Well, #RavensFlock, we finally made it to the 2022 NFL Draft, and to say Eric DeCosta made it worth the wait in gaving us some things to talk about would be quite the understatement. Our RSR analysts have been hard at work all weekend pumping out their analysis of the picks, and I’ll start off today by giving them some love:
Flexibility is Back in Vogue in Baltimore
Ravens Game the Draft System…Again
Ravens Add Seven on Final Day of Draft – Knee-Jerk Reactions
We’ll now turn our attention outward though, and see what some of the national analysts have to say about the newest members of #RavensFlock.
(Spoiler alert: lots of praise ahead)
The team with the most WAR value gained according to the consensus big board for the 2022 NFL draft is ….. The Baltimore Ravens. 1.1 WAR gained on 11 picks, next closest team was the Chiefs with less than half the value gained pic.twitter.com/c7APQyrqJ4
— Kevin Cole (@KevinColePFF) May 1, 2022
Of course the Ravens land David Ojabo.
Baltimore just crushes the draft.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 30, 2022
David Ojabo, a consensus Top-15 talent before injuring his Achilles at his Pro Day, fell to the Ravens in the second round. While he’s likely to “redshirt” the upcoming season, the value was just too much for EDC to pass up as he looked to reload for the long-term, not just for 2022.
Mel Kiper Jr handed out an A Grade to only 2 teams for their draft classes.
And yes. The Ravens were one of those 2.
— Adam Bonaccorsi (@AdamBMore) May 1, 2022
Yeah, yeah, I know – Mel Kiper has become sort of a meme for many fans. Still, he openly admits to pulling for the Ravens a bit due to his Baltimore ties, and as such says he always tries to be a little more critical of them so as to not be labeled a homer. Despite that..A.
Over on Twitter, Ravens fan @SimplyAS10 put together a little highlight video featuring all of the members of the class. Sure, you can make highlight videos showing anybody’s good plays, but this should still get you pumped up.
ambition for ca💲h
2022 baltimore ravens draft class pic.twitter.com/ppMEsWVl5X
— 🏜 (@SimplyAS10) May 1, 2022
Let’s talk just a bit about some of the Day 3 picks. While many fans are angry that the team didn’t come away with any wide receivers, especially after trading Marquise Brown on Thursday night, it’s quite possible that they view Isaiah Likely, a tight end from Coastal Carolina, as more of a big wideout.
The Baltimore Ravens pick Coastal Carolina TE Isaiah Likely at No. 139 overall.
95.1 career PFF grade (highest by any TE in PFF history) ✅ pic.twitter.com/iAm93q4Uk8
— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) April 30, 2022
Did the Ravens actually DRAFT A WR?
Isaiah Likely [6-4, 240 lbs]#RavensFlock #Ravens #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/RuknGc0XTB— All_22_NFL_Cuts (@All_22_NFL_Cuts) May 1, 2022
Tyler Badie, the sixth-round running back, has drawn some comparisons to Ray Rice.
#Ravens fans, meet your new running back, Tyler Badie 😤
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) April 30, 2022
One surprise for sure was that the team drafted a punter. Not only that, but in the fourth round?! That was surprising, especially for an organization that found Justin Tucker as an undrafted free agent and helped develop him into perhaps the greatest kicker in NFL history. They picked up Penn State booter Jordan Stout though, and Ramey had a tongue-in-cheek insight as to what drew them to him:
Now I see why the Ravens reached for Jordan Stout these mfs love their fake punts 😭 pic.twitter.com/8mqkHKOWEy
— Ramey (@HoodieRamey) April 30, 2022
You’ll see a lot of folks talking about how much the Ravens will save by moving on from Sam Koch. Most of those folks will be wrong, because they are failing to replace him in their calculations. Let Brian McFarland, as always, set the record straight:
OK, so releasing P Sam Koch would create $2.1M in salary Cap space. If Stout made the team instead, his Cap number $879,459, so the overall savings would be $1,220,541. https://t.co/Y6wu5vNAok
— Brian McFarland (@RavensSalaryCap) April 30, 2022
We’ll end today with a fun little picture from our friend @EDCBurner. After adding instant heaviest-man-in-the-NFL Daniel Faalele to Ronnie Stanley, Morgan Moses, Kevin Zeitler, & Patrick Mekari (of course Tyler Linderbaum & Ben Cleveland will factor in as well), DeCosta’s plan to build a wall around Lamar Jackson seems to be coming to fruition. So, what to call this wall?
I give you, Fort McHenry – home of Lamar Jackson.
Sorry Linderbaum, you’re not as big as the other guys but you’ve got the weapons. #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/mRWQBp4Tp1
— 𝙁ields (@EDCburner) April 30, 2022
Perfect.
Have a great week, Flock!
