'Overlooked' Ravens Rookie Could Earn Major Role On Defense

For the second straight year, despite having some immediate and long-term needs across the defensive line, the Ravens waited until the very end of the draft to address it.

In 2025, the delay was stupefying for a multitude of reasons – they hadn’t signed Trey Hendrickson and Calais Campbell like they did this offseason, it was a generational defensive tackle draft, loaded with hulking prospects in every round and they waited until the very end to take an undersized project.

If the scouts and general managers I’ve talked to this year about the seventh-round defensive tackle they took in 2026 are correct, it’s going to atone for what they may have passed on at times a year ago. It’s been a while since the Ravens had a true late-round steal who develops quicker than expected and has a much more significant impact than expected.

Rayshaun Benny might be that guy.

You don’t want to put too much on a kid selected that late, and it could be the Ravens have great health on the defensive line and it’s the best and deepest it’s been in a while and Benny is a small rotational piece. But I think he will be more than that, and at the very least, Benny will offer legit snaps, and I wouldn’t be surprised if its much more.

Diamond In The Rough

Some evaluators I really trust and respect – including some who spent a significant amount of time watching this kid play for years and who spent a bulk of their time focused on interior defensive lineman (so they have deep knowledge on how he stacks up over a multi-year period) raved about him.

Everybody is always shocked that player X lasted until round Y. I get it.

But this is not a sexy prospect being fueled by a highlight reel. He was overshadowed at Michigan by other prospects and fell through the cracks during the various runs of linemen

One evaluator who watched seven of his full games sized him up this way: “This kid might have been the best pick in the fifth round and they got him in the seventh. You look at the measurables and the wingspan, he’s got blue (chip) traits, okay? We’ve got an 81 5/8th wingspan. These are like blue numbers for a three technique (DT). This is a legit football player. This isn’t some project.”

There’s a good chance that he will be the primary understudy to Nnamdi Madubuike and who knows when Madubuike will be playing again. The versatility to slip between three and five up front if a bid deal. Do we really think Calais Campbell is going to play a ton of reps this summer?

And the Ravens aren’t going to want Campbell playing more than 30 snaps or so a game, and Broderick Washington might not be worth $4M anymore and we could see defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver taking a real shine to him. We’re excited to see what he can do in the preseason.

All eyes are going to be on second-round pick Zion Young and how much he plays right away. Cornerback Chandler Rivers will get a lot of attention also. Depth defensive linemen can pretty much fly under the radar, but Benny’s progress will be monitored closely in this space.

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