Ravens GM Addresses Pros and Cons of Positional Value Early in NFL Draft

The Baltimore Ravens top executive talked about benefits and potential long-term costs of going against the grain in the first round.

Apr 28, 2022; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected as the fourteenth overall pick to the Baltimore Ravens during the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft at the NFL Draft Theater. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

There can be tremendous immediate benefits for front offices when it comes to ignoring the seemingly never-ending debate over positional value during the pre-draft process, and ultimately, when it's time to turn in the card for a premium pick on the first two days of the annual NFL Draft.

Doing so could result in landing an instant plug-and-play starter at a glaring position of need or simply one that could be upgraded from good to great. However, it can also lead to treacherous territory later down the road when it's time to engage in extension talks, particularly as it pertains to first-round picks and whether or not to exercise a former top pick's fifth-year option.

For positions such as running back and tight end, it's not a huge deal because the top of those markets are not nearly as robust, but it can lead to problems for non-premium positions such as centers and off-ball linebackers.

There aren't specific designations for them when it comes to the amount for the fifth-year options so all interior offensive linemen are lumped in with tackles and off-ball linebackers with edge rushers. This can lead to the price tags for picking up their options being exceedingly expensive, especially if they play a certain percentage of snaps or rack up accolades such as Pro Bowls.

Ravens have benefited and been burned in the past

Sep 5, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Baltimore Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum (64) at the line of scrimmage against the Kansas City Chiefs during the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Perhaps no team is more familiar with the pros and cons of taking a non-premium position in the first round than the Baltimore Ravens. Some of the most iconic players in franchise history and several of their most successful in recent memory have been at positions that aren't valued as high as quarterback, wide receiver and edge rusher.

In the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, they used a pair of first-round picks on safety Kyle Hamilton and center Tyler Linderbaum. They both were the top-rated prospects at their respective positions that year, which proved to be home-run selections in short order, being voted to each of the last three Pro Bowls, and eventually went on to reset the top of the market at their positions as well by several million annually.

Every off-ball linebacker they've selected in the first round dating back to Ray Lewis in 1996 has made at least one Pro Bowl and was voted First or Second Team All Pro while on their rookie deals, with the other two being C.J. Mosley and Patrick Queen. The first safety they ever used a first-round pick on was Ed Reed in 2002, and he went on to join Lewis in the Hall of Fame.

"I know we've been a team that has gone off-script and taken some non-traditional, non-premium positions with some success," general manager Eric DeCosta said during a pre-draft press conference.

To characterize their track record of hitting on non-premium positions in the first round, anything short of a "smashing success" is just being humble and modest, but unfortunately, only half of those aforementioned homegrown stars signed second contracts with the Ravens.

All three of Hamilton, Lewis and Reed were and are widely considered the best at their positions during their respective eras, while Mosley, Queen and Linderbaum were viewed as among the best when it came time for the team to decide whether or not to pick up their fifth-year contract options.

"It can present some problems for you, especially if the guys end up being pretty good, because then you've got an issue, in some ways, with the fifth-year option," DeCosta said. "We've seen that a couple times now with 'P.Q' [Patrick Queen], and we've seen it with Tyler [Linderbaum], both, given the nuances of the fifth-year option and how they get lumped in together and all those things."

Watching their good and sometimes even borderline-to-elite players leave to sign more lucrative deals elsewhere, even after some instances where a competitive offer to retain their services was made, as was the case with Linderbaum this offseason, stings. However, the Ravens aren't going to let future possible contractual issues deter them from making their roster better in the present by taking the best player available, regardless of positional value or a lack thereof, when they're on the clock on the first night of the draft.

"If the guy's a great football player who can change the face of your program, you're going to take him, right? If the guy's special, and you think he can really impact [your team] – you go back, and you think about the Baltimore Ravens over the last 30 seasons – some of our very best players that we've had that are in the Hall of Fame with non-premium positions," DeCosta said.

Had the Raven not zigged where the rest of the league zagged over the year's when it came to deviating from consensus positional value, they might not have made it to and emerged victorious from their two trips to the Super Bowl in franchise history or have as many prime opportunities to return to the biggest stage over the past near decade of the Lamar Jackson era.

"I think the idea is to build the best possible team and to get guys who can take over games for you in different ways," DeCosta said. "If that guy ends up being in a non-premium position, I think you should still take him."

This annual address to the media ahead of the draft is informally named the 'Liar's Luncheon,' where DeCosta has been known to try to deploy smokescreens to hide the Ravens' true intentions with their top pick.

However, these sentiments sound like they're coming from someone who intends to continue practicing what the franchise has long preached, which is going with the best player available. If that happens to be a certain plug-and-play interior offensive lineman, whether it winds up being Penn State's Olaivavega Ioane or Utah's Spencer Fano, so be it. Oftentimes, the least sexy pick winds up being just what the doctor ordered.