The Baltimore Ravens were able to draft a number of players much later than many expected them to come off the board during the 2024 NFL Draft. The Ravens selected cornerback, Nate Wiggins, outside linebacker Adisa Isaac, wide receiver Devontez Walker, and cornerback T.J. Tampa later than their position on the consensus big board put together by Wide Left Football’s Arif Hasan.
Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta was asked if he felt the Ravens got exceptional value with their 2024 draft class.
“I do. I think that this was one year that the board – you’ll often hear me say, ‘Oh man, we had a chance; we missed out on some guys,’ but this year, we were patient,” DeCosta said. “And the board – more often than not, not in every single case – but the best player was at a position of need. So, we basically started just checking off boxes, working our way down through each pick. We were basically able to just cross them off, cross them off, cross them off with a really good player. So, from that standpoint, I think it was good. It was really good. I think the coaches and the scouts – we did a good job communicating. One of the things that we have is a dialogue throughout the Draft – this guy or that guy, what do we think and how does this guy fit? You might have two players at different positions, and they’re graded the same. And, you’re trying to figure out, how do you split hairs between these two players, and you do it with talking to your coaches. You do it looking at the analytics, but you also do it looking at the players that you might get in the next round or moving back. And what does that pool of players look like at those positions? This year, I think it worked out really well.”
Baltimore needs their rookie class to contribute early on after losing several quality players to free agency this offseason.