Ravens NFL Draft Rumors: What’s Real, What’s Smoke, and What to Watch

The Ravens certainly enjoy zigging when others think they will zag. But when it comes to the top of the draft, they’ve been fairly easy to predict in recent years.

They were strongly linked to recent first round picks like Rashod Bateman and Maliki Starks and Kyle Hamilton and Odafe Oweh and Patrick Queen and Zay Flowers, and, whether the design of merely following their best player available or not, they have been grabbing plug-and-play starters at positions of need under general manager Eric DeCosta’s guidance. Then again, they offered to ship two first-round picks for Maxx Crosby and fired John Harbaugh as head coach emeritus, so times are definitely changin’ too. And while you aren’t hearing as much buzz about them throwing a curveball or two in this draft as say, the Browns or Cowboys, the Ravens certainly have the capacity to surprise.

It begs the question of which draft rumors about the Ravens are grounded in truth, which will prove to be largely fiction and what you should pay most attention to before and during the draft.

What’s Real?

We bought them sticking at 14 and grabbing an offensive lineman all along. Our reporting with trusted execs and agents around the league led us there, and while we wouldn’t go too far trusting anything that any general manager says this time of year, DeCosta’s soliloquy about 14 being a “sweet spot” hit home with us.

We felt it. He had us at hello. We buy it.

We don’t believe this is a smokescreen. Sometimes the buzz is on point, and it merely is what it is. The potential for the Ravens to have their pick of multiple offensive linemen might not come to fruition, but someone who looks like he could Play Like A Raven in their starting five from Week 1 is going to be sitting there. I hope it’s this guy.

What’s Smoke?

The Ravens will always be linked to veteran pass catchers who become available in trade. It began before they became more adept at drafting and evaluating them, and it might never end. Part of it is due to them constantly collecting over-the-hill former stars in free agency – a trend that must stop now – and, well, the roster looks pretty suspect in that regard right now. So you will see headlines about AJ Brown or Brandon Aiyuk or even a tight end like Kyle Pitts.

And in none of those cases does it really make sense or pass muster with me. This is a great draft to address those needs in a meaningful enough way, and if that doesn’t happen, then I have ideas for adding a free agent at a cheaper price point and without having to part with real draft capital HYPER. I could maybe make an exception for a value play to land Kayshon Boutte. But chasing names, no thanks.

What To Watch

Okay, so Trey Hendrickson provides some cover for bailing on the Raiders deal. But he has injury risk and he’s older than Crosby and he should probably see something of a pitch count. And that’s really a two-year deal. This is not a great draft to be grabbing second tier defensive linemen, but if Miami’s Rueben Bain, Jr. gets outside the top 10, brother, the Ravens better be ready to pounce.

I think the Dolphins would just grab him, but that is a rookie GM on a total rebuild who needs help everywhere and might be willing to move down since he isn’t going to get one of the five best prospects, anyway. It’s hard for me to talk myself into any chatter about Baltimore moving up, except in an instance like this.

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