Ever since the Baltimore Ravens came into the NFL, they have been a team that likes to be able to build through the draft. That philosophy has led them to two Super Bowl championships since they entered the league in 1996. Former General Manager Ozzie Newsome and current general manager Eric DeCosta have used the draft as an asset, and many of Baltimore’s key players have been by way of selecting them over draft weekend.
During the Ravens’ 2022 pre-draft press conference, DeCosta was asked to speak to the fans as to why the draft is so important to them year in and year out. He went into great detail about why the draft means so much to the organization, hitting on a number of points.”
“I think in just our experience, number one, my experience working for Ozzie (Newsome) all those years. I’ve just seen how it can be when it’s done the right way, so when you’re able to draft franchise-type players, whether it’s Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Lamar Jackson, Jonathan Ogden, Ed Reed, those types of players, Mark Andrews, I mean I could give you 50 names. You bring in those young players and they really do become a part of your culture of your city, they’re players that the fans can rally around, they become heroes for a generation of children in that community and the nice thing is, I think too our sport collectively bargained, we have a salary cap and so you bring in these rookies and their salaries are set and so they’re fixed and so when you draft a rookie you know what he’s going to cost, you’re not paying irrational market prices and free agency that some teams like to do so for us I really think it speaks to the culture that we’ve established over the years…”
"As long as I'm here, the Draft will always be the foundation of what we do." pic.twitter.com/gA4DToZJ41
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 5, 2022
The Ravens have been able to select one of the better rookie classes in almost every draft, and it shows on the field. If Baltimore can continue their tradition of hitting on multiple draft picks, their roster should fill out sooner rather than later.
