With general manager Eric DeCosta and head coach Jesse Minter conducting the pre-draft press conference in Owings Mills on Wednesday, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. Every draft is important for an organization that so heavily values finding its own over building through free agency, but the Ravens have more roster needs than usual this time of year with some being very glaring. Given the post-2026 state of the salary cap, DeCosta needs a fruitful weekend.
2. DeCosta said Baltimore has 197 “draftable” players on the board and acknowledged there being “a drop-off probably midway through the [first] round in terms of talent.” In other words, he’s hoping a top player falls into their lap at No. 14. Otherwise, he’d likely prefer trading back if it’s possible.
3. There are other positions to improve, but I can’t get past the state of the center and guard spots when anyone suggests waiting to address the offensive line until Day 2 and 3. Yes, a later pick occasionally becomes an instant starter, but expecting that is asking for trouble.
4. DeCosta said Utah’s Spencer Fano “could play really wherever you want him to play” while Penn State’s Vega Ioane is “straight from central casting of what you want your guards to look like.” Considering the Ravens’ acute need, landing either in the first round would be big.
5. One of the predictable DeCosta comments was there being “a strong chance” of him drafting a couple tight ends next weekend. There’s been fan discourse about Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq in the first round, but the Ravens have a track record of finding good tight ends on Days 2 and 3.
6. Between DeCosta acknowledging he had “some ground to make up” in the pre-draft process after the coaching search and Jesse Minter and his staff getting acclimated to so much, this feels like a draft that leaned a little more heavily than usual on the groundwork of the scouts. We’ll see.
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7. The presence of NIL in college football has made the draft “problematic in some ways” because of the growing number of older prospects and how that affects long-term projections for performance and health, per DeCosta. That’s not a problem exclusive to the Ravens, of course, but it’s an interesting dynamic.
8. Asked about positional value in the draft, DeCosta noted the challenges non-premium positions can present when it comes to the calculation of the fifth-year option, citing Patrick Queen and Tyler Linderbaum as recent examples. We’ll see if that’s a deterrent for drafting someone like Ioane in the first round.
9. Speaking of positional value, the Ravens will surely be looking to draft a punter at some point, and I’d much prefer using a sixth or one of those seventh-round picks after the way the fourth-round selection of Jordan Stout played out until his contract year.
10. Asked about Nnamdi Madubuike, DeCosta said, “I would say that Nnamdi’s status doesn’t really affect us that much in terms of like what we’re going to do in the draft at the defensive tackle position.” I suppose it wasn’t nicknamed the “Liars Luncheon” years ago for nothing.
11. My opinion of the new uniforms is the set being a slight downgrade since I don’t like eliminating the gold trim from the numbers on the standard purple and white jerseys. However, the changes are subtle and perfectly fine. It’s just a relief the Ravens didn’t go full “Oregon Ducks.”
12. It’s important to reserve full judgment before seeing how they look during games. Putting the regular logo on the purple helmet is a win, but the alternate black helmet looks cooler up close than how it’s likely to come across as just a plain black helmet most of the time.
