for the Ravens to acquire more picks in this year’s draft would be to deal one of their rising young players in Queen, who is coming off his third and most productive year in the league.
Why would Baltimore want to get rid of one of its best young defensive players who has seen his PFF grade go from 29.7 in 2020, to 43.5 in 2021, to 70 last season after a career-best 117 tackles? While the 23-year-old remains an inexpensive piece with a cap number of just over $3.8 million for 2023, the Ravens have until Monday to decide whether to pick up his fifth-year option, which will be worth $12.277 million, according to Over The Cap.
With five years and $100 million already tied up in fellow linebacker Roquan Smith, who will carry a $9 million cap hit this year, $13.5 million in 2024, $22.5 million in 2025 and $27.5 million in 2026 and 2027, that would be an awful lot of money for two linebackers, particularly with Jackson potentially carrying a big number if the Ravens are able to eventually sign him to a lucrative deal that he wants. The asking price for Queen won’t be cheap, though — likely a pick in the second or early third round — and the Ravens would also have to seek his replacement.
It’s worth noting the Ravens traded wide receiver Marquise Brown, who was also entering his fourth year and had yet to be awarded his fifth-year option, to the Cardinals during last year’s first round. So there is precedent here.
Monday is also noteworthy for another reason. After that, an unrestricted free agent signing doesn’t count toward the compensatory pick formula. The Ravens have a potential 2024 fourth-round compensatory pick for losing guard Ben Powers in free agency, and it’s unlikely they would deem it worthy to lose a fourth-rounder to sign a free agent. They could have several signings after Monday, though, and that would probably impact how they approach the draft.
What other positions will the Ravens look at?
Speaking of Powers, his departure means there will again be competition for the starting left guard spot. Ben Cleveland or John Simpson are two possibilities, but both have struggled at times. Patrick Mekari and Daniel Faalele are two others Harbaugh has mentioned. But teams can never have too much depth on the offensive line, and even if it’s not a deep class for interior offensive linemen, they could look there on Day 2 or 3 of the draft.
Likewise, the loss of Calais Campbell in free agency leaves the Ravens with a need to add depth along the defensive line, even with Justin Madubuike, Broderick Washington, Brent Urban, Michael Pierce and Travis Jones coming back. However, all but Jones are eligible for free agency after this season. Baltimore also has a history of drafting defensive linemen — the last time the Ravens didn’t select at least one was in 2008.
The Ravens have a long history of selecting running backs as well, having drafted one in three of the past four years and eight total over the past 10. Dobbins, Edwards and Hill are the only running backs under contract at the moment, though it’s possible they could bring back Kenyan Drake or add another veteran in free agency. But with each of their current trio entering the final year of their respective contracts, drafting one in what is widely considered a deep running back class would be a good option to fill another need.
NFL draft
Round 1: Thursday, 8 p.m.
Rounds 2-3: Friday, 7 p.m.
Rounds 4-7: Saturday, noon
TV: ESPN, NFL Network, Chs. 2, 7
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