OWINGS MILLS, Md. — For an entire day earlier this week, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta and his scouting staff pored over the offensive line options in the upcoming NFL Draft.
And while DeCosta said this year’s draft pool is not as deep as some previous ones — NIL money has changed the landscape in that regard, with fewer underclassmen declaring for the draft — he stressed that the offensive line appears to be a particularly strong group. That’s encouraging for a Ravens team that has lost three starters up front and is likely to make the offensive line a top priority when the NFL Draft begins on Thursday, April 25.
“It’s a very deep pool of players,” DeCosta said as he and head coach John Harbaugh met with the media for about 35 minutes at their annual pre-draft news conference on April 9. “We see a lot of different opportunities in different rounds to get players at tackle, guard and center, and we’re excited about that.”
Barring any wheeling and dealing, the Ravens have nine selections in this year’s draft, beginning with No. 30 in the first round.
The team must replace both starting offensive guards, with John Simpson (Jets) and Kevin Zeitler (Lions) joining new teams as free agents, and starting right tackle Morgan Moses, who was traded to the New York Jets.
The only returning starters along the offensive line will be left tackle Ronnie Stanley and center Tyler Linderbaum, who made the Pro Bowl last season in his second pro season.
Several draft prognosticators predict the Ravens will select a lineman with their first pick in the draft. That’s happened four times in team history, most recently when they took Stanley with the No. 6 pick in 2016.
Their first-ever pick was Hall of Fame lineman Jonathan Ogden, and other offensive linemen picked first by the team include guard Ben Grubbs in 2007 and tackle Michael Oher in 2009. (Linderbaum was a first-round pick by the Ravens, at No. 25 overall, and was their second selection in that year’s draft after safety Kyle Hamilton at No. 14.)
While the Ravens figure to bolster the line in the draft, Harbaugh expressed confidence in current players on the roster who could be in line for larger roles this season. That includes tackle Daniel Faalele and guards Ben Cleveland, Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu and Andrew Vorhees. Super-utility veteran Patrick Mekari also could be in the mix.
“There’s going to be competition for those spots,” Harbaugh said. “We always say, ‘Who’s the best player?’ It’s the player who plays the best. … We’ll just see who does it. I think those guys are ready to compete and do well.”
Vorhees represents one of the more intriguing options in recent years. The Ravens traded back into the seventh round of last year’s draft to select Vorhees knowing his 2023 season would be a loss. Vorhees, a former All-American left guard at USC, tore his ACL at the 2023 Scouting Combine. The team had a Day Two draft grade on Vorhees before the injury, and DeCosta said jumping back into the draft, and giving up a sixth-round pick this year in exchange for Vorhees, made sense.
“We would get some value with him as a player that, had he been in the draft and been healthy, he would have been a higher pick,” DeCosta said. “I saw ability, potentially, for him to be a starter at guard in the league, so we’ll see. He’s done a fantastic job with his rehab. He’s very, very strong and physical. … The strength coaches and the trainers and the doctors are all very excited about him. So we’ll see what he does.”
Strong offensive line play is vital to a Ravens offense that prides itself on physicality and its ground game. That rushing attack was already a big component of this offense with quarterback Lamar Jackson and his singular rushing ability, and it figures to be further emphasized this year with the free-agent signing of All-Pro running back Derrick Henry.
DeCosta and Harbaugh both stressed that the roster building job never ends, and summer free-agent acquisitions can never be ruled out. In fact, several such additions last season, including cornerback Ronald Darby, and edge rushers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy, played key roles in the Ravens’ run to the AFC title game.
“I think we’re just really getting started,” DeCosta said. “A big part of that is certainly going to be the draft, but the destination is September, not May.”
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox
