OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens picked quite a time to make their most controversial draft selection in years on Friday night.
While the NFL continues its investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by seven-time Pro Bowl kicker Justin Tucker that took place from 2012-16, Baltimore selected Marshall edge rusher Mike Green with the 59th pick in the 2025 draft. Speaking at the NFL scouting combine in February, the 21-year-old prospect confirmed he’s twice faced sexual assault allegations with the first coming while in high school in Williamsburg, Va. and the second occurring at the University of Virginia, which led to his exit from the Cavaliers’ program and transfer to Marshall. Green has denied any wrongdoing and wasn’t charged in either instance, and he willingly answered questions about the allegations while speaking to reporters in Indianapolis.
General manager Eric DeCosta said the Ravens “felt comfortable” picking Green despite taking the allegations “very seriously.” It’s notable, however, that Green wasn’t made available to local reporters via a video or conference call following his selection Friday night despite that being the organization’s standard practice with early draft picks for years.
“I would say that we investigated this situation very thoroughly,” DeCosta said. “I think we have the best scouts in the NFL. We’ve got great scouts that go into Virginia. They go into Marshall. We’ve got people that work for investigating different incidents with players all the time, and we felt comfortable taking him. We think he’s a talented player. We understand the severity of what these allegations were, of course, but doing our due diligence, we are comfortable with Mike.
“I personally spent an hour and a half with him in my office. I think the best is yet to come with him, and I’m glad we got him.”
Make no mistake, the pick is a home run from a football standpoint with the 6-foot-3, 248-pound Green being widely regarded as a first-round talent at a position of need for Baltimore after leading the FBS with 17 sacks and 22 1/2 tackles for a loss in 2024 and shining at the Senior Bowl. There is also no shortage of fans who will tell you they don’t care about players’ off-field conduct as long as they help their team win football games. But there are many who do care and were already concerned about Tucker being accused of inappropriate sexual behavior by at least 16 massage therapists in the Baltimore area and remaining on the team to this point.
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Expecting organizations and players to be perfect isn’t realistic or fair, but maintaining a certain standard for the treatment of women is hardly unreasonable, especially considering the many ways NFL teams market to the female portion of their fan base.
In defense of both Green and the Ravens, we know very little about these allegations other than the fact that they stem from separate settings and time periods, meaning you can’t just brush it off as an isolated incident either. According to The Athletic, the first accusation was enough to prompt Virginia to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for Green and the second led to his departure from the program, and it seems clear that a number of NFL teams weren’t comfortable taking him.
As long as no damning information comes out regarding these allegations and Green has no future off-field problems, this is likely to be all but forgotten, especially if he turns out to be the impact player Baltimore envisions. But if more surfaces, the Ravens will deserve every bit of criticism they receive for willingly taking on someone with such questions. Unlike with Tucker or any roster incumbent, the organization won’t be able to hide behind any sentiment that it didn’t know.
“There’s accusations out there,” Green said at the combine. “I’ve never been questioned. I’ve never been asked. You know what I’m saying? Nobody ever asked me a question about what happened before I departed from Virginia. It was just accusations that caused me to leave from there.”
The accusations were apparently enough to cause Green to fall down the board until the Ravens “felt comfortable” taking him.
“It was Eric. It was our scouts. I was in all the meetings. I heard all the reports,” said head coach John Harbaugh, who noted that he wasn’t present the day DeCosta met with Green. “The coaches and administrators and teammates at Marshall were fully supportive of everything he had done there, and [the] same at UVA. It wasn’t any different at UVA. It was exactly the same from that standpoint, so you talk about due diligence.
“It was exhaustive — what these guys have done — and we made a decision based on what we felt was fair.”
In light of the Tucker saga, it’s more important than the Ravens end up being right than fair.
