Happy Wednesday, Ravens Flock! The 2022 NFL Draft is just 22 days away and the mock drafts and rumors are circulating even crazier than before! Meanwhile, we have press conferences from the team, jersey number changes, and a little bit of everything else mixed in. Yes indeed, it’s truly been a busy week for the Baltimore Ravens loyal.
Let’s head Out to Lunch and take a look at everything that’s going on with the Ravens Flock in the Twitter-verse!
One of the 2022 NFL Draft’s highest-regarded prospects, Kayvon Thibodeaux, has some of his own “connections” (saying that very loosely) to the Baltimore Ravens and we can’t help but eat it up:
Oregon DE Kayvon Thibodeaux speaks on Ray Lewis being his Football idol and says the first team he ever bought a shirt for in support was the Baltimore #Ravens
This guy was born to be a Raven@Ravens need to move up to Draft @KayVont to make him part of #RavensFlock 😈 pic.twitter.com/Xt9HQ8Sx1y
— Flockville (@Flockville) April 5, 2022
Apparently, the first piece of NFL merchandise that Thibodeaux, a pass rusher from Oregon, owned was a Baltimore Ravens shirt. This, as well as his praise of Ravens great Ray Lewis, has many in the Flock clamoring more than ever about adding the young man to the team. It would feel somewhat poetic, and definitely a move that would move the needle for your team in turns of talent and upside.
The thought of a pass rush manned by Thibodeaux and Odafe Oweh sounds absolutely disgusting in a great way for Baltimore. It’s certainly a scenario we will be rooting for come draft night.
In case you missed it, Rashod Bateman will be changing his jersey number from #12 to #7. Let me tell ya, it’s a clean look, too:
👀➡️🔥@R_bateman2 pic.twitter.com/yg9zQs2U9Y
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 4, 2022
It caught many off guard, including this fan who has four (!!) #12 Bateman jerseys. The second-year pro had the perfect response to his tweet asking Rashod “what to do now”:
Last name still the same https://t.co/RS2HVlMbIR
— Rashod Bateman (@R_bateman2) April 5, 2022
Regardless of the number, the player remains the same. Just gonna be more special down the road when you can say, “I had his jerseys when he was a rookie!”
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Ravens had a press conference yesterday with all sorts of juicy information being discussed, starting with the return of two Pro Bowlers for the Ravens:
Eric DeCosta said he thinks Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters will come back with a "vengeance."
— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) April 5, 2022
There is no denying that Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey were sorely missed in 2021 and that the secondary’s woes would’ve been much less drastic had they been back there for 17 games. Both are returning from season-ending injuries but getting both back will be massive for this defense, with the potential to get them right back to being one of the league’s most feared units.
On the conversation of Pro Bowl players returning from injury, the team had this to say on Ronnie Stanley:
DeCosta: "We're not sure how Ronnie (Stanley) is going to rebound. We're optimistic. … We feel like he's on a good pace to come back."
Said there will be opportunities to draft a tackle and said it's a very good class.— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) April 5, 2022
We all know how important and talented a healthy Ronnie Stanley is and getting him back has to be near the top of the Ravens’ wish list this offseason. That being said, clearly the team isn’t ruling out drafting a youngster to develop in the event that Stanley may never be the same. After all, it is a very deep offensive tackle draft and even if Stanley returns to form, Baltimore could afford to add more depth at the position.
Are the Baltimore Ravens done making moves this offseason? Perhaps not, according to Eric DeCosta:
"We may have some moves to announce in the next couple weeks, but the Draft really does move to the forefront." pic.twitter.com/w0m20pTfIv
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 5, 2022
It would be a surprise to see a huge move be made before the NFL Draft by Baltimore, but EDC won’t rule anything out. With a handful of big names left on the free agent market, could the Ravens bring in another marquee player to what has been a busy offseason?
One of the players fans coveted the most to join the purple and black was linebacker Bobby Wagner. Wagner opted to sign with the Los Angeles Rams earlier this week, but it wasn’t for lack of effort from the Ravens:
One more note: The #Ravens offered Bobby Wagner a deal paying him $18M over 2, more than the #Rams $17.5M over 2. But LA offered higher incentives and he wanted to stay home in LA, anyway (though the #Ravens impressed him). So Wagner chose the Rams. https://t.co/3XSa1sIjVs
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 4, 2022
It’s obviously a big-time bummer that the future Hall of Fame defender didn’t come to Charm City, but it’s hard to not want to go home and play for a team that just won a championship.
Let’s wrap up our lunch date with something genuine:
Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson surprised students with a visit to Morgan State University and worked a few hours assisting at Chick-fil-A pic.twitter.com/oCQ3lD0S4r
— HBCU Premier Sports & News (@HBCUSports1) April 2, 2022
Lamar Jackson is a man of the people. He truly is a special person, not just a player; giving back to communities and showing the world love that many athletes don’t care to do. If you root against Lamar Jackson, you truly have something wrong with you. This is a man’s man.
Have a great rest of your week, Ravens Flock!
