Are the Ravens Still One of the Best Drafting Teams?
The Ravens have long been regarded as one of the best drafting teams in the NFL, as the general manager torch has been passed from Ozzie Newsome to Eric DeCosta.
Newsome’s first draft class landed a pair of Hall of Famers (Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis) and his final class featured two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, the franchise’s all-time receiving leader Mark Andrews, and more Pro Bowlers.
But have the Ravens lived up to their reputation in recent years, specifically since 2019, when DeCosta took over as GM?
The question was posed on “The Athletic Football Show” podcast, and Robert Mays said the Ravens are still the measuring stick.
“If you look at the numbers, purely the numbers, since 2019, not only are the Ravens not a bad drafting team, they are No. 1 in approximate value per draft pick,” Mays said. “Beyond just the quality of drafts over that time and the fact that they’re consistently finding two to three contributors in those drafts, finding two elite players in the first round of the 2022 draft (safety Kyle Hamilton and center Tyler Linderbaum), that just doesn’t really happen. And then in that same draft, they got [defensive tackle] Travis Jones in the third round and [tight end] Isaiah Likely in the fourth round. This is still a team that is drafting really well.”
The Ravens have missed on some picks, but no team bats a thousand. The draft is an inexact science.
“If the Ravens aren’t a good drafting team, who is?” Mays said. “They’re picking in the twenties every single year or the teens at worst. And so when you consider where they’re drafting and expected returns on the players, they’re still in the conversation as one of the best drafting teams in the NFL.”
