The Ravens’ rookie class is already a meaningful slice of the offseason roster, and with camp approaching, the real question is which of the 11 first-year players are actually positioned to matter right away.
Not every draft pick is going to stick, of course. History says a few won’t make it, and an undrafted free agent or two probably will.
Injuries and the usual summer chaos will shake this thing up before long. But for now, the pecking order is starting to take shape.
At the top sits the guard, and it’s not hard to see why. Moving inside to guard is a friendlier path than some of the other jobs on the field, and this rookie arrives with the kind of size, strength and power that can force a quick rise.
He looks like a starter already, and there’s a real chance he becomes their best offensive lineman sooner rather than later. That says as much about him as it does about the line around him.
The second receiver they took may end up making the bigger splash. He played in the highest-pressure games imaginable at Indiana, and that kind of background usually travels well.
In a receiver room that feels like open territory, he has a path to immediate snaps and the kind of chain-moving role that can earn trust fast. Scouts and GMs around the league view him as the more pro-ready of the two receivers.
Then there’s the fifth-round hybrid who keeps getting more interesting the more you listen to how he’s being discussed. Sean Payton’s explanation of how he fits the Joker role in the offense - and by extension rookie offensive coordinator Declan Doyle’s offense - makes the fit sound obvious. He can be used as a Joker, a running back, a receiver and on special teams, and that mix of size, strength, speed and hands gives him a chance to carve out a real role.
The seventh-round defensive lineman shouldn’t be dismissed just because of where he was picked. Nnamdi Madubuike won’t need much early in camp, and Calais Campbell, at age 40 and already deeply familiar with the defense, won’t require many reps in July and August either. That creates an opening for the rookie to make noise.
At punter, the path is even clearer. He would have to have a disastrous summer not to be the Week 1 punter, and camp itself probably won’t be too stressful for him because punting is, well, punting.
The bigger test will come in games. Jordan Stout, the last punter the Ravens drafted, struggled for his first three years, so patience may still be required here.
The second-round edge rusher is going to have to earn everything. Tavius Robinson isn’t just going to give up the job, and setting the edge is not a place where the Ravens are likely to hand out early snaps. The pass rush takes time, and there’s reason to keep expectations in check with a second-round pick, especially given general manager Eric DeCosta’s track record there.
The wide receiver with big-play ability has upside, but a lot of the plays people hope to see from him - the deep back-shoulder fades in the end zone - are the kind that usually take time to develop. That makes him more of a long game than an instant answer.
At tight end, the rookie with straight-line speed could become a factor if Mark Andrews hits a wall, if he hasn’t already. He brings the kind of downfield juice that can matter, and the move-tight-end spot is clearly one to watch. Still, the Ravens will need to choose their moments with him early.
The slot defender has the size and frame to handle smaller receivers inside, but he’s also walking into a secondary that is already pretty loaded. That makes the road to playing time tougher than it might look on paper.
One of the rookies can do a little bit of everything, but not having a clear specialty could make the early months tricky. And the final name on the list could have a hard time making the team at all, which feels like a reminder that the Ravens used 10 picks before finally addressing the offensive line again at No. 14 overall.
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The bigger storyline sits inside, where Nnamdi Madubuike is trying to work his way back while the team has already lined up a veteran fallback in Calais Campbell. For a defense built around disrupting the pocket, Baltimore clearly wants more certainty up front than it had a year ago, and the next stretch will tell the Ravens whether their incumbent lineman can hold off the challenge or whether the depth chart is about to change in a meaningful way. [Read more 🡒]