NFL Draft: Don’t assume Ravens will take a wide receiver
Every year the Ravens need a young star wide receiver. Almost every year, their first round pick goes to something else:
The Baltimore Ravens need wide receiver help, it’s like an always lit vacancy sign over the position on the depth chart. Don’t assume that Eric DeCosta and the Ravens are planning on taking a wide receiver in the NFL Draft. Every year we do draft profiles for wide receivers that fit best for the purple and black and almost every year the Ravens make another selection.
The Ravens have had some good receivers but they’ve never had an Antonio Brown or an Odell Beckham Jr. like player. Last year the Ravens had a chance to take D.J. Moore and they chose 25 year old tight end, Hayden Hurst. It’s just not something the Ravens have prioritized most of the years in the NFL Draft.
The Ravens took Breshad Perriman in 2015. It didn’t work. Since then the Ravens have drafted a left tackle, a cornerback, a tight end and the quarterback of the future in the first round. All of these players have turned out to be good players.
The left tackle Ronnie Stanley, is a building block for the offensive line. Marlon Humphrey is a superstar cornerback. Hayden Hurst has promise and potential while Lamar Jackson is the most exciting young player the Ravens may have ever had.
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All of this being said, the Ravens are still waiting for the right wide receiver. Whether it’s avoidance of something the front office clearly hasn’t done well, or just how the board has broken for them, the Ravens refuse to take shots on receivers in the draft.
This year the mock drafts are doing what mock drafts do. They are selecting wide receivers for the Ravens. Some have N’Keal Harry, some have Kelvin Harmon or D.K. Metcalf. It’s a nice thought, that the Ravens would attack the wide receiver position in the NFL Draft, but from a historical sense, it isn’t promising.
The Ravens have drafted three wide receivers in the first round. In 2000, they picked Travis Taylor with a top 10 pick. In 2005, they selected Mark Clayton. In 2015, there was the Perriman disaster. The Ravens are far more likely to draft a receiver after the first round. To be fair, the Ravens have made a general manager change. DeCosta could change the Ravens standard game plan for the draft, but he’s been here the whole time.
Next. Wide receiver targets by round for the NFL Draft. dark
Ravens fans may want to see a wide receiver go off the board with the 22nd pick but they shouldn’t expect it. It’s hard to have a lot of confidence with the Ravens when it comes to the NFL Draft and wide receivers. We’ll see what happens, but just about any other position seems more likely.