Biggest Steals And Busts Of The Eric DeCosta Ravens Era

The length and breadth of the Eric DeCosta Era of Ravens football still obviously pales in comparison to Ozzie Newsome’s legendary stint running the team.

DeCosta just assumed full roster authority in 2019, 2020 was compromised by Covid and the very nature of the draft was altered after that, with DeCosta recently opining about how much scouting has changed in just a few years with players granted additional eligibility for Covid and that coming at the same that NIL exploding the landscape of college sports with players getting paid and moving around from year to year.

But, alas, the rules are the same for everyone, and the Ravens recent drafts have taken a dip. DeCosta did his best work by far in 202, but many of those players have now departed as free agents, leaving critical holes on this roster. Looking at his entire body of work, there are two draft picks that stand out as his most critical errors, and two are the biggest steals:

Busts

EDGE David Ojabo (45th overall, 2022): With their strong ties to the Michigan program – current Ravens head coach Jesse Minter was running their defense at the time and Ravens coach John Harbaugh’s brother was the head coach – they figured to have special intel on this injured prospect. Ojabo was on a track to be a top-10 pick before season-ending injury. Baltimore culled virtually nothing out of him, he couldn’t set the edge or flash requisite burst or athleticism and was mostly a healthy scratch. He had 32 total tackles and 4.5 sacks in four years and got a no-frills deal from Miami.

Pass rush was a massive issue when he was drafted and, even though he wasn’t a first-round pick, this was a massive flameout and one that likely has already resulted in changes to how the Ravens utilize medical determinations in their evaluations, and who helps inform those decisions.

WR Hollywood Brown (25th overall, 2019): There have been plenty of first round picks geared for a glaring need by this GM that haven’t worked out (Patrick Queen comes to mind), but the player went on to get paid elsewhere and perhaps was miscast by the Ravens (Queen should have been used more on the edge all along and not as the replacement for CJ Mosely. But Brown’s selection carried unique weight.

It came at a time when this franchise just couldn’t get its evaluations right at receiver and this was a pick specifically geared to elevating Lamar Jackson in his first full season as a starter. Brown’s size was always an issue and he had issues with drops and was never the deep-before winner they projected. Terribly inconsistent and dealt before the team had to deal with a cumbersome third-year option. Yeah, he fetched a first-round pick, but he also wore out his welcome pretty quickly and averaged a pathetic 6.7 yards/target in his final season here.

Steals

DT Nnamdi Maduibike (71st overall, 2020): The hype got a little wild, with Peter King anointed him a Defensive MVP candidate in Year Two, but he lived up to it. Dominant interior offensive lineman who produced a truly legendary 2023 campaign when the Ravens became the first defense in NFL history to lead the league in sacks, takeaways and points allowed. He keyed it all and his absence to career-threatening injury wrecked their 2025 season.

At his best this is a top five defensive tackle in the NFL, and to grab him in the third round was nothing less than inspired. Hopefully he does in fact return at some point in 2026, though a timeline is nebulous, and defensive tackle is still a issue.

TE Isaiah Likely (139th overall, 2022): The Ravens selected eight players before they grabbed this athletic pass catcher. Pretty amazing to end up getting the Raven who Lamar Jackson would have his highest passer rating throwing to of anyone to catch even balls from him with a kid from Coastal Carolina selected that low.

When Mark Andrews was hurt, Likely carried the offense at times and flashed special downfield talent. He and Andrews never got going together in 12 personnel however, and Likely failed to find his way in Baltimore’s offense in 2025. Still, he was a central part of the most dynamic passing attack in franchise history and DeCosta couldn’t have hoped for more out of prospect he selected a few picks after taking a punter.

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