The Baltimore Ravens prefer to take a best-player-available approach to the NFL Draft, and this year, they are in excellent position to do so.
Sure, the Ravens have some needs to address. Guard, defensive line and the secondary stand out as position groups that could use some extra juice.
However, none of those needs are dire enough that they absolutely need to address them early on in the draft. With an already strong roster and a relatively uneventful free agency, Baltimore is in great shape heading into next week’s draft.
Case in point, The Athletic’s projection model ranked the Ravens’ roster as the second-best in the league right now, only behind the Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles.
“The Ravens are still trying to get over the hump in the AFC, and this could be their year to do it,” The Athletic’s Austin Mock wrote. “They are strong at the skill positions, particularly the further you get away from the line of scrimmage. They boast top-10 positional rankings at quarterback, running back, tight end, linebacker, cornerback and safety.
“Sure, they should probably add some wide receiver help for MVP QB Lamar Jackson, but their primary focus in the draft should be in the trenches on both sides of the ball. They rate around average on the offensive and defensive line heading into the 2025 season.”
Just like every other team, the Ravens still have room for improvement. On paper, though, this roster is definitely one that can compete for a Super Bowl.
The best part? Next week’s draft should only improve a great roster further.
“We’ve been a best available player team, and we spent eight months really building the board based on the rankings of the players and how they stack against each other, and we believe that if we’re going to build a team, that’s the best way to approach it,” general manager Eric DeCosta told reporters Tuesday. “So, I think we definitely look at the different needs of our team. We spent a lot of time talking about the roster and the players that we have and things like contract status and all those other things that go into it – the health of our players.
“In the end, I think this is a pretty good Draft class with talent across the board, and as we see the players come off the board, we’ll wait for a good one to fall to us.”
