Ravens ranked among top three teams in getting best draft value

Everybody already knows the Baltimore Ravens have a good history of drafting players, but just how good is it?

A new ESPN study has Baltimore ranked third in the league in getting draft value in the past decade. It may seem impossible to quantify the long-term success of any given team’s draft haul, but the study makes use of an interesting measurement called CAVOE, or Career Approximate Value Over Expected.

This measurement weighs a player’s career value (as estimated by Pro Football Reference) against a value based on where that player was taken in the draft.

Players drafted earlier would have a higher baseline for performance, so if they struggle they would receive a lower CAVOE score than, say, a seventh-round pick that year who also struggled.

The results suggest that the Seattle Seahawks, who have a CAVOE of 176.6, have drafted players who have provided the most value over their NFL careers, followed by the Kansas City Chiefs at 165.6.

Baltimore Ravens ranked third overall in drafting talent since 2012

Baltimore comes in third at 125.9, and the common theme of the top three teams may be that each franchise found its quarterback of the future in the draft (Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes).

ESPN’s Jamison Hensley provided a bit of insight into which of the Ravens’ draft class yielded the most gold:

"” 2018. Ozzie Newsome’s final draft as the Ravens’ general manager was a masterpiece. He drafted an NFL Most Valuable Player, two other Pro Bowl players as well as three-year starting offensive lineman.”"

As Hensley notes, eight Ravens players in the 2018 draft have played at least 40 games in the NFL, and that year’s class included stars like Lamar Jackson, Orlando Brown, and Mark Andrews.

Another interesting tidbit from the study is that the Ravens have enjoyed particular success on Day 3 (Rounds 4-7), as they also rank third overall in CAVOE from those draft picks. Maybe Eric DeCosta’s comment on fourth-rounders holds some truth after all.

Heading into the 2022 NFL Draft, the Ravens hold nine picks in the first four rounds, and this year’s class has especially strong implications for the team’s future. History will be on Baltimore’s side in April, but will it be enough?

Fingers crossed Baltimore will make more of the same wise decisions in this draft as they have for the last ten years.