Ravens Front Office Still High Despite Disappointment

The impressive product that the Baltimore Ravens spent the summer compiling hasn't looked quite as good on the field as it did on paper. One of the NFL season's presumed Super Bowl favorites sits at 1-2 through the first three weeks of the season, with all of the team's biggest historic flaws already emerging in multiple ugly fourth-quarter collapses.

Their inability to close games against some of the league's elites has overshadowed just how good they've looked when everyone's clicking, and that's on the front office for putting all of the talented names they could find in the same room.

Eric DeCosta's been running the Ravens as their general manager since the early goings of the Lamar Jackson era, and though his regime at Baltimore's decision-making helm hasn't yet resulted in a return to championship glory, he remains one of the most respected names in the business between his eyes for talent and the savviness with which he's taken care of business.

The Athletic's Jeff Howe revealed that the Ravens are believed to be the second-best run organization in the NFL, beating everyone but the Philadelphia Eagles in a voting pool of league coaches and executives.

The values they've long-preached as their evaluation pillars during draft season have won them fairly consistent success in using their Day One picks, and their ability to outmuscle their peers in the development department continues popping up every summer. Even as one of the NFL's perennial contenders, they still managed to exit this most recent draft with 11 prospects and several award favorites.

Baltimore Ravens Safety Malaki Starks — Apr 24, 2025; Green Bay, WI, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell with Georgia Bulldogs safety Malaki Starks after he is selected by the Baltimore Ravens as the number 27 pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"With so much faith in their draft process, it’s understandable why the Ravens have put such an emphasis on the compensatory pick formula," Howe wrote. "By allowing other teams to pay (and, often, overpay) Baltimore's outgoing free agents, the Ravens have stockpiled an NFL-high 60 compensatory picks since 1994 (the year the league began awarding them).

“'They have a process that includes some measurement of objective value and a combination of evaluation and scouting, observing and analyzing data and analytics and finding alignment,' an executive said. 'They have a really good grasp of understanding value. They play the compensatory pick game. They do a really good job of being patient on draft day, acquiring value. They don’t seem to move up a lot.'"

Even if DeCosta's process hasn't yet helped him surpass the reigning Super Bowl-winning Eagles in the vote, his process has continually put the Ravens in a competitive position entering every fall.

There's a reason that the fans are continually wooed by their regular season win totals and title odds; they've made more correct evaluations than almost any other front office in the game over the last half-decade.

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