The Ravens fill an obvious offensive line hole with Ioane

The skills jump out the first time you watch Vega Ioane open holes on an offensive line. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the Ravens first-round selection of the large Penn State guard with the 14th pick and what might come next for Eric DeCosta in a weekend where the stakes are high to improve the roster on both sides of the ball for rookie head coach Jesse Minter.

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Ravens’ first-round selection of Penn State guard Venga Ioane. They highlighted Ioane’s physicality, versatility, and potential as a long-term starter. Jones emphasized the critical need for a guard, especially after the departure of Tyler Linderbaum. They also noted the Ravens’ ongoing need for a center and the possibility of drafting multiple tight ends. The conversation touched on the importance of protecting quarterback Lamar Jackson and the potential impact of Ioane on the team’s offensive line. They concluded that Ioane was a safe, necessary pick, despite the excitement around other positions.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Prepare and publish a recap of the GBMC “Walk a Mile in Their Shoes” fundraiser, including how much money was raised and how the funds are used in the Safe program.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host the crab cake tour stops at Pizza John’s on May 1, Planet Fitness and Simonium on May 7, Faidley’s at Lexington Market on May 13 (Preakness crab races), and The Fishmonger’s Daughter in Catonsville on May 21.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend the scheduled GBMC checkup next week and complete the related follow-up medical tasks.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Have GBMC representatives on the show next week to discuss the “Walk a Mile in Their Shoes” fundraiser and related topics.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Continue recruiting a crab jockey for the May 13 Preakness crab races event at Faidley’s at Lexington Market.
• [ ] Monitor all Ravens draft picks and provide updates on the WNSD tech service as picks come off the board.
• [ ] Monitor Ruben Bain’s performance and development after he was drafted by Tampa Bay.

Outline

Ravens First Round Selection of Penn State Guard Vega Ioane

• Nestor Aparicio discusses his day at Koco’s, including meeting old friends and celebrity guests.
• Nestor mentions giving away Maryland treasures and thanking sponsors like GBMC and Farnan and Dermer for their support.
• Nestor introduces Luke Jones to discuss the Ravens’ first-round selection of Penn State guard Vega Ioane.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the excitement and rarity of the Ravens’ first-round pick being a guard.

Luke Jones on the Importance of Drafting Vega Ioane

• Luke Jones explains the significance of drafting Vega Ioane, emphasizing his physicality and potential as a long-term starter.
• Luke highlights the need for a guard, especially after the departure of Tyler Linderbaum.
• Luke praises Ioane’s physical play and mentions Eric DeCosta’s positive comments about Ioane.
• Luke discusses Ioane’s versatility and his potential to play both left and right guard.

Comparison with Reuben Bain and Other Players

• Nestor and Luke compare Ioane to Reuben Bain, noting Bain’s shorter arms and the reasons he fell to the middle of the first round.
• Luke emphasizes Ioane’s prototype qualities and his potential to be a multi-time Pro Bowl guard.
• Luke discusses the Ravens’ offensive line situation and the need for a center, predicting the Ravens will draft a center soon.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the aging players on the Ravens’ roster and the need for young contributors.

Eric DeCosta’s Role and Future Draft Plans

• Nestor and Luke discuss Eric DeCosta’s increased influence on the draft, given the departure of John Harbaugh.
• Luke predicts the Ravens will draft a center in the next few rounds, given the need at the position.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of addressing the offensive line and the potential for trading picks to move up or down.
• Luke emphasizes the need for a center to complement Ioane and the other offensive linemen.

Wide Receiver Needs and Future Draft Strategies

• Nestor and Luke discuss the Ravens’ need for a wide receiver, given the potential loss of Zay Flowers.
• Luke highlights the importance of drafting a wide receiver to complement Rashod Bateman and other receivers.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the possibility of drafting two tight ends, given the Ravens’ history of success with tight ends.
• Luke emphasizes the need for a wide receiver and the potential for drafting multiple tight ends in the upcoming rounds.

Final Thoughts on the Draft and Future Outlook

• Nestor and Luke reflect on the importance of the draft for the Ravens’ future success.
• Luke emphasizes the need for a center and the potential for trading picks to move up or down.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of addressing the offensive line and the potential for drafting multiple tight ends.
• Nestor concludes by highlighting the importance of the draft for the Ravens’ future and the need for a successful weekend.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Ravens draft, Venga Ioane, offensive line, Eric DeCosta, Reuben Bain, Tyler Linderbaum, center need, Zay Flowers, Lamar Jackson, wide receiver, tight end, draft strategy, Eric Minter, O-line depth, 2026 draft.

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SPEAKERS

Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 tacit Baltimore. We are Baltimore. Positive. I’m wearing my Koco’s gear because I spent all day and I didn’t eat anything at all. I didn’t you get like my usual Greek salad and my but I did all of that afterward, and we left Koco’s in the afternoon. Had a great, great day with lots of old friends, new friends, charity, celebrity, Casper, wells, longtime baseball player, stuff up. We talked like an hour. Gary adornado and I did high school sports. All are brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I gave away tons of Maryland treasures. Steve Elliot won 20 bucks with his so it happened, I zapped a few of them for some ladies, Derek Koco’s Also our friends at GBMC. We walked a mile in their shoes last week. I got my little red hat, and I’m going to absolutely be doing a recap of all the money they raised. Where that goes in the Safe program over GBMC and Farnan and Dermer, they are our comfort guys. Kept us comfortable here with our crazy water like pipe burst. Thing that happened here? Yeah, they do HVAC and AC, but they also do plumbing. They do it really well, and they got the job done and saved us a lot of time and trouble and mess. Luke Jones is going to join us now on the in the aftermath of just the first pick. There’ll be a whole weekend of drafting. We will have all of it at Baltimore. Positive. Luke’s been out on social media. I’ve been on social media. We’ll be talking about it. But boy for all the hullabaloo about Max Crosby and who did what? Signing Trey Hendrickson to which to both of our points would have been a big deal in the offseason anyway. You know, they want chalk in the horse racing season, as we’d say. And you thought O line, I thought O line. We all thought O line. We talked about this guy. Now we have to learn how to pronounce his name, but it’s set up the way we talk. And that’s very rare, I would say, right? Like all the years you and I get together the day after the draft, we’re like, yeah, it was obvious that that’s the guy they were going to take, because it rarely works out that way. But this time, it’s safe and quiet and it’s a guard. And how excited can we be about a guard? Well, I saw what happened when Marshall yonda went away here.

Luke Jones  02:15

I was just going to say, for anyone who’s about drafting Venga. You want a and as I’ve said to you for months now, if he ends up being the pick, everyone’s gonna have to learn how to pronounce his name. It’s not Vega venga yowanay. So there’s the why at the beginning of it so. But I I was incredulous the last couple months, I was so over the top about this. Anytime I heard any other position being discussed in the first round, and look, Reuben Bain was sitting there Ruben the opportunity to draft Ruben Bain out of Miami dropped into their laps. As some thought was possible that it could happen. But I kept saying over and over and over, did we watch last year? Did we watch the last couple years at guard and with the interior offensive line and, oh yeah, that’s with Tyler linderbaum, a three time Pro Bowl center, being gone. Now, are we really going to sit here and try to talk ourselves into the idea that, Oh, they can. They can address the draft in the second round, the third round, the fourth round, which, by the way, I still expect them to draft a center. You know, we’ll be talking about that by the end of the weekend, I assume. But regardless, they needed a guard. And in the case of venga yuan a he’s the absolute best guard in this draft. He’s nasty. He’s a mauler. He’s a guy that you can plug and play. And if he’s decent at all, there’s probably a good chance he’s going to be their guard for the next eight to 10 years. You know, whether he plays left guard or right guard, but he’s just, he’s a heck of a player. Anyone who watched his tape at Penn State and playing in the big 10, he’s physical. I mean, you can see all the pancake blocks. You can

Nestor Aparicio  04:04

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see the fingers effusive, right?

Luke Jones  04:06

Oh, absolutely. I mean, you really don’t find anyone saying anything negative about him. I mean, even, even in the pre draft process. I mean, Eric di Costa was asked about, he was asked about Spencer Fano and Benga, and di Costa made the comment that venga was, quote, straight from central casting of what you want your guards to look like, right? I mean, he didn’t hide away from it. He didn’t say they were going to draft him, but he did not hide away from his praise for him. So, I mean, he’s someone that Penn State at times, brought in their backup left guard, and they actually moved Benga to basically the blocking tight end six lineman role on occasion, where they’d motion him across the formation to just completely clobber an outside Lineback.

Nestor Aparicio  04:51

That made me the Pat Ricard role here.

Luke Jones  04:53

Yeah, yeah. I mean, he’s not going to do that every play. Let me be clear. I’m just speaking to what kind of a they used him as a weapon. In, right? He was a blocking weapon for Penn State. So I get it. It’s a guard, and I understand if, if you think Reuben Bain’s going to be the next Terrell Suggs. And if the Ravens had been convinced that Reuben Bain was going to be the next Terrell Suggs, they would have taken Bane. I don’t get the sense that they were that in love with him as a player, and that’s probably one of the reasons he fell to the middle of the first round, in addition to having shorter arms, as many of the draft pundits noted over and over. But you look at what you want a is, and he’s just the prototype at guard, he’s nasty, he’s physical. Eric Acosta said, from a personality standpoint, he reminds him a little bit of helote Nada, which I think any Ravens fan would would surely like to hear that. And he’s just, he’s a beast. You know, I’m not someone that gets over the moon excited about offensive lineman, and I’m not going to sit here and and act like an I’m an O line expert. But this was as clean, as safe as, you know, close to perfect of a prospect at any position you could have. And I’ll go back to the idea that what was the alternative? I mean, the Ravens this past week with being a team with a new head coach, they had their early voluntary mini camp that they could have for a couple days where some of the, you know, most of the vets were in based on what we saw, wasn’t, you know, wasn’t open to media, but the team website put out some videos, but they showed their offensive line and Okay, Ronnie Stanley was at left tackle and Roger Rosengarten was at right tackle. John Simpson, who they signed, was at left guard, but at center, they had Danny Pinter, who’s been a career backup in the NFL. And at right guard, they had Emory Jones, who, by the way, I don’t want to be disparaging of him, and maybe he does blossom into his starting caliber guard, but I’d rather him prove that over the next year or two, and then maybe you’re bidding farewell to John Simpson in the in the process, but with you on a mean, this is a guy that’s going to start from day one, barring something very strange, or an injury or something like that. And if he’s a good player, he could be the next martial yonder for them. You know, he could be that kind of player where he’s a multi Time Pro Bowl guard, where you just, you don’t talk about him very much, because he’s just

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Nestor Aparicio  07:19

not good. All of this and wasn’t lost on me. I remember that night over at the Beaumont that we got together with the Ravens draft class. I have that fun picture of me and Marshall yonder, and we were both puppies. Ben Grubbs was in that picture, sure. And you know, like when you think about him getting a contract elsewhere and not really being a part of the big party here, once it got going, hardball came. But, you know, the guard position and that whole middle part, whether it was Matt Burke, you know, I have Mike Flynn on the show all the time who played both those positions, and Edwin mulatala comes back for, you know, all of the the glory days and all of that, what they try to do now with an aging quarterback who does not want to run 12 times a game anymore, even though he was the best to ever do it, and still is the best to do it currently, if you could do that, but the Derek Henry thing and protecting the quarterback and getting A passing game going and trying to modernize even more what was built on by Todd moncken With with a new coordinator, young you know, we’re going to young this up, we’re going to college this up, we’re going to make it whatever it is. This guy gives them one more weapon in the offense. Still need a center for me, right? And, you know, we’ll continue to have questions about the aging process of all of the aging players, right? Whether it’s Derek, Henry mark, Andrews, Ronnie, Stanley, roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey, just go through the list of the aging guys, not zay flowers, who got got a bump, right? And also, and a commitment to some degree, and and Kyle Hamilton, obviously, you hope this guy’s the next part of the young core, that if they’re going to have a parade, will play the role of Michael Orr or the young player in that particular cast, that this guy would be that. And that’s what I talked about all week with you and everybody else, was they need to get three or four, like real contributing players here this weekend that they don’t all they can be Jared Johnson or they can be Edwin mulatalo, good, really good players just that hang out and start and give you that productivity that you need a draft to have. They’re really, I don’t see in desperate need of that. But I mean, they didn’t make the playoffs last year. They got the coach fired. So desperate is all between here and there, but they this needs to be a successful weekend for them because of CAP situation, where they are with their quarterback, where they are with. The whole veteran cast that they threw the coach off the boat, but everybody else is back, other than linderbaum, who they couldn’t afford, and they would have liked they’ve had back. So I’m with you. This can’t be the only great pick they make, but golf clap all the way around, addressed the need. Fell into their lap, set up perfectly, got the guy they wanted. I mean, I’m Yes, yes to all of that, but there’s still work to be done here, and I guess that’s this is where Eric dicost is going to earn his beans with these next 10 picks, no

Luke Jones  10:34

question about it. And I know, as you and I are speaking in real time, they have the rest of the draft in front of them, but they need a center. And the good news is there are center prospects in this draft. You know when you look at day two and day three, but here’s the difference now, if you didn’t take you on a in the first round, and you say, Okay, well, we’re going to wait because we think there’s some other good guards later in the draft that doesn’t inspire confidence if you’re doing that at guard and center right now, you’re in a position where you have John Simpson, who you and I both agree like we didn’t love the signing, but it’s fine, right? He’s a dependable starter. He’s guy who’s been durable. You know what you’re going to get out of him? Venga fits the same district, same description from day one, except he has so much more upside, to the point where you’re hoping he’s going to be a multi Time Pro Bowl guard. I mean, that’s, you know, when you draft a guard in the first half of the first round, you’re absolutely expecting that, like, if he’s not and he’s more fine than really good, then you’ll look back at this pick as being disappointing. Then, especially if someone like Ruben Bain or Kenyan Sadiq, the tight end that had been linked to the Ravens a little bit in the first round. If one of those guys ends up becoming a total stud who’s playing

Nestor Aparicio  11:48

left and right, or do we not? We don’t

Luke Jones  11:50

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know yet. My I would guess John Simpson’s the vet, but he’s played left guard a ton, and hasn’t played right guard, I think since 2022 something like that, venga is is viewed as someone. I mean, he’s a freak, right? I mean, Jesse Minter said in the post day one press conference that, unlike a lot of offensive linemen, he’s not a scheme dependent guy. I think he’s probably best suited for more gap and power, but I don’t think there’s any reason to think that he can’t run zone scheme stuff very effectively as a guard, because he moves well even, you know, even though it’s listed at 643, 26, I mean, he’s got good feet, as I said, Penn State would motion him sometimes as the six linemen, just to get him isolated with the other team, you know, a key defender for the other team and on, especially in key situations. So I’m guessing we’ll end up seeing him at right guard. I mean, I don’t know that for certain. And again, mentor didn’t want to comment there. But point is, whether you draft a Logan Jones or Sam Hecht or, you know, Connor, lose another one. I mean, there are multiple centers that are viewed as guys that could start sooner than later, whether that’s going to be week one, or whether that’s a guy kind of like Rosengarten a couple years ago, where he didn’t start week one, but by the end of September, he was our starting right tackle. I mean, it’s a hard

Nestor Aparicio  13:14

job, dude, sure it is, but

Luke Jones  13:17

it’s much easier if you have two established good, rock solid guards flanking that center. That the idea that you were going to take a guard in the second or third round, or it was going to be Emory Jones at the other guard spot, and then you’re going to have a rookie center who is a third round pick, or maybe a fourth round pick. I’m not saying that they do that week one. I mean, they have, you know, they brought in Danny Pinter, who hasn’t started a ton of games in the NFL, and is primarily he’s best suited to be a backup center, but he could be the week one guy, for example. You know, if they take someone in the third or fourth round here, but I think that process becomes, that plan looks more viable to me now that you have a legit stud that you’ve got, you’ve taken in the first round at guard, right? I don’t love the plan of multiple rookie starters, and neither of them are day one, right? Neither of them were a first round pick. So, so that looks more viable to me. Let me be clear, that doesn’t mean, I think that this, this starting offensive line is now going to be one of the best in the NFL. I mean, it’s gonna be a lot of work, a lot of development. I mean that, and that’s where you’re going to be leaning on Dwayne Ledford, their, their new offensive line coach, who’s really highly regarded. But as we talked about Ledford at different times this offseason, I kept saying, You got to give them something to work with. And that’s why I kept coming back to, you know, when people would bring up edge rusher, wide receiver, defensive tackle, I mean other other positions where corner, where they have some need. I mean, I’m not, I’m not saying they don’t, but it none of those needs were as as acute as what their guard and center position looked like. And. I kept saying, How can you possibly not argue that they need to draft an offensive lineman right away? I mean, did you watch last year? Did you watch two years ago when? Okay, they made it work. Two years ago, right? The Fall lay and McCary at guard thing. They made it work. It did not work last year. It fell apart last year. So for them to, you know, let’s say you want is going to play right guard, to go from Daniel fall Lele to this guy who is the first guard they’ve drafted in the first round since Ben grubs. And, you know, to your point, I mean, we don’t remember Ben Grubbs as fondly, but he was a perfectly fine pick. I mean, they it’s, he was just too expensive. And the one part of this that we’ll be talking about three years from now is the positional value. And saying, okay, don’t let that what happened with Linder bomb be repeated with Joanne, right? You need, if he’s you should know two years in whether he’s the kind of guy you want to keep. And if that’s the case, sign them as soon as you can after his third season. I mean, don’t wait. Don’t wait to the fifth year option. Don’t wait to teams like the Raiders are saying, hey, well, if this guy gets to the market, but you know, we can throw a bag at him. You have to be more proactive, right? I said to you, my biggest my biggest talking point, my biggest issue with how the Ravens handled Linder bomb had nothing to do with January, February or March, when ultimately, free agency opens, and the Raiders threw all that money to him. They they knew that was happening at that point where they failed with Linder bomb was last spring, and last summer, that was the time to get the deal done, and when they didn’t. And when he got to a new season and he had his third pro bowl, it was kind of too late at that point, unless you were going to pay him stupid money, like the Raiders ended up paying him. So that’s where that would be my cautionary tale as it pertains to venga Yuan, a where if this guy looks like he’s the next Marshall yonda, you need to sign him as soon as soon as you can, which is at the end of his third season. Like, don’t wait. Don’t even wait for the fifth year option decision. Just go sign them at that point and be happy that you had three years of premium value, you know, below market and all that. And then be happy with them. If you’re not going to do that, then that’s a different issue. And then maybe, then we look at this pick and say, well, probably wasn’t that good. Then if you don’t want to sign them to a second contract, I mean, which is always the case for a first round pick. So I’m fine with it. They needed to do this. I don’t think they really had much of a choice at the end of the day. As I said to you, this was a much, you know, much bigger need than you typically look, you know, at the first round as far as needs they have. Because I just, you know, what was the alternative here? You’re what you’re going to you’re going to sign two later around or not sign. You’re going to start two later round players on the offensive line.

Nestor Aparicio  17:55

Well, it’s fascinating to me that finot and and Maua AGA and Proctor, those guys that went before them, where that position would have been for them, or where they would have been, and a center hasn’t been taken yet. Correct, correct,

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Luke Jones  18:09

yeah, I mean, and that was the thing that we said all along. I mean, as much as they need a center, there wasn’t a Tyler Linder bomb, first round prospect at center this year. I mean, the guys that you know, Logan Jones has been mentioned a lot, another Iowa kid. I mean, be kind of interesting if the Ravens replaced their former Iowa Center with another one, right? And, you know, we talked about that once upon a time when they drafted linderbaum and said, hey, it’s another you’re hoping it’s another Marshall yonder, kind of player, right? So, so, so that’s a possibility. But whether it’s him, whether it’s Hecht, you know, whether it’s Connor Lou I mean, there’s, there are different guys that are pretty highly

Nestor Aparicio  18:43

regarded to fully expect the center to be the next pick. I mean, literally.

Luke Jones  18:46

I mean, I don’t know if it’ll be a second round pick, but I I’d be surprised if they’re not taking a center in second third by the time we’re at around

Nestor Aparicio  18:54

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pancakes on Saturday morning. Okay, yeah.

Luke Jones  18:56

I mean, you know, maybe you wait to the fourth round, but again, then it’s okay, boy, you’re, then you’re you’re thinking, okay, maybe it needs to be Pinter or, who knows, I’m spitballing here. Maybe they’ve worked Emery Jones at center a little bit this offseason. I mean, maybe that’s part of the competition. Point is whoever that’s going to be, even if they, even if they trade for some teams veteran center who’s holding on for dear life as a starting caliber player, you feel that much better because you have, you want to who’s going to be next to him now, and you have John Simpson, who’s going to be next to that player now. So, you know, you kind of think back to where they were even when they drafted Linder bond. Think about it, Kevin Zeitler was next to him as a rookie, and that was very helpful to him. So I think it’s the same situation on that front. And look whoever they draft, we’re still going to have questions about that player, right? Whether, whether a second round, a third round, a fourth round, center is going to be ready to play, whether we’re talking week one or, let’s say week four, right? But, you know, they kind of do the veteran thing to begin the year, like they did McCary and Rose. Garden, but you feel so much better about whoever’s going to be there holding up, and you can protect that individual and give them help a little bit more when you’ve got this kind of a player playing next to him. I mean, I think you talk to a lot of the draft experts that know way more about this than you or me, who really look at this. You know, the MEL Kuipers, the all those types, and they would just tell you, I mean, this guy was as safe, as clean, as good of a prospect at any given position as you’ll find. And no, there is no such thing as a sure thing. But I have a tough time seeing a scenario where vengo iwane is a bust, right? Maybe he doesn’t blossom into a seven time All Pro, but I don’t know. Just Just watch him go back and watch the tape, and you just see him burying guys left and right in the big 10, mind you. So you know, we’re not talking about a small school guy here where you kind of question the competition. So I’m totally happy and content with this pick. I know it’s not exciting. I know drafting a guard in the first round is kind of like getting socks for Christmas

Nestor Aparicio  21:11

football, and we’ve watched this a long time. Like, doesn’t need to be a skilled position player, and they haven’t been great at doing that. Get a solid Hall of pretty good second contract, healthy, contributing, doing their job at a top five in the league kind of level. They can’t all be. Ed Reed and Kyle Hamilton, dude, you know, some of them have to be. And speaking of that, by the way, Luke Jones is here. It’s all brought to you by Farnham and Dermer. They are the comfort guys. I am back out on the road next Friday at Pizza John’s. That’s May 1. May 7, will be a planet fitness and simonium. May 13, back at faidley’s at Lexington market for the Preakness crab races. And then on the 21st after the Preakness, heading to Catonsville, the fishmonger’s daughter. So Well, we have, we’ve just been out there last couple of weeks doing these crab cake tour. It’s been a lot of fun. Weather’s been good. Company’s been great. I got my nice little seat cushion thing going on here, so I feel good about it. Zay flowers and where they were with linderbaum, and didn’t get there to your point where they are with Lamar. And we went through that at length the other day, before the draft. Now there’s a flowers thing. And, you know, dude, I think they’re going to take a tight end. Let me just say, from a receiving standpoint, I think they’re going to really target that sooner than later. By the time I’m at least having lunch on Saturday, they will try to address that. They have all those sandwich picks that they’re going to have. Speaking of sandwiches, so yeah, where I’m wearing my Koco’s gear, but by the time I’m having a sandwich on Saturday, I think they’re going to have some Isaiah, likely complimentary. Next Dennis Pitt and next, you know, whatever you would want to say, I’m, I’m of the mindset that with their picks and the trading up and the trading back and wherever they are, this is where they kind of eat a little bit. This is where they’re going to take a flyer and an edge rusher and all this stuff, but the zay flowers thing and how much money it’s going to cost them to replace him or to hit on a wide receiver, they’re going to have to draft a wide receiver too, right?

Luke Jones  23:25

Yeah. I mean, they’re gonna, they need a wide receiver regardless, right? I mean, whether, whether you’re just going to extend Zay, and whether that’s no problem, you know, you look at it, it’s for $27.3 million go, look at what wide receivers are making. Now that would put him in terms of just annual value, put some 15th in the NFL.

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Nestor Aparicio  23:45

Let’s talk about this. Let’s just pretend that he’s got a torn, you know, torn this, or a broken that, or he’s just to get a Pinky Winky, and he can’t play in any given week. Boy, their offense is way different without him, sure, but

Luke Jones  23:56

because it’s not just without him, you don’t have likely, right? You who’s your number three wide receiver? I mean, Rashad Bateman. Where are we with Bateman? You hope a new coaching staff can make him more like the player he was two years ago, which he had a good 2024 go back, go, look at his numbers. But that’s not number one production. That’s not production where you say you want to, you want to be in a position where you’re solely counting on him. So yeah, they absolutely need another wide receiver. But, you know, they got the those out the flowers, fifth year option. That no surprise there, you know, I, I didn’t even

Nestor Aparicio  24:28

pick there where they used a one and,

Luke Jones  24:31

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and it’s worked out really well, yeah, and he’s, he’s a two time Pro Bowl wide receiver. Is he? Is he the quote, prototype number one wide receiver? No, but this guy runs the entire route tree and has been productive. And I mean, really, my only issue was a flowers is gotta protect the ball in the open field. He fumbles a little bit too much. I mean, that’s something that you would like to think is correctable and is something that he needs to clean up. And he’s talked about that. But he also. Go, go look at the end of the Pittsburgh game. You know, before the Tyler loop thing. I mean, Lamar Jackson is a flowers was a magical connection at a time when their offense wasn’t exactly clicking

Nestor Aparicio  25:11

so well, he was picked, hand picked, to be in lamar’s offense as this nagging sort of Latter Day Hines Ward can get open between eight and 12 yards, anytime, anywhere, stop and start all of that, that he would be the next level of what Mark Andrews was, which is a binky for Lamar, somewhere in inside, but also a threat to go beyond you, sure, but also a guy that was going to be tough to tackle in space, that once you got him the ball, he’s going to get an extra five or 10 yards, because the first guy’s just going to miss him.

Luke Jones  25:44

Yeah, yeah, so. But you look at the structure of their roster, where they’re going salary cap wise, where they’re going contract wise, with some of their older players who are their highest paid players, zay flowers is presumably, I mean, they want to extend them, you know, are you going to be able to and at what cost are the big questions, right? But you look at just the state of the wide receiver position, or, let’s just say, pass catcher, right? And I’m in agreement with you. I mean, I think there’s a good chance they draft two tight ends. You know, look at the history of the franchise. How many times when it’s been a time to draft two tight ends. I mean, they did it with Hayden Hurst and Mark Andrews. They did it once upon a time with Ed Dixon and Dennis Pitta.

Nestor Aparicio  26:27

Well, I would say this, I know Billick love tight ends. I guess in retrospect, you would look at har ball, and he had nine different coordinators, whatever it was, whatever the number was at the end, somewhere like that. And they favored tight ends. And by the way, Ozzie Newsome was a tight end, so there’s a little bit of that, but I don’t know if that philosophy changes. I have no idea that. I mean, we are talking about philosophically the way they’ve been, but maybe that’s not the way they want to be. I don’t know.

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Luke Jones  26:56

I mean, I think, I think you look at Declan Doyle, what they did in Chicago last year. And I get it, he wasn’t calling the plays. But you look at, you know, Loveland and Cole comed, I mean, they the tight ends were important in that offense. I mean, they stay up Mark Andrews, yes, but we know Mark Andrews is very much on the back nine of his career. You know, might be on the back four or five at this point. So they need someone else with me?

Nestor Aparicio  27:21

Would you take him over likely in this season or next season? Who Andrews Andrews are likely if they were both making the same amount of money, not because they’re not, but

Luke Jones  27:31

like they actually are. I mean, you kind of okay, it’s very similar. I mean, I would have taken likely, but that said, I also would fully acknowledge the pro likely Ravens fans at times would kind of gloss over things that he didn’t do as well, or things where he wasn’t quite as consistent. But I’m going to take the in most cases, I’m going to take the player that’s four and a half years younger and likely

Nestor Aparicio  27:56

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was four, and they took Andrews. And I think that that’s interesting.

Luke Jones  28:00

It was very interesting, especially since far ball wound up in New York, and then he’s likely he signed, likely, right?

Nestor Aparicio  28:09

But for me, with this particular decision in the next tight end, that whoever’s name is going to come off the board tonight, tomorrow, this weekend, whenever I send the text on wnst, brought to you by Cole roofing and Gordian energy like that. That player need, I don’t say plug and play, but the player you got to be thinking that players go catch 20 to 40 balls this year if you don’t play much, right?

Luke Jones  28:35

Yeah, yeah. I mean, well, and I think that’s one of the positions, unlike some other positions where, you know, we can get into how the Ravens have had issues drafting edge guys right for the longest time. They they couldn’t draft a wide receiver to save their life before finally getting zay flowers, you know, and Hollywood Brown was fine for the market.

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Nestor Aparicio  28:55

And the Earl Thomas to speak to the safety position as well.

Luke Jones  28:58

Well, they that was more of an issue of signing safeties, and that’s why I’d say draft them. You guys have actually drafted safeties pretty well overall. Matt Elam aside, which go back and look that 2013 draft for as much as Ozzie Newsome gets flack for that. And hey, I’ve given them flack for that. Go back and look at that overall draft class. That was one of the worst drafts of all time, not for the Ravens. I mean, in general, that was just not a great draft. But going back to tight end, when you consider the history of this franchise, with finding tight ends, even the years where they’ve double dipped, generally, it’s the second guy that ends up being the better player. I mean, you go back to Andrews over Hayden Hurst, you go back to Dennis Pitt over at Dixon, before the hip injury, you go, I mean, obviously here recently, I mean, likely was drafted after Charlie Kohler, right? So I think, and the key there is they’ve had a lot of success drafting tight ends in the middle rounds, right? This was. In a that’s why I wasn’t really, I wasn’t really too keen on them taking Sadiq in the first round. I think, Boy, he’s got some upside, and maybe he will blossom. But I think there’s a that wasn’t a perfect prospect where, you know, he’s guaranteed to be a really good player. And my thought is, well, lean into your strengths. Here. You’ve you’ve been a really good drafting team when it comes to tight ends. Go do it again in the middle rounds. Go do it again, whether it’s the third round, the fourth round, whatever it might be, draft two, if you want to, right? I don’t have any problem

Nestor Aparicio  30:33

with that. So be said for Bain, if they, if you want, he’s the guy they wanted that you have your pick when you’re sitting there. They This is at the point people say, what is Ozzy thinking? Nest Well, what is Eric thinking? We found out, you know, we found out how much he likes this guy, right? And, well, I don’t know where, where he was, or whether Eric would really admit he was our number eight guy or 10 guy on our big board, but certainly above Bain and above Sadiq, right for what they wanted to do, and what they’re and you and I are praising it, saying, like, yeah, they got the running game out. They got the quarterback help. It’s not sexy, but it’s necessary.

Luke Jones  31:07

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I mean, it was so necessary. I mean, again, they, I can’t emphasize enough for anyone who’s not excited about the fact that they drafted you on it, and I get it, it’s a guard. It’s like getting socks. But did anyone see their socks last year? I mean, that’s what we’re talking about here. So I get it, and the sense I’ve gotten is I think they liked Bane. I don’t think they loved him. I don’t think they were convinced that he’s the next Terrell Suggs. If they were, they would have taken him, right? If they if he was the number three player on their board, they would have taken him. But let’s also look at this pragmatically. I mean, the jets took David Bailey second overall. And you then, you know, you look at Arbel Reese, who the Giants then took at fifth, you know. And I get it, Reese could play some off ball, you know, he could be a little early career Micah Parsons, where he’s playing off ball and then moving to the edge in passing situations. Point is those two guys were regarded as one and two, as you’re trying to rank the edges. And then Bain was third. There were questions about his arm strength. He has a little bit of a, you know, he had the the off field issue with the car accident, you know, where, you know, that wasn’t a major charge, ended up charges being dropped. But there were some questions about that. But I think there was just at the end of the day, I don’t feel they were over the moon about Reuben Bain, and I think that’s kind of how the first half of the draft played out. I mean, if teams were convinced he’s the next Lawrence Taylor or the next Terrell Suggs, he wouldn’t have lasted to 15, right? Someone would have jumped to get him. And, you know, he’ll go to Tampa Bay now, and we’ll see how it plays out. And by the way, everyone could be wrong on him, right? I mean, Terrell Suggs, teams passed on him. I mean, no one thought the Ravens were going to end up with Terrell Suggs in 2003 and and lucky for them, they did, in terms of the player he was on the field, and guy that I assume is going to be in the Hall of Fame in the next couple years, but you never really know. So we’re going to find out with with Bain being taken right after ioanni, if Bain blossoms into a five time All Pro and Ioanna is just an okay guard, then, yeah, that’ll look like a bad pick, but living in reality and seeing how acute their need was right now, immediately at at the interior offensive line. I mean, I don’t think they had much of a choice. I think this, you know, if he wasn’t there, and they were in a position where there were a couple other let’s say that, you know, couple of the wide receivers had fallen or, or maybe you’re saying, Okay, well, Bain or Sadiq, I think there was a scenario where maybe they trade try to trade down, you know, maybe they would have tried to move back four or five spots. In fact, di Costa said he was on the phone with someone about trading back, and then it fell apart. You know, I always take that with a grain of salt. You know, how how true is that? Was there actually a conversation, or was it just, hey, you chatted for 30 seconds, and, you know, it’s not going to align in terms of what you feel the a trade would be, and then you move on, right? I mean, no, it does, never hurts to take a phone call, right?

Nestor Aparicio  34:10

So player, I mean, yeah, and that’s where they are, if they’re in love with the center as Friday night kicks off, or in love with a tight end, or in love with, you know, a player, a player that they feel like that guy’s going to be a starter for us. That’s when they get a little nuts around now, and I don’t want to say reach, but they have collateral to do that. They can go and get the first player on the board on Friday night. If they want to go get that player, if they feel like, oh my god, that guy was 13th on our board. He’s 30, he we can get him with a 34th pick. Let’s go get that player.

Luke Jones  34:43

Yeah, yeah. I mean, and that applies for any round, but I think you look at the reality of what they have, left, right. Second round, 45th, overall. Third round, 80th, 115th in the fourth round, and they have, they have 4/5 round picks, they have a sixth round pick. They have 2/7 round picks. Is they don’t need to, you really don’t need to pick all the make all those picks. So I don’t know if it’s a second round it could be, let’s say they make their second round pick, and let’s say they take, I don’t know, defensive tackle, a corner, right corners. Corner may not be an immediate 2026 need, but you look at the state of their room right now, that’s a that’s going to be

Nestor Aparicio  35:20

a very much as you need.

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Luke Jones  35:23

Hey, you don’t need to tell me that. I mean, I was the guy years ago talking about shocky Brown and ASA Jackson as their number three corner not being good enough. But I think the scenario for me would be, you make your second round pick at where you know best player available. Third round, that’s when you’re getting into the sweet spot for some of these centers, and let’s say you really covet one of those guys big time. Can you package a couple of those later day three picks to move up eight spots on the board in the third round and make sure you get your guy, you know, and it and that that middle of the third round pick becomes an early third round pick, and you say, Hey, we’re going to get one of these two centers that we really like, and we think can be a starter, maybe not week one, but maybe by week five, with Dwayne led for developing him. We need to get that guy. We need to make sure, because that’s still a really big need for us. I absolutely could see a scenario there. I mean, I could see them just because they have all those later picks and Okay, yeah, I think there’s a good bet that they take one of those fifth round picks and they draft a punter with that, right? I mean, you can kind of see how it plays out, but when you still look at the O line, there’s still very much an acute need for a center, right? Again, I’m not, I’m not a big believer in their internal options. To say I’m just going to hand the starting center job to Danny Pinter, and I get it, he started some games in this league, but you know that that’s not the same thing as saying, Oh, he’s going to be a guy that’s going to start 17 games for us. So yeah, when you have 10 more picks going into the last two days of the draft, when you have a roster that is far from set, let me be clear. But you know, are you really going to have six picks, you know, day five or round 567, are you really going to draft six players in those rounds, and all six of those guys are going to make the 53 man roster, if the chances of that are probably not, then package a couple of those and move up and get your guy right. Go get your guy so and that applies, you know, not just center, but you know, if there’s a tight end that you’re over the moon for that you think you had more of a second round grade on and he’s fallen to

Nestor Aparicio  37:33

is where Jesse Minter can move from Michigan and and, you know, the Navy Seals and the former ravens and all that into this head coaching seat. And this is where Eric has had a system forever for how to do this and how to rank these players, and that’s where this that should be the strength of the organization.

Luke Jones  37:53

Yeah. I mean, let’s face it, this unequivocally is Eric dicos draft at this point. You could debate. And I never bought into the because some some fans would who were anti hardball, which, oh, you know that that was a horrible pick pub. But is there some of that that goes on? Sure, but I also don’t want to portray this as like Eric Decosta was in the fetal position in the corner as Eric or as John Harbaugh strong arming him, right? I mean, like, it’s not how it was, so I But that said, when you have a 15th year, 16th year, 17th year, 18th year head coach who’s been around and was the head coach when your old boss was the GM and you were just the guy that was running the draft, then, yeah, there’s probably going to be a louder voice that comes from the head coach in those instances, in contrast to now. And look, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Jesse mentor gave plenty of input. Mentor, it gave plenty of input, but chances are he’s probably not, at this point, really banging the table and ready to ruffle feathers and ready to get in an argument with Eric to Costa about a certain prospect here or there that’ll probably come at some point, you know, once he’s established and he’s had success, and he has his examples of guys that he liked way more than Eric, and that player worked out really well, right? I mean, it’s human nature, but I think it’s also human nature that when you’re in year one, you’re probably going to defer to the guy who’s been way more experienced and been with the organization for three decades. So thinking about it from that perspective, this is clearly the most Eric to Costa draft they will ever have had, right? Because there is no hardball influence. And Eric, I mean, Eric has how many drafts now as the General Manager under his belt, but now there’s a head coach that he hired right, not that Ozzy news somewhere. And Steve Basti hired, but that he hired. So not to say that that guy answers to him, but Eric does have more clout. And. More say now and unequivocally, like this is his baby. You know, we’re going to look at it through that lens, right? We’re going to look at this roster differently now, moving forward, where it’s not going to be a da Costa slash horrible roster. This is a da Costa roster right now. A couple years from now, we’ll say da Costa Minter, but for right now, this year, at least it’s a da Costa, like this is di Costa. So that’s where it is interesting to kind of see what this draft class ultimately looks like, what they decide to do day two and three. Do they pick 11 players? Or do you trade a couple of those picks and move up at a couple points? Or do you move back at some point to go get you know, do you move back three spots in the second round because, you know, you wanted to add another fourth round pick, I don’t know, but I think all of that, it’s, you know, these fingerprints are going to be much dark, you know, Eric dicostus, fingerprints are going to be much more distinct and darker than they were in previous years, where you would kind of say, like, for example, the Ben Cleveland pick, where we know that was very much John Harbaugh guy, right? I mean, they they even said as much. That doesn’t mean that Eric didn’t like Ben Cleveland at the time, but his head coach really liked that player. You know, will Jesse Minter have some players that he really likes, of course, but is he going to be banging the table and as adamant about taking a certain player in his first year as John Harbaugh might have been in year 13 or year 16 or last year, probably not. So that’s where I do think it’s a little more interesting in that way. And let’s face it, from an accountability standpoint, it’s why my course, my question to Steve bashati The day that they met with the media, which was what a week after they fired John Harbaugh was, how do you evaluate Eric? Where’s Eric stand right now in your eyes after you just fired your head coach, and you know, Steve was very complimentary at that point in time. But let’s also call a spade a spade. When you fire the head coach, if things don’t get better the next year, who’s the guy that you’re going to be one more department, you know? So, so from looking at it through that lens, that’s not to say that I think Eric’s on the hot seat, but I think there’s a Absolutely, a greater sense of urgency for all of these guys. And the biggest reason why it comes back to number eight, your quarterback, who, by the way, you still haven’t extended. So tick tock. Tick tock. This is where you look at this and say, hey, if it, if venga Yoani Iwana is part of a wall, a fortress that you’re building around Lamar Jackson to keep him upright and healthy, that I’m guessing that’s going to make Lamar happy and a happier. Lamar is a Lamar who’s more apt to sign that extension, whether it’s going to be this summer, next offseason, whenever,

Nestor Aparicio  42:38

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or, you know, we’re not going to show you, Lamar doesn’t think that drafting a guard’s not sexy. No question,

Luke Jones  42:44

no question. So again, all of those factors considered, that’s where I look at this thing. And just say I don’t think they really had a choice here when bingo was on the board, as intriguing as Ruben Bain might have been. And we’ll monitor that, and we’ll follow that. I don’t know how you got through this first round without drafting an O lineman, if, assuming one of those prospects was going to be there at 14, and certainly I want a was, and they took him, and I am completely fine with it. Good pick, great pick. You know, whether you’re excited about a guard or not. They absolutely needed to fortify their interior offensive line, and they still do further. So we’ll see what they do over the course of the rest of the weekend. And you know, you and I will reconvene and see what this roster is looking like coming out of the 2026 draft.

Nestor Aparicio  43:36

You know, I went into Costas and had a broiled crab cake and a and a fried crab cake two weeks ago when I was there for lunch just on my own, not like doing the show, and I went into Koco’s, and I haven’t had a Koco’s Crab been in Koco’s like three times the last couple of weeks, but I get the cooking a shrimp. I got the Greek salad. I got I love the ribs there and the coleslaw, but I brought a crab cake home. So I’m wearing my Koco’s gear. I have crab cake for a day two. Day three, we will be back out next week, on Friday at Pizza John’s. I will have the these have been very popular and and they’re fun because people can pick the ones they want. So if you want the boardwalk, you can have the boardwalk. If you want the ponies at assate, you can have them. If you want the I call it the Blackwater motif, but it’s the, it’s the birds and crustaceans and mollusks. You can have that one. And then there’s the, not the Key Bridge, it’s the Bay Bridge, because there’s two spans. You can have the bridges, if you like that, if you’re a Kent Island person or Annapolis person. So we will be in Essex on Friday. We will be a planet fitness in Timonium on the seventh. We’ll be back at faintly at Lexington market on the 13th. That’s going to involve the Preakness crab races. That’s kind of a fun day. Ivan Bates is going to be down as a crab jockey. I have been recruiting crab jockeys for that one, and then I’m going to be the fishmonger’s daughters first podcast from the new location overlooking. Beautiful Frederick Road in Catonsville. We’ll be there on the 21st in the afternoon as well. It’s all brought to you by GBMC. I have my my checkup coming next week, my little my chart went off, and I’ve got to check in. I’ve got to do all these things, and hopefully don’t use me as a pin cushion, because I’m such a wuss. But we’ll be at the GBMC next week as well, and I’m going to have them on talking more about walk a mile in their shoes and farther than Dermer Luke’s wearing the gear. They’re the comfort guys, HVAC, AC, all the good stuff. I gotta get Zack at to do a crab cake tour. Stop with me. I invited him to the ball game last week, but he’s like, ah, you know, hot days, cold days, H back, AC, plumbing is busted. Somebody’s got to be there and work. But at some point I’m gonna get Zach out for crab cake as well. Here over the next month, he is Luke. He is monitoring all things draft. As the picks come off the board, you’ll get them on the wnsd tech service, as we’ve been doing for like 19 years now. It’s all brought to you by cold roofing and Gordian energy. All weekend long, birds are home this weekend. Weather’s gonna take a little bit of a turn on Saturday as well with the Red Sox in town, as we get our crab cake tour back out, we appreciate everybody listening in, tuning in, following us, yelling at us, but no one’s going to yell about this pick. This pick was the safest pick. If anybody’s arguing about this pick, they haven’t done enough research on it at this point, and certainly on the offense. So thumbs up so far for Eric dicostia from the W N, S T guys. He’s Luke on Nestor. We are W n s d, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive. Do.