Categorizing the Best and Worst Ravens Draft Picks Since 2013
The 2025 NFL Draft is hours away, taking place in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 24th-26th, starting at 8:00 p.m. EST. The draft gives franchises a perfect opportunity to change the makeup of their roster by taking a chance on some younger guys who believe they could make a name for themselves on their new team. Some teams will inevitably reach early on someone high on their board, others will find a diamond in the rough on day three. No matter, this is a time of year fans come together, talk some trash, and think about how their selections will impact the future of their favorite team and how they may mesh with some of their picks from recent years. Picking at number 27 in the first round, the Baltimore Ravens look to pick someone who falls into one of the better categories that I have listed below.
In this article, I will share my opinions on draft picks that the Baltimore Ravens have made since 2013, the beginning of their rebuild process in a post-Ray Lewis Super Bowl era. I have made four categories: Great, Good, Bad, and Too Soon to Tell. “Great” highlights the stars that, without them on the Ravens, much of the team's success would be non-existent. “Good” will show a handful of picks who have produced at a high level during their time with the Ravens, but aren’t the game-wreckers that would elevate them to the best category. “Bad” is exactly what it sounds like: players who were drafted, couldn’t stay on the field, couldn’t produce and contribute, and ultimately were not on the team anymore. “Too Soon to Tell” shows some of the younger guys who have been with the team for no more than five years but haven’t had the opportunity to showcase their development into stardom. These players may have had a good year or two at any point in their career, earned the trust and potentially a contract, but have not hit the classification as a winning draft selection at this point. With 102 picks from the 2013-2024 drafts, it is impossible to name every single player and how they may have contributed to the Ravens, so I may miss some, but I will name-drop a few honorable mentions as I go along.
Great: Lamar Jackson (2018), Kyle Hamilton (2022)
Honorable Mentions: Kyle Jusczcyk (2013), Mark Andrews (2018)
Starting with one of the best picks the Ravens have used on a player in a long time, Lamar Jackson. Jackson was drafted with the 32nd pick of the 2018 NFL Draft after trading up with the Philadelphia Eagles, who had just won the Super Bowl. Lamar spent the first half of his rookie season behind the incumbent starter Joe Flacco. Jackson took over in a Week 10 win over the Bengals, going 6-1 in the final seven games of 2018, making the playoffs but losing to the Chargers in the Wild Card Round. Despite having a clean record with mediocre statistics, Jackson came back the next season as the full-time starter and did not disappoint. Jackson became the first player since Tom Brady to be awarded the MVP award unanimously. He broke Michael Vick’s single-season rushing record by a QB with 1,206 yards combined with his 3,100 yards through the air and 43 total touchdowns. In 2019, Lamar Jackson was a walking highlight reel. The four-time Pro Bowler and two-time MVP is the deciding factor when it comes to Ravens games. In 2024, Jackson had his best season as a passer, throwing for 4,100 yards, 41 touchdowns, and four interceptions, while adding nearly 1,000 yards rushing with four touchdowns on the ground. NFL Draft do-overs would have teams taking him significantly earlier, so Ravens fans are undoubtedly content with how things have turned out.
Drafted with the 14th pick of the 2022 draft, the Baltimore Ravens selected a safety from Notre Dame named Kyle Hamilton. Hamilton only started four games in his rookie year but still recorded 66 tackles, a forced fumble, and two sacks. Since then, Hamilton has proved himself to be a game wrecker who can play anywhere on the field and disrupt anything the offense tries to do, steadily improving every year since entering the league. In a 2023 home game loss against Cleveland, Hamilton blitzed, blocked a pass, intercepted it, and returned it for a touchdown on the second play of the game. Just like Tom Brady told interviewers about Ed Reed, quarterbacks need to find Hamilton before the snap. In 2024, the Ravens had a problematic secondary outside of Hamilton and Marlon Humphrey; the lackluster play by Marcus Williams and Eddie Jackson required Hamilton to turn away from the versatility the Ravens loved seeing in 2023. If the Ravens choose a safety in this draft, expect the two-time Pro Bowler to expand on his role, putting himself in a prime position to win Defensive Player of the Year after finishing ninth in 2024, in addition to receiving a huge payday when he hits free agency next season.
Good: C.J. Mosley (2014), Ronnie Stanley (2016), Marlon Humphrey (2017)
HM: Brandon Williams (2013), Za’Darius Smith (2015), Matt Judon (2016), Nnamdi Madubuike (2020), Tyler Linderbaum (2022), Zay Flowers (2023)
C.J. Mosley was going to be the next Ray Lewis. Drafted 17th in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Alabama, Mosley recorded 134 tackles in his rookie season, a career-best with the Ravens. This ranked seventh in the league at the time, and it helped him finish second in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. The four-time Pro Bowler recorded 100-tackle seasons in four out of five years with the Ravens. Mosley’s presence in the middle of the field was felt by opponents, leading a top-five defense at a time when offense was the problem. Former Steelers LB Ryan Shazier compared Mosley to Ray Lewis, acknowledging how he came in and became the anchor for the Ravens at 22 years old. Mosley left the Ravens for a handsome contract offered by the Jets, who needed a strong presence on defense to help change the culture of the team. Mosley hurt his groin in one of his first games as a Jet, missing almost the entire 2019 season, then opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19. Since then, Mosley has been a staple of the Jets' defense but was a cap casualty entering the 2025 offseason. The Ravens could reunite with Mosley after his release. If not, Ravens fans will always remember how impactful he was from the moment he put on the purple and black.
Drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens selected offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley from Notre Dame to protect the blindside of Joe Flacco and eventually Lamar Jackson. The sixth pick was the earliest since the Ravens used the fifth overall on Running Back Jamal Lewis in 2000. After a 5-11 season riddled with problems on both sides of the ball, the Ravens started with basics, looking for a replacement starting Left Tackle to protect Joe Flacco after an ACL tear suffered in Week 10. As a rookie, Stanley was ranked as the 17th-best LT in the league and third among rookies. In nine years with the team, the two-time Pro Bowler played and started in 104 games, earning first-team All-Pro during the Ravens’ spectacular 14-2 season in 2019. The 31-year-old has had some problems with penalties and injuries over the years, but signed a brand new three-year deal worth $60 million, where he aims to return to his 2019 form.
Cornerback Marlon Humphrey was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens with the 16th overall pick of the 2017 draft out of Alabama. Humphrey is one of five cornerbacks in that draft to be selected to a Pro Bowl, but truly only fits in the conversation of good cornerbacks from that year with former Saints CB Marshon Lattimore, who has regressed due to injury in recent years, resulting in a trade to the Washington Commanders. Humphrey, a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro, has recorded an interception in every year of his career, including a career-high six in 2024. In 2020, Humphrey earned the nickname “Fruit Punch” for posting a career-high eight forced fumbles. The nickname pays homage to Charles Tillman’s “Peanut Punch” technique of punching the ball out as a cornerback. The Ravens have experimented with Humphrey playing all cornerback positions, including slot, nickel, and outside. His versatility is one that the Ravens love and hope to continue utilizing in 2025 and in the future, as Humphrey is locked in as a Raven until after the 2026 season.
Bad: Matt Elam (2013), Breshad Perriman (2015), J.K. Dobbins (2020)
HM: Kamalei Correa (2016), Maxx Williams (2017), Hayden Hurst (2018)
Matt Elam is a pick the Ravens wish they could redo. Fresh off a Super Bowl win, the Ravens drafted Elam with the 32nd pick in the 2013 draft out of Florida. Elam was scouted to be an all-around ball hawk and hard-hitting safety after a strong season at Florida. Scouts noted in his pre-draft scouting report that his energy and emotion on the field were a huge strength, while his tackling form could use some improvement. Elam had a promising rookie season in 2013 but regressed in 2014 and suffered an injury, costing him all of 2015, and finally provided almost no defensive statistics in 2016. After the Ravens declined to pick up his fifth-year option for 2017, Elam was set to test free agency for a fresh start, but was arrested two times in three months. One arrest was for possession of 126.2 grams of marijuana and three grams of oxycodone, the other arrest was for battery and theft. Both charges were dropped, but Elam would never play in the NFL again. The former first-round pick bounced around multiple football leagues and now finds himself a member of the Massachusetts Pirates of the Indoor Football League.
Breshad Perriman is another pick the Ravens wish they could redo. Drafted 26th in the 2015 NFL Draft out of UCF, Perriman was projected to line up next to and soon take over for Steve Smith Sr., and Kamar Aiken, catching passes from Joe Flacco as a tall and speedy Wide Receiver. In his first training camp, Perriman was believed to have suffered a sprained or bruised ACL but later showed a tear, ultimately ending his rookie season before it even started. In the next two seasons, Perriman would only start four of his 27 games with the Ravens, finishing with 43 receptions for 576 yards and three touchdowns. While on the Ravens, Perriman had a lot of ugly drops, nine to be exact, classifying eight percent of his targets as drops, combined with one reception per game, meaning the size and speed meant nothing to the Ravens if he could not catch passes consistently. The Ravens declined the fifth-year option for Perriman and released him before the season started.
J.K. Dobbins is a pick that I believe the Ravens would make again, but I would hope injuries would not be a factor in his tenure as a Raven. Drafted in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the product from Ohio State began his career with one start in 15 games, recording a decent 805 yards and nine touchdowns, but missed the 2021 season due to an ACL tear in the preseason and an Achilles tear in Week One of the 2023 season. In the middle of those injuries, Dobbins missed nine games, including the first two while rehabbing and getting another surgery on his injured knee, but he only recorded 520 yards in the games he did play in 2022. Dobbins showed an immense amount of promise as a speedy and powerful back, but the injuries derailed his rookie contract, leading to the Ravens declining to re-sign him and consequently signing with the Chargers, where he would have another knee injury cost him four games in the middle of the season but still record career highs in many categories including rushing yards.
Too Soon to Tell: Odafe Oweh (2021), Rashod Bateman (2021), Isaiah Likely (2023), Nate Wiggins (2024), Roger Rosengarten (2024)
Rashod Bateman and Odafe Oweh were both selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, 27th and 31st overall, respectively. In Bateman’s first three years, he missed 18 games, totaling 93 receptions for 1,167 yards and four touchdowns in that span. Bateman blew up as a true starting wide receiver in 2024, putting up career highs almost entirely across the board with 45 receptions, 756 yards, and nine touchdowns. Bateman became a reliable target for Lamar Jackson, but health and consistency need to be proven before one can put him in another category. Oweh is in the same but different boat, as he played in 13 or more games in each of his four seasons but never had more than five sacks until 2024, when he recorded 10 sacks, ranked second on the team behind Kyle Van Noy with 12.5. Consistency of production needs to be proved before one can call him a good draft pick.
Nate Wiggins and Roger Rosengarten were both taken in the 2024 NFL Draft, Wiggins 30th and Rosengarten 62nd overall. Both had decent seasons, but will need to improve upon what they learned because the rookie learning curve does not apply to them anymore. Lastly, Isaiah Likely is the latest draft pick in a singular year compared to any of the players I have written about, but for good measure. With the trade rumors surrounding Mark Andrews before the draft not completely extinguished, he Likely would be immediately thrust into the TE1 position, which I believe he can live up to, but he needs to prove it first. Likely and Andrews are about the same size, but Andrews always had the upper hand when it came to receiving statistics. Likely has made a ton of big plays but if the fourth-rounder out of Coastal Carolina can be content with being more than a receiving threat and taking the full workload as the starting Tight End, then he, like all players in this section has the opportunity to be considered a good or even great draft pick for the Ravens since 2013, but only time will tell.
