As the scouting combine begins in Indianapolis, the Ravens finally know where they’ll be picking in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft.
The league announced Wednesday morning that the Dallas Cowboys won the coin flip, meaning they will pick 16th in the first round while Baltimore will settle for the 17th overall selection in May.
After failing to make the playoffs for the first time in the John Harbaugh era this past season, the Ravens haven’t been slotted this high of a pick since 2008 when they were originally slotted to pick eighth overall before eventually trading back in the first round to select quarterback Joe Flacco with the 18th overall pick.
The Ravens haven’t made a pick in the top half of the draft since 2006 when they chose defensive tackle Haloti Ngata with the 12th overall selection.
The Ravens currently hold picks in the second, third and sixth rounds of the draft in addition to their first-round choice. They traded their fourth- and fifth-round picks last year to acquire left tackle Eugene Monroe from the Jacksonville Jaguars and traded their seventh-round selection to the Indianapolis Colts for offensive lineman A.Q. Shipley.
The team is expected to receive four compensatory picks in this year’s Draft as they lost a number of impact unrestricted free agents (cornerback Cary Williams, linebackers Dannell Ellerbe and Paul Kruger, and safety Ed Reed) without signing any unrestricted free agents themselves. Compensatory picks will be assigned at next month’s NFL owners meetings.
The team holds the 16th pick in the second round, the 15th pick in the third round, and the 18th pick in the sixth round.
