Ranking Ravens' last 10 first-round NFL Draft picks
The Ravens have had some success in the first round
By Mike Luciano
The Baltimore Ravens are a team that favors building a championship roster through the draft instead of spending a ton of money in free agency. That philosophy has helped them consistently compete for division titles while pumping out a winner year in and year out.
Baltimore has a history of stealing players in the later rounds, but their bread and butter has been identifying franchise cornerstones in the first round and stepping around the land mines that can set a team up for failure. Baltimore's recent history of top picks has been quite rich for GM Eric DeCosta.
Using a mixture of what they have accomplished during their tenure with the Ravens, how good they are right now, and what their upside is going forward, it's time to take a look at the last 10 players Baltimore selected in the first round of the NFL Draft and figure out which ones are the best.
Ranking last 10 Baltimore Ravens first-round NFL Draft picks
No. 10: Hayden Hurst (2018)
It's remarkable to think that Hurst was at one point considered more valuable to the Ravens than Lamar Jackson, as Baltimore took Hurst No. 25 overall in the same year they managed to snag Jackson at No. 32 via a trade up. Needless to say, Hurst's career in Baltimore wasn't a rousing success.
Hurst amassed just 512 receiving yards in two seasons, as third-round pick Mark Andrews overtook him almost instantly in the NFL. Hurst was traded to the Atlanta Falcons, and has since bounced around as a mercenary stopgap tight end with, Cincinnati, and Carolina, and (as of a few weeks ago) the Los Angeles Chargers.
Hayden Hurst was a bad draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens
No. 9: Rashod Bateman (2021)
Due to injuries and his own inconsistent performance, Bateman has recorded just 93 catches in three professional seasons. While there is still hope he could become a solid NFL wide receiver, any shot of him establishing himself as one of Jackson's top targets in the near future is dead and buried.
Bateman might have gotten open last year, but he and Lamar Jackson never quite seemed to connect. The two of them discovering a connection could be what ultimately decides if Bateman is a part of the future in Baltimore or ends up as a discarded pick that never figured it out.