Ravens Have Huge Opportunity to Add Playmakers in Draft
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OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens have 10 selections in this year's NFL draft, including nine picks in the first four rounds.
That provides a huge opportunity for GM Eric DeCosta to add playmakers on both sides of the ball.
The Ravens will look to add depth in the trenches and in the secondary.
"For me, as I look at it and as we project and we model and see where those picks will fall," DeCosta said. "If you think about our list, our master list, if we have 100 players ranked, we feel like all of those nine picks will probably come within our Top 80 players. So, if we do our job correctly, if we stack the board the right way [and] if we’re able to play the combinations correctly – what I mean by that is drafting the players with an eye toward maximizing each pick positionally – I think we have a really good chance to build some serious and quality depth to help this team be the best it can be.”
The Ravens also have the 14th overall pick, their highest selection in the draft since 2016.
Some of the players that have been linked to them with that selection include Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum, Mississippi State offensive tackle Charles Cross, Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis and Cincinnati cornerback Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner.
"If we’re in the Draft and there’s a guy there at [Pick] 14 and we like him, we’ll take him," DeCosta said. "If we’re comfortable trading back to [Pick] 20 thinking a guy might be there and he’s an offensive lineman, then we’ll take him. If there happens to be a [salary] cap casualty on March 18th and that guy looks like he can make our team better, then we’ll probably try to swoop in. That’s basically our mindset. If a team calls us and offers a guy and we have the draft capital to make it happen, potentially that’s something that we might look at.
"There are a lot of different ways to build a team. For me, it always is based on the fit of the player, how does he fit what you do, does he fit your culture, do you have a need and can you afford him?"
