Ravens Future One of NFL’s Best

The path the Baltimore Ravens took to contention is a relatively similar one to understand. They did what all front offices one day hope to, making good use of their prestige draft capital and squeezing all of the value they could out of their picks along the margins.

Building their current core from scratch enabled them to keep their spending to must-have pieces along the perimeter. Their well-rounded unit was missing some additional firepower in the rushing game, so instead of having to spend in a bunch of smaller departments, they got to pool last summer's resources into bringing star running back Derrick Henry aboard before extending him a year later.

That strategy is kept sustainable by their consistently keen eyes for talent alongside a regularly-replenish pool of draft picks, keeping the Ravens just as highly-regarded in discussions of which team is set up the best for the long-term as they already are in contender talks.

Just like how the Ravens rang in as likeliest unit to upset the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, they finished as the runners-up in ESPN's ordered compilation of which teams were best projected to maintain success through the future.

Their foundation is solid, but when ESPN's platoon of analysts were asked about the Ravens' biggest reason for hope, they kept things simple.

"A long track record of excellent drafting and an all-world quarterback in Lamar Jackson make the Ravens' future very bright," Ben Solak wrote. "To boot, they have perhaps the NFL's best defensive player in safety Kyle Hamilton, and that is about as big of a cherry on top a team can have."

It's eternally helpful to maintain the resources to continue restock the roster with blue chip talent, but having arguably the best player at several of the most important positions in the game goes a long way in elevating the Ravens' present and future aspirations.

While perennial All-Pro selections like Jackson and Hamilton were both products of other teams passing them over, former top prospects still dot most important regions of the Ravens roster.

"The Ravens will have seven former first-round picks starting on their defense this season, ranging from the 29-year-old nickel Marlon Humphrey (2017) to rookie safety Malaki Starks (2025), who turns 22 in November," Aaron Schatz points out.

Those defensive studs aren't alone in dotting the secondary, with young cornerback Nate Wiggins having spent the last few years as Humphrey's running mate and potentially playing his way into a big extension. Seth Walder predicts a "market-setting contract," citing his "strong rookie campaign, allowing 0.9 yards per coverage snap (better than average) and minus-28 EPA allowed as the nearest defender (best among all outside corners."

Baltimore's ability to keep the winning going with a recurring influx of new faces who offer impact from day one has kept the contention window open, and even if paydays have to be issued in the future, they front office has spent the 2020s pressing most of the right buttons.

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