How quickly are the Baltimore Ravens getting what they need from the NFL Draft? Here are the last five drafts ranked by how much immediate impact was gained.
5. 2017
The 2017 NFL Draft class was a frustrating one for the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens got a great player in Marlon Humphrey. Chuck Clark became a starting safety and Tyus Bowser just signed an extension with the Ravens. The 2017 Ravens didn’t get a huge boost from the draft class, which is what we’re measuring today.
This was a draft class that was supposed to boost the Ravens front seven. Tyus Bowser had three sacks in his rookie campaign. The pass rush was still lacking. Terell Suggs had 11 sacks. Matt Judon, who was in his second season had eight. No other Ravens player had more than three and a half sacks.
Williams had injury keep him out of a chunk of his rookie season. He never panned out and the Ravens cut him after a bad loss to the Cleveland Browns in 2019. Wormley wasn’t all that bad, but he wasn’t all that good either. If Wormley was that good, the Ravens surely wouldn’t have traded him to the Pittsburgh Steelers last year.
The Ravens went heavy on defense in the 2017 NFL Draft. It hurt their offense. Joe Flacco lacked the offensive firepower around him to make it work, and the defense didn’t get a huge boost from this draft class. Humphrey was a rock-solid pick and he quickly became the best cornerback in town. While Clark became a starter on defense, it didn’t happen right away.
The only help the Ravens gave to the offense in this particular draft class was by the way of two mid-round offensive linemen. Jermaine Eluemunor was raw and wasn’t much use in his first season. Nico Siragusa got hurt and never played a down for the Ravens.
It’s unfair to say that the Ravens missed on Tyus Bowser. He’s solid and he still has the potential to crank it up a notch. It is however fair to say that the Ravens got less from three picks for the defensive front seven than they thought they were going to get. The 2017 draft class was much like the Ravens’ 2017 season. It was frustrating and despite a couple of highlights, it felt mostly like a waste of time.