The Baltimore Ravens headed to the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine with only five draft picks in the upcoming draft. The quarterback position has been a major topic for the team over the past few months, especially regarding signal caller Lama Jackson.
Jackson’s contract has been a key headline for the entire NFL world during the 2023 offseason. Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta was asked before the start of the NFL Combine if he plans on scouting quarterbacks in the 2023 draft class, and got into the day-to-day operations of being a scout as well as what he values when scouting players, regardless of position.
GM Eric DeCosta on player evaluation: pic.twitter.com/s5nVWQc0oR
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) March 1, 2023
“I was trained as a scout; I started out as a scout. That’s kind of what my development was, as [a scout]. So, I scout everybody anyways. I don’t really short-change [scouting]. I love football, I love the art of evaluation. I’m going to look at all the top players, I’m going to do the top 150 players in every single Draft class, and I’ve done that. I look at the top guys in free agency. I enjoy it, and so for me, that’s not something that changes year to year; that’s just a part of the process. To build a Draft board, you have to look at the players, [and] you have to evaluate the players. Someone has to do it; I would rather have it be me than somebody else.”
Whatever the Ravens end up doing with Jackson, DeCosta will be scouting and evaluating every player, especially a quarterback who might end up being the starter one day if Jackson departs. DeCosta is good at his job, and will make sure to do whatever he can to make his team better, no matter the avenue.
