The Baltimore Ravens don’t tend to trade up very often in the NFL Draft, or at least not very often in the first round.
On the rare occasion they do decide to trade up, though, the results have been fantastic.
The most famous example is, of course, them moving up to draft Lamar Jackson in 2018. It seemed like the Ravens’ night was over after selecting tight end Hayden Hurst at No. 25 overall, but they swung a huge deal with the Philadelphia Eagles to acquire the No. 32 overall pick and take Jackson, and the rest is history.
Fast forward seven years later, and Jackson is now one of the best players in the entire league with two MVP awards under his belt. The Ravens gave up a lot to move up, sending two second-round picks and a fourth-round pick to the Eagles, but they’d make that trade every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon named this deal as the ninth-best draft trade of all time.
“Despite his excellence in a pro-style Louisville system, Lamar Jackson headed to the NFL draft as a polarizing prospect,” Kenyon wrote. “On that Thursday night in April 2018, the electrifying quarterback waited patiently — or maybe not so patiently — to hear his name called. Finally, it happened with the final pick of the opening round.
“Jackson went to the Baltimore Ravens, who packaged three picks to send to the Philadelphia Eagles for the No. 32 slot and a third-rounder. That calculated risk has paid off beautifully. In just seven seasons, Jackson has secured two league MVPs and earned first-team AP All-Pro honors three times while guiding the Ravens to four AFC North crowns and six playoff trips.”
There’s really not much to say about Jackson that hasn’t been said already. He’s an outstanding player, he’s the face of the franchise, the whole nine yards.
Really, the only thing missing for Jackson is a Super Bowl championship, which would cement him as one of the all-time greats.
