The grades are in and, per usual, Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta and his staff received solid marks for their 11-player 2026 NFL Draft haul.
The Ravens were included on several lists, including The Athletic’s, as one of the draft’s winners. They adequately filled most of their front-line needs, they double-dipped at a few key positions, they stayed patient, and one of their most coveted prospects fell to them at No. 14 in the first round. They also got some solid value picks on Days 2 and 3.
They’ll get a closer look at their newly minted rookie class when it arrives in Owings Mills, Md., later this week. Until then, let’s hone in on some of the Ravens’ winners and losers from this year’s draft.
Winners
Cornerback T.J. Tampa: He was the team’s No. 4 cornerback behind Marlon Humphrey, Nate Wiggins and Chidobe Awuzie when the draft began, and that’s still where Tampa sits. The Ravens drafted Duke cornerback Chandler Rivers in the fifth round, but he’s viewed more as a slot option. Otherwise, the Ravens had an option to draft a bigger outside corner from the second round on, and they didn’t. That bodes well for Tampa’s role in 2026.
Defensive lineman Broderick Washington: Washington has struggled to make a noticeable impact since the Ravens gave him a contract extension in 2023, and he’s coming off a season in which he played just three games and ultimately was shut down for Achilles surgery. For much of the offseason, he was mentioned as a likely salary-cap cut. However, he’s still on the roster. The Ravens’ lack of an early draft investment in an interior defensive lineman and lack of depth at that spot suggest that Washington may stick.
Head coach Jesse Minter and his staff: It was clear how much input the new staff had. Offensive line coach/run game coordinator Dwayne Ledford advocated loudly for Penn State guard Vega Ioane, and the Ravens got him in the first round. Wide receivers coach Keary Colbert and his assistant, Prentice Gill, both have ties to USC and wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane, who was selected in the third round.
Defensive line coach Lou Esposito was seventh-round pick Rayshaun Benny’s position coach at Michigan. Minter and fourth-round tight end Matthew Hibner were also together at Michigan. DeCosta gave senior special teams coach Randy Brown the ultimate say in finding the team’s next punter and then drafted Brown’s guy, Ryan Eckley, in the sixth round. It was a good week for DeCosta in building synergy with a mostly new staff.
Internal center options: It still seems unlikely that the Ravens will want to go into the regular season with Danny Pinter, Jovaughn Gwyn or Corey Bullock as their starting center, but they’re in the running at the moment. Baltimore’s inability to come out of this draft with even a starting center candidate is good news for its three internal options. DeCosta said the plan is to let all three compete for the job.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson: The Ravens didn’t get a center. However, they got a mauling guard in Ioane, who has vowed to keep defenders away from his quarterback. They got two big red zone and third-down targets in Lane and Elijah Sarratt. And they got two tight ends with pass-catching ability in Hibner and Josh Cuevas. Jackson loves utilizing the middle of the field and his tight ends. Now, he has a little more to work with in both areas.
Tight end Mark Andrews: His position room had to feel awfully lonely during the offseason program with his buddies and longtime teammates Isaiah Likely, Charlie Kolar and Patrick Ricard elsewhere, and only two tight ends on Baltimore’s roster. However, he now has two young tight ends to mentor. He also avoided the inevitable speculation that the Ravens drafted his replacement when Baltimore opted to select Ioane at No. 14 and not Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq.
Trio of former Ravens: Running back Mark Ingram further endeared himself to the fan base by taunting Pittsburgh Steelers fans at the draft while announcing Baltimore’s Day 2 picks. Tight end Todd Heap, who is in the team’s Ring of Honor, watched Lane, a player he coached and mentored in high school, get drafted by his old team. But the biggest thrill of the week probably belonged to cornerback Lardarius Webb, who saw his son, Wake Forest cornerback Lardarius Webb Jr., agree to a deal with the Ravens as a college free agent.
Losers
Center projections: Like other teams, the Ravens lean on analytics and projection models to determine when guys are most likely to come off the board. They typically have great intel in this area. However, the team clearly didn’t expect its top two center options, Iowa’s Logan Jones and Florida’s Jake Slaughter, to be taken in the second round, starting a run at the position that contributed to the Ravens not taking one.
It may not have mattered. Jones went to the Chicago Bears at No. 57, and Slaughter went to the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 63. The Ravens weren’t taking a center with their second-round pick at No. 45. Their third-round pick was at 80, and they almost certainly wouldn’t have sacrificed the draft capital to move back into the second round. Anticipating the development would certainly have made them better prepared.
Guard Emery Jones Jr.: DeCosta expressed confidence in Emery Jones on Saturday, saying he expects him to develop into a good guard and have the opportunity to compete for a starting job. Winning one, however, seems unlikely for the 2025 third-round pick. The Ravens aren’t going to sit veteran guard John Simpson, whom they signed to a three-year, $30 million deal. They didn’t draft Ioane at No. 14 to sit him as a rookie. They’re set with starting tackles Ronnie Stanley and Roger Rosengarten. Barring an injury, Jones will probably have to wait his turn.
Outside linebacker Adisa Isaac: A 2024 third-round pick who has struggled to get and stay on the field, Isaac now has four outside linebackers ahead of him. The offseason signing of Trey Hendrickson, plus the selection of second-round pick Zion Young and the return of Tavius Robinson and Mike Green, have put Isaac in a precarious position. The Ravens have kept five outside linebackers before, but Isaac will need to force their hands. He’s played just four games and 32 defensive snaps in two seasons, and he’s still looking for his first NFL sack.
Running back Rasheen Ali: It was inevitable that the Ravens were going to bring in competition for Ali for the No. 3 running back job, but it wasn’t expected that the competition would be hand-picked by the owner. Steve Bisciotti did the legwork and made the call to select Clemson running back Adam Randall with the last of Baltimore’s fifth-round picks.
Presumably, Bisciotti will be interested in seeing Randall make the team. The Ravens could keep four backs with Ali and Randall making it behind Derrick Henry and Justice Hill. That’s at least what Ali will be hoping for after a season in which the 2024 fifth-round pick played in 15 games and scored his first NFL touchdown.
Wide receiver Devontez Walker: The third-year pro, who has scored touchdowns on three of his six career receptions, could beat out Lane and Sarratt for the No. 3 receiver role. Yet, he now has to work through more traffic to earn that spot. He also now has much more competition for touches with the addition of two middle-round receivers and two Day 3 tight ends. This is a huge summer for Walker, and he needs to stay healthy and maintain consistency.
