Baltimore Ravens’ Patience In NFL Draft Pays Off Once Again

Over the years, the Baltimore Ravens have developed a reputation for letting the draft board come to them.

It is a strategy that has paid off time and again for the Ravens and it did so on Thursday as Baltimore made two selections that could soon be seen as two of the biggest steals of the draft.

Baltimore did not need to make any move up the board to land arguably the premier defensive player in the class as Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton fell to them with the 14th overall selection.

The Ravens were then able to acquire another first round pick, 23rd overall, from the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for wide receiver Marquise Brown, who has just one 1,000-yard season in three years, having been taken 25th overall in 2019.

They subsequently dropped down two spots in a trade with the Buffalo Bills, picking up an extra fourth-round selection and still landing the top center in the draft in the form of Iowa’s Tyler Linderbaum.

Baltimore already had one of the better safety duos in the NFL in Chuck Clark and Marcus Williams, whom the Ravens signed to a lucrative deal in free agency. Adding Hamilton, who can operate in the deep middle from two-high safety looks, in the box and as a slot defender, adds a critical layer of flexibility to their defense and sees them acquire a playmaker who used his awareness and athleticism to record excellent on-ball production for the Fighting Irish.

Hamilton had eight interceptions and 16 pass breakups in three seasons in South Bend but, while there are few questions around how he will adapt to the pro level, there are some concerns over Linderbaum.

Most of those worries are connected to Linderbaum’s arm length, which is in the first percentile for offensive linemen after he measured at just over 31 inches. There also figures to be something of a learning curve for Linderbaum in transitioning to an offense that has traditionally been dependent on power running having come from a zone-based system at Iowa.

But Linderbaum is stout in pass protection, stopping rushers in their tracks when he locks his hands on them while also reacting quickly to pick up stunts and blitzing linebackers.

Linderbaum should give the Ravens a high baseline of play in pass protection even if he endures some growing pains in acclimating to their offense. For a team that has long since had problems on the interior of the offensive line, the former Hawkeye has a great chance to become a significant asset.

The Ravens are a much better football team than they were before round one and, through their trades with Arizona and Buffalo, now have 10 picks on the final two days of draft. After an underwhelming, injury-riddled season in 2021, the Ravens are setting themselves up excellently for a rebound after once more illustrating the value of patience.