Considering options for Ravens’ 11 picks by using ‘The Beast’ NFL Draft guide

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The Ravens’ 11 picks in the 2025 draft are tied with the San Francisco 49ers for the most in the NFL. Yet, only three of Baltimore’s selections are within the first 125 picks, compared to five for the 49ers.

The Ravens have one selection in each of the first three rounds, two in the fourth, one in the fifth, four in the sixth and one in the seventh. That’s plenty of draft capital for general manager Eric DeCosta, who is always a threat to trade back in certain rounds to accrue more picks.

Baltimore needs depth at many positions and should be able to get it with eight Day 3 selections. What the Ravens won’t be able to count on, at least outside of the third round, is finding rookies immediately ready to challenge for starting jobs. There are always a handful of later-round prospects who do, but it’s simply not a realistic expectation for Day 3 picks.

In a perfect world, the Ravens would come out of this draft, which begins on April 24, with a potential starting guard, starting-caliber interior defensive lineman, an edge rusher ready to make an immediate impact, an inside linebacker who can push Trenton Simpson for the starting weak-side job, a plug-and-play cornerback and a starting safety candidate. Then, the other picks could go to solidifying the special teams and adding depth.

However, with only three top-125 selections, the Ravens would do well to find two or three immediate starters. Hoping for more than that, particularly for a team drafting near the bottom of almost every round, would be asking a lot.

By now, everybody knows the Ravens are a “best player available” drafting team, and their decision-making when they’re on the clock will be guided by how players are lined up on their board. Still, when they’re deciding between two players with similar grades, the team’s needs and what figures to be available in later rounds strongly come into play. For example, if the Ravens are deciding between an interior defensive lineman and a cornerback, both with similar grades, they could hold off on the lineman, knowing the draft class is very deep in that area.

So that begs the question: Where can the Ravens wait and still have high-quality options later in the draft to maximize their three-day haul? To answer that question, and to find out where the potential sweet spots could be for Baltimore’s foremost needs, I consulted “The Beast,” the comprehensive draft guide by The Athletic’s indefatigable draft guru Dane Brugler, for help.

(Note: Brugler’s overall ranking in parentheses for top-100 players.)

Guard

Potential Day 1 options: Tyler Booker (Alabama, No. 24), Kelvin Banks Jr. (Texas, No. 26)

Day 2 options: Tate Ratledge (Georgia, No. 53), Jonah Savaiinaea (Arizona, No. 55), Miles Frazier (LSU, No. 81), Marcus Mbow (Purdue, No. 84), Dylan Fairchild (Georgia), Wyatt Milum (West Virginia)

The Ravens typically target guards in the area of Rounds 3 and 4, and Brugler has seven guards projected to come off the board in that range. However, he doesn’t consider it a particularly deep guard class. He only has 18 guards with draftable grades.

In other words, if the Ravens are going to bring in legitimate competition for either Andrew Vorhees or Daniel Faalele, they’ll probably have to find that player no later than the fourth round.

A potential wild card, particularly early in the draft, is the Ravens taking a tackle with the idea of immediately playing him at guard and then moving him outside down the line when the team has a need there. Candidates to do that include Ohio State’s Josh Simmons and Donovan Jackson, North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel and Georgia’s Jared Wilson. All are expected to be Day 1 or 2 draft picks.

Edge rusher

Potential Day 1 options: Shemar Stewart (Texas A&M, No. 9), Mike Green (Marshall, No. 10), Mykel Williams (Georgia, No. 21), Donovan Ezeiruaku (Boston College, No. 22), James Pearce Jr. (Tennessee, No. 36)

Day 2 options: JT Tuimoloau (Ohio State, No. 43), Landon Jackson (Arkansas, No. 47), Jordan Burch (Oregon, No. 52), Jack Sawyer (Ohio State, No. 58), Nic Scourton (Texas A&M, No. 59), Oluwafemi Oladejo (UCLA, No. 64), Princely Umanmielen (Ole Miss, No. 71), Ashton Gillotte (Louisville, No. 78), Josaiah Stewart (Michigan, No. 80), Bradyn Swinson (LSU, No. 100)

Brugler has 17 edge rushers ranked among his top 100 players. He projects as many as six to go in the first round and as many as eight to go in the second round. Overall, he has 34 edge rushers with draftable grades. In other words, the Ravens will have opportunities in every round to take an edge defender.

Baltimore still has Kyle Van Noy, Odafe Oweh, David Ojabo, Tavius Robinson, Adisa Isaac and Malik Hamm on the roster. It’s not an area where the Ravens lack depth, but that probably won’t stop them from addressing the position in the draft. At No. 27, they figure to have multiple options from the group of five edge rushers projected to come off the board anywhere from the middle of Round 1 to early in Round 2.

Interior defensive line

Potential Day 1 options: Derrick Harmon (Oregon, No. 16), Kenneth Grant (Michigan, No. 25), Walter Nolen (Ole Miss, No. 31)

Day 2 options: Tyleik Williams (Ohio State, No. 40), Shemar Turner (Texas A&M, No. 56), Darius Alexander (Toledo, No. 61), Alfred Collins (Texas, No. 68), T.J. Sanders (South Carolina, No. 70), Joshua Farmer (Florida State, No. 76), Ty Hamilton (Ohio State, No. 92)

This is probably the deepest position group in the draft, which could help the Ravens if they want to hold off until the third round or later before attacking this need. The sweet spot for finding value just might be in that third-, fourth-round range. Brugler has 17 defensive linemen with potential to come off the board on Day 1 or 2 and another 10 who could go in either the fourth or fifth round.

The Ravens don’t have a gaping hole along their defensive line. They return starters Nnamdi Madubuike and Travis Jones and a veteran in Broderick Washington, who has started five games or more for three straight seasons. However, the Ravens could use another interior pass-rushing threat and they really need depth here. They should be able to find both, even if they wait until later on Day 2 or early on Day 3.

#Texas DT Alfred Collins is great example of an NFL prospect who has made $$$ by his play in 2024.

6055v, 319v, 34 3/4 arms. His disruption and effort show up consistently on tape, including this FF that locked up the win Saturday. Day 2 grade. pic.twitter.com/VA1DGxxC4y

— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) November 18, 2024

Inside linebacker

Potential Day 1 options: Jihaad Campbell (Alabama, No. 14), Carson Schwesinger (UCLA, No. 38)

Day 2 options: Danny Stutsman (Oklahoma, No. 87), Jeffrey Bassa (Oregon, No. 99), Smael Mondon Jr. (Georgia), Demetrius Knight Jr. (South Carolina), Chris Paul Jr. (Ole Miss)

Campbell is one of the cleanest prospects in the draft, and it’s probably unlikely he’ll be available at No. 27. The first round is probably a bit early for Schwesinger. So inside linebacker presumably will be a Day 2 or 3 pursuit and, according to Brugler, the Ravens will have several options.

He projects as many as 16 inside linebackers to be selected between Rounds 3 and 5. Ravens coach John Harbaugh has expressed confidence in Simpson re-establishing himself as the starter alongside Roquan Smith. That could make inside linebacker a Day 3 priority.

Cornerback

Potential Day 1 options: Will Johnson (Michigan, No. 18), Jahdae Barron (Texas, No. 30)

Day 2 options: Maxwell Hairston (Kentucky, No. 35), Trey Amos (Ole Miss, No. 39), Azareye’h Thomas (Florida State, No. 51), Shavon Revel Jr. (East Carolina, No. 62), Nohl Williams (California, No. 66), Jacob Parrish (Kansas State, No. 67), Benjamin Morrison (Notre Dame, No. 69), Quincy Riley (Louisville, No. 95)

There are several cornerbacks who project to come off the board anywhere from the late first through the second round. Given the importance of the position, there will probably be a run on corners on Day 2.

The Ravens have not had a ton of success in recent years with Day 3 corners coming in and contributing immediately, so the second and third rounds might be the sweet spot for bringing in another cornerback to join a group that includes Marlon Humphrey, Nate Wiggins and Chidobe Awuzie.

Brugler has 32 corners with draftable grades. It’s not considered a particularly deep class at the position. It wouldn’t be surprising if DeCosta targeted one early.

Safety

Potential Day 1 options: Nick Emmanwori (South Carolina, No. 17), Malaki Starks (Georgia, No. 19)

Day 2 options: Xavier Watts (Notre Dame, No. 54), Kevin Winston Jr. (Penn State, No. 83), Billy Bowman Jr. (Oklahoma, No. 85), Jonas Sanker (Virginia, No. 98), Andrew Mukuba (Texas), Lathan Ransom (Ohio State)

Emmanwori and Starks are two extremely talented players, and they could be the wild cards if one falls to No. 27. Otherwise, Brugler has only one safety (Watts) going in the second round. Overall, he has 21 safeties with draftable grades.

The Ravens have had decent success finding safeties later in the draft, but their depth chart suggests it could be more of a priority this year.

(Photo of Malaki Starks: Joshua L. Jones / USA Today) 

This news was originally published on this post .

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