Ebony Bird
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11 current Baltimore Ravens outperforming their draft position

By Chris Schisler

CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 22: Orlando Brown Jr. #78 of the Baltimore Ravens and Marshal Yanda #73 look to make blocks during the game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on December 22, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. Baltimore defeated Cleveland 31-15. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - DECEMBER 22: Orlando Brown Jr. #78 of the Baltimore Ravens and Marshal Yanda #73 look to make blocks during the game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on December 22, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. Baltimore defeated Cleveland 31-15. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
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CLEVELAND, OH – DECEMBER 22: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens looks to throw the ball during the game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on December 22, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. Baltimore defeated Cleveland 31-15. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – DECEMBER 22: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens looks to throw the ball during the game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on December 22, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. Baltimore defeated Cleveland 31-15. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

These Baltimore Ravens were drafted later than they should have been and it shows:

Lamar Jackson: 2018 Round 1st round, 32nd overall pick

The Baltimore Ravens drafted Lamar Jackson with the 32nd overall pick and he became the second unanimous MVP in NFL history. The fact that every NFL team, including the Ravens, had at least one chance to draft Jackson before he was selected means he was severely under drafted. If you had to do the 2018 NFL Draft all over again, Jackson would have been drafted very early.

There were a lot of teams that didn’t even think about drafting Jackson. He was considered the riskiest of the five major quarterbacks in that draft class. The Cleveland Browns took Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick. He had an impressive rookie season and more of a struggle in year two. Sam Darnold and Josh Allen have shown a lot of good potential, yet neither of them hold a candle to Jackson so far. Josh Rosen didn’t work for the Arizona Cardinals or the Miami Dolphins. Jackson was the most talented despite being the most doubted player. He was a first round pick, but he should have been the first pick.

In the 2018 season, Jackson showed that he was a bit of a project at the quarterback position. The team got hot when Jackson became the starting quarterback. With Joe Flacco on the bench, the Ravens won six out of seven games to get to the NFL playoffs. Jackson showed that while he was far from a finished product, he was a game changer. The 2019 season was Jackson’s time to shine. He led the league in touchdown passes. He had 1,206 rushing yards and 3,127 passing yards. It wasn’t the typical way elite quarterbacks produced a 4,333 yard season and that only made it more exciting. Jackson should have been picked early in the first round instead of with the final pick of the evening.

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