The Baltimore Ravens are currently on pace to have 10 picks in the 2022 NFL draft, with nine of those selections projected to be in the top-four rounds. That gives Baltimore plenty of ammunition to either draft quality prospects, move up and down the draft board, or trade picks for veteran pieces.
In his latest first-round 2022 mock draft, Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports selected a tight end for the Ravens at pick No. 26 in Ohio State University’s Jeremy Ruckert. When explaining his selection, Trapasso simply said that he would love to see the duo of Ruckert and Ravens tight end Mark Andrews play together.
“I would love to see the underrated Ruckert and Mark Andrews together in Baltimore.”
Ruckert is currently a senior at Ohio State, and has put up 47 receptions for 549 yards and 12 touchdowns over his three-plus years at the school. He has arguably been a bit underutilized considering his talent as a pass catcher, as he has great hands and has shown the ability to make spectacular catches with ease. He has a large catch radius and can work to get behind defenders to burn defenses deep.
He is also a willing blocker who gets after it in the run game, which is a quality that Baltimore values. Some of his weaknesses include a lack of explosiveness as well as not having an overly diverse route tree compared to other top prospects at his position over the years.
If the Ravens feel like Ruckert is the perfect compliment to Andrews and Nick Boyle at the tight end position, the team could invest a high draft pick in him. However, with Baltimore having so many other needs they could opt to pick a player at another position and save a selection at tight end for later in the draft.