The 6 Ravens Draft Picks Primed For Most Immediate Success Might Surprise You

It won’t be long at all before rookies report for their first training camp in Owings Mills to try to make the best impression possible to earn as much playing time as possible for the Ravens.

The depth chart is going to change in myriad ways between now and Week 1, and the true period to begin evaluating these youngsters hasn’t even begun yet. Circumstances will evolve due to injuries; some veterans will hit the wall and start to show you they aren’t who they used to be and opportunities to get reps with the starters will open up.

Invariably, with a class this large – 11 draft picks plus unsigned players; and we know how much this front office loves to have a UDFA make their roster! – many of these debutants will also reveal themselves to be more of a long-term project than any sort of quick fix for a 2026 campaign that begins with this franchise still firmly in Super Bowl or bust mode even with a rookie head coach in Jesse Minter.

With the opportunity to talk to people around the league for several months after the draft and size up the Ravens roster across every position group, factoring in age and injury history and remaining salary, there is reason to believe more than ever that some of these young men are going to pop and impact this football team in a manner that by no means follows the order in which they were selected in late April.

I would not be using that as my guide whatsoever. Here’s how I would stack them heading into their first training camp:

G Vega Ioane (14th overall)

I’m not going to overthink this one. He might be the best offensive lineman on this football, regardless of position by the trade deadline. Too many smart evaluators have told me he could be a perennial All Pro for me not to expect his learning curve to be relatively short. An obvious starter at an acute position of need from Day One.

WR Elijah Sarratt (115th overall)

Everyone I’ve talked to for months now on “The Daily Flock Show” believes the Ravens are a pass-catcher short in terms of proven commodities and too much might be on Zay Flowers after last year's Zay And Pray passing game. And while Sarratt was the second receiver they took and not the first, he is going to be doing more dirty work and asked to do things in traffic others cannot on this roster.

His workload will include more high-percentage opportunities closer to the line of scrimmage to move the change, whole the routes run by Ja’Kobi Lane are going to be more feast or famine and evaluators I’ve talked to believe he has more potential to make more splash plays, but also likely faces a steeper initial learning curve and other GMs think has more bust potential.

I suspect the tight ends the Ravens took have much more stylized roles but with this team clearly going to run more 11 Personnel than ever before in the Lamar Jackson era, my hunch is Sarratt gets in on that to start and we see where it goes.

P Ryan Eckley (211th overall)

It’s his job. It will be his job for as long as he shows he is up to task and given the fact the special-teams guru Randy Brown had a big hand in this draft selection, and with his exhaustive track record of acumen in that regard, this should be plug-and-play.

This is an entirely new offense, there will be a steep adjustment period going under center much more frequently and dealing with a faster tempo than ever before and they don’t have a starting center right now and their offensive coordinator has never called plays before.

That’s a lot!

Oh and the rookie coach is calling plays on defense and will rely heavily on his defense and his closest comp (and also a mentor) Mike Macdonald goes for it on fourth down less than anyone – and is uber conservative in that regard (even more than those other Minter mentors, the Harbaughs). So Eckley is gonna get some work, folks.

J Adam Randall (174th overall)

Why is there a J next to his name? Is this yet another typo, Jason?

No, it’s by design!

We already had a strong suspicion he was drafted to get a shot at the all-important Joker position in this offense, with rookie coordinator Declan Doyle borrowing heavily from his mentor, Sean Payton. And after getting to download Payton on “The Daily Flock Show” I am now thoroughly convinced of it.

And the more I research Randall, the more convinced I am that he can handle this role from a mental and physical standpoint. You never know for sure, but the fact they haven’t made even a minor move for anyone who has filled that role before or been in an offense that employed that role, to me, speaks volumes about the way this sets up for Randall.

His ability to do things as a running back and wide receiver and also with quarterback in his background and his return skills … let’s just say he is one of the kids I am most excited to chronicle in this entire draft class.

EDGE Zion Young (45th overall)

We are going to continue to temper expectations here. He should contribute some on early downs. He will face an adjustment to life in the trenches in the NFL. He is not a natural pass rusher and Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta has a massive blindspot evaluating and developing precisely this type of EDGE prospect and we have a looooooonnggg body of work that screams out to me.

I am also far from convinced they won’t be adding another veteran EDGE at some point and man, Jadeveon Clowney would still make a lot of sense. Young is going to need time, across the board.

DT Rayshaun Benny (250th overall)

We still have no idea when Nnamdi Madubuike will be back and be fully back and how much he can play after having neck surgery not that long ago. Every time I bring this kid up to an evaluator I trust they can’t stop gushing. And the Ravens have a strong track record with this kind of kid and I believe he will be a very interesting rotation piece this season with a chance to be more than that in the future.

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