3 dream players who the Ravens should hope will fall to pick No. 14

1. Kayvon Thibodeaux

Does he really need any introduction?

Oregon pass-rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux is a beast, and every team wants a piece of him in 2022.

Even if the Ravens were able to trade up into the top-10, it would take an unbelievable act sent from the heavens for Thibodeaux to fall to Baltimore. The highly touted recruit has said on-air that his “first” football team was the Baltimore Ravens and that Ray Lewis is one of his most influential idols, but sadly, that won’t be enough, and hearing Baltimore call out Thibodeaux’s name seems but a distant dream.

We can say with 99.9 percent certainty that Thibodeaux is going to be taken off the board by the time Baltimore gets a chance at him, but at least one mock draft has the team trading up to No. 7 to grab him. In the spirit of positivity and manifesting our desires, we hope the Ravens can somehow make that happen in 2022.

With Tyus Bowser recovering from injury and unproven talents in Odafe Oweh and Daelin Hayes, Baltimore tried to upgrade its outside linebacker unit this free agency and failed. Expect the Ravens to try again in the draft, whether it means pulling the trigger early on a more reachable first-rounder like Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson or mortgaging loads of their future draft capital to trade up for just the chance at picking Thibodeaux.

Before the start of the season, we may still see Baltimore make a move to re-sign Justin Houston or some other veteran pass-rusher, but that feels like a last resort kind of decision. Why not make things a bit spicier and go after what you can’t have?

Kayvon Thibodeaux is the forbidden fruit of the 2022 NFL Draft, and Baltimore is understandably tempted to take a bite out of him. As long as the team knows what it’ll cost.