Tag: Joe Hortiz

Ravens GM Eric DeCosta gives thoughts on 2023 cornerback position

Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta talked about the cornerback depth in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft

The Baltimore Ravens held their pre-draft press conference on Wednesday at their facility in Owings Mills. General manager Eric DeCosta, head coach John Harbaugh, and director of player personnel Joe Hortiz spoke to the media in preparation of the upcoming draft later this month, which should provide Baltimore with the opportunity to add multiple key pieces to the roster.

DeCosta was asked about the cornerback depth in the draft as the position is a key need heading into this month’s festivities. The general manager called the group “a strong position”, and reminded the media that they love cornerbacks as a whole, evidenced by their spending pattern.

“Yes, it’s a strong position. [There are] probably four or five guys that you look at and say, ‘Yes, that’s a first-round-type of guy. That’s a first-round pick.’ [There are] maybe six guys. So – you know us – we have a history of drafting defense in the first round. We love corners; our defense is really built to succeed with a great, strong secondary. [Head] coach [John] Harbaugh loves big, physical, press-type guys. There are a lot of these types of guys in the draft. So, for us to look at that, we think it’s one of the most important positions on your football team, and it’s a position that we’ll always look at very closely.”

The Ravens only have five picks in the 2023 NFL draft, so the front office needs to do whatever they can to maximize the assets that they currently have. They also could move back and obtain more picks for later in the draft, but that will be determined on draft day.

Cardinals request to interview key member of Ravens’ front office for open GM role

The Cardinals requested to interview a key member of the Ravens’ front office for their open general manager role

The Baltimore Ravens have been known to be very popular during the NFL’s hiring cycle. Other teams look up to how Baltimore is run from the top down, usually resulting in plenty of interview requests for coaches and front office members alike.

It was reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN that the Arizona Cardinals have put in a request to interview with Ravens’ director of player personnel Joe Hortiz, who was a popular interview candidate last offseason. Hortiz interviewed with both the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants in 2022.

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Cardinals seek interview with Ravens exec for GM job

The latest candidate in the Cardinals’ GM search is Ravens exec Joe Hortiz.

The Arizona Cardinals were expected to cast a wide net to find a new general manager, replacing Steve Keim after he stepped down for health reasons after 10 years in the position.

The latest candidate is Baltimore Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Cardinals have requested permission to interview Hortiz, who was a candidate last offseason for the general manager positions of the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants.

Hortiz has been with Baltimore for 25 years. The last four seasons have been in his current position, overseeing college and pro scouting and being one of the team’s chief personnel evaluators.

From 2009-2018, he was the director of college scouting. He was a national scout before that and started as an intern.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz breaks down film of 2022 rookies

Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz breaks down film of 2022 rookies

The Baltimore Ravens had a busy weekend during the 2022 draft, but came out of everything with an impressive 11-player rookie class. They were able to secure falling stars as well as players at positions of need, both of which contributed to the balanced draft that the team had.

Baltimore’s top-two picks came in the first round in safety Kyle Hamilton and Tyler Linderbaum. Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz sat down and broke down film of the top two prospects, sharing what he sees when he watches the two play and what things both show him on the field.

Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz explains similarities, differences between David Ojabo, Odafe Oweh

Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz talked about the similarities and differences between David Ojabo and Odafe Oweh

The Baltimore Ravens had an eventful three days of the 2022 NFL draft, selecting plenty of talented prospects throughout all seven-rounds. One of those players was University of Michigan edge rusher David Ojabo, who the team took with their second-round pick at No. 45 overall.

When taking questions from the media, Baltimore director of player personnel Joe Hortiz was asked to describe some of the similarities and differences between Ojabo and fellow edge defender Odafe Oweh. Ojabo and Oweh played together in high school, and Hortiz went into great depth as to what the similarities and differences are with both players.

“I’d say the similarity is they are both fast, twitchy, athletic players. I’d say coming out, [David] Ojabo is probably a little bit cleaner as a bender edge rusher, where [Odafe] Oweh’s game was burst and power. Then versus the run, Oweh is more developed as an edge setter. Now, if you ask Odafe what he needed to get better at going into his last year at Penn State, he needed to get better at setting the edge. He started his last year at Penn State with the goal to be a three-down player and be the best edge setter he can be. He ended up winning All-Big Ten, or being named All-Big Ten, with zero sacks, because he was so dominant as an edge setter and then he obviously had all of his pressures. I’d say David is probably not as firm as an edge setter, but not to say he won’t become as firm. Certainly, his ability to rush the passer, and like I showed you guys, get the ball out, that’s a gift that he has that’s pretty exceptional.”

The Ravens explained their draft picks in great detail, and it makes for amazing video

The Baltimore Ravens made director of player personnel Joe Hortiz available to the media after their draft, and it’s a must-watch.

After every day of the draft, head coaches and general managers will make themselves available to the media to explain the thought processes behind the picks. It’s generally enlightening, but wouldn’t you like to hear more from the people who spend all year scouting those prospects and filtering their reports up to the names we know? That’s where you get the granular detail you don’t often get — even from the people in charge in any facility.

Other teams have done this in the past to a greater or lesser degree, but the Baltimore Ravens made Joe Hortiz, their director of player personnel, available to the media after the team’s 2022 draft came down. If you liked the Ravens’ draft (and most of us did), this is an opportunity to get inside the mind of the guy who had been talking to the scouts all year, and giving that information to general manager Eric DeCosta, head coach John Harbaugh, and the rest of the staff.

2022 NFL draft: Final grades for every NFL team

It’s a fascinating look inside the process, and you can watch the entire video here. And here’s what Hortiz had to say about every Ravens pick in 2022.

Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz discusses how C Tyler Linderbaum will match up against NFL talent

Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz discusses how center Tyler Linderbaum will match up against NFL talent

The Baltimore Ravens selected center Tyler Linderbaum with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft. They had the ability to pick him due to the fact that they moved back into the first round by trading away wide receiver Marquise Brown, who the team sent to the Arizona Cardinals.

Linderbaum is regarded as one of the best center prospects to come out of college in years, but there are some concerns about his overall size and arm length. When asked about how Linderbaum will line up against NFL-sized nose tackles, Baltimore director of player personnel Joe Hortiz talked about multiple aspect of the rookie’s game.

“I think one, the center position, you don’t always have a guy over your hat. Again, a lot of times, you’re free and you’re helping. It’s a lot of combo blocks. But when you watch him, like I tried to show, he can gain leverage on players. He does a good job getting his hands inside off the snap. Anything laterally, he’s going to have an advantage of, because he’s so quick off the ball. Head up, he’s going to have to stay [and] play with good technique early on as he develops his strength. I think all rookie linemen, they come out strong. Some come out a little stronger than others, but you develop your strength. You develop your technique, your leverage and your game, but I think he’ll do a great job. The competitiveness he plays with, the leverage he plays with, and again, it’s very rare for you to be isolated early in the play at center. You’re going to get bumped. Somebody is going to help you. You’re going to get a hand helping you. But he’s going to do a good job. He’s going to, just like all offensive linemen … We watched Bradley Bozeman who is 320 pounds; he’s had some bad moments. They all have some bad moments against big guys. I’ve seen Haloti Ngata chuck Pro Bowlers out of the way. So, it’s not an easy position to play. You have to play 65 [to] 70 snaps a game; you’re going to have a couple losses. It’s rare to pitch a shutout as an offensive lineman, but he’ll do good.”

Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz discusses having five fourth-round picks in 2022 draft

Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz discussed the team having five fourth-round picks in the 2022 draft

The Baltimore Ravens are currently slated to have five fourth-round picks in the 2022 NFL draft, including nine in the first four rounds. However, five of their selections come in the fourth round alone, something they haven’t had happen since 2016.

When talking about having five fourth-round picks in this year’s draft, Baltimore’s director of player personnel Joe Hortiz discussed what it means from a preparation perspective. He talked about how Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta put players in an order that they’d prefer to select them throughout the draft process, and then once draft weekend hits he’ll move them around as things happen.

“Well, it makes it fun on Friday night – I can promise you that. We’ll be excited, and we’ll get together like we do and kind of assess things. Obviously, [executive vice president & general manager] Eric [DeCosta] puts the guys in preferential order for our team and through the Draft meetings, so I think the stacking of the board is going to be the same throughout the meetings, and then once we get into the gameplan and gameday, that’s when Eric will put the guys in the best order for us to pick.”

Ravens GM Eric DeCosta says team believes CBs Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters will come back ‘with a vengeance’

Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta believes cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters will come back “with a vengeance”

The Baltimore Ravens held their annual pre-draft press conference on Tuesday with executive vice president/general manager Eric DeCosta, head coach John Harbaugh, and director of player personnel Joe Horitz. It’s a time where each can speak on the upcoming draft class and their thoughts, although things said at a pre-draft press conference for any team should likely be taken with a slight grain of salt.

When asked if he was concerned about the depth at cornerback, DeCosta said that the team always wants to have a strong secondary and have as many cornerbacks as possible. He also mentioned both Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters, saying that he believes both will come back “with a vengeance”.

“Well I think we’re definitely concerned if you guys know us, you know we always want to have a strong secondary and have as many corners as possible.  We’ve referred to those guys as race cars in the past and this year, you know we got decimated at that position across the board so we have outstanding players coming back, but again, until they come back it’s a question mark so we’re very excited that we feel like Marlon is going to come back with a vengeance. We think Marcus is going to come back with a vengeance.”

Both Humphrey and Peters missed significant time in 2021, as Humphrey tore his pectoral muscle in the second half of the season while Peters tore his ACL before the year began. The Ravens need to build depth behind those two stars, but are also good at pivoting during the draft and going for the best player available, and not for need. It wouldn’t be shocking to see the team take multiple cornerbacks in the draft and even sign a veteran as well, but DeCosta is clearly confident that both Humphrey and Peters will be difference makers in 2022.

Watch: Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz talks about 2022 draft class

Ravens director of player personnel Joe Hortiz talked at length about the 2022 draft class

The Baltimore Ravens have 10 draft picks in the 2022 draft. They have plenty of needs to address once draft weekend rolls around, and their treasure trove of picks will give them plenty of opportunities to move up and down the draft board if they so choose.

On Tuesday, Baltimore director of player personnel Joe Hortiz talked at length with Garrett Downing of Baltimoreravens.com about the 2022 draft class. He dove into the offensive tackle group, the top cornerbacks in the class, some running back options and more as he gave his thoughts on some talented prospects.

Hortiz is a valuable member of Baltimore’s draft contingent, as he’s been a part of the organization since 1998. He has gotten general manager interest from multiple team during the 2022 offseason, and his football mind is among one of the brightest in all of the NFL.